Formula 1 continues its campaign in Japan at the famous Suzuka circuit. It will be very interesting to see this race for multiple reasons. The first is what is the current relationship between Ferrari’s drivers. Prancing Horse is experiencing difficulties with handling everything under control, and Japan will be the chance to see if everything sorted out. The second reason is Mercedes’ form. Japan presents a challenge that will reveal if they regained their pace and dominance lost in over the previous several weeks.
Race Preview
By looking at the first two official training session at Suzuka, we might say that Mercedes seems very convincing. The Silver Arrows took the top two places on both occasions, and they did it with a big difference between them and the rest of the teams. During the first training, the Ferraris were behind, but at the end of the next one, Max Verstappen managed to squeeze in between the two parties.
According to the situation on the track, Mercedes will have a huge advantage over the rest of the rivals, especially if everything goes well on the official training tomorrow. If they have an open track ahead of them, it would be hard for anyone to beat Lewis and Valtteri.
Meanwhile, Ferrari is again experiencing troubles. Only this time, it is not anything related to the vehicle or driving, but with personal relationships between their two drivers. During the last race in Singapore, Sebastian Vettel refused to obey the order from the cockpit, which suggested that the German allows young Sebastian Leclerc to pass him over.
It raised numerous questions among the team, and they even had to organize a meeting to sort everything out. That was also pretty turbulent, as Vettel and Leclerc continued to give different comments on the same topics, and it seems that the chemistry in the Prancing Horse is inevitably damaged. Some are suggesting that we might see Vettel leaving the team at the end of the season.
Judging by the was Leclerc behaved at the media sessions after the meeting, it appears that the team has sided with him on this matter. Vettel, however, continues to speak that the rules about passing by are not mandatory. Definitely an interesting situation.
Max Verstappen had a burst of his own, after being told that the fans and the colleagues are not favoring him. The young and temperament Dutchman replied to all, saying that he isn’t here to be loved but to win races. It might be something that will motivate the young fella to kick in and give his best on Sunday.
As for all the other teams, we just can’t see anyone stepping in and challenging the above-mentioned ones. From our point of view, the fight for the podium will be between five guys mentioned earlier.
Prediction
With all the turmoil in Ferrari, we truly believe that the Mercedes is going to win this race. Not only because of that, but also because of their superb performances at the initial two training sessions. Hamilton has 5 victories here, and he knows exactly what it takes to win. Also, Bottas showed great pace during the second session, and he too might try to earn his first piece of silverware. Plus, five last races here, were ended with the Silver Arrows claiming the top spot on the podium. BetXChange’s odds on Bottas to finish among the top three places are solid and are 0.45. That is our first choice. The second is Mercedes to be the winning construction at 0.55. All in all, bet on the German manufacturer to be successful on Sunday.
