Japanese Grand Prix: Hamilton heads for title as Vettel loses his spark

The noisiest thing in F1 of late has been the groans of Ferrari fans.

As the grid lined up in Suzuka, and Ferrari mechanics swarmed over the back of Sebastian Vettel’s sickly car, neutral fans shook their heads and joined the glum chorus.

It’s been a good season, it shouldn’t end this way.

For want of a nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost, goes the rhyme. In the case of Vettel’s Prancing Horse, it wasn’t a horseshoe nail that killed off his chances, but a sparkplug coil.

In F1 terms, a sparkplug is pretty much the equivalent of a horseshoe nail. It’s not the sort of thing that anybody worries about.

And then it breaks, and all the other super-high tech on an F1 car is rendered impotent.

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Ferrari got Vettel’s car fit to start the race, but they couldn’t get it fit to compete. The German went from second to third, third to fourth, down to sixth.

On lap four, Ferrari bowed to the inevitable and told him to retire his crocked car.

And that is how the 2017 championship, to all intents and purposes, drew to a close, not with a bang but with that collective groan from F1 fans.

This was the year that Ferrari looked to have the measure of Mercedes but, as the long F1 season took its mechanical and psychological toll, the Italian outfit was found wanting, when it counted most.

Vettel had his air-head moments, Ferrari pushed their car to breaking point and beyond. And Mercedes, especially Lewis Hamilton, kept their heads down.

Winners goin’ to win

It’s easy to forget that Mercedes were nervous coming to Suzuka. Hamilton finished behind a Red Bull in Malaysia, and even his second place there was down to Ferrari gremlins.

Valtteri Bottas was underperforming and, although Hamilton had won four of the five previous races, the Mercedes machine was not at its strongest.

Or so it seemed.

At Suzuka, Hamilton nailed qualifying yet again – he has been imperious on Saturdays this season – and, with both Bottas and Ferrari No.2 Kimi Raikkonen taking grid penalties, the scene was set for a title showdown with Vettel in the second grid slot.

But it wasn’t to be. Hamilton led from the start, controlled the race and, apart from the closing couple of laps, looked to be driving well within his capabilities and with the engine turned down.

He had a scare as the chequered flag neared, when his tyres refused to switch back on after a Virtual Safety Car period, and Max Verstappen closed in on his gearbox.

But the top step of the podium was his, and it was a cocky Lewis who lifted the Suzuka trophy.

Takuma Sato made a return to F1 as the podium interviewer, and Hamilton made a point of trying on the Japanese star’s Indianapolis 500 winner’s ring – proper motorsport bling and something that Hamilton may fancy winning for himself in the years ahead.

The whole thing felt anti-climactic. Of course, the title race is not over yet but if Hamilton wins yet again at the next Grand Prix, in Austin, and Vettel has another horror and finishes out of the top five, then that’s game over for F1 in 2017.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Hamilton but he has grown stronger and stronger as it has progressed.

Mercedes have minimised their mechanical woes but Hamilton’s performances have made all the difference – he has utterly dominated Bottas who, in the post-race interviews, again wore the expression of a man who knows the best he can do will never beat the best his team-mate can do.

So, four races to go, 100 points available, 59 points in the lead. Is anyone betting against Lewis now?

The Red Bull rise continues

Red Bull’s growing hit-rate augurs well for next season.

For the second week in a row, they had two cars in the top three. And, even though Verstappen finished second this time, he was pushing Hamilton hard at the end.

The clock may be ticking on the Red Bull-Renault partnership, but those French engines are now a force to be reckoned with, on race day at least.

Renault are working on a qualifying mode for next season but, in regular race modes, their power units are keeping Mercedes vaguely honest (even if Hamilton does seem able to run with his engines turned down regularly) and able to show Ferrari a clean pair of heels.

Now that reliability is improving, Verstappen is turning the screw on Ricciardo.

The affable Aussie’s third-place finish in Japan was his first podium here, and he said he was happy with that.

He edged Verstappen in qualifying but that advantage barely lasted to the first corner of the race, as the Dutchman launched himself into third position at the start.

No one would call Ricciardo a No.2 driver, and his results this season speak for themselves. But Verstappen is a machine, and he’s only getting stronger.

He looks at home in the cool-down room and on the podium, he’s driving with more maturity, and he shows all the signs of being robust mentally too.

Fingers crossed for next season.

Nothing to see here

Anything else? If truth be told, not really. Anyone in Europe who got up early to watch the race live would have been reaching for strong coffee after the first few laps.

Even the scrapping Force India lads failed to create any real excitement, despite being nose-to-tail at one point.

Sergio Perez radioed his team to ask if he could attack – attack, mind, not challenge – Esteban Ocon and was told in no uncertain terms: ‘No, hold position.’

Force India have lost enough points this season thanks to their drivers’ squabbles … Perez grumped and harrumphed, requesting his team tell Ocon to pick up the pace, but to no avail.

In the end, Ocon finished sixth, Perez seventh. Yes, they managed to finish without taking one another out. How disappointing…

Another driver asking for permission to race the car in front, surprisingly, was Verstappen, in the closing laps.

It turns out that it wasn’t an outbreak of politeness. Rather, Verstappen had a blistered tyre and Red Bull were worried about the risk of a puncture.

Lance Stroll’s Williams had already had a blow-out, which almost launched the Canadian into Ricciardo at north of 150mph, and so Red Bull were right to be cautious.

Having said that, they did say Verstappen could ‘Give it everything’ if he was sensible and saw an opportunity. Sensible?

It was Jolyon Palmer’s last race for Renault, that slightly sad F1 career limping to a lacklustre 12th-place finish. And Carlos Sainz bade farewell to Toro Rosso by sticking his car in the gravel on the opening lap.

And that was about it. Next stop Austin and, hopefully, a little championship drama before they once more engrave Hamilton’s name on the champ’s trophy.