Formula One Features — September 2007

There can be little doubt that the Fuji circuit, helped along with many millions of Toyota investment, will make a good fist of staging this weekend's 15th round of the world championship out in the countryside overlooked by that venerated snow-draped volcano. Nevertheless, I'm a little uneasy about the change of venue for the Japanese GP. After 20 years at Suzuka, the race had found its home at one of the world's greatest tracks, in front of huge, appreciative crowds.

Depending on which newspaper, magazine or website you read, as far as Formula 1 is concerned, the world came to an end at around 6pm on Thursday, September 13. Unless you have been on the Moon, or in Guantanamo Bay, you™ll know this was, of course, the day when McLaren lost all of its Constructors™ points for 2007 and for good measure, $100m.

It's great to be going back to Spa this weekend. Because I'm writing this before Thursday's manure/ventilator interface scenario in Paris, I'm assuming the race itself won't be affected. There has been a lot of political argy-bargy in recent years about the Belgian GP, too, so much in fact that when it was agreed that the 2006 race should be suspended, many of the old hands in the press centre suspected it was doomed.

History hangs heavy over Monza, much as it does over ancient cathedrals or battlefields. Here in the Royal Park, the Kings of Lombardy once hunted deer and wild boar, in between fighting bloody local turf wars. The road circuit was first used for racing in 1922, and it has been the scene of every world championship Italian GP since 1950, except for just one edition held at Imola in 1989.