This week sees the Suzuka host the eighteenth round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship, the Honda-owned track a favourite of drivers and fans alike.

It's not just race fans and drivers. Fact is, Suzuka has a special place in the hearts of everyone who ever built a race track for their toys cars when they were a kid, for the Suzuka International Racing Course is unique in that it features a figure-of-eight, the layout beloved of all junior track designers.

Built as a test track for Honda in the early 60s, Suzuka first hosted Formula One in 1987, and over the years that followed has established itself as one of the sport's truly great circuits.

For 2007 and 2008 the Japanese Grand Prix moved to the Toyota-owned Fuji circuit, but citing the global receission the Japanese manufacturer subsequently pulled the plug and has remained at Suzuka ever since.

Over the years Suzuka has provided us with more than its fair share of drama, not least the shenanigans involving Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Like Brazil, Suzuka often served as the season finale and consequently we have seen a number of titles settled here, this resulting in some epic showdowns.

It is a favourite of the drivers for the challenge that i presents, while for the rest of us it is the racing and the passion of the fans.

While fans in Italy, Britain, Mexico and the Netherlands are known for their passion, at Suzuka it takes on a whoile new level. Not only fdo they appear to support everyone, even the mechanics and truckies, the Japanese fans dress up for the ocasion and bring gifts for their heroes. It is truly one of those heartwarming events.

However, make no mistake, Suzuka is a tough track, a ball-breaker. Unique for being the only figure-of-eight configuration on the calendar, the section after the Degner Curve passes under the straight leading to 130R. Because of this, it's also the only F1 track that runs both clockwise and anticlockwise.

The first corner doesn't require any braking on entry and in qualifying, drivers don't hit the brakes until the car is cornering at close to 5G - therefore generating some of the highest steering wheel torques of the season. The steering wheel is moving continuously during almost all of the first sector of the lap, consequently from Turn 1 until the exit of Turn 7, the drivers are constantly cornering for around 2km.

Most of the lap in Suzuka is spent with some lateral g-force going through the car and in fact, just 1.2 km of the lap is spent driving in a straight line. The lack of straights also mean it is the only track other than Monaco to feature just one DRS zone.

130R is one of F1's quickest corners, taken at 178 mph, while Turn 11 is one of the slowest, at just 43 mph. Suzuka is a very technical track, where a good flow is required because most corners are interconnected. One mistake will impact the next couple of turns.

Coming in the wake of the weather-affected Singapore race, it's worth noting that Suzika too is prone to the Weather Gods, and while we are expecting rain over the course of this weekend we are not expecting a repeat of the typhhon that hit in 2014.

Having failed to wrap up the title in Singapore, Max Verstappen is looking to get the job done this time around. Admitting that he needs a "perfect weekend", the younhster would very much like to secure his second title on Honda's home ground.

However, following last week's superb win, Sergio Perez will obviously fancy his chances, while the Ferrari pair also beleive they can give Red Bull a run for its money.

Several drivers on the grid are previous winners here including Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel (4 times each) and Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas (both once).

Whether Hamilton can finsally open his 2022 win account here remains to be seen, but following the disappointment of Singapore we can expect Mercedes to hit back hard this weekend.

Of course, as was the case last weekend, the weather, always the great leveller, could turn everything on its head once again, after all last weekend we saw both McLarens and both Aston Martins in the points. Alpine, on the other hand, suffered two retirmeents, subsequently losing out to McLaren in the team standings, and will be keen to retake the position.

Though the drivers' title is almost settled there is still plenty to play for in terms of the team standings - the championship that decides the prize money - while a number of drivers have ywet to secure drives for 2023 and will therefore see this as a golden opportunity to impress potential employers.

All in all, at a time when the seeming ineptitude of the FIA and the mudslinging over possible budget cap breeches are causing some to lose faith in F1, we're pretty sure that Suzuka will give us all something to smile about.

According to Betway, the latest odds are... Verstappen to win at 1.53, Leclerc 4.00, Perez 11.00, Hamilton 12.00, Sainz 17.00 and Russell 19.00.

Red Bull is 1.40 to win, while Ferrari is 3.50 and Mercedes 7.50.

Check out our Thursday gallery from Suzuka here.