Formula One statistics for the Japanese Grand Prix

Statistics for Sunday's Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at Suzuka, round four of the world championship:

Lap distance: 5.807km. Total distance: 307.471km (53 laps)

2023 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull one minute 28.877 seconds.

2023 race winner: Verstappen

Race lap record: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes, 2019: One minute 30.983 seconds.

Start time: 0500GMT (1400 local)

JAPAN

Sunday's race will be the 38th Japanese Grand Prix in world championship history and 34th at Suzuka. The race was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The narrow, high-speed circuit is old-style in a figure-of-eight layout, with fast corners Degner 1 and 2, Spoon and 130R, taken at 295kph.

Of current drivers, Hamilton has won five times in Japan (2007 at Fuji, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018) and Fernando Alonso twice (2006 Suzuka and 2008 Fuji). Other winners are Verstappen (2022, 2023) and Valtteri Bottas (2019).

Verstappen has won the last two Japanese Grands Prix, taking victory last year by 19.387 seconds.

Ferrari last won at Suzuka, a Honda-owned circuit, with Michael Schumacher in 2004. The German won the Japanese Grand Prix a record six times, with a total of eight in the country when the Pacific Grands Prix at Aida are included.

In 33 races at Suzuka, the winner has come from the front row on 28 occasions and been on pole in 17. Kimi Raikkonen won from 17th on the grid in 2005 with McLaren.

Ten of the last 17 winners have started on pole.

RB's Yuki Tsunoda is the only Japanese driver on the starting grid, although Ayumu Iwasa will be taking part in first practice for the Red Bull-owned team instead of Daniel Ricciardo.

CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD

Verstappen has led the championship for a record 42 successive races dating back to