Sunday in going to be a massive test for all five of the World Championship contenders, for while there are still three (or maybe two) races remaining, the lottery conditions in Japan mean that it could be a case of triumph or disaster for any of them.
The indications are that qualifying will at the very least start on a damp track, and clearly anything can happen, especially as everyone will almost certainly stick with a set-up to cater for what is expected to be a fully dry race.
When the McLaren drivers met the media at the end of a day of little activity this blog suggested that while none of the five contenders could win the title tomorrow, it was certainly possible to lose it, given the likely crazy nature of the day.
Jenson Button made the very valid point that the Red Bull drivers will be the guys under pressure, and specifically championship leader Mark Webber, because they clearly have the dominant car here.
“When you’re leading the championship I think this is the condition you probably don’t want when you’re in a fast car,” he said. “But for all of us behind this is not a bad situation. It can turn out to be a very positive weekend, and also a very negative weekend.
“But I think it’s looking like it’s going to be a very exciting Grand Prix, possibly with wet qualifying in the morning, drying through the session, and then a race that’s pretty much dry. It should be a fun Sunday, and we can hopefully take some points off some of our competitors.”
“I think every race is critical,” said Lewis Hamilton. “Of course the drivers and the teams are all on a knife-edge – well we’re all on the limit – trying to be consistent and score as many points as possible. Tomorrow is definitely a race where we need, or I definitely need, a strong result. I think we all do, but especially after the last few races that I’ve had.
“So I’m looking forward to another chance. But there are still four races, and if you look at the past for example in 2007 Kimi came back [from 17 points behind] after just two races. So four races is still not the end of the world, if you don’t score tomorrow.”
It’s going to be one helluva day…
Adam Cooper F1 