Categories: FeatureFeatures

Chris Medland's Japanese Grand Prix preview

Well, well, well… Hands up who saw Mercedes’ struggles in Singapore coming? Nope, nor me. So was it simply a blip or is there new life in the title race? Realistically it’s the former, as Mercedes struggled to get grip from the tyre compounds on offer in Singapore, and is unlikely to have the same problem again on any kind of regular basis. However, the result will cast a seed of doubt in the team’s mind and Lewis Hamilton’s weekend was compounded by a mechanical failure which will just have given Sebastian Vettel a glimmer of hope. The pressure will be on Mercedes to bounce back immediately, but it will also be a weekend of reflection as F1 returns to the scene of Jules Bianchi’s accident one year ago which would ultimately cost him his life.

FORM GUIDE

For once there are two form teams heading to Japan and Mercedes is neither of them. Ferrari and Red Bull were hugely impressive in Singapore, both getting the soft and supersoft tyre compounds to work effectively on their respective cars. For Mercedes, the tyre combination coupled with the tricky balancing act of having to work hard to warm up the front tyres on a circuit with few high-speed corners while protecting the rears in all the crucial traction zones proved difficult. Suzuka will pose very different challenges, with only the hairpin and final chicane requiring strong traction, while there are plenty of high-speed corners to put energy through the fronts. Red Bull might struggle a little more compared to last weekend, while Williams will look to get back in podium contention. McLaren’s hopes of scoring points on a track which suited its car ended with two retirements in Singapore, and Honda’s home race is likely to see the team slip towards the back of the grid again.

2014 RESULT

Pole position: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 1:32.506

Top three: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:51.600

SESSION TIMES (All times local)

FP1: 10:00 - 11:30

FP2: 14:00 - 15:30

FP3: 12:00 - 13:00

Qualifying: 15:00 - 16:00

Race: 1400

TYRE CHOICES

©Pirelli

WEATHER FORECAST

Japan often sees Typhoon conditions - with last year's race weekend a prime example - and this year looks like being a similar story. Another tropical depression looks set to turn in to a Typhoon this weekend but will not strike land as in 2014. The forecast has improved to the stage where it is likely to be wet on Friday but should clear up for Saturday and Sunday, with the rest of the weekend set to be dry and warm.

PODIUM PREDICTION

1st - Lewis Hamilton

2nd - Sebastian Vettel

3rd - Valtteri Bottas

2014 BEST SHOT

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.