Too little, too late for ever-hopeful Vettel

SEBASTIAN Vettel may need to rely on luck at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday if the German wants to keep alive his diminishing hopes of claiming a fifth Formula One title.

Even victory at Suzuka may be a case of “too little, too late” for the Ferrari driver, with Lewis Hamilton 50 points clear and just five races remaining.

The mathematics mean the Briton, who has won five of the last six races for Mercedes, including Russia last weekend, does not even need another victory this season to claim a fifth world title of his own.

“Maybe the next couple of tracks are better suited for us, we will know when we get there,” said Vettel, who has five wins to Hamilton’s eight this year and finished third in Sochi and at the previous race in Singapore.

“We need to keep pushing and try. Who knows what will happen in the next races.

“It takes one DNF (did not finish) and then all of a sudden things look different,” he said after Sochi. “Ideally two, which I’m not wishing on Lewis but you never know what happens.”

Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene likened the sweeping, high-speed Suzuka circuit to Silverstone, the British Grand Prix venue where then-championship leader Vettel won in July.

“If it goes well, we will know that, despite the difficult situation in terms of the classification, we still have the right tools with which to fight all the way to the very end,” the Italian said.

Even then, there remains a sense that Ferrari are clutching at straws.

Hamilton won in Japan last year, while Vettel failed to finish, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo claiming second and third.

This time, Vettel will be hoping the Red Bulls can get back into the mix to his advantage.

The former champions showed impressive speed in Russia, despite engine penalties dropping the cars to the back of the grid, with Verstappen climbing from 19th to the race lead until a late pit stop saw him finish a creditable fifth. Although Suzuka is expected to again suit the Red Bulls, Mercedes have won the last four races in Japan, three courtesy of Hamilton, and will be favourites.

It is a position the German team have enjoyed for most of the season yet once again they are taking nothing for granted.