Hamilton enters last-chance saloon

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton must complete this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix if he is to remain in touching distance with his Formula One championship rivals.

The 2008 world champion has crashed out in back-to-back races at Singapore and Italy to slip down the order with just four events to go.

Hamilton has completed just one of his last three outings – a victory coming at the Belgian Grand Prix on August 1 – and it is imperative that he stays in the hunt in the Far East with a podium finish.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has recently demonstrated his ability to pull out all the stops with consecutive triumphs in Italy and Singapore, fully capitalising on Hamilton’s misfortune as others struggle to strike consistency.

The Spaniard s now just 11 points off Red Bull leader Mark Webber (202) and he may well be quietly confident as he appears to be getting it right when it matters.

Reigning champion Jenson Button has drifted down into fifth place and he is a big sportsbook outsider to land the top prize for a second year running.

Hamilton sits third and in Webber’s wake by 20 points, but the Stevenage-born star knows a maximum haul on Sunday would shoot him right back in contention ahead of the Korean edition in a fortnight.

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Red Bull’s in-house disputations between Webber and Sebastian Vettel has saw the latter take his eye off the ball.

The German has won the Malaysian and European races this term, but he is now 21 points off the pace. However, he should take hope after coming in behind Alonso under the lights and stars at the Marina Bay Circuit’s night race.

Vettel also won last year’s contest at Suzuka as he held off Italy’s Jarno Trulli by almost five seconds with Hamilton roaring home to make up the podium places, so the 23-year-old knows what is expected of him.

Michael Schumacher, who has endured a difficult Formula One return with Mercedes this season, has recorded a record six wins in Japan, three of which came successively between 2000 and 2002.

Although he is not expected to feature in the shake up this time around, we expect some typically high-octane and controversial action as the business end of the campaign opens up.