"Not having been there before, I have done some practice in a simulator, but the real learning happens when you are out on the track. For me, less than a dozen laps will be enough to start feeling comfortable. At Fuji Speedway, we'll be on
Toyota's home ground, so it would be great if we could do well there in front of the Japanese audience."
Team-mate Wurz, for all his experience, is also unfamiliar with Fuji, but the Austrian's mind will not be entirely focused on learning the circuit this weekend.
"I very much like going to oversees races, and particularly to Japan, because I love the culture there, but this time it will be a bit of an unknown trip for me - not because we’re going to a new track, but because my wife Julia is expecting our third son," Wurz revealed, "He’s scheduled to arrive in the days between Japan and China so, naturally, I’m leaving home with a bit of an uncomfortable feeling...."
Suzuka was notorious for its fickle weather conditions, which range from blazing sunshine to torrential rain - and have even included a close shave with a typhoon - and
Williams technical director Sam Michael is prepared for more of the same at Fuji which, if anyhting, is reckoned to be wetter than its predecessor.
"Weather forecasts predict rain for most of the weekend," Michael confirms, "This can obviously always change, but we will expect it regardless."
Scuderia Toro Rosso – Vitantonio Liuzzi (#18), Sebastian Vettel (#19):
Spa proved to be a mixed race for the Toro Rosso crew as Vitantonio Liuzzi drove a solid race to finish twelfth in Belgium – the weekend going ‘better than expected’ for the Italian as he finished ahead of Honda’s
Rubens Barrichello on the return to Spa. Team-mate
Sebastien Vettel however failed to finish after a steering issue forced him to park up in the early stages.
That twelfth place was Liuzzi’s best result of the campaign, and while it meant that Toro Rosso remain pointless, the team has been buoyed by an improvement in pace that it aims to carry into the weekend.
