We finally made our way into Japan for the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. The Suzuka Circuit has played host to many historic and controversial races in its time. This year we have some rain in the weather forecast, adding more challenge to this already difficult track. During practice and qualifying, we saw many cars go off in the first corner. With rain, that corner will become even more unforgiving and you can expect to see drivers going off in that corner.
The battle between the Mercedes cars wasn’t quite as tight as it has been: Lewis Hamilton only managed to beat Nico Rosberg in the second practice session. Rosberg has done very well to secure pole position for the race, but the winner will be whichever driver can race better in wet conditions. This would be Rosberg. In the past, Hamilton has been amazing at the wet races, however, he has proven in Hungary – our only really “wet” race – after spinning the car, that he maybe can’t race the 2014 cars in the wet as well as he could race his previous cars.
We’ve all heard the news: Fernando Alonso is out of Ferrari for the next season, as the team signs Sebastian Vettel to race alongside Kimi Räikkönen for next year. Despite this, Alonso will certainly be looking to finish strong in these last races to ensure that he gets a good contract for 2015. During the practice and qualifying sessions, he maintained good pace and managed to stay near the top of the table. He starts from fifth, but by the end of the race, he should be on the bottom step of the podium.
Valtteri Bottas has proven to be a very talented driver, capable to finishing in amazing positions, but I don’t think that he will be good enough to hold off Alonso and keep third position. I picture him in a solid fourth.
The fifth position was a tough decision. Vettel is good at racing in the rain and has proven that after winning his first career victory back in 2008 at Monza. But is also important to remember that Daniel Ricciardo can race fairly well in the rain and will have the advantage, as he starts three positions ahead of his teammate. The deciding factor for me was purely Vettel’s performance this year. He just hasn’t been having the best season and with a car that doesn’t seem to suit his driving needs, I don’t predict a good finish for him.
I am really looking forward to this race, as it will be the first rain race on the 2014 calendar. This track will surely become far more difficult in the rain conditions. I can’t wait to see how things pan out.
1 Nico Rosberg
2 Lewis Hamilton
3 Fernando Alonso
4 Valtteri Bottas
5 Daniel Ricciardo
