Suzuka track talk with Robert Kubica

Everybody knows Suzuka and all fans of motorsport love it. It’s also my favourite circuit because it’s clearly the best track – the track that gives the driver the greatest challenge. I’ve only been to Suzuka twice before, but every time you go there it feels very special.

It’s what I call a ‘proper’ track, and last year we saw lot of drivers getting caught out in qualifying. And if you do go off the track, there’s very little run-off area. It’s important to have confidence in the high-speed corners because if your confidence is down you can lose a lot of lap time. It’s one of the most challenging tracks, but when you get it right it gives you the most satisfaction.

The start of the lap through the first six or seven corners is really challenging. If you make a mistake in one corner, you suffer through the next few corners because you lose the line. Consistency is very important and you have to somehow carry as much speed as you can through these corners.

Turns eight and nine, which make up the Degner Curve, are quite tricky. The first part is short, but it’s quite narrow, so you come from a very wide part to a very narrow part. You try to bring a lot of speed because, even though the next corner is 60 or 70 metres away, the short apex invites you to carry a lot of speed. You need to be careful because there’s a really dangerous kerb on the inside, but it’s important to get really close to it. If you touch it or bottom out there, you lose the car, go off the track and hit the wall, just as two cars did last year. So it’s a very tricky place; the sort of corner you are approaching and feeling that something might go wrong.

Another difficult part of the lap is turn 13, the entry to Spoon Curve, where it’s important to get the line right because you want to get on the power very early. It narrows and it’s also off camber. It’s unbelievable. There is always something special in this corner, but it’s difficult because the car always wants to understeer. Apart from the last corner, the chicane, the whole track is unbelievable.

130R is taken flat, but it may not be as easy now with a heavy car full of fuel. For overtaking, the final chicane is definitely the best place to get alongside someone under braking.