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Form guide: Don't bet against a Red Bull walkover

There have been tantalising glimpses that Mercedes can carry the fight to Red Bull in Japan but, as MARK HUGHES reveals, the RB9 is still the pick of the bunch - while further down Sauber and Toro Rosso appear to have closed on McLaren

It might not necessarily be the Red Bull Suzuka walkover pretty much everyone is expecting.

But it probably will be.

The ray of hope for some competition to Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber came in the form of a 13-lap run by Nico Rosberg's Mercedes on Friday afternoon. On the option medium tyre, Rosberg's average was 1m39.0s, while on shorter 'long' runs both Vettel and Webber were in the high 1m39s.

But treat the comparison with caution: a difference of almost one second in the Merc's favour is just too much to be feasible.

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