F1 2018: 5 Early Predictions for the Japanese GP

With five races to go in the 2018 Formula One season, Ferrari seem to have let the title race slip out of their hands. Hamilton leads Vettel by 50 points, and while that may just seem like two race victories, how likely is it that a supreme finisher like Hamilton will drop two races and allow Vettel to win with the Championship race so tight?

Vettel and Ferrari have essentially let this championship slip so far away from them, and unless the Scuderia find a miracle, starting in Japan, it seems unlikely that they will catch the Silver Arrows. With Mercedes also showing that they are not opposed to pulling team orders to allow Hamilton to creep even further ahead in the title race, the sprint to the championship just had another blockade put in for Ferrari.

That being said, we head to Suzuka, a fan favorite and driver favorite track with a high possibility for action. Last year in Suzuka we saw Hamilton take the victory, What will happen in Japan? We sure don't know, but like always, that won't stop us from guessing.

#1 Mercedes 1-2 on the grid

After we saw this weekend that even Mercedes will look to extend their championship leads in any way possible by executing team orders, it's clear that Hamilton and Bottas will not be on equal terms going forward. That being said, both men certainly have the right to fight for pole on Saturday, and with a chip on both men's shoulder, after Bottas was robbed of a win and Lewis was handed one, we see the two Mercedes' going toe to toe to decide pole on Saturday.

With the uncanny ability of Lewis to put his car on pole, and that of Bottas to pull out the occasional superb lap, we believe that Ferrari's underdog story this season will continue as Vettel & Raikkonen will be forced to fight from underneath in order to make their way up through the ranks and take the victory on Sunday. Whether it will be Hamilton who takes P1, or his Finnish teammate is up for debate, but with Mercedes' form and both men out to prove their dominance, it's hard to see anything but silver on the front row.

#2 Toro Rosso test out Kvyatt

With Scuderia Toro Rosso having a dreadful outing in Russia in which both cars retired due to brake failures, we see the Italian team seeing fit to bring in their new re-signee Daniil Kvyat for either a test in one of the free practices, or indeed for the race on Sunday.

Pierre Gasly has a confirmed seat at Red Bull next year, so it's conceivable that they might give him a one race break in order to allow Kvyat some time in the Toro Rosso car before next year. Or they could take the struggling Brendon Hartley and give him a one race or session drop for Kvyat.

The Russian driver was announced for Toro Rosso again at the 2018 Russian GP. Kvyat was dropped after the 2017 US Grand Prix after a string of bad performances, and was previously demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso after a few incidents in 2016.

Will the Russian be dropped again in the near future? (No doubt leading to a Max Verstappen victory.) Or will the current Ferrari development driver make a ravaging comeback to Toro Rosso? Either way, we see him featuring in Japan.

#3 Vettel DNF's

The absolute last thing that Ferrari need right now is a DNF for their lead title contender, Sebastian Vettel. But looking at the way Ferrari's luck has been panning out, we see the German four-time world champ heading out of the Japanese GP early. Vettel retired at Suzuka in 2017 as well, due to a spark plug failure, and this time out whether it be a mechanical or a driver error, it just feels like nothing is going right for the Scuderia.

If Vettel does DNF in Japan, it would supremely shunt his chances of a fifth world title this season. Furthermore, depending on Hamilton's result in the race it could put Vettel a maximum of 75 points behind the Brit.

While this is no ideal scenario for Ferrari fans, we are predicting this because as far as the Italian outfit's past few races have gone, this is the only next possible step after their string of bad performances.

If they manage to avoid this in Japan, then maybe just maybe Ferrari can manage to salvage their season, but for now the Scuderia must race with this outcome in mind and avoid it at all costs.

#4 Red Bulls flank the podium again

Last year in Japan, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo went from fourth and fifth, to second and third on the grid. With the Mercedes of Hamilton being flanked by the two Red Bulls last year, and with the Austrian outfit looking to maximize their last few races, they could pose a further problem for Ferrari this weekend.

If the Red Bulls manage to cut off Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel they could be yet another bump in the road for Ferrari as they chase Mercedes.

Ricciardo only has a few Grand Prix left with Red Bull and it's hard to imagine that he won't get at least one more podium with the team. We see him and Max having the battle of the weekend and fighting tooth and nail for P2, with the loser having to settle for P3.

The Red Bull is still an effective car, although they don't have the most effective power unit. On a circuit like Suzuka which takes heavy precedence on the skill of the driver going through the famous S curves, we see the two aggressive young guns of Max & Daniel putting on a show in Japan.

#1 Hamilton gets one step closer to the title

With the four-time world champion taking his 70th win in Russia, he is on his way to claiming his fifth world title, and to do so he has been driving phenomenally. Even the most hardcore of Ferrari fans must admit that the Scuderia's follies aside, Hamilton has been a fantastic driver on the grid this season and certainly deserves to be where he is in the championship race.

While it would be comforting to see Ferrari close the gap between themselves and Hamilton before the last four races, we see the Mercedes driver extending the gap between himself and his German rival to a whopping 75 points for the last few races, leaving Ferrari with a real impossible task to reclaim the drivers' world championship.

Hopefully, we are wrong, or at least we see a fantastic battle that gets us to this point. But for now, it would be silly to predict anything other than Mercedes continuing on their roll that they have been on for the past few years and more pertinently in the last few races.