Who Will You Cheer For At Japanese GP?
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Oct 09, 2008
Super Aguri F1
Who predicted the Fernando Alonso victory last time out? You must be feeling pretty smug right now.
The question is: will lightning strike twice? The Renault man is coy on his chances, but quietly confident that the French squad will be on the pace.
We’re going to make like a swan and stick our necks out: go with him again. The Spaniard is full of confidence and it’s not like you’re going to pick Kimi Raikkonen, is it?
The chances are you’ve still got Alonso picks left and are down on your Lewis Hamilton options; but if you have managed to save a couple for Lewis, remember his prowess in the wet - this weekend will likely be sodden - and magnificent victory at Fuji last year.
That race signalled the return of F1 to the track for the first time since the seventies, so there’s not a lot of previous data from there with which to inform your selection.
The Briton’s team-mate Heikki Kovalainen finished second to give McLaren a stunning one-two and also finished runner-up at Monza in the round before last, so he represents another possible podium.
Nick Heidfeld could do well, buoyed by the confirmation of another season with BMW Sauber, while Felipe Massa finished a lowly - for him - sixth at the circuit in 2007 and endured a catastrophic Singapore GP.
With seven points to make up on Lewis, perhaps it is his time to bounce back; but given the shattered confidence of the Ferrari team in the last two rounds, he would represent a gamble.
Adrian Sutil took eighth from 19th on the grid last year and has pointed to his excellent experience of the track; one look at his name at the bottom of the points-per-race list - and average finish of 19th in the Force India - quickly dispels any illusions of a podium finish, however.
Timo Glock has shown what he can do in the second half of the season and is a sound choice if you cannot spare the higher-scoring drivers, having finished just off the podium under the night sky of Singapore.
As for the teams: McLaren’s one-two in the only modern running of the grand prix puts them in pole position, while Ferrari are having a ‘mare, BMW are steady, and Williams and Renault embody the spirit of gambling.
