If Red Bull don’t perform at their normal level at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, Lewis Hamilton will be convinced that “something’s wrong.”.

The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, giving Red Bull its first loss of the year.

“I think there’s something wrong if they aren’t 30 seconds ahead like they have been in the past.” Hamilton said.

The last weekend was challenging, but they should be phenomenal here. They have been phenomenal all year.”

At Suzuka, the demanding, high-speed circuit that everyone loves, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen believes his team will be challenged by McLaren.

It should be a good track for us, but McLaren have been making great gains and they are quite good at high speeds as well. So they could be quite strong here.”

“I think McLaren can challenge Red Bull in Japan,” said championship leader Verstappen.

“I do see them as very competitive,” he added.

As one of the slowest cars on the grid at the start of the season, Verstappen praised McLaren’s progress so far.

Seeing where they started and where they are now is quite impressive, he said.

Due to the abundance of high-speed corners at Suzuka, McLaren should also be strong, according to Mercedes driver George Russell.

For best of the rest, Russell said McLaren’s Lando Norris was the “favourite” between Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari.