It's back-to-the-future time in Formula One. This weekend the circus rolls into the Suzuka circuit in Japan for the first time since 1996. Off the track, the end-of-term feeling with four races to go is underlined by the horse trading in drivers, with one returning to familiar pastures.
This weekend should finally see the official unveiling of Fernando Alonso as a Ferrari driver next year. What a mouth-watering prospect that is. The last three years have been a big blip on a stellar career. After back-to-back world titles he stepped into his own personal nightmare at McLaren, only to find refuge in a Renault team that had lost its mojo.
Ferrari won't be as poor next season as they were this. There isn't the sea change in rules to catch them out. There's no title race this season to distract them. The chemistry between the team and the driver should be explosive in a positive way, something that will delight Ferrari fans after a lean year. It will be interesting to see how he gets on with Felipe Massa, who will not accept any suggestion he's Alonso's number two.
If reports are correct, Kimi Raikkonen will be headed back to McLaren. It's a canny move by the British team. The Finn is a bit of an enigma. World champion one year, seemingly not bothered the next, perhaps Ferrari post-Schumacher became a bit of a strain for a man who likes to party.
I reckon he will do well next year if he returns to McLaren. He was always fast for the team in his first spell; the problem then was that the machinery was speedy but particularly unreliable. McLaren, like Ferrari, have improved in leaps and bounds as this season has progressed. If they are back on the money next year it will be interesting to see how Hamilton deals with serious in-garage competition again.
Of course, this season is far from done and dusted, and you wouldn't bet against a few more astonishing twists and turns as we head to the last race in Abu Dhabi. But the championship race became a bit clearer after the weekend's events in Singapore. Jenson Button can probably discount the threat posed by the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel after a less than memorable race for the pair.