Sky Sports F1 analyst expects Mercedes to bounce back with win
Thursday 24 September 2015 13:48, UK
F1 pundit Johnny Herbert expects to see odds-on shot Lewis Hamilton back on top of the podium with victory in this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
The world champion was as short as 8/15 to secure an eighth victory of the season in Singapore last week, but was forced to retire after his Mercedes car suffered a mysterious loss of power.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel went on to claim an unexpected victory as Hamilton's championship lead was cut to 41 points, but Herbert sees it as a minor blip and expects the British driver to recover at Suzuka and win at 4/6 with Sky Bet.
The Sky Sports F1 analyst said: "Whilst it's tempting to react to what happened in Singapore and say that Ferrari have Mercedes on the ropes, remember that Suzuka is a very different track to Singapore and it's different tyre compounds this weekend too - a lot of Mercedes problems last week were tyre temperature related.
"In what at the moment should be a dry race, I'd still go with Hamilton, who should be back on top."
Herbert is also tipping Williams' Valteri Bottas, who finished fifth in Singapore, to join Hamilton in the after race celebrations and is backing him at 8/1 to secure a podium finish.
He added: "If it rains they're in trouble, but the forecast I've seen has it dry for Saturday and Sunday. In the dry the Williams should have the pace to challenge Ferrari and the unflappable Finn, who was third on the grid last year, could be your man here."
After successfully tipping up Sergio Perez for a points finish last week, Herbert has turned to Sauber's Felipe Nasr at 3/1 to finish in the points.
He said: "He managed to finish in the points in Singapore and with the new updated aero package, Sauber and Felipe are poised for another Top 10 this weekend."
