Formula 1 is finally back in the Land of Rising Sun after two years of pandemic-forced break. As the Japanese Grand Prix gets underway, it is going to be an emotional rollercoaster for Sebastian Vettel as he sent an emotional message to the fans. Regarded as one of his favorite tracks, Suzuka will probably see Vettel race for the last this Sunday.

The German driver put down one of his best qualifying performances this season in Suzuka as he reached Q3 on Saturday. Vettel clocked 1:30.554 on the timesheet and qualified in P9 for Sunday’s race. However, the Aston Martin driver got emotional on his Japan return.

While addressing the crowd in an interview, Vettel sent a message to the Japanese people in their language with tears in his eyes.

While the German ace isn’t fluent in Japanese, he gave it a try. The four-time world champion went like, “I’m not fluent in Japanese, but I’ll try…” and then started off with “Subarashi Toshi Arigato” which translates into ‘Wonderful and Thank you’. This made the crowd go into a frenzy.

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Sebastian Vettel has quite a bit of a fan following in Japan, thanks to his Red Bull and Ferrari days. Moreover, his back-to-back championship runs from 2010 to 2013, have fetched him recognition all over the world, including Japan.

Japanese Grand Prix, one of Sebastian Vettel’s favorite tracks

Even though Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have more wins than Sebastian Vettel in Japan, that doesn’t affect the German to have this track as one of his favorites. While Schumacher and Hamilton have six and five wins, respectively, Vettel has four wins in the Suzuka Circuit.

The former Ferrari star won the Japan races in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013. Moreover, the 35-year-old driver achieved pole positions five times here, including the last time F1 was in Japan in 2019.

In a report published by F1, Vettel revealed his thoughts on the Suzuka Circuit. He stated, “Well, I’ve always loved the track. I think it stands out as my favorite track on the calendar. From the very first year, this has been a special place.”

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“For me, just the layout of corners, the first sector, it’s iconic, it’s a figure-of-eight track, the only one we have. Plus, the atmosphere, the attention the sport gets when we come here is crazy, so yeah, lots of very nice memories,” concluded the former Red Bull driver.

As things stand, the German starts from P9 on Sunday. It’ll be interesting to see how his last race in Japan turns out.