F1 fans pick Lewis Hamilton to win the Japanese Grand Prix in major Ferrari milestone

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Despite the dominance from Mercedes over the first two races, many F1 fans are backing Lewis Hamilton to win his first race with Ferrari this weekend.

Hamilton appears rejuvenated with Ferrari this season, as he looks back to his best. The seven-time world champion even earned his first podium with Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix.

While there is reason to be sceptical about Hamilton’s return to form, his recent performances have generated a lot of excitement about his chances this season.

Mercedes did hold an advantage over Hamilton in Shanghai that they leveraged into their second one-two finish this season ahead of him.

But when we asked F1 fans to name their pick to win the Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton earned an overwhelming amount of votes.

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Lewis Hamilton tipped to win Japanese Grand Prix over Mercedes drivers

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, F1 Oversteer asked fans to vote for their pick to win the race at Suzuka on TalkingPoints.

With over 800 total votes cast, Lewis Hamilton was the overwhelming fan favourite to win, as he earned 48.05% of the votes. One fan who voted for him wrote, “Hard to look past Max, but with RB’s struggles, I’m backing Lewis to get his first win with Ferrari!”

Another fan knew Hamilton wasn’t the odds-on favourite, but backed him anyway, saying, “It’ll be one of the Mercedes drivers, but I’m voting a Hamilton win into existence!”

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli followed, earning 24.6% and 7.8% of the votes respectively. A fan provided their realistic breakdown, noting, “I’m going to go with Russell again, but could be a toss-up between either of the Mercedes drivers.”

Surprisingly, Max Verstappen, who has dominated the Japanese Grand Prix for the last four years, earned just 4% of the votes.

One fan who voted for him cited his track record, claiming, “Might sound ludicrous, but I’m saying, Max. He loves this track and can produce a moment of magic!”

Another fan put the expectations for this weekend perfectly, writing, “Common sense says it’s gonna be George Russell. However, I just want to say that if Lewis wins the grand prix, the hype that will follow after will be RIDICULOUS with a capital letter R.”

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What’s your podium prediction for the Japanese Grand Prix?

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Lewis Hamilton earning first win with Ferrari could set him up for brilliant season

Should Hamilton cross the chequered line in Suzuka first, it would mark his first race win since joining Ferrari last year.

It would also mark Ferrari’s first race win as a team in over 500 days, with their last win coming courtesy of Carlos Sainz at the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix.

Given the track at Suzuka, Ferrari have a unique advantage over Mercedes that Hamilton could exploit to earn this major career milestone.

However, neither Mercedes driver is going to give up the race without a massive fight. And unlike the first two races, Hamilton and Ferrari will have to find a way to topple both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

But a win at the Japanese Grand Prix would also give Hamilton the confidence he needs to compete with Russell, Antonelli, and possibly Charles Leclerc for a championship this season.