5 talking points ahead of Japanese GP

The Formula 1 community heads to the Suzuka International Circuit this weekend for round 16 of the F1 calendar - the Japanese Grand Prix.

There's been no rest for the drivers and the engineers, coming straight from Kuala Lumpur where Red Bull's Max Verstappen won his second F1 race, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Hamilton, the championship leader, increased his gap from 28 to 34 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel despite the German finishing just outside the podium places.

Let's look at the biggest talking points ahead of a busy race weekend:

5) Who will be Lance Stroll's future teammate at Williams?

Will this be Felipe Massa's final season?

Most teams on the grid have announced their two drivers ahead of next season, but Williams are one of the few still to confirm their racers.

In between Malaysia and Japan, there has been much gossip going on outside the Williams garage.

Many expect rookie driver Lance Stroll to stay for a second season but there a few drivers rumoured to be in contention for the other seat.

Earlier this week, news broke that Robert Kubica would be testing for two days at Williams after an impressive comeback in the summer where he tested for Renault. Paul Di Resta is another possibility as the Briton has been the team's reserve driver throughout the season whilst competing for Mercedes in DTM.

Felipe Massa expects to make a decision on his future come the Brazilian Grand Prix in November, the penultimate race of the season. The South American originally retired from F1 after the 2016 season but returned to Williams after Valtteri Bottas made a move to Mercedes.

4) Can Stoffel Vandoorne keep up the good work?

Vandoorne finished in the top 10 in the previous two races

Stoffel Vandoorne is having a very good first year in F1 especially considering the Belgian is driving an underperforming McLaren Honda.

Last weekend in Malaysia, Vandoorne finished in 7th place for the second race in a row, marking his best ever finish to an F1 race.

"I can say this is definitely my best race (Malaysia GP) in Formula 1 up until now."

The 25-year-old is ahead of teammate and double world champion Fernando Alonso in the driver's championship by only three points, but is showing what his skills can bring to a team aiming to be back at the top of the tree.

Having already being announced as McLaren's driver for the 2018 season, the future is looking bright for the GP2 champion.

3) Raikkonen needs to support Vettel now

Vettel may need the support of teammate Raikkonen now more than ever

The last few races have been rather agonising for the Ferrari team. Their bad form began at the Italian Grand Prix, the team's home race, when Vettel finished third while Hamilton won it to take over the championship lead for the first time this year.

The Ferrari board were not amused by the result on home turf that weekend and put out a message that the team must improve and quickly.

It didn't get much better in the following race in Singapore when both Ferraris crashed out on the first corner, giving Hamilton a 28-point lead following which Kimi Raikkonen's car retired moments before the start in Malaysia.

Raikkonen not finishing the race not only dents the team's chances of winning the constructors' championship, but also his lack of support for Vettel's 5th world championship bid.

Ferrari will be hoping for both drivers to bring their cars in safely this weekend, and Raikkonen could be key to Vettel's attempts to reduce Hamilton's lead - by trying to stay ahead of Hamilton in the race or allowing Vettel to pass.

2) Vettel should be hoping for a repeat of the 2012 Japanese GP

Alonso retires on the first corner in 2012

34 points currently separate Vettel from Hamilton at the top of the tree going into the Japanese Grand Prix; a scenario identical to the one the German racer experienced in Suzuka in 2012.

Before the 2012 edition of the Suzuka race, Fernando Alonso was leading the championship by 29 points with Vettel trailing, but luck was with the Red Bull driver as the Spaniard was forced out of the race at the first corner after a collision with Raikkonen. Vettel took advantage of that by going on to win the race and taking maximum points, thereby putting him back in contention.

It was Vettel's second race win in a row and he added two consecutive victories in South Korea and India, allowing him to take his third world championship in the final race in Brazil.

That may be fresh in the German's mind ahead of this weekend as he enters the race knowing that just one DNF for Hamilton will give the Ferrari driver the best opportunity to revive the title race.

1) Still a lot of work to do for Hamilton

Still plenty of hurdles for Hamilton to jump over

September was a very good month for Lewis Hamilton, winning the Italian Grand Prix in front of a jam-packed Ferrari crowd and taking the lead in the driver's championship for the first time this year. He then increased the championship lead to 28 points over Vettel after picking up another win in Singapore.

Everything is going the Briton's way at the moment but with five races remaining before lights out, there are still plenty of opportunities for Vettel to catch up.

At the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend, the triple world champion was disappointed with his car's performance despite sealing his 70th career pole position. The race pace of the Mercedes was not good enough when compared to Verstappen's Red Bull who passed Hamilton to go on and win the team's second race of the season.

Ahead of the 16th race of the season, Hamilton has had his say on how uncomfortable his position is at the moment. The pressure might just be getting to him...

"I am under no illusion. I might have the nail a little bit in, but I need to keep hammering it. It is not done until there is no more to push it in."