Japanese Grand Prix Preview: Verstappen on the final straight to the title

Looking to have all but confirmed his second Formula One title in a row, Max Verstappen heads into the Japanese Grand Prix with a hefty 104-point lead over second-placed Charles Leclerc.

Only a major mechanical blunder can stop him now. We preview the 18th race of the season below.

Pole position

From the beginning of the season, it was clear that Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton weren’t going to be as dominant as they had been for the best part of the previous five years, but it can’t be said that many predicted it to be as clear-cut as it has proven to be in 2022.

Since taking first place in Saudi Arabia in the second race of the season, Max Verstappen has taken ten more wins, a total of 13 podiums, and is firmly on course for his second drivers’ championship title.

Before the last race, the Singapore Grand Prix, where he finished seventh, Verstappen had won five races in a row, dramatically extending his lead over Charles Leclerc. Leclerc had been neck and neck with him in the opening stages of the year, but the Dutchman has proven his quality, eclipsing Charles Leclerc through the middle part of the season, pulling away to a 104-point lead with only five races remaining.

He will take off at the Suzuka Circuit as the 8/15 favourite to win despite an off-colour performance last time out.

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Are the rest in with a chance?

Following Max Verstappen closely in the opening races of the season, Charles Leclerc was hyped to be the Red Bull man’s title challenger, and after two wins and four podiums in the first five races, it looked like we were poised for an exciting two-horse race.

Unfortunately for Leclerc, Verstappen found his form and proved to be more consistent than the Ferrari driver who ran into problems with his car’s power unit, causing numerous DNFs at a point in the season where he needed to be achieving podium finishes if he was to be in with a chance of matching the Red Bull driver’s points tally at the end of the year.

At 4/1, Leclerc remains in with a good chance in Japan after regaining his form to post three podiums in a row, however he is unlikely to have the speed to live with an in-form Verstappen.

Verstappen’s closest rival last season, Lewis Hamilton, has had a season to forget after such a long period of being right at the top. He has struggled to push his inferior car hard enough to give him a single win this season and sits sixth in the drivers’ championship.

Though showing his skills are still sharp with numerous good performances, none have seen him give the title challengers any real difficulty, as their faster cars have no trouble overtaking that of the seven-time world champion. The Englishman is always in contention, so he isn’t one to write off, but at 17/2, it is hard to see him taking his first Grand Prix win since Saudi Arabia in 2021. Hamilton has a decent chance of recording his seventh podium finish this season at 5/6.

Sergio Perez, who triumphed last time in Singapore, and Carlos Sainz, have sporadically pulled out excellent performances throughout the season and are 11/1 and 18/1 to claim a win for Red Bull and Ferrari, respectively. Britain’s George Russell, who has on numerous occasions finished above Lewis Hamilton, is 14/1 to claim his first win of the season and can be backed at 6/4 to make the podium.

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