Japanese Grand Prix Preview: Vettel’s Crowning

And after almost conquering his second world title in Singapore, Sebastian Vettel is only one point away from retaining the championship he conquered for Red Bull last year in the final race of the season.

In the last couple of venues to Japan, Vettel has been dominant leaving from first place in the grid and finishing first on Sunday, so he must be pretty confident this year. Knowing that he only needs to finish in 10^th spot will definitely take a whole lot of pressure from his elbows.

The only man capable of preventing Vettel to clinch the world title in Japan is Jenson Button who needs to win in Suzuka, which he never did, and hope that Vettel doesn’t finish in the points. Thinking that this season Vettel has finished every race, with fourth being his worst standing, no one his expecting that the German might not win that single point.

So with the title almost wrapped up it’s up to Button, Webber, Alonso and Hamilton to fight for second place, and the final races of the season should be exciting for that reason.

The McLaren’s will not only be fighting for the second place, but also for top position within their team. In the last few races, Button has been clearly the best out of the two McLaren’s and is at the moment 17 points ahead of his team-mate which has had too many crash issues during the season, being accused of aggressiveness on track by other drivers. More, in just two years Button has come from second driver up to the front, blowing away the critics which saw his move to the team as foolish.

For Alonso finishing second this year would another proof of the immense talent of the Spaniard. Having experienced problems with the car in the beginning of the season, he never stopped fighting and although he has only won once this year, he is third in the championship standings, one point behind Jenson Button.

Finally Webber really wants to redeem himself from a sloppy season where he was never able to challenge his team-mate, except for Germany maybe, and should definitely try to find in the last races of the year the path to a victory.

Another driver not to be forgotten is definitely home favorite Kamui Kobayashi who last year qualified down in fourteenth but he then impressed the grandstands with a series amazing overtaking manoeuvres, eventually finishing seventh.

The Japanese circuit of Suzuka is the only figure-of-eight circuit on the world championship calendar, and has in the high-speed 130R corner one of the most famous parts of the track. The “S” curvers, the two Degner curvers and the spoon curve are other favourites. Because of the close walls that surround the circuit, mistakes in Suzuka are severely punished, so drivers must watch out.

And if you think you know who might be the winner of the Japanese Grand Prix you definitely have to participate on Autoviva’s F1 Competition. It’s simple, just go here and cast your prediction by leaving a comment.