Anyone complaining about the championship becoming predictable in favour of Lewis Hamilton should recall the Japanese Grand Prix 30 years ago. Anti-climatic doesn't make a start.
Nelson Piquet won the title while standing still in the Williams garage. Qualifying was at full stretch and yet, in a matter of seconds, the season's story had come to a sudden stop -- against a tyre barrier in the Esses, to be precise.
Qualifying in 1987 was run in one-hour sessions on Friday and on Saturday, a driver's best time from across the two counting for grid position. With only Japan and Australia remaining on the calendar, the championship had narrowed to a fight between Nigel Mansell and Piquet in their Williams-Hondas, the Brazilian arriving at Suzuka with a 12-point advantage in an era when the first six finishers received points ranging from 9 to 1.