Alonso still giving everything as Hamilton returns to form in Japan

Star of the race

In 2012 Fernando Alonso put together one of the most near perfect title campaigns in recent memory in a Ferrari that was decidedly second best. Sometimes even third best. The only thing that took the gloss off that year was that he failed to win the title but oh how he battled to the very end.

A few years on and with Ferrari having consistently failed to build the great Spaniard a car capable of winning the title Alonso moved to McLaren, a team which has fallen from such great heights but with Honda was surely going to reach the summit sooner rather than later...

This season was always going to be a struggle for the McLaren Honda combo, but did anyone expect them to fail to deliver so, well to quote Alonso, so embarrassingly? In a way it's been written in the recent history of the sport. McLaren have been plagued consistently by in-consistence. They've not been a dominant package for nearly 20 years, their race day management has often been middling, their pit stops not to envy and their cars have been very much hit and miss and when they've hit they've often then missed.

It's not an enviable track record. But the romance of McLaren Honda, looking back on their four years of domination from 1988 to 1991, driven by the late great Ayrton Senna, the childhood hero of most of the today's grid, oh to be the driver to recreate that glory. Alonso took that chance, to resurrect this fallen team and place it back at the top, to reach that summit and be victorious once more.

How easy it is to shatter dreams. McLaren have been nowhere, Alonso isn't wrong to say it's embarrassing, Honda have come into the sport woefully under prepared and the chassis although better, wouldn't compete with the best, at least not yet. And there, there is the uncertainty that surrounds McLaren Honda.

It could all get better next year, but Honda are so far behind it's surely going to take longer than that. And it's not just Honda, the team are demotivated, they haven't had a title sponsor for years now and don't appear near signing one leaving a budget shortfall for 2016. How long before they fall even further? But this is McLaren and Honda, of course they'll succeed...

They have the ingredients for winning, but how long will it take? With Jenson Button already contemplating retirement over another year of pain how long was it going to take Alonso to ponder on the same thing? The rumours surfaced in Japan that perhaps both drivers, despite contracts, would take early retirement. After all, Button and Alonso are both former champions, they're not in the early years of their careers anymore, they're here to win not battle for 14th with little light on the horizon.

Team Chairman Ron Dennis believes that both his drivers will be at the team next season, but they're going to have to improve a lot to keep Alonso in particular much longer. The fact Dennis has said he will speak to his driver about his radio comments which included saying his engine was like one from GP2 while the Honda top brass were in attendance is likely to cause a rift with a driver as volatile as Alonso can be. 

His eyes are wondering, he's thinking of other things, perhaps a go at Le Mans. Is his will to gain his much longed for third title still as strong as it comes up to 10 years since he last won the biggest prize in motor sport? How much longer can he watch on as his main rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton keep on racking up the wins? He must be thinking it should be him. 

Alonso isn't blameless, he's created a reputation as being difficult and not the best of team players, he's made several decisions which have left him in an uncompetitive environment. But he still gives his all.

In Japan, Alonso battled hard keeping behind cars and drivers he should be beating with ease for as long as he could. That he finished 11th despite his frustrations boiling over, that he keeps on giving his most shows that he hasn't given up and he will win again, whether that's in Formula 1 though remains to be seen. But in my mind, after everything this year has thrown at him, that he hasn't just thrown in the towel and still pushes as hard as he does makes him my star of the race.

The Winner

So was the atrocious last race in Singapore just a blip in Mercedes otherwise dominant 2015 campaign? Yes, yes it was. Lewis Hamilton was back on top form this weekend. He lost out on pole position to his team mate Nico Rosberg after a huge crash for Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull lost Lewis his second run at the top slot.

It didn't matter though as he executed the start perfectly. Drawing alongside Rosberg, Lewis had the inside line for turn one, Rosberg tried to hang on around the outside but Hamilton hung him out to dry, leaving him no room and taking the racing line, Rosberg ran out of road and dropped to fourth behind Vettel's Ferrari and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

Lewis was away and clear, Mercedes were back in a big way. He was dominant throughout, setting a fastest lap a clear second quicker than anyone else. Eventually he won by over 18 seconds to extend his title lead to 48 points.

Rosberg still holds second place in the championship but more and more he looks like a man who knows the game is up, perhaps for as long as he remains Lewis' team mate at Mercedes. Rosberg is a capable driver but as I've said before, it's like Webber with Vettel at Red Bull. Once beaten, always beaten. His words are meaningless, the fight he keeps talking about is simply not there. Not this year.

He put on a good battle today though, passing Bottas into the final chicane and getting ahead of Vettel in the second round of pit stops to take the runner up spot. Vettel's heroics of last weekend weren't to be repeated as he took third. Kimi Raikkonen took fourth after undercutting Bottas, the Williams driver taking fifth. 

The battles

Behind the top five there were plenty of other midfield scraps that caused interest, most with a McLaren heading a line of cars waiting to pass involving Red Bulls and Saubers with the Toro Rosso's playing a part before they got ahead for good. Max Verstappen running his car to the edge as always came from 17th on the grid to finish ninth, one place ahead of his team mate Carlos Sainz. It was another good drive from Max despite a grid penalty for causing a blockage during Q2 when his car failed.

Nico Hulkenberg could have been star of the race after charging up from 13th to finish sixth. He had an impressive first lap to be eighth before jumping the two Lotus cars during the first pit stops. Both Lotus' were in good shape with Romain Grosjean once again leading the charge while Pastor Maldonado had a solid outing as they came home seventh and eighth respectively.

The Red Bull's had a torrid time with Daniil Kvyat starting from the back after his qualifying crash, he made some progress but after various problems could only finish 13th. Daniel Ricciardo was 15th after a clash at the start with the Williams of Felipe Massa left both with a puncture on the opening lap. This incident also helped push Sergio Perez in the Force India out wide too to leave him just 12th. 

Alexander Rossi beat Will Stevens again in the Manor Marussia battle at the back. A spin from Stevens proved decisive, but at least in race mode Rossi looks like he has a lot of potential while Stevens hopes of remaining on the grid next year have taken a dive.

Things of note

Red Bull are still struggling to find an engine for 2016. With their partnership with Renault almost certainly done and Mercedes having rejected a deal it looks like their only option is with Ferrari. However, Ferrari are not keen on supplying Red Bull with the latest specification of engine, they would prefer to supply a year old one, something Red Bull find unacceptable as they look to challenge for the title once again.


And that's the thing that put Mercedes off supplying them. Despite suffering their worst season since 2008, Red Bull still have one of the best chassis around, it's only their power unit that's holding them back. What Mercedes and now Ferrari are worried about is if they supply them with a power unit, they'll beat them with their own product. It's understandable why both are worried about the consequences of supplying Red Bull, but you hope for the good of the sport this is something that is resolved quickly otherwise we could find four cars missing from the grid next year.

Let's not even get started on Lotus, although I feel compelled too. With administration looming if they don't meet a court order on Monday (28th September) then it could possibly be six cars down next season. Renault are still in talks to buy the team and it is to be hoped the deal is completed as soon as possible. 

It's readily known that these power units are complicated pieces of kit, so it seems odd that engine deals are still going on so late in the day when the design process for 2016 must be well on the way. To just slot a different engine in is not the work of a moment. Maybe a very long moment. But with Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Lotus as well as potentially Manor all changing their power units next season I expect testing to be fairly fraught for all.

Romain Grosjean is expected to be announced as the lead driver the new Haas F1 team, which joins the grid next season. With links to Ferrari, Grosjean is hoping to use this seat as a way of getting into the Ferrari team should Kimi Raikkonen retire as expected in 2016.

The title chase

Vettel lies 59 points behind Hamilton with five races to go. Yes Rosberg is a bit closer but if Vettel somehow gets on a charge Mercedes will only put their full support behind Lewis, including Rosberg. 

Hamilton is control, unless he loses control, then I should think he's already clearing a space in his trophy cabinet. 


Result:

1. Hamilton - Mercedes
2. Rosberg - Mercedes
3. Vettel - Ferrari
4. Raikkonen - Ferrari
5. Bottas - Williams
6. Hulkenberg - Force India
7. Grosjean - Lotus
8. Maldonado - Lotus
9. Verstappen - Toro Rosso
10. Sainz - Toro Rosso
11. Alonso - McLaren
12. Perez - Force India
13. Kvyat - Red Bull
14. Ericsson - Sauber
15. Ricciardo - Red Bull
16. Button - McLaren
17. Massa - Williams
18. Rossi - Marussia
19. Stevens - Marussia
20. Nasr - Sauber

all photos taken from autosport.com

Can Bianchi's crash improve F1 safety?

Jules Bianchi crashed at yesterday’s Japanese Grand Prix, striking a digger that was recovering Adrian Sutil’s Sauber after it had crashed at the same turn 7 a lap previously. He suffered a severe head injury that has been operated on and is currently in intensive care at the Mie General Medical Centre in Yokkaichi. The world of Formula 1 is now reflecting on what could have been done better to prevent such an accident happening again. They must analyse but there also must not be knee jerk reactions that affect the sport in a detrimental way.

Formula 1 has not suffered a death at a Grand Prix for over twenty years now. Since 1994 the sport has had a few broken legs, a couple of concussions and the dreadful accident of Felipe Massa during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend in 2009 where he fractured his skull from which he made a full recovery. It has come so far in terms of safety but there is always room for improvement. But first of all would we even be discussing safety if Bianchi had missed the recovery vehicle? Probably not but we should have been as regards recovery vehicles on track.

When rain is pouring down and getting stronger and a car has already gone off with light fading should there be an immediate safety car? There are many instances where if one car has gone off another might follow. Look at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix or the 2007 European Grand Prix where cars only just missed a recovery vehicle. Only a few weeks ago for the American round of the World Endurance Championship, over 10 cars went off at the first turn on the same lap because the rain had become too much. These warnings were not taken on board but such is hindsight.

Yesterday the original Sutil crash was covered by double waved yellow flags, which means slow down and be prepared to stop. It alerts the drivers to the presence of machinery and marshals on or near to the track. However as much as drivers might lift off, they’re still going at speed. Perhaps in future in these sort of conditions, and even in the dry, before a digger or other safety vehicle can come on track a safety car must be called to neutralise the race.

Martin Brundle almost had a similar accident in 1994 at the same circuit, just missing the recovery vehicle but striking a marshal, he has been advocating something being done about this for years.

Another option if possible would be to make circuits have more cranes so as to pluck the cars off the track without the need for a recovery vehicle, although it wouldn’t always be possible. Therefore we can eliminate the use of a safety car to slow racing after every accident which is what 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has said today.

I’m not sure all incidents need to be covered by the safety car, in the Formula 1 world where we have increasingly sanitised race tracks with large run off areas, it’s not always necessary. It’s no coincidence that Suzuka is a favourite amongst the drivers because it’s a challenge but it’s also one of the more dangerous with limited run off, it gives them an extra thrill. However, maybe in the aim of prevention it is time to deploy the safety car if ever there’s a car on track that needs a recovery vehicle, especially in the rain.

There are also questions about whether the race should have been moved to an earlier start time because of the impending typhoon approaching the area. In the end as the drivers have admitted, conditions weren’t too bad. I think it should have been moved as they had advance warning of possible torrential rain, but purely because the 3pm start time doesn’t leave a lot of room in case a race is delayed as dark descends at 5.30pm at this time of year in Suzuka. The FIA asked if circuit owners wanted it moved but it was deemed unnecessary because of ticket holders getting to the track on time. I don’t think it had anything to do with TV coverage especially as the FIA were the ones asking if it should be moved.

Further to that it was wet all day, the Bianchi accident could have happened at any time of day such were the conditions affecting Suzuka so in the end when the race started had no on the accident and the organisers were right in the end. After scouring the F1 press, there was another call from the Guardian newspaper for canopies covering the cockpits.

The head is the most exposed part of a driver in single seater racing and there have been times when you wince as a car comes near a drivers head such as Vitantonio Liuzzi launching near to Michael Schumacher's head in Abu Dhabi 2010 or Romain Grosjean going over the top of Fernando Alonso's head in Belgium 2012. Recent tests regarding them are ongoing. In Bianchi’s accident I don’t think a canopy would have made much difference, in fact it could have made things worse. It looks like his car went partially underneath the digger, if it had gone headfirst a canopy might have trapped him in the cockpit, or caused more damage to his person.

A canopy might be good for preventing wheels or other pieces hitting the head at speed, but in an accident when striking a large vehicle such as this, which should never happen, but its debateable whether it would have made any difference. And my personal view is that covering the cockpits takes away part of the drama of Formula 1, it’s a step too far. With wheel tethers in place and helmet safety constantly being improved I don’t think there’s a need for canopies. Next they’ll want guards over the wheels which might as well make them look like small LMP1 cars from the WEC, you just need to cover the suspension.

Formula 1 and single seater racing in general is open wheel and open cockpit, I think it’s part of the essence of the sport. Pick the right spot at a race track and there isn’t something more impressive than seeing a driver battle with his machinery.

I think as long as Formula 1 learns from this accident then they can keep the sport at an acceptable danger level because Grand Prix racing is inherently dangerous, it’s never going to be completely safe when you strap a man or woman into a 200mph car and ask them to push it to the maximum. It of course has to be an acceptable risk for the drivers to participate, although if things hadn’t become so safe, I don’t think there’s a single driver out there who wouldn’t still be pushing for all their worth.

I often think of F1 drivers as modern day gladiators. Their arena is the race tracks of the world, their weapons the machines they drive to the limit, sometimes beyond. It’s hard to grasp just what kind of skill they possess to keep their cars on the limit of adhesion as they battle wheel to wheel for the glory of winning. It’s as true now as it was when the sport started.

For many drivers that danger is like a drug, the thrill, the surge of adrenalin as they push the fastest cars in the world in their pursuit of victory. It’s like no feeling in the world to them dancing on the line between life and death. Obviously they want to race in the knowledge that everything is being done in regards to safety but you know it can’t be completely safe, I think many of them like it that way, witness Kimi Raikkonen, foot flat to the floor in Spa ploughing through a cloud of smoke at the top of Eau Rouge which he had no idea what it was covering. Foolhardy or impressive?

For us mere mortals watching from the comfort of our sofas it’s an admiration that these supremely fit athletes push their machines and bodies in conditions that we would immediately wilt in. Theirs is a sport that can take them to the edge of life as they confront extreme heat, battle the rain, the g-forces, and they do it willingly to feel alive, to be the best, to live their dreams. They are singularly focused people who will not give up on what they want. Most drivers who reach Formula 1 have been craving a desire to be in the ultimate sporting combination of man and machine since they were children.

They’ve pushed themselves, fought hard, never backed down and maintained their passion and drive to succeed through all kinds of sporting setbacks, but they’ll pick themselves up and continue to push to achieve what they set out to do.

Even the drivers at the back of the grid are exceptionally gifted. Bianchi is one such driver, meant for greater things than the brilliant two points he took for ninth place driving for back of the grid Marussia. A Ferrari Academy driver, he seemed destined to move up the grid and go for glory.

At Suzuka he was once again leading the Marussia and Caterham battle pushing hard in a car that in general terms is not a match for the midfield bunch let alone the top cars. But he was doing something he loved, pushing to the maximum. Hopefully he can make a full recovery from his injuries and continue his rise up the Formula 1 ranks. 


all photos taken from autosport.com except canopy picture from formula1.com

Lewis Hamilton wins in Japan

It hardly seems to matter as we learn that Jules Bianchi has suffered a severe head injury following his accident at the Japanese Grand Prix. After surgery he will be transferred to intensive care. There are more details here. But there was a race today that got underway on time behind the safety car. It was then stopped after two laps and restarted behind the safety car before finally racing commenced after nine laps.

The conditions were not good but were safe to race on despite the uncertainty surrounding the event because of the approaching typhoon. In fact as racing got going properly the rain had relented and it was only towards the end that it came back in force.

Nico Rosberg led for the first 28 laps including a switch from full wet tyres to intermediates. Lewis Hamilton tracked his Mercedes team mate for all those laps never letting him get much further than two seconds away. He again ignored advice from the team to hang back and attacked Rosberg as he sensed the German’s tyres were wearing quicker than his own.

Hamilton began to push harder, even too hard as he had to catch a slide into turn one sending him wide but he was still in the race. Only a few laps later he was right behind Rosberg again coming into the final chicane at the end of the lap. Rosberg’s car squirmed under acceleration out of the final corner and across the line into lap 29 Lewis had the DRS open. Nico couldn’t see in his mirrors and went straight to the inside for the first corner.

It opened the turn for Hamilton and judging the grip to perfection he went around the outside of Rosberg and was through into the lead. He quickly opened a gap and through another pit stop for more intermediates he led until the race was slowed by a safety car for Bianchi’s accident and then finally stopped with seven laps to go and the result declared.

It was another telling statement from Hamilton to Rosberg about where this title could be heading as he opened a ten point gap in the drivers championship. It was great to see the silver cars battling wheel to wheel once again.

It was his eighth victory of the year, four more than Rosberg has managed. It’s beginning to look like Lewis now has the decisive edge. Having said that Rosberg did take pole position this weekend and he’s always there to take second. To be suffering an 8-4 victory deficit and only ten points behind, Rosberg is a man of consistency and that could still pay off especially with the double points round.

Behind the title contenders Sebastian Vettel produced a great drive to finish third, although he was fourth on the road behind his team mate Daniel Ricciardo when the race was stopped but in a red flag situation the result is taken from two laps before.

Despite a trip through the gravel he made a couple of good moves on the Williams cars before pitting early for his second stop and jumping a heroic Jenson Button to be in third. He was only lying behind Ricciardo as the Australian had yet to stop, although it wasn’t sure if he would.

Ricciardo followed Vettel for most of the race despite out qualifying him and was never far behind, making brilliant moves on the Williams cars in the esses  as he kept up with the current world champion. But this is two races in a row Vettel has beaten him. He’ll want to rectify that especially with Vettel moving on from Red Bull and Ricciardo becoming team leader. He won’t want people believing that once Vettel got on top of his issues with the car he would have been consistently beaten, although that’s highly unlikely after the season he’s enjoyed.

Jenson Button ended up fifth after suffering a problem at his second pit stop but he was my star of the race. When the safety car pulled in to let the race get underway he immediately pitted for intermediates. When everyone else pitted a few laps later he had judged it brilliantly to end up in third place, lapping at the same pace as the Mercedes pair.

When he came in for the second time only an electrical problem that resulted in a change of steering wheel and which his McLaren team mate Kevin Magnussen also suffered from dropped him behind Vettel. The Red Bull’s had compromised their qualifying by going for a full wet set up and Button really had no response to that once they were close.

He did manage to remind people just how good he is in the mixed conditions and it was timely too with his drive and career under threat after the recent driver moves. A fifth place finish doesn’t sound wonderful but as the rain came down harder towards the end he was one of the first to pit for full wets again, it was then that the race was brought to a premature end, so you never know, it could have been a podium.

The Williams boys held a second row lock out after qualifying but ended up sixth and seventh with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Felipe Massa. Their car hasn’t looked good in the wet all year so it was no surprise to see them drop back a bit, but they held on to take some solid points and tighten their top three position in the constructors ahead of Ferrari.

This was helped greatly by Fernando Alonso retiring with an electrical failure while behind the safety car. Such a shame as I think he could have been a podium threat. Kimi Raikkonen failed to score and ended up 12^th after being nowhere all day. It stops Ferrari’s run at 81 consecutive points finishes. After two successive failures I’m sure Alonso can’t wait to be out of there.

Force India just about held on to fifth in the constructors ahead of McLaren with Nico Hulkenberg getting eighth and Sergio Perez tenth. Despite a grid penalty leaving him 20^th on the grid Jean-Eric Vergne seemed to come from nowhere to claim two points with ninth beating his team mate and the new Red Bull graduate Daniil Kvyat once again.

Sauber had Esteban Gutierrez in 13^th, Magnussen eventually got home in 14^th with the Lotuses 15^th and 16^th, Romain Grosjean ahead of Pastor Maldonado. Marcus Ericsson headed the Marussia Caterham battle ahead of Max Chilton and Kamui Kobayashi.

But it is Jules Bianchi who our thoughts are with. Adrian Sutil’s crash the lap before meant a safety vehicle was brought onto the track covered only by waved double yellow flags. Perhaps the conditions warranted a safety car, Sutil explained that as the rain got harder he was experiencing aquaplaning.

It seems Bianchi suffered a similar accident; it was just unfortunate a safety vehicle was already at trackside which the Marussia struck. I wish Jules Bianchi a speedy recovery. 

all photos taken from autosport.com and bbc.co.uk/formula1

Jules Bianchi suffers head injury after accident in Japanese Grand Prix

Jules Bianchi of Marussia has suffered a severe head injury and is undergoing surgery after suffering a horrible accident in the Japanese Grand Prix. Following surgery he is to be moved to intensive care.

He had spun off at turn 7 and hit a recovery vehicle that was picking up Adrian Sutil’s Sauber which had hit the wall at the same corner the lap before. It appears as if the Marussia struck the back of the tractor causing the race to be stopped with nine laps to the end.

The FIA has released a statement saying "The CT scan shows that he has suffered a severe head injury and is currently undergoing surgery. Following this, he will be moved to intensive care where he will be monitored."

The Grand Prix took place at its scheduled time despite the threat of a super typhoon heading towards the circuit in Suzuka. There will be a lot of conjecture about what should and shouldn’t have taken place today and at what time but the fact is it did, and I don’t think the horrible accident to have injured Bianchi should affect people’s opinions on that.

When Bianchi’s Marussia hit into the JCB that was picking up Sutil’s already crashed Sauber it was nothing to do with if and when the race should have taken place, it was just a terrible accident. The rain had got heavier after a convenient break in the weather allowed the race to go ahead but an incident like this could even have happened at a dry race, although as Sutil said after he believes a safety car might have been appropriate to allow his car to be rescued. He also reported ‘aquaplaning at this corner’ which appears to have caught out him and Bianchi.

Having said that it’s not your usual situation when there’s a rain storm and you can’t judge how much rain there will be. They knew a typhoon was heading for the track days ago and that the start time was only two and a half hours before sunset. There was obvious potential for the race to be delayed and they had plenty of opportunity to move the race to an earlier start time but the circuit owners Honda refused. This seems like it would have been the sensible option but as so often happens in Formula 1, the sensible option is often the route least likely to be taken.

However, in the end I don’t believe that this had any effect on the race, it was just a wet race and it certainly didn’t really contribute to Bianchi’s accident. With hindsight, perhaps given the conditions there should have been a safety car when Sutil crashed.

For the future maybe there should be more cranes around circuits to pick up a car without having to send a recovery vehicle on to the track. Formula 1 cars are very low down and if striking a higher vehicle can have terrible consequences as Marussia know from the terrible incident with Maria de Villota during straight line testing in 2012.

Bianchi is part of the Ferrari driver academy and has been tipped to one day driver for the Scuderia after impressing during the last two years and scoring Marussia’s first points earlier this year. It can only be hoped he makes a full recovery.

all photos taken from autosport.com

The Japanese Grand Prix Forecast

The Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka track is a true drivers circuit. Quick changes of direction with daunting corners such a the S curves, the Degners, Spoon and not forgetting 130R which the drivers will hold on through at 200mph. It's the only figure of eight circuit as well, it's little wonder the drivers love it for all 53 laps.

Once a track of championship showdowns, its place on the calendar these days prevent it being the decider but it's still a much looked forward to challenge for the drivers and highly anticipated by the fans. This year with the slashing of down force and higher torque from the power units should see some spectacular driving as they try to keep their machines under control.

There is just one DRS zone in Japan on the start finish straight. The corners come upon you so quickly and the circuit being fairly narrow makes it very difficult to include a second one, not that it's needed anyway, I think that most if not all tracks should only include one DRS zone. Except at Abu Dhabi which is a track which although looking amazing as the sun sets is devoid of any major passing opportunities, but hey, its the double points finale, what better place to hold it...

Pirelli are bringing the medium and hard compound tyres used last at the similarly high speed Silverstone. Strategy is probably going to be two stops but the weather could play a part as at the time of writing it looks like quite the mixed bag. Friday has thunderstorms, qualifying should be dry but cloudy while Sunday could offer us a proper wet race which would be a challenge as the title battle hot's up.

It's the last thing the two title contenders will want as they home into the finishing straight of this titanic battle, they'll want it to be as straightforward as possible. Lewis Hamilton finally got back the lead of the championship for the first time since Spain, lets see if he can keep it longer than a race this time as he bids to crush the hopes of Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg is a man who seems desperately in need of any hope at the moment. Since his collision with Hamilton at Spa it's just not gone right for him. Soundly beaten in Italy and then his race ruined by reliability problems in Singapore for Rosberg this is a must win race to get back the momentum or at least stop Lewis' spiralling out of control. 

But this track is one where Hamilton desperately wants to win. Regarded as a classic it's one of the few he hasn't won and he'd already targeted it even as the champagne dried on his overalls after the Singapore race. Last season as team mates the Mercedes drivers had a poor time but Hamilton was quicker than Rosberg. It's going to be tough for Rosberg to level up again. Lewis looks confident, but the one shining hope is that Lewis has suffered such an up and down season, even career, that you can't ever guarantee how anything will play out.

The one thing each driver will want now is perfect reliability from their Mercedes team. It's becoming a bit of an on-going saga for the team, they seem to have been increasing the number of problems rather than lessening since the start of the season.

Neither driver will be happy if the other one gets a problem through the weekend as if it could happen to him then there's no guarantee it won't happen to their car too. As well as that I think both drivers would like to feel they've won it by themselves, not because of retirements. It's one of the things Mercedes are prioritising, it's already cost them a lot of points. Lucky for them they have such an advantage, but looking forward to next season as all teams will be by now, they'll want to work out their troubles sooner rather than later as by 2015 a few teams may well have caught up.

One team hoping to catch the Silver Arrows a bit earlier is Williams. They come to Japan with a major update and with confidence from Singapore in what they described as operationally the best the team has been. They've often been the main challenger to Mercedes this year but they haven't managed to get the wins that Red Bull have when they've been second best. 

Perhaps this race is an opportunity for the Martini backed squad to get to the top step of the podium with Felipe Massa more likely than Valtteri Bottas to secure it on recent form. I can't see it, I'm not sure their update is going to get rid of all their downforce troubles and they don't only have to contend with Mercedes but with Red Bull too.

Red Bull have arguably the best chassis on the grid, let down only by the Renault power unit which is steadily getting better. If the development regulations for engines are unfrozen next season they may be on level par quicker than expected as well as Ferrari. But that's beside the point, the twists and turns of Suzuka are tailor made for Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo to exploit their cars, they may just spring a surprise.

Vettel is getting better and even Ricciardo feels they're operating equally now. However I still feel that Vettel is uncomfortable in the car but then again he did beat Ricciardo in Singapore to get his best result of the season. Ricciardo was afflicted with technical problems though, so if they are on equal footing now it'll be fascinating to see if Vettel can continue to re-assert himself within the team.

Ferrari should have had a much better result in Singapore than they ended up with. Kimi Raikkonen looked on it but various factors meant he couldn't exploit his pace. Fernando Alonso lost out in the safety car. But after looking like potentially the second best team, they're going to drop back again in Japan. Kimi says he is now feeling more at one with his car but that'll make little difference as they try to get third off Williams in the constructors.

Alonso is confident they can, but I fail to see the reason why. Maybe he just needs to believe that as this season has been a total write-off for the double champion. It's not been as bad as McLaren who still lurk behind Force India in the teams title race. Both Mercedes powered teams will hope for positive results. McLaren blew a decent result last time out when Jenson Button's car failed him and Kevin Magnussen nearly got cooked leaving Force India to pick up the pieces. 

Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez have been off the pace in qualifying recently but their race pace is still ok. However, they are losing ground and I do expect McLaren to have the beating of them by the end of the year. The fact I'm writing about McLaren in this situation shows how far they have fallen.

Lotus will want to add a few points, Sauber will just want a point while Marussia look to hang on. Toro Rosso are debuting teenage sensation Max Verstappen in first practice. Despite turning 17 recently all eyes will be on him as he becomes the youngest driver to compete in a Grand Prix weekend. I'm not sure they'll put him on fast runs but it'll be interesting to see how he stacks up against their most recent young driver graduate Daniil Kvyat.

Despite protestations to the contrary it's not certain that Caterham will even compete this weekend due to financial difficulties. So the rumours go, a number of items were seized by bailiffs including the new front wing Caterham had hope would lift them above Marussia. These rumours go so far as to suggest staff were asked to leave the factory premises in Leafield. The team have issued a statement saying the rumours are 'unfounded and unsubstantiated...all operations are currently in place at Leafield and the race team is doing its preparation in Japan'. At least they still haven't manage to see Kamui Kobayashi's seat for his home Grand Prix.

Whether true or not it brings into sharper focus the recent talks about third cars for some of the top teams. Over the past few weeks there has been some debate about three car teams if the grid were to fall below 20 cars. With the potential demise of Caterham and other outfits known to be struggling these talks could be come a reality sooner rather than later.

I don't think that should happen at all, it would just end up as a two or three make championship, defeating the point of Formula 1. The weighting of the money given to teams is vastly one sided with the rich teams simply getting richer and creating a chasm between the haves and the never hads. Of course FOM and F1 owners CVC get a lot of money too, probably too much. The only difference in the money the teams receive should be the prize money they get at the end of the year and then you'd have a sustainable sport which can quit worrying about if a team drops out and then they can all compete on a more level footing...such things are but dreams in the world of F1.

The radio ban on drivers receiving help lessened as the weekend went on and there were some decidedly helpful messages during the weekend, but in the end it didn't effect much and I really don't see what the fuss is about. The drivers are still driving they're just using everything they can to make themselves faster, like they've always done.

Interesting talking points, intense competition in the pack behind Mercedes and a thrilling title battle heading towards the final quarter. Japan has the makings of an unmisable race.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Vettel charges to Japanese victory

Now that was a race. Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix at the fantastic Suzuka track. No great surprise really given the results since the summer break, but this wasn’t a walk in the park for the German. Too many people subscribe to the view that Vettel wins because of the car or that he is just strolling to victory.

The last time he was so dominant and scored 11 wins on the way to the world title was in 2011, but if you look back at that season, so many victories were actually close run things. He did what he needed to do to win.

Admittedly some of the last few races have resulted in crushing dominance. However, in Japan he demonstrated he doesn’t need to lead from the very first lap to win. In fact he can drop down the order, have a quite scrappy first half of the race before reaching into his reserves and flying back into contention.

This is why he is about to become a four time champion. His strategy was perfect and he executed it brilliantly. Away from the line, both he and his pole sitting team mate Mark Webber were slow away from the line allowing Romain Grosjean into the lead from fourth on the grid.

Vettel lay in third and was told to play the waiting game. During the first round of stops it looked like all three were opting for a three stop strategy, but in the end only Webber went ahead with that call. It was the second and final stops for Vettel and Grosjean which were really crucial.

When Grosjean pitted for a second time, Vettel was able to go much further, another eight laps. His tyres were much fresher and although he exited behind the Lotus he was soon ahead on lap 41. Webber then pitted from the lead to go on to the medium compound, the faster option tyre in Japan. With 10 laps to go he was more than capable of making inroads into Vettel’s lead.

But first there was Grosjean to deal with, and although he closed quickly, Grosjean is quickly maturing into a fine driver now. He was able to hold back the Australian for several laps, denying the race a grandstand finish but resulting in Vettel’s ninth win of the year.

It was a great victory which owed much to his tyre conservation skills. Webber said afterwards he reckoned he could have worked the same strategy although Red Bull deny this saying he stopped too early for his first stop after running out of grip to make a two stop work.

Webber may still have won, but whereas Vettel charged up to Grosjean and passed him almost immediately, it took Webber too long and that was the end of the fight for victory.

Vettel has been so impressive this year. This late season dominance could make us forget just how close it all was in the first half of 2013 and how he had to grind out results. He was always there. Now he has the car and tyres to fully exploit his pace, he’s shown just how good he really is yet again. The title will surely be clinched in India in two weeks time.

Grosjean is Lotus’ future

Romain Grosjean produced another fine performance with third place as he steps up to his new status as Lotus’ leading man for 2014. Well nevermind next year, he’s been the lead driver for the last few races. Despite circumstances playing against him in a few races, he has been the Lotus pace setter, especially in qualifying, and really he was the only driver to be able to challenge the Red Bull’s this weekend. He was able to lead the race confidently and never looked troubled while out in front.

He has finally managed to harness his speed with a maturity to look at the overall picture and not just a single moment which leads him to get flustered and make mistakes. That aspect looks to be disappearing. He could well have won in Japan, but the pace wasn’t quite there, especially after he pitted to cover Webber at the first stops to maintain track position when he probably could have carried on longer and match Vettel’s longer runs.

I think the win is just a matter of time and Grosjean is beginning to prove that despite Kimi Raikkonen’s consistency and race winning performances, this team has a driver who is becoming firmly established amongst the front runners. Even Vettel lauded his recent performances. No longer is he the talked of about a driver to be wary of going wheel to wheel with for detrimental reasons. Now he is a driver they have to take seriously in the fight for victories.

Webber close to a last gasp victory

It was a close run thing. Webber could have made a two stopper work, but according to his team, running behind Grosjean meant he had to pit earlier than was wanted. Even then he still had the pace to challenge for victory after he made his extra stop, he was charging Grosjean and Vettel down.

He couldn’t make the pass quickly on the Lotus and the race was over. However, it was one of his better days this year and will give him confidence and momentum as we went the last four races of the year.

Webber will want to go out in style and take at least one victory away from Vettel in the Red Bull steam roller of success. He started off well with a fantastic pole position, the first time he’d out qualified Vettel all year. It would be great to see Webber take the fight to Vettel one more time, if only he could have got past Grosjean just that bit quicker then sparks would fly. 

Here’s hoping he maintains this form as he is the man with the best opportunity to stop the Vettel victory parade.

Gutierrez joins in the Sauber renaissance

Finally after weeks of writing that Esteban Gutierrez was about to do something good, he proves me right. He followed his highly rated team mate Nico Hulkenberg over the line to claim sixth and seventh places as Sauber continue their improved form.

Hulkenberg had another eventful race, once again mixing it with the top guys. He managed to jump the likes of Nico Rosberg and the Ferrari’s in the first stop to be the first one in line to pass a late stopping Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo was able to hold them back for several laps allowing a massive gap to open out to the top three, but Hulkenberg eventually passed him. However, he could do nothing to stop Fernando Alonso and then later Kimi coming by to drop him to sixth. It was still a great showing.

Gutierrez matched his team mate’s performance as he gained seven places from 14^th to score his first Formula 1 points. It’s been coming for a while with the last two races particularly featuring impressive qualifying. I expect this result to give him more confidence and I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores a few more points before the year is out. Meanwhile Sauber are now only 17 points behind the fading Force India’s; sixth in the constructors is there for the taking which is incredible given their dreadful first half of the year.

Battles down the field

Alonso came home in fourth to keep the title race alive for one more race. He knows the title isn’t worth thinking about now though. He made an impressive move around the outside of Hulkenberg into turn one and held Kimi at bay too. But this isn’t what it’s about for Alonso. He also admitted he needs to improve his qualifying performances as Felipe Massa was ahead on the grid for the third time in four races.

Massa failed to take advantage of that once again as he took a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and ended up tenth. This was after he apparently ignored a team order to let Alonso through. To be fair, why should he anymore, especially when the title is almost out of reach. Alonso was able to get by on his own anyway.

Kimi has begun to have a habit of qualifying behind Grosjean but ending up ahead of him by the end of the race. Not today, he was comprehensively out qualified and out raced today. Still he did climb up the field from ninth to fifth, but if he could match Grosjean’s one lap pace you still believe he might stand a better chance of claiming a victory for Lotus.

Mercedes had a very poor weekend. Lewis Hamilton started third and looked like he was going to jump both Red Bull’s at the start only to cut his tyre on Vettel’s front wing and suffer a puncture on the opening lap. It wrecked the cars floor and he retired soon later.

Rosberg managed to run fourth for a while but a drive through penalty for an unsafe pit release meant he dropped down the field and could only recover to eighth. This team are still quick but they are seriously underutilising their pace. It’s arguable if they could still take on Red Bull in a trouble free race.

Jenson Button looked impressive in qualifying but a wrong set up choice meant he wasn’t comfortable in the car during the race and could only manage ninth. McLaren have obviously written 2013 off a long time ago, but still ninth just seems wrong for a team like McLaren. Sergio Perez could only manage 17^th after suffering a penalty for an incident with Rosberg.

Toro Rosso and Force India must be looking enviously at Sauber. Both have dropped pace, although you can see a way back for the Toro Rosso pair but Force India’s season appears over, which I’m sure will please the hard to please Paul di Resta.

Williams drivers battled with each other, something Pastor Maldonado doesn’t want to do, while Jules Bianchi and Geido van der Garde tried to recreate the 1990 Senna/Prost crash at turn one, but somehow it just seemed a bit of a pointless accident in their Marussia and Caterham respectively.

On to India then where Vettel can claim his fourth consecutive world championship. It’s inevitable, but it won’t mean any less, he’s been superb all year. In a way if he is to win it next race, I hope he puts on a supreme display and clinches it with a victory. Not an unlikely scenario.

Final Result:

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull

2. Mark Webber - Red Bull

3. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

5. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus

6. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber

7. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber

8. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

9. Jenson Button - McLaren

10. Felipe Massa - Ferrari

11. Paul di Resta - Force India

12. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso

13. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso

14. Adrian Sutil - Force India

15. Sergio Perez - McLaren

16. Pastor Maldonado - Williams

17. Valtteri Bottas - Williams

18. Charles Pic - Caterham

19. Max Chilton - Marussia

R.  Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - Puncture damage

R. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham - Accident

R. Jules Bianchi - Marussia - Accident 

all photo's taken from autosport.com