The latest in our embryonic series devoted to wishing happy birthday to obscure F1 drivers today leads us to the door of Britain's Julian Bailey.

A former Formula Ford Festival winner, Bailey had a decent reputation in lower formulas but never pinned down a competitive drive during two cracks at the sport in 1988 and 1991.

In 1988, at Tyrrell, he failed to qualify 10 times out of 16 races. He returned with Lotus three years later, earning DNQs in three of the four races he contested before the money ran out. 

Remarkably, the one GP he did qualify for that season - in San Marino - ended with Bailey finishing in the points in sixth place, having lined up 26th and last.

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Veritytreacle: He's too full of his own importance. Not good for his fans. He needs to stop crying like a baby and do the job he's paid for! 

Carl Featherstone: If Lewis refuses to answer questions then the media should refuse to ask him any this weekend and not report anything about him 

Fitzroy: the team determines who wins..all about keeping Rosberg happy this year.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Suzuka

In Monza, Fernando Alonso identified Japan as one of four end-of-season races - including Singapore, Austin and Abu Dhabi - where McLaren might be stronger than usual. On Thursday, Jenson Button predicted the car would be “pretty strong” through Suzuka’s Esses section and that the race would be “pretty good” for the team. How wrong they were. McLaren have struggled all weekend - Button in particular. Button was knocked out in Q1 and even Alonso could only manage 15th on the grid. What had happened? Well, Suzuka is a circuit where engine power is a significant factor in lap time - which makes it all the more odd they would hope to do well here.  They didn't seem to have an explanation. “There are some races we will be better and races we will be worse,” Alonso said. “This one definitely is not one we are competitive, it seems." Things got worse for Button on race morning when it was announced Honda had changed his engine for strategic reasons, fitting the new-spec Alonso has had all weekend. He will start from the back as a result.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Suzuka

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Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are not the only team and driver caught in a media controversy this weekend. Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel are in the same boat after team boss Maurizio Arrivabene said in a wide-ranging interview on Italian TV that the German had to “earn” his place at Ferrari beyond 2017. It was perhaps not the wisest of remarks given Vettel has taken a week of heavy criticism in the Italian media for his first-corner crash in Malaysia and his general dip in form compared to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen since the Finn signed a new contract in the summer. Raikkonen again pipped Vettel in qualifying, this time by 0.079secs, Vettel pointing out that he had been ahead over the lap but had consistently messed up the chicane.

Eleven years ago today, Kimi Raikkonen pulled off one of his most memorable victories as he came through from 17th on the grid to pass Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella around the outside of Turn 1 at the start of the final lap at Suzuka.

It was the McLaren driver's seventh win in a season that saw him emerge as the main rival to Renault's Fernando Alonso, who had wrapped up his maiden world title at the previous round in Brazil. 

It was a harsh result on Fisichella, who was denied a second win in a campaign that saw him totally outclassed by his Spanish team-mate.

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Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Suzuka

If Lewis Hamilton finishes second to Nico Rosberg later this afternoon in Japan, he will be 30 points behind in the world championship with 100 still available over the remaining four races. Which would make the title out of his own control - Rosberg could finish second to him in every race and still win the championship. Coming back from that would be a mountainous task. Beating Rosberg in this race is imperative for Hamilton.

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McLaren are the most successful team in Japan with nine wins, although they are unlikely to make that a perfect 10 today with their cars lining up 16th and 17th after a troubled qualifying. 

James Hunt secured McLaren's first win in Japan in 1977 - a year after his third place at Fuji secured him the world title - but 11 years passed before McLaren won in the Far East again. 

Ayrton Senna's victory in 1988 was followed by further wins for Gerhard Berger (1991), Senna again (1993), Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999), Kimi Raikkonen (2005), Lewis Hamilton (2007) and Jenson Button (2011). 

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One line that you may have missed overnight is a gearbox change for Kimi Raikkonen. The Ferrari man qualified third but will now line up eighth after a five-place penalty was applied.

We now have an all-Red Bull second row, with Force India's Sergio Perez fifth and Raikkonen's team-mate Sebastian Vettel in sixth, the German's three-place grid penalty for causing a collision last weekend magically becoming two. 

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Suzuka

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While Lewis Hamilton is a one-man story machine, Nico Rosberg is sticking like glue to his policy of “focusing on one race at a time” and not letting anything take his attention from the task at hand. So far, it is working a treat for him. He has looked all weekend like the Mercedes driver with a better grasp of his car around Suzuka, but he said there was no sense of being in control. “That's not how it works with Lewis, because he is always able to fight back,” Rosberg said. “It’s not like when I am in front in P1 and P2, I know OK qualifying will work out fine. As we saw today, he comes back and he is the strongest of the whole weekend when it counts, so you can never be sure.”

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Suzuka

Mercedes say they are prepared to accept “some collateral damage” from Lewis Hamilton following his controversial behaviour in Japan.

Hamilton refused to answer questions in his post-qualifying news conference on Saturday, accusing the media of being “disrespectful” and then walking out.

It was in response to some reports of his behaviour in an earlier news conference.

Wolff said: “Let him do his talking on the track. His performances in the car justify some collateral damage.”

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Unless you've spent the last 24 hours in a cave on the moon you'll be aware that Lewis Hamilton had a bit of a pop at some of the media yesterday over what he perceives as disrespectful reporting of his Snapchat antics in the drivers' news conference on Thursday.

Our very own Andrew Benson witnessed the exchange and covered the story yesterday.

Now we want your take. To the outside observer this seems like an unnecessary distraction from the job at hand, but then again maybe it's all just part of the psychological game.

Give us your views at #bbcf1.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Suzuka

Lewis Hamilton has a way of writing his own headlines, and he has done so with qualifying-like levels of commitment this weekend in Japan. Snapchatting his way through a news conference, missing out on pole to team-mate Nico Rosberg by just 0.013 seconds and then refusing to answer questions in his media briefing afterwards. This is a weekend from which Hamilton badly needs to emerge having cut his points deficit to Rosberg. But his tactic is obviously not to clear his mind of unnecessary distractions.

Before we mire ourselves in yesterday's press conference goings-on, there's the small matter of the Japanese Grand Prix to think about. 

In just under an hour, Nico Rosberg will start from his 30th career pole after edging Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a close qualifying session.

Rosberg has been top in every session so far this weekend and should he convert that to a win today, his lead in the world championship will increase to at least 30 points. 

With just four races remaining after today, Hamilton simply cannot afford to cede more ground to his rival. 

It's finely poised. And it's all going to play out on one of the world's great race tracks. 

This could be a belter.

Louis van Gaal, Steve McClaren, Preston from the Ordinary Boys and... erm, the Bee Gees.

Yes the list of famous media walkouts runs to at least four that I can think of and I'm guessing there's probably more. 

Now Lewis Hamilton can be added to that famous list after he walked out of his Mercedes media duties yesterday, citing "disrespectful" coverage of his recent actions. 

But more on this later.