Japanese Grand Prix
Even an incoming typhoon won’t stop our drivers from racing as they’ll fly over to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix. Typhoon Hagibis may have cancelled the last few practices, but hopefully the weather will turn out fine come Sunday afternoon.
Mercedes are looking to seal their sixth world title as they’ll look for an encore performance after a successful run in the Sochi Autodrom where Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished one-two the last time around.
Their previous win halted Ferrari’s momentum in which we saw them win three consecutive awards in Spa, Monza, and in the Marina Bay.
Lewis Hamilton will look to win his second consecutive grand prix and his third straight here in Japan and barring any unforeseen circumstances, there’s no reason as to why he won’t do so.
Allow SBOBET to give you some important talking points ahead of this much-awaited event.
Talking points
Can Ferrari find harmony in time for Sunday?
How the tables have turned for the Prancing Horse over these past few weeks.
The team has been riding high in their past few races winning in the Belgian, Italian, and Singapore Grand Prix thanks to the superb performances by Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. However, things took a bad turn when there were issues within the team.
In the Russian Grand Prix, although Leclerc claimed his fourth pole and Vettel jumped from third to first after the first corner, the latter was reported to continuously ignore the team’s orders when he didn’t let the former pass by him after initially telling him the opposite.
Their dispute would spill over to the team radio where the two were continuously bickering. That miscue opened up an opportunity for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes a cheap pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car and he would take the outright lead from Leclerc.
To avoid these things to happen again, Charles Leclerc bared to the media that Ferrari will get things in order soon and that they’ll make sure that their drivers will follow team orders.
“Generally, everything is clear. Of course I got the message at the radio to change the place, and did not do it. And that was certainly not right,” lamented Vettel.
“And what is clear is that the situation wasn’t clear for both of the drivers starting the race. I think that’s the most important so we spoke about it and we’ll make sure this situation doesn’t happen again in the future,” said Leclerc.
Ferrari’s Japanese Grand Prix 2019 odds of winning aren’t too high come Sunday. But if there is something that we can learn from them is that anything can happen.
Max Verstappen remains optimistic
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has had six podium finishes this season, but the month of September is has been forgettable for him.
He had a DNF at the Belgium Grand Prix and an eighth-place finish in Monza. However, with third and fourth place finishes in Singapore and Russia, perhaps that gave him some glimmer of optimism ahead on Sunday.
Along with his confidence, the Dutch racer can’t help but reminisce some good memories in Suzuka. It was in this same race track where he made his F1 debut in which he’ll never forget.
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Suzuka as it’s a special place for me,” said Verstappen.
“I made my Formula 1 début there in a practice session when I had just turned 17 and it’s a memory I’ll never forget,” he added.
The 22-year-old has had decent performances in Japan over the past few seasons. He finished second twice back in 2016 and 2017 and he finished third in last year’s edition.
And of course, he’s still seeking his first win in Suzuka which would mean the world to him.
“I’ve had a lot of good results at Suzuka with second and third place podiums but never a win, so obviously we would love to go one step higher,” shared Verstappen.
Mercedes looking to seal the deal in Suzuka
The Silver Arrows are coming in with lofty expectations and it’s hard to argue why.
Hamilton and Vettel both have great history in Suzuka after winning the last four races here, with the former inching closer to his sixth title for this campaign.
If these two topnotch racers can claim another one-two finish here, Mercedes can wrap up their sixth world title – equaling Ferrari’s best run.
Which is why Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will pull out all the stops to guarantee a win. He indicated that the team has brought a small sidepod aero upgrade to improve the car’s overall performance in Suzuka.
Even if this development won’t make it to the top Japanese Grand Prix 2019 news, Mercedes’ attention to detail should not be overlooked by their rival constructors.
History
Mercedes have been undefeated in the hybrid era at Suzuka. Their top driver Lewis Hamilton currently has five wins in Japan and he has a chance to draw level with F1 legend Michael Schumacher with a win in this one.
Sebastian Vettel has four wins in Japan, with each of his victories taken with former team Red Bull between 2010 and 2013.
Michael Schumacher’s 2004 win was the last time Ferrari won in Japan.
What are the odds?
Lewis Hamilton is clearly the hot favourite in this one given his history in the Japanese Grand Prix while Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas should not be far behind with 1.93 odds in this race.
Ferrari isn’t expected to make much noise in Suzuka while Red Bull could be contenders given their recent engine and fuel upgrades.
Either way, the Silver Arrows are primed to win it all again this season as the best constructors.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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