However, in a survey of Express Sport readers, 55 per cent believed that Hamilton is still in with a chance of securing a Drivers’ Championship trophy in his first season with Fred Vasseur’s squad. If that is to happen, the Brit will need Norris and Verstappen to take points off one another as Ferrari continue to recover.

Lewis Hamilton has confirmed that Ferrari have found an issue with their car but is hopeful of a remedy for the next race in Bahrain. The seven-time F1 world champion, who qualified eighth on the grid, finished the Japanese Grand Prix in seventh after a largely uneventful race at Suzuka.