It was trouble from the outset for the ferrari of Seb Vettel as his car started to experience problems right from the moment he made his way to the grid.
An issue with a spark plug was the chatter but the Tifosi mechanics were hoping to rectify it on the grid without pushing their man back to the garage as they did with Raikkonen in Sepang.
As the butterflies built up for Seb, the formation lap appeared to proceed as normal but the Ferrari radio messages were flying back and forth trying to reset various settings even as they lined up for lights out.
Nevertheless, the race start went ahead and all looked normal. Lewis Hamilton from pole defended his position against Vettel while Max Verstappen in P4 got the jump on his teammate in P3 after making a great start.
The opening lap was dramatic as it was significant in terms of the title challenge. Raikkonen had a moment and went off the track causing him to quickly plummet from P6 all the way down to P14.
Carlos Sainz, in his last race for Toro Rosso, slammed the car into the wall as a goodbye gift. This brought out the safety car for a couple of laps.
Upon restarting, Vettel - having already been passed by Max Verstappen on the opening lap - started dropping down the order with the speed of a naughty boy being pulled away from the sweet counter by his mum when he's had too many fizzy cola bottles...
While Vettel desperately hoped for a solution to his technical issues, championship leader Hamilton pulled further and further away - in terms of the race and also championship points. The axe finally fell on Vettel's race on lap 5 as he was told to box and retire the car.
There were three more retirements - Marcus Ericsson speared into the tyre wall, Nico Hulkenberg had a DRS flap that wouldn't close, and Lance Stroll had what looked like a right-front tyre failure and came very close to wiping out Ricciardo.
A couple of moments late in the race also proved crucial. First, when Ricciardo boxed for tyres and left Bottas in the lead of the race, Lewis caught up to his teammate but then suffered in the wake of Bottas' car. Valtteri moved aside to let Lewis pass, and then held up Max for a while which allowed Lewis to get to safety. This arguably cost Bottas a chance at the podium as he stayed out longer than had perhaps been intended. Flashback to Lewis handing back P3 to Bottas in Budapest. Bottas won't complain too much.
Secondly, in the last 7 or so laps after the Virtual Safety Car for Stroll's incident, Lewis reported vibrations on his car. He appeared to struggle for pace, and was stuck with Alonso and Massa in front of him. This allowed Max to close up and get within DRS range. Hamilton then got passed Alonso just in the nick of time before the door was shut on the Red Bull who had to sit behind the McLaren through a part of the circuit that didn't allow for overtaking. When he finally executed the pass, he was again stumped in his efforts to pressure the race leader by the Williams of Massa.
This was exactly what Lewis needed to see off the last lap and take the race win. His victory and Vettel's DNF means the next race in Austin can seal the championship if he wins by at least 16 points. Not so far-fetched given Ferrari's performance recently.
What a sensational capitulation for a team that had really looked like they were going to run away with it this season after the opening several races when Vettel opened up a lead in the drivers' standings. But how quickly Hamilton turned the screws after his win in Spa where he then went on to win 3 in a row. He now sits 59 points ahead of Vettel. Bottas in 3rd place is closer to Vettel than Vettel is to Hamilton. If these recent reliability woes continue for Vettel, he may relinquish 2nd position in the championship to Valtteri Bottas.
That in itself would be sensational because Bottas has been decidedly underwhelming in his last few races. Started P3 and finished P5 in Belgium. Started P4 and finished P2 in Italy. Started P6 and finished P3 in Singapore. Started P5 and finished P5 in Malaysia. Started P6 and finished P4 here in Japan. Considering the quality of the equipment that he has to work with, he really needs to have a word with himself. He has a comfortable enough gap to Ricciardo in the championship to at least hold onto P3, but these performances that he's been putting in of late will not help solidify his position in the team as a natural successor to Hamilton and a leader.
It was only a year or two ago that people up and down the pit were singing his praises and touting him as "a future world champion" (probably a meaningless platitude now considering how much this gets thrown around about various drivers), yet now he's been given one of the two best cars on the grid and he's bottling it. Bottas The Bottler.
Speaking of bottlers, the news that broke late yesterday was that Renault finally decided that the pain was just too much to bear any longer and the race in Japan would be the last jolly for Jolyon Palmer. Long overdue!
The bloke has been stealing a wage in F1 for far too long. Sub-par, mediocre driver who bought his way in courtesy of his old man's chequebook. But the ride has come to an end and he can go on to do something he may actually be more suited to - perhaps "reality TV" the likes of The Only Way Is Essex or Made In Chelsea.
Goodbye, Palmer. Don't hit the barrier on the way out.
