Five races remain in the 2018 Formula One world championship and following the controversial race in Russia a week ago, the title appears as good as Lewis Hamilton’s. Join The Roar for a live blog from 4pm AEDT.
Another race victory at Sochi through team orders, has given the Briton a mighty 50-point lead over Sebastian Vettel, meaning that he no longer mathematically has to win a race during the remainder of the season to be crowned a five-time world champion.
Hope fades then for Vettel and Ferrari coming into the driver favourite Japanese Grand Prix and the technically marvellous Suzuka circuit, where the Scuderia have not won since 2004.
Vettel’s own record at the 5.8km, 53-lap race is a lot better though, having won four races for Red Bull – though the past four seasons has seen Suzuka owned by Hamilton and Mercedes AMG.
Again, Ferrari have opted for an aggressive tyre selection which has been one of their Achilles heels in previous races, having had no practice running on the medium compound tyre and maxing out on the supersofts.
Though with a typhoon alert hanging over the race, there is the possibility for crazy wet conditions to mix up the grand prix.
Rain did affect the last part of qualifying though, catching out Ferrari and their strategists in Q3. The result was another front-row lockout for Mercedes AMG and an 80th career pole position for Hamilton.
Kimi Räikkönen was the best of the red cars in fourth, behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, whilst Vettel was a dismal ninth fastest in the final stage of qualifying.
A furious Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in Q2 with further reliability issues from his power-unit in the Red Bull. A race of recovery beckons once again for the Aussie from fifteenth.
The Haas of Romain Grosjean was the best of the rest behind the top three teams, but it was the Toro Rosso cars that were the stars of qualifying, securing top ten berths at their engine supplier Honda’s home race.
Single stops beckon once more if the conditions are dry, with Hamilton set to the start the race on the soft tyre unlike the rest of the top ten on the supersofts. With that strategic advantage, is there anyone who can stop the Briton at Suzuka?
Tune in on The Roar from a more sensible 4pm AEDT for live blog coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix, as Vettel and Ferrari must look to roll the dice one last time to have a shot at the title.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That then wraps up this live blog of the Japanese Grand Prix. The title then for the taking for Lewis Hamilton next time out in Austin and a circuit at which he's been unbeaten in the hybrid F1 era. Thanks for tuning in and I shall return for the Texas GP in a fortnight's time. Ciao.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 331 - Lewis Hamilton 264 - Sebastian Vettel 207 - Valtteri Bottas 196 - Kimi Räikkönen 173 - Max Verstappen 146 - Daniel Ricciardo 53 -- Sergio Perez 53 -- Kevin Magnussen 53 -- Nico Hulkenberg 50 -- Fernando Alonso 49 -- Esteban Ocon 39 -- Carlos Sainz 31 -- Romain Grosjean 28 -- Pierre Gasly 21 -- Charles Leclerc 8 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 6 --- Marcus Ericsson 6 --- Lance Strol l 2 --- Brendon Hartley 1 --- Sergey Sirotkin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 331 - Lewis Hamilton 264 - Sebastian Vettel 207 - Valtteri Bottas 196 - Kimi Räikkönen 173 - Max Verstappen 146 - Daniel Ricciardo 53 -- Sergio Perez 53 -- Kevin Magnussen 53 -- Nico Hulkenberg 50 -- Fernando Alonso 49 -- Esteban Ocon 39 -- Carlos Sainz 31 -- Romain Grosjean 28 -- Pierre Gasly 21 -- Charles Leclerc 8 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 6 --- Marcus Ericsson 6 --- Lance Stroll 2 --- Brendon Hartley 1 --- Sergey Sirotkin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 538 - Mercedes AMG 460 - Scuderia Ferrari 319 - Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 92 -- Renault Sport 84 -- Haas Ferrari 58 -- McLaren Renault 43 -- Racing Point Force India Mercedes 30 -- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 27 -- Alfa Romeo Sauber
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT It was another Mercedes AMG masterclass in Suzuka, as Lewis Hamilton moves to one race win of a fifth world title, having emphatically won the Japanese Grand Prix. A fourth consecutive victory for the reigning world champion sees his lead in the championship extend to 67-points, with Sebastian Vettel enduring another difficult race weekend where his hopes of a first title for Ferrari have all but faded. Vettel qualified a lowly ninth and had made up places on the first lap, though a collision with Max Verstappen at the Spoon corner following the Safety Car early on, relegated the German to the rear of the grid and forced him into a race of recovery. Sixth was all that the Ferrari driver could salvage, behind his teammate Kimi Räikkönen who had also become acropper with Verstappen, who then had to serve a 5-second time penalty for his role in the Räikkönen incident. Verstappen still came back to finish on the podium, with a late attempt to pass Valtteri Bottas for second, though a lockup in the dying stages of the race denied the Dutchman that extra position. Bottas, who stated post-race he was driving to a set plan - came in 10-seconds behind his race winning teammate. There was audible frustration from Daniel Ricciardo following qualifying, though a solid drive from fifteenth on the grid saw the Aussie come back to take fourth for Red Bull - crucially ahead of the two Ferrari cars. Force India ended the race with both cars in the points too, with Sergio Perez leading the best of the rest in seventh and his teammate Esteban Ocon in ninth, behind the Haas of Romain Grosjean. Disappointing it was for Toro Rosso, who had both their cars qualify inside the top ten, but quickly found themselves relegated. Brendon Hartley after his career best qualifying was thirteenth in the race, whilst Pierre Gasly in the dying stages of the race lost tenth place to Carlos Sainz.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT AND UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by David Coulthard HAMILTON - "The whole weekend was a great one for Mercedes." "This track is the best track in the world." "The happiness I have inside, is there as always." BOTTAS - "Initially in the race, everything felt good and I was executing the plan." "The job for me was to get to the finish line in P2." VERSTAPPEN - "We didn't really have a chance, to nurse the car home with the damage."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 53-LAP JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 V. Bottas 3 M. Verstappen 4 D. Ricciardo 5 K. Räikkönen 6 S. Vettel 7 S. Perez 8 R. Grosjean 9 E. Ocon 10 C. Sainz 11 P. Gasly 12 M. Ericsson 13 B. Hartley 14 F. Alonso 15 S. Vandoorne 16 S. Sirotkin 17 L. Strol l RET C. Leclerc RET N. Hulkenberg RET K. Magnussen
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX Four in a row for Hamilton and another one-two finish for Mercedes AMG with Valtteri Bottas home in second. Max Verstappen, despite a 5-second penalty still finishes third on the podium.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53: FINAL LAP
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Roar Guru
Lap 52/53: 2 LAPS TO GO
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/53: HAM BOT VER RIC RÄI VET PER GRO OCO SAI GAS ERI HAR ALO VAN SIR STR is the current order. Leclerc, Hulkenberg and Magnussen out of the race. Sainz relegates Gasly out of the points then too.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/53: 4 LAPS TO GO
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/53: Gap between Bottas and Verstappen out to 2 seconds now. The chances for second slim now for Max.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/53: Hamilton has his lead out to 10-second now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 46/53: Verstappen loses a bit of time to Bottas on this lap, but there is still plenty of time.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 45/53: Lapped traffic causing a bit of chaos between Bottas and Verstappen, but the positions remain the same currently.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 44/53: Max within a second of the Mercedes AMG then, will the Red Bull make the move?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 43/53: Verstappen closes right up on Bottas then.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 42/53: Mercedes AMG had their mechanics in the pit-lane, so were they going to pit one of their cars if the VSC stayed out a lap longer? They do have the rest of the field covered at this stage, despite Verstappen being within 1.2 seconds of Bottas.