Lewis Hamilton has insisted that he will not give up on his title aspirations despite admitting it will take "something magical" for him to triumph in Japan.
The 27-year-old will start ninth on the grid after struggling in qualifying today.
His teammate Jenson Button will be in eighth after a five-place grid penalty, in what has so far been a disappointing weekend for McLaren.
Hamilton admitted that he made a set-up error and knows the team will need some luck if they are to be successful tomorrow.
"The car was feeling good in practice but I got it wrong in qualifying," he said.
He also said that he is ready to capitalise, should the leading drivers make a mistake.
Hamilton continued: "Sebastian [Vettel] is all of a sudden the quickest car on the track, he is probably the main competitor to Fernando [Alonso] now.
"Maybe they won't finish races and we will capitalise as a team. We will never give up and will keep pushing tomorrow, and hope something magical happens."
Alonso currently leads the drivers' championship by 29 points from Vettel. Hamilton is 52 points off the top.
Daniel Cross
