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Championship leader Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, taking a major step towards winning his fourth Formula One title.
The Mercedes driver crossed the finish line 1.2 seconds ahead of Malaysia GP winner Max Verstappen to claim his eighth F1 victory of the season and third at the Suzuka circuit. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo was third.
“The track was fantastic today and the team did an unbelievable job,” Hamilton said. “Max drove an outstanding race. Obviously, it wasn’t easy for us.”
Hamilton moved 59 points clear of title rival Sebastian Vettel with four races left. Vettel was forced to retire on the third lap when his Ferrari lost power.
Starting from pole position next to Vettel, Hamilton held the lead through the first turn. With his championship challenger out of the race, it quickly became a showdown between Hamilton and Verstappen. Hamilton built up a four-second lead over the Red Bull driver through the first 15 laps and made his only pit stop on the 23rd lap.
Verstappen pitted a lap earlier than Hamilton, then produced some good laps to cut the lead to 1.7 seconds midway through the race and closed to within a second at the start of the final lap. Traffic, however, allowed Hamilton to escape once more and seal the narrow win.
“I was able to hold him behind me but he got very close,” Hamilton said. “We had a bit of traffic but it was very close at the end.”
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was fourth followed by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The Force India duo of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez was sixth and seventh, respectively.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was eighth followed by teammate Romain Grosjean. Williams driver Felipe Massa rounded out the top 10.
Vettel’s early retirement put a serious dent in his fading hopes of coming back to win the championship. He also had mechanical issues at Malaysia and started at the back of the grid before working his way to a fourth-place finish.
“It is obviously a pity the last two races with the reliability issues,” Vettel said, “but you know, it’s like that sometimes. Of course it hurts and we’re all disappointed.”
Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson also retired early when he ran across the gravel and dived nose-first into the barriers. Carlos Sainz lost control of his Toro Rosso, spinning across the gravel into the wall on the outside and retiring after the second lap.
Mercedes also increased its lead in the Constructors’ standings to 145 points over Ferrari. Red Bull is in third place with 303 points.
The next race is on October 22 in the United States.
2017 Japanese Grand Prix – REPORT
Lewis took his 61st career victory – his third at the Suzuka International Racing Circuit, eighth of the 2017 season and 40th win with the Silver Arrows
The result marked the 10th victory for the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows of the 2017 season
Valtteri scored the fastest lap of the race, making it the 150th fastest lap for Mercedes-Benz
Lewis (306 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 59 points from Sebastian Vettel (247 points), with Valtteri (234 points) a further 13 points behind in P3 and with 100 points remaining to be scored in the 2017 season
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (540 points) lead Ferrari (395 points) by 145 points in the Constructors’ Championship with 172 points remaining to be scored. James Vowles, the leader’s chief strategist, accepted the Constructors’ trophy on behalf of the team
“It was very close for a couple laps, but I was able to keep it together. It was not an easy walk in the park, it was a win that I had to work very hard for. Great race by Max, I enjoyed racing him. It’s almost unbelievable to think we are where we are in the championship. I was excited to race Sebastian today, but he was obviously very unfortunate. It’s still a long way to go, there are still a hundred points. I’m just going to keep my head down and hopefully will continue to be in a form like this. “
- Winner Lewis Hamilton
“This was another perfect performance from Lewis. He controlled the race from start to finish, taking nothing more out of the tyres and engine than he needed to at any point. One look at the points standings might give us some brief comfort but there are still four races to go, 100 points to win in the drivers’ title and, if the past weeks have shown us anything at all, it’s that anything can happen in motorsport.
We take no prisoners in how we claim our points – but we are all conscious that we have benefited from our rivals’ misfortune and reliability woes in recent weeks. So nothing changes in our approach: we must take the next races one at a time, push to better understand the car and keep our humble attitude. That is the approach that has worked for us so far and the way we will continue until the final race in Abu Dhabi.”
- Toto Wolff, executive director of Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
