It was a dramatic Japanese Grand
Prix for most of the F1 field – but for lights-to-flag victor Lewis Hamilton,
it looked to be a serene afternoon, as he swept to his fifth victory in Japan
and his fourth at Suzuka while his title rival Sebastian Vettel ended up sixth.
It was Hamilton’s 71st career
victory and his 50th for Mercedes, and sees him extend his title lead over
Vettel to 67 points, with the German claiming just eight for P6 after a tough
race that saw him spin early on following contact with Red Bull's Max
Verstappen.
Valtteri Bottas backed up his team
mate to make it a Mercedes one-two, while Verstappen survived the Vettel
contact and another run-in with the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen to complete
the podium - his third rostrum appearance in Suzuka in as many years. A
fantastic recovery drive from Daniel Ricciardo saw the Australian go from P15
on the grid to fourth at the race end, ahead of Raikkonen and Vettel, while
Sergio Perez claimed P7 for Force India.
So
post-Suzuka, Hamilton now sits 67 points clear of Vettel in the drivers’
standings, meaning that if he outscores Vettel by just eight points at the next
race in Austin, he’ll be crowned world champion for the fifth time. And
considering that Hamilton has won every race at the Circuit of The Americas
since 2014, things aren’t looking too rosy right now for Sebastian Vettel.
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