Lewis Hamilton odds-on for Japanese GP victory

Japanese GP practice
Sky Sports F1, 2am & 6am Friday

Just five races stand between Lewis Hamilton and the fifth world title that he is now as short as 1-50 to claim and the Mercedes driver is odds-on to score another victory in Suzuka on Sunday morning.

Practice begins in the early hours of Friday morning and it may be worth backing Valtteri Bottas, who dutifully moved aside to hand Hamilton victory in Russia on Sunday, to make a fast start in practice one.

Mercedes won't be asking the Finn to slow down in the opening session and he has a decent record at the high-speed track, finishing third in qualifying for Williams in 2014 and fourth (he qualified second but started sixth after a grid penalty) in the race for Mercedes last year.

Hamilton has won three of the last four races at Suzuka but he has struggled to match the pace of former teammate Nico Rosberg there in qualifying at times and Bottas is worth a bet at up to five times Hamilton's price.

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