The land of the Rising Sun

[BSchneiderFan]

I've been wondering about a very simple question: why has Japan never produced a really successful F1 driver? They have a rich motor industry - Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Yamaha - and a flourishing domestic motorsport scene. Autosport reckoned recently that Super Formula was the fastest single-seater category in the world after Formula 1. But no-one seems to look at successful Japanese drivers in Super Formula when F1 seats are coming up, nor do a Japanese drivers seem to make much of an impact in GP2. Why is that?

[wnut]

Language barrier, and they have never had a really quick driver in the right place at the right time. Suspect driver selection based on contacts and politics also prevents their best talent from getting to the right place.

Kobayashi looked like he might have the capability, but nobody to pay for his racing.

[BSchneiderFan]

I agree Kobayashi looked quick, as was Sato.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

I agree Kobayashi looked quick, as was Sato.

Sato was quick BSchneiderFan, but Kobayashi seemed to outperform some pretty fancy team mates, Trulli, Heidfeldt, Delarosa and Perez, many of whom are still rated as better than ordinary.
His qualifying performances could possibly be better.

Stats here:

http://f1-facts.com/stats/teammates/KKobayashi

[S griffin]

Hoshino was supposed to be the best, but was judged too old by the time Honda joined with Lotus, so they went with Nakajima, who while never in the top draw, certainly never lacked commitment as proved by his drive in the 89 Australian GP.

Suzuki was no slouch as proved by his third place in Japan in 1990

Katyama finally showed what he could do in the 94 Tyrrell and was actually offered a Benetton drive for 95, which he turned down due to him suffering non lethal cancer which explains why he never repeated the highs of that year

Takagi was considered a hot prospect after his performances in the 98 Tyrrell, but his refusal to learn English is said to have ruined his chances

Sato was certainly great entertainment and his 04 season seemed to be a big breakthrough for him, but then the next season he seemed to lose the plot with the amount of unnecessary incidents he was involved, but then matured with Super Aguri

Kobayashi was nicknamed Kobaycrashi which was a bit of an injustice as he didn't have any more incidents than the average driver was, he certainly had the speed, the overtaking and the ability to keep it on the road, I just think the hype around his teammate Perez probably destroyed his career

As for the others, Nakano and Nakajima Jr were competent drivers who could get the odd result, same slightly less so with Yamamoto. Ide never got it together, although being in a 4 year old Arrows wouldn't have helped and as for Inoue at least he always has appreciated how rubbish he was!

[chunterer]

And don't forget Toshio Suzuki who was thrown in at the deep end with Larrousse at the end of '93.

I think the only chance he had of giving a good account was that he knew Suzuka well but otherwise was on a hiding to nothing.

He was knocking on a bit but had been one of the leading lights in Nippon and JGrp C for a long time.

[Hawkwood]

As luck would have it, I happen to have saved a post about Hiroaki Ishiura not getting the Toyota LMP1 drive a couple of years back.
http://nasportscar.com/the-manila-fi...4-impressions/
The end of this post.

It doesn't overlap with this thread exactly, but mentions a couple of the points raised already - language, and insular (racing) culture etc, that make it harder to move abroad.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by chunterer

And don't forget Toshio Suzuki who was thrown in at the deep end with Larrousse at the end of '93.



I think the only chance he had of giving a good account was that he knew Suzuka well but otherwise was on a hiding to nothing.



He was knocking on a bit but had been one of the leading lights in Nippon and JGrp C for a long time.

Yes, Jonathan Palmer said in the BBC commentary that he raced against him F3 and joked that he didn't think he had much of an F1 future! He was 38 at the time

Hideki Noda was another, who didn't do much, although at least his Australian GP team mate Deletraz managed to make him look good

[BSchneiderFan]

It's odd that the language issue, if there is one, is something the manufacturers haven't resolved in their protégés. I remember reading that when Mercedes had their junior trio of Schumacher, Frentzen and Wendlinger, one of the priorities was making sure they spoke good English. You'd think Honda or Toyota would send their boys to language school.

[Mike Harte]

Please accept that the following is a huge generalisation.

The Japanese psyche is totally different to that in the west. They tend to be insular, and do not look outwards very much if at all. It probably never occurred to them to have their drivers taught English; like the British who believe that all foreigners should speak English, so the Japanese feel that everyone should speak their language.

However, even if you are fluent in their language, they can treat you as a second class citizen, and they can be down-right rude to foreigners and often don't care when they are caught out. My son lived and worked in Japan for over 10 years after obtaining his degree in Japanese and speaks fluently; he also happens to be married to a Japanese lady, and they are both treated shabbily by people in the service industry when together.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

It's odd that the language issue, if there is one, is something the manufacturers haven't resolved in their protégés. I remember reading that when Mercedes had their junior trio of Schumacher, Frentzen and Wendlinger, one of the priorities was making sure they spoke good English. You'd think Honda or Toyota would send their boys to language school.

I once asked Michael Schumacher, in his early Bennetton days why he liked racing in England; "Because the British fans are so engestic." After a while I worked out he meant enthusiastic.

[coppice]

I have always been a fan of Japanese drivers as they usually seem to push right to the edge on track whilst remaining polite and engaging off it . I have never seen anybody drive an F3 car harder, or faster , than Takuma Sato but sadly his speciality became snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and never more so than at Indy. Lovely man though .