Sebastian Vettel's hopes of a fifth title and a first with Ferrari have taken a major blow after the German retired from the Japanese Grand Prix on the second lap of the race.
Vettel lined up second on the grid alongside championship leader and chief rival Lewis Hamilton, but Ferrari spotted an issue with his car as he headed to the grid.
Ferrari frantically begun working on his car whilst it sat on the grid (pictured), with the team blaming spark plugs as the cause of the issue, but were confident the problem had been fixed.
Vettel immediately lost out to Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the start of the race and then gradually dropped behind Force India's Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo as it became obvious he was experiencing a loss of power.
Valtteri Bottas was next to pass the four-time champion before Ferrari called on Vettel to retire the car on the second lap of the race.
The DNF is Vettel's second in three races after he crashed out in Singapore. Whilst in Malaysia, he started from the back of the grid after he failed to take part in qualifying due to turbo problems.
Heading into the race, Hamilton held a 34-point lead over Vettel and currently leads the Japanese GP, which, if he were to win, would give Hamilton a commanding 59-point advantage and a chance to win the title at the next race in the United States, if Vettel finishes lower than 5th.
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