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The 2018 Japanese Grand Prix will be held at the Suzuka Circuit on 7 October 2018. Lewis Hamilton goes into the weekend with a comfortable 50-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. A win in Japan would bring the Briton one step closer to his fifth drivers' championship, one more than the German.
As the Grand Prix is usually positioned at the business end of the season, the race at the Suzuka circuit has been home to some of the most memorable races in Formula One's illustrious history, with most of them deciding the drivers' and the constructors' championships.
Interestingly, the first Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 held at Fuji Speedway was also a championship decider - James Hunt bettered his arch-rival Niki Lauda to clinch his only Formula One Championship.
Let not wait any longer and shed some light at the Japanese Grand Prix's top-five races of all time.
#5 Hill wins the race on aggregate - 1994 Japanese Grand Prix
The 1994 Japanese Grand Prix was the penultimate race of the season, with Damon Hill trailing the eventual World Champion Michael Schumacher by a slender margin.
A hotly contested qualifying session saw Schumacher and Hill lock the front row of the grid, with the German taking the pole position.
The race started under appalling conditions, which forced several cars to retire early from the Grand Prix. The race was run for around 10 laps before being red-flagged due to dangerous track conditions. At this point in time, Michael Schumacher led Damon Hill by 6.8 seconds.
After the restart, Damon Hill managed to take the chequered flag with a gap of 10.1 seconds to the German, which secured him a famous victory by an aggregate difference of 3.3 seconds.
With that race win, Damon Hill closed the gap to the German to only a single point, setting up a great final race of the season. However, a collision between the two in the next race ensured that Michael Schumacher won the championship.
#4 Raikkonen wins from the back of the grid - 2005 Japanese Grand Prix
A wet qualifying session at the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix ensured Jarno Trulli his first pole position. The traditional frontrunners struggled and started the race from further down. Kimi Raikkonen started the race from the seventeenth place.
A safety car at the end of the first lap, coupled with some excellent driving ensured that the Finn was close to the top of the grid in the first half of the race.
The second half of the race saw some unbelievable driving from Raikkonen, that saw him close the gap of 20 seconds to the race leader to just a few car lengths before the last three laps of the race.
Raikkonen pulled off a spectacular overtaking manoeuvre over Renault's Fisichella on the final lap and secured a memorable race win at the Suzuka Circuit.
#3 Senna collides with Prost - 1989 Japanese Grand Prix
The 1989 Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit is one of the most controversial races in the history of Formula One.
Teammates Ayrton Senna and Alian Prost headed to the Grand Prix, with the Frenchman leading the drivers' championship standings.
Senna started the race on pole, while Prost started just behind him in the second place. However, Ayrton Senna suffered from a poor start and handed the lead to his teammate. After trailing for multiple laps, the Brazilian finally caught up with Prost, at which point, both the drivers were pulling every trick from the bag to win the race.
The drama unfolded when Senna collided with Prost after a failed overtaking manoeuvre that saw both the cars stall their engines. Alain Prost left his car while Senna managed to restart it with the help of the marshals. The Brazilian, then, headed towards the pits to replace the nosecone of his car before charging up the field to cross the line first to claim a memorable victory.
However, controversially, right after the race, the Brazilian was disqualified from the race for cutting a chicane during the collision with Prost, which settled the championship in the Frenchman's favour.
Interestingly, the duo collided at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix as well; however, this crash retired both the drivers, gifting the championship to the prolific Brazilian driver.
#2 Schumacher clinches the world title - 2000 Japanese Grand Prix
The 1998 Japanese Grand Prix settled the championship in Hakkinen's favour, denying Michael Schumacher. The 2000 Grand Prix of Japan was the exact opposite that saw the German clinch his first world championship with Ferrari.
Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen locked the front row of the grid, with the Finn losing out on pole by just 0.009 seconds.
Hakkinen had a dream start and wrestled the lead away from the German before the end of the first lap. The Finn managed to hold on to the top spot for most of the race despite the tremendous pressure put on by Schumacher.
However, the second round of pit stops changed the order as Michael Schumacher put in some fast laps to get approximately four seconds ahead of the Finn. Hakkinen tried to regain the lead but failed, which concluded a memorable championship battle in the German's favour.
#1 Senna's first title - 1988 Japanese Grand Prix
Before the two championship-deciding collisions in 1989 and 1990, Senna was involved in a title-deciding race against his teammate Alain Prost at the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix.
The McLarens locked the front row with Ayrton Senna on pole position; however, the Brazillian stalled on the grid at the start of the race. Senna eventually managed to jump-start his car, but this move dropped him to the fourteenth place.
Ayrton Senna started making progress to catch up the lead pack when the racetrack was showered with inconsistent rain. Prost's malfunctioning gearbox helped his cause. Finally, on lap 27, the Brazilian managed to pass the Frenchman to take the race lead.
Senna held his ground from there on and took the race win by a gap of 13 seconds, which was his eighth win of the season. The victory decided the championship in the Brazilian's favour, much to the disappointment of Alain Prost.
