5 talking points of the Japanese GP

Lotus giving Mercedes a tough fight

Ross Brawn,Team Principal Mercedes had a lot to worry about with a disappointing race for both drivers at the Japanese GP

While Lotus seem to be shaping up for a brilliant finish to the season, Mercedes seem to have lost their way after a promising first-half. Since his first win of the season in Hungary, Lewis Hamilton has just managed one podium at Spa and has been quite wayward to say the least. That could be attributed to Mercedes shifting their focus to the next year car development but the fingers of inconsistency have again been pointed at the Brackely based outfit.

Hamilton lost his opportunity trying to move ahead of Vettel at the beginning of the race with a punctured tyre before stalling his car in the pits with the Mercedes unable to recover from the earlier contact that damaged the car floors and meant aerodynamic trouble. Teammate Nico Rosberg also had some bad luck to blame for his eighth place finish.

A drive through penalty for unsafe release during the first stop meant the German had to play catch up to the front runners after he had climbed up to fourth place in the first lap. Mercedes find themselves in serious trouble of losing the second spot in the Constructors table with Ferrari already ahead into second place and fourth placed Lotus catching up fast with podiums and double point finishes.