You can't help but feel sorry for the Australians. They put on what is arguably the best organised and most enoyable race of the F1 year, and for the past three seasons the World Championship has all but been settled before the cars have left Japan.
You could, however, come up with some pretty convincing reasons for pitying the Japanese, too. In 1989 there was the incident between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in the silly chicane; last year that celebrated first corner shunt.
The 1991 Japanese GP began as the race that could help Nigel Mansell to his first world title; and it ended as the race that sullied Senna's third.
