Which F1 driver has the fastest lap record at Suzuka ahead of 2024 Japanese GP?

The Japanese GP is around the corner, and the lights are scheduled to go off on Sunday, April 7, at 14:00 Track Time. Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is fresh from his remarkable comeback victory at the Australian GP, whereas Max Verstappen suffered a brake failure on Lap 4, ending his potential 10th consecutive win.

The 20 drivers on the grid are now gearing up for the 53-lap run at the Suzuka International Racing Course. Being the only track on the F1 calendar to have a figure-of-eight architecture makes overtaking at the 5.807 km circuit a cumbersome affair. The first race was held in 1987 and during the qualifying run, Nigel Mansell fell victim to a crash, clearing the path for Nelson Piquet to seal the World Championship.

Nevertheless, many drivers have reigned supreme on the Japanese track, like Michael Schumacher, who is still the winningest driver on the track with six wins to his name.

However, the fastest among all is the 7x WDC Lewis Hamilton. During the 2019 Japanese GP, the Brit was flying in his W10, swerving fastest through the 18-turn circuit in 1m 30.983s, dethroning Kimi Raikkonen's 2005 Japanese GP record of 1m 31.540s.

Williams driver Logan Sargeant to use repaired chassis at the Japanese GP

During the FP1 session of the Australian GP, Alex Albon heavily damaged his FW46 chassis, and the car became unfit for racing. It was taken back to Melbourne for repairs and Sargeant's car was handed to Albon. The former sat out during the third GP weekend of 2024.

Per Williams' official website, the repair work on Albon's ride is done, and both the Williams will be seen fighting for their maiden points at Suzuka. Dave Robson, the head of vehicle performance commented on FW46's race ability, saying:

"There has been a lot of work done in Grove since we got back from Melbourne and as a result, we are in a good position to race hard here in Suzuka.”

However, despite the car being fully repaired, the team has decided to hand over Alex's car to his teammate. Following the car swap, Logan Sargeant expressed his thoughts on driving the repaired version on the track, saying (via ESPN):

"It's the repaired one just because the workload to switch the cars back over would be far too much for the mechanics. But the chassis repair went better than expected, so it should be perfectly normal as far as I'm aware."