IG STORY: Lewis Hamilton wants to give the #JapaneseGP one last shot.

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Lewis Hamilton wants to give the #JapaneseGP one last shot.

Lewis Hamilton has admitted Mercedes’ hopes of success in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix will be heavily influenced by the weather, with rain potentially aiding the Brit.

Hamilton qualified sixth on Saturday in Suzuka as Max Verstappen took pole, with Mercedes unable to keep pace with Red Bull and Ferrari, leaving them to share the third and fourth rows with Alpine as George Russell could only manage eighth.

However, Mercedes did impress on Friday in wet conditions as Russell led second practice from Hamilton, and with more rain forecast for Sunday, the seven-time world champion did offer some optimism.

“It depends on the conditions that we have,” Hamilton said.

“If it rains, I think we didn’t look too bad yesterday in the wet conditions. I think either way we should be a little bit closer than we were today, and I’m just hoping for a better race result than we had last week.”

Hamilton put together a run of five successive podium finishes either side of F1’s summer break, but has since gone four races without one, finishing ninth last weekend in Singapore.

Despite being hopeful that rain could improve Mercedes’ chances, he insisted that competing for a first Mercedes win of the season is highly unlikely.

The Red Bull star could put himself mathematically out of reach by notching the race win and collecting the bonus point for fastest lap, regardless of how others perform. Someone else snatching the fastest lap could leave it out of his hands, however, as explained by Sky Sports pundit Ted Kravitz.

“Is there anyone at the end of the race tomorrow, if Max has fastest lap, that would pit for brand new tyres and deny Max Verstappen the chance to win the title here in Japan by nicking fastest lap? George [Russell] ummed and ahed when asked about it, saying it would be nice to be in a position to deliver fastest lap in the race anyway.

“Would someone try and take the Championship off Max? It would be naughty. I wouldn’t put it past someone but I don’t think Mercedes are going to do it because I don’t think their car is fast enough. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”