McLaren have slipped further back in the hunt for the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship with an average performance in Japan. However some bad luck for both drivers didn’t help their chances.

Lewis Hamilton’s weekend got off to a bad start in first practise when he crashed, damaging the entire left side of his car. This meant that he got barely any time on the track and also meant that he missed the majority of the second practise session. Team mate Jenson Button also struggled in practise and it looked like McLaren would be well down on their title rivals.

When it came to qualifying the Saturday session had to be abandoned because of torrential rain, this meant that qualifying took place just hours before the race. Hamilton was handed yet more bad luck when he was forced to take a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change, so starting from eighth was a good result for him. Button could only manage fifth but started the race on an entirely different strategy to the drivers around him.

In the race Hamilton made up a number of places to fifth and was just behind his team mate, after the pit stops he managed to jump Button who’s alternative strategy didn’t pay off. Then disaster struck for Hamilton, he lost third gear meaning he had to coax his car to the finish where he was lucky to finish fifth a place behind team mate Button.

Championship rivals Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso all finished with a podium and a decent haul of points pulling them away from the struggling McLarens. This result means that Hamilton has now dropped to 28 points behind Mark Webber, with Jenson Button a further three points behind his team mate. With only three races remaining it looks as though it will be very difficult for either McLaren to put up much of a Championship challenge.

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