“This race was something special for me,” said Michael Schumacher about the 2000 Japanese GP when he ended Ferrari’s 21-year drought for a world championship! It just wasn’t the feeling of breaking the Italian glory hiatus. Michael had enjoyed every meter of Suzuka to the fullest in getting his 3rd victory in Japan. While the German maestro went on to win 3 more Grands Prix in the Land of the Rising Sun, can he be called the King of the Japanese GP? Lewis Hamilton may have something to say about the same.

F1’s other 7x champion has always been a consistent threat at Suzuka, winning the Japanese GP 4 times & a 5th one at the Fuji Speedway in his rookie season. Lewis Hamilton manages to pull off something great at every track. Although, to do it at the Japanese GP is certainly something special. So, has the British driver achieved enough to get the title of the master of the Japanese GP ahead of Michael Schumacher?

Michael Schumacher vs. Lewis Hamilton – A dive deep into the Japanese GP records

Michael Schumacher first won the Japanese GP in 1995, his 2nd championship-winning year. Thereon, Schumacher may have moved to Ferrari, but his consistency at Suzuka never faltered much. Racking up wins in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 & his final one in 2004, Michael etched his name in Japan’s racing folklore. It was always going to be a tough job to match 6 wins in Japan. Yet, Lewis Hamilton has made an honest attempt at it.

Technically, the Briton has won the Japanese GP 5 times, including his 2007 victory at Fuji. Speaking of only Suzuka, Lewis still can boast of 4 wins at the old-school circuit (2014, 2015, 2017 & 2018). Although to make up for the lack of a win or two relative to Schumacher, Hamilton has beaten both lap records at Suzuka.

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At the 2017 Japanese GP, the Mercedes man set the qualifying lap record with a 1:27:319, about 1.5 seconds quicker than Michael’s 1:28:954. Post that qualifying, Hamilton was elated to put in the stunning lap as it was his first pole position at Suzuka despite having won the race previously. As per Sky Sports, he said, “It’s been 10 years trying to get that pole position!”

A couple of years later, in 2019, Hamilton again stunned the Japanese crowd by resetting Kimi Raikkonen‘s race lap record of 1:31:540 from 2005 with a blistering 1:30.983. While Lewis has much more modern machinery than Michael, his speed & prowess are commendable to make up for being behind on Japanese GP wins to the German 7-time champion.

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Does that make Hamilton the king of the Japanese GP? It is still pretty 50-50. Perhaps if he could win a 6th Japanese GP, things could tilt in the Briton’s favor. Although, Michael Schumacher has several Suzuka moments that make his name closer to the high-speed thrills of Japan.

Schumacher’s highs & lows at the Japanese GP

From racing an incredible championship-winning Grand Prix to trying to fend off a hard-charging Fernando Alonso at 130R – Michael Schumacher has experienced it all at Suzuka. The 2000 Japanese GP always comes to everyone’s mind when one recalls Schumacher holding up the trophy on the Suzuka podium. The relentless strategic battle with Mika Hakkinen that led the German to believe “it’s looking bloody good”, will certainly go down as a golden highlight for Schumacher.

It perhaps got special due to his title loss, 2 years before that in ’98 to Hakkinen himself at the same track. Having battled neck & neck all year long, Mika got an easy hand at Suzuka as Schumacher couldn’t finish the race due to a puncture, gifting the title to the Finn.

To top it up, perhaps the 130R battle with Fernando Alonso is certainly one of the finest Suzuka moments involving Michael Schumacher. Going wheel-to-wheel, at one of the toughest corners at one of the most difficult overtaking tracks, that is hard to top! Alonso may have blown past the seven-time champion through 130R. But Schumacher showed some mature racecraft to ensure the classy move didn’t turn into an ugly crash.

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Do these moments give Michael Schumacher an edge to be called the King of the Japanese GP? A king certainly experiences both highs & lows in his regime. Still, until Lewis Hamilton is racing, he would want to get the honor of being the master of Suzuka.