Formula 1: Can Lewis Hamilton clinch 2019 championship in Japan?
By Asher Fair
Can Lewis Hamilton clinch what would be his sixth Formula 1 world championship in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit this Sunday?
Five-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport has appeared to have his sixth championship locked up for several months now. However, he still hasn’t mathematically clinched it.
There are now just five races remaining on the 21-race 2019 schedule, the first of these five races being this Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit.
Can the 34-year-old Briton become Formula 1’s second six-time champion in this race?
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Entering this 53-lap race around the 18-turn, 3.609-mile (5.808-kilometer) Suzuka Circuit road course in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan, Hamilton sits atop the driver standings ahead of four drivers who are still mathematically eligible to win this year’s championship.
With a maximum of 26 points on the table for each driver in each race, including 25 for winning the race and one for recording the race’s fastest lap, there are a maximum of 130 points still on the table for each driver throughout the remainder of the season.
As a result, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel can still win the championship.
Bottas trails Hamilton by 73 points while Leclerc trails him by 107, Verstappen trails him by 110 and Vettel trails him by 128.
When the Japanese Grand Prix concludes, there will be a maximum of only 104 points left on the table for each driver, meaning that Hamilton can eliminate Leclerc, Verstappen and Vettel in this race.
But no matter what happens, he cannot eliminate Bottas.
If Hamilton wins the Japanese Grand Prix and records the race’s fastest lap top while Bottas fails to score, he will still be only 99 points ahead of him, which would keep the 30-year-old Finn within the required 104-point range (technically the 103-point range since Hamilton has clinched the wins tiebreaker over his teammate).
As a result, the Mexican Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is the earliest race in which Lewis Hamilton can officially be crowned champion for the sixth time in his Formula 1 career. He will need to be at least 78 points ahead of the second place driver in the driver standings after this race, which is scheduled to be contested on Sunday, October 27, to make this the case.
The Japanese Grand Prix is set to be broadcast live on ESPN while the Mexican Grand Prix is set to be broadcast live on ABC. The Japanese Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 1:10 a.m. ET on Sunday, October 13 while the Mexican Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 3:10 p.m. ET just two weeks later.