Will Buxton believes Ferrari have a Japanese Grand Prix winning cornering advantage over Mercedes

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As Ferrari look to get the better of Mercedes at the Japanese Grand Prix, the track at Suzuka provides them with a unique advantage.

While some within Ferrari are pessimistic about beating Mercedes, the team have shown they can compete with the German outfit under the right settings.

Even though Mercedes have been dominant to start the season, Ferrari have given them a run for their money in the first two races of the season.

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Ferrari have good reason to be confident in their battle against Mercedes, even if they haven’t been able to topple them so far.

But with Ferrari set to bring back their halo winglets at the Japanese Grand Prix, they could take advantage of the challenging track at Suzuka that may favour them if Will Buxton is to be believed.

READ MORE: Ferrari initially shelved the Macarena wing over concerns it may rehash old Lewis Hamilton issue

Will Buxton claims Ferrari hold edge over Mercedes in medium and high-speed corners at Suzuka

While speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, Will Buxton backed Ferrari to come out victorious at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.

In particular, it is the advantage Ferrari have over Mercedes in the medium-to-high-speed corners, which they showed in Shanghai, that has Buxton convinced this will be a great weekend for the Tifosi.

“I’m going to back Ferrari purely because I think in the medium-to-high speed corners we saw in China, Ferrari looked really good. Mercedes clearly have an advantage on the straights.”

“I think that’s fair to say, when you look at the onboards with George and Kimi down that long back straight.”

“But I’m hoping that the nature of the medium-to-high speed corners at Suzuka play into Ferrari’s hands and we get a battle for more than the first 10 laps… Hopefully, Ferrari can get their strategy right and can maintain a longer battle with Mercedes.”

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Will Buxton backs Lewis Hamilton to win the Japanese Grand Prix

Speaking further in the podcast, Buxton bet against the favourites in Mercedes and picked Lewis Hamilton to win the Japanese Grand Prix.

“You’d be insane to pick anybody other than one of the Mercedes drivers to win at the moment. With that in mind, I’m going to pick Lewis Hamilton for the win…”

Should Buxton’s prediction turn out to be correct, it will mark Hamilton’s first win at Suzuka since 2018, where he managed to secure P1 while being 12 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas, his then-Mercedes teammate.

The Japanese Grand Prix is considered one of the most difficult races of the year, so for Hamilton to earn his first win with Ferrari in Suzuka would be a proper statement of intent from the seven-time world champion.