Reporting Sports in a refreshing style

Vettel, Charles Leclerc partnership will fail–warns Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has warned Ferrari that Sebastian Vettel’s combustible partnership with Charles Leclerc is destined for failure.

leclerc
Hamilton

Hamilton heads into Sunday’s storm-threatened Japanese Grand Prix needing to outscore Valtteri Bottas by a mere five points over the next two races – here at Suzuka and in Mexico in a fortnight’s time – to secure his sixth world championship.

With Super Typhoon Hagibis threatening to wreak havoc on Japan, circuit officials took the decision to postpone qualifying until the morning of Sunday’s race when it is hoped conditions will have improved.

Bottas finished one tenth clear of Hamilton in Friday’s final practice session, with Max Verstappen third and Leclerc fourth. Vettel finished fifth. That order determines the grid if it remains too dangerous for the cars to run on Sunday morning.

There were some fears on Friday night that damage caused by the typhoon might prevent the race from being staged at all.

Thousands of sandbags arrived at the track in a bid to prevent the 3.6-mile course from flooding. The paddock was effectively packed away with high winds set to batter the area. Residents have been instructed to stay inside.
Hamilton said he intended to spend his day off in Tokyo, 250 miles to the north east of Suzuka, but the country’s transport system is set to be on lock down with 1,600 domestic planes due to be grounded on Saturday and train services cancelled.

As Hamilton marches towards a fifth championship in six quite remarkable seasons, intrigue along the paddock at Formula One’s most successful team has provided a fascinating sub-plot to the Briton’s dominance.

Last time out in Russia, Vettel ignored at least three orders from the Ferrari pit wall to allow Leclerc by.

Vettel started the year as the team’s number one, but the emergence of Leclerc, 21, has left the Scuderia with a quandary; promote Leclerc, and desert their £36million-a-year quadruple world champion, or rip up their rule book and allow both drivers the freedom to race.

You might also like

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.