PETERJFOX

As we know, this year's Formula 1 World Championship is one of the best ever, with any one of the top five drivers still in with a shot at the title.

Lewis has not been making it easy for himself these last two races. Two DNFs were not what he'd been looking for.

He spent Thursday evening with engineers in the McLaren pit seemingly in deep discussions about the team's latest updates etc. They were certainly trying something, as I was politely but firmly told 'no pictures', even though I was outside the garage. It was an intense scene and left me in no doubt how incredibly competitive this sport is.

It seems they would need as much track time as possible to gather the relevant data required to feed into these new updates. In other words, let's not screw up in practice, eh...

Hmmm. This time it seems with the car running low to the ground he bottomed out on the entry to Degner and was unable to recover, eventually going off into the tyres on the exit. He we go again.

With his rivals gathering more and more data as they circulated the awesome Suzuka Raceway, Lewis took time out to quietly fume under the crossover of the track as he waited to be returned to the expectant pit garage where I'm sure a few pairs of eyes had glanced up into the heavens.

Come Saturday, the heavens opened and we were left to watch bored mechanics float their respective mini-rafts down the pit lane. Even more valuable track time being lost. It seemed that Lewis was in it, as they say.

With Qualifying rescheduled for Sunday morning, Lewis was then given the good news that his gearbox would have to be changed, giving him a five place grid drop. Considering all this, he did well to deliver third place. Good damage limitation, considering the strength of Red Bull.

Lewis's ability to mix it up is what Formula 1 needs, and is why he's so popular. Come the race he was at it again, and looked like he could have mixed it up with Alonso if his gearbox hadn't lost third gear. It was a shame and denied us of a possibly great scrap between two of the sport's great racers.

Good job then that Kamui Kobayashi is from the same cut of the cloth. We were treated to some great overtaking moves by the unpredictable but thoroughly entertaining Japanese driver, who gave the home crowd something to cheer about as he carved his way through the field and save his last overtaking move for his team mate. It's a pity the Sauber team didn't pit him earlier as who knows where he would have ended up at his first home race.

His moves on Algersuari and Sutil were sublime, more of that please, all of you...

To enjoy my images form the Japanese Grand Prix, please select the formula 1 section of my website and select Japan.

posted on 14th October 2010 12:00amview comments (2)leave a comment