Mercedes-pilot Lewis Hamilton has not left his rival Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari in qualifying for Grand Prix of Japan-and can now beat German in race on Sunday, of which Vettel would probably not recover in World Cup final sprint. Hamilton secured pole position at Suzuka with track record of 1:27,319 minutes.
Vettel will only go into race from second rank, because Valtteri Bottas in second Silver Arrow moves back through a penalty. “The qualifying was actually okay, we would have liked to have been faster, but more was not in re,” said Vettel: “The first row is very good.”
With his fastest lap, Ferrari pilot was around four tenths behind Hamilton. For British, it was already tenth pole of current season, and now he can also make a catch behind Suzuka: It is last track in current calendar, on which Hamilton had never been started by rank one.
“I never had good qualifying here, never voted balance,” Hamilton said: “But this time team has set my car very well.”
Raikkonen and Bottas punished
The top rider goes with 34 points advantage on Vettel in race on Sunday (Sunday, 7.00 a.m. in SZ-live ticker). If he continues, a successful catch-up for Vettel in remaining four races is no longer realistic.
In Japan, both title candidates at top of field will first have to dispense with help of ir teammates: Valtteri Bottas was second in qualifying, but has to return five places due to an illicit transmission change. The same punishment was due to same offence, Kimi Raikkonen (both Finland) in Ferrari, who actually qualified for sixth place.
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The third rank is Daniel Ricciardo in Red Bull. The last so strong third force had been given chances on curvy course in Japan. “This is no longer a duel between Ferrari and Mercedes, three teams are fighting for victory here,” Vettel had said.
However, Red Bull riders have been slightly weaker than expected. In qualifying, you are generally weaker with Renault engine than Ferrari and Mercedes, but also runs did not necessarily close to a strong race speed in training.
