Across the first two races of the F1 season, Ferrari has emerged as Mercedes' closest rivals.
In both Australia and China, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were both able to use their lightning-fast starts to leapfrog the front-row Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli and engage in thrilling wheel-to-wheel combat.
Eventually, over the course of a race distance, Mercedes' superiority shone through as the W17 pulled away to a pair of one-two finishes, with Ferrari taking a three-four result on both occasions.
But can the Scuderia claim a first grand prix victory since Carlos Sainz at the 2024 Mexico City GP this weekend in Japan?
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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look ahead to this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix. Jonathan Wheatley's Audi exit is a key talking point, as is whether Max Verstappen's critical comments are damaging F1.
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