Japan and F1: Why Have Drivers Disappointed with Odds in Their Favour?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: October 2, 2014

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Japan has had more drivers start a Formula One grand prix than Australia, Austria, Canada, Spain, Finland and New Zealand (and plenty of other countries). In fact, there are only 10 countries in the world with more F1 drivers than Japan.

Despite those numbers, the countries listed above have something that Japan does not have: at least one F1 world champion. Only eight Finns have even started a race (17 Japanese drivers have), but three of them are world champs.

It gets worse: No Japanese driver has ever won a race. Japan and the Netherlands are the only countries with more than five F1 drivers that have failed to produce a race winner. And at least the Dutch have an excuse. There are only 17 million people in their country, not exactly a huge pool of talent to draw from (and lots of their best athletes become speed skaters). There are more than 125 million people in Japan.

In 550 starts, Japanese drivers have scored three podiums. Three! Pastor Maldonado has a better podium percentage.



So why have Japanese drivers struggled in Formula One? Let's look at a few possible reasons.

First, it is possible that some of the best Japanese drivers are not even making it to F1. Not because they are not good enough, but because they choose to stay in Japan to race.

Andre Lotterer, who raced at the Belgian Grand Prix for Caterham this season—coincidentally replacing the only current Japanese driver, Kamui Kobayashi—has raced in the Japanese Super Formula series (formerly Formula Nippon) since 2003.

Speaking to NBC Sports' Tony DiZinno, he compared the two series:

I have the purest and fastest race cars around the corners in the world, in Super Formula. They’re so precise, and you don’t want the race to end. The cars do exactly what you want. The combination of both things, sporting wise, are r...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Formula 1

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