Formula 1 | Ferrari disappointment at Suzuka: Vettel betrayed by a spark plug

A fifth place for Kimi Raikkonen, with five positions recovered in the race, is all Scuderia Ferrari's haul in Japan. The failure of a cylinder spark plug effectively deprived Sebastian Vettel of the opportunity to battle. The team is there, the car too, Kimi's performance proved it. As long as the math gives it a chance, we'll try.

Let's get to the race: we start with Seb lined up on the right alongside Hamilton and Kimi in tenth position, after the penalty for the gearbox being replaced between P3 and qualifying. Seb's starting point was good but not enough to take the lead, while Kimi maintained his position, then slipped back due to an off-track exit while fighting with Hulkenberg. But something goes wrong with the engine ignition and Seb loses a position already on the first lap. The safety car comes out due to an accident by Sainz. Sebastian is 6th, losing ground. The n.5 is called back to the garage and the driver remains in the car, while the mechanics try to intervene. A few minutes later, however, Seb leaves the cockpit. A spark plug broke, no point in continuing.

Meanwhile, Kimi, who started on the Soft tires used in Q2, finds himself eighth, 18 seconds behind the leader. He overtakes Massa on lap 14 and continues the chase. He arrives on lap 28, in fourth place, then goes to the pits and mounts the Supersofts, coming out sixth. At the beginning of the 33rd lap he targets and overtakes Hulkenberg. Then he manages the tires and fuel until the final laps (the Virtual Safety Car comes out with four to go) setting very fast times. With two cars on the track, it would have been a different story.