With the weather hot and humid, plus the haze still lingering, teams knew there was room for electronic glitches and we'd already seen plenty over the weekend with lots of team radio transmissions not going through. Before the start of the race, Nico Rosberg began to have issues with his engine. He accidentally turned it off and then there were problems getting it started again.
When the lights went out, it was not Rosberg who ended up with problems starting the race though. Instead it was young rookie, Max Verstappen, who stalled on the grid with mechanical issues. The team quickly got his car into the pits and were able to fix the issue and send him out to start the race, however, by that time, he was 1 lap behind.
A bit in to the race, there was a collision between Felipe Massa & Nico Hulkenberg. Massa had been coming out of Pit-Lane and Hulkenberg was taking the same turn. Massa then collided and launched the Force India into the air. Hulkenberg was found guilty for the accident and was handed 2 Penalty Points to his license and also given a 3-Place-Grid-Penalty for the Japanese GP. His race was also over. Felipe Massa later retired the race with a gearbox problem.
Before lap 40, the safety car was called out - However, this was not due to a collision of any sort. Instead, there was man walking along the side of the track. The 27-year-old male, who was later arrested, had been able to get on track, take a photo and then hop through a hole in the fence. It's not the first time something like that has happened this year. Earlier at the Chinese GP, a man ran across the track during a Practice Session.
It was another day to forget for McLaren-Honda. Both of them had been in the running for a handful of points, but both drivers ended up retiring due to gearbox problems. Lotus driver, Romain Grosjean retired with a couple of laps left, but was qualified as finished. One of the most shocking retirements of the race though, was Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, due to a problem with the 'Boost Pressure'
With Hulkenberg out of the race, it was up to Sergio Perez to get the best result possible for Force India. He held off both Toro Rosso drivers in the final laps and was able to bring the car home in 7th. There was some commotion between the Toro Rosso team and Max Verstappen, as they asked him to change positions with his team-mate, Carlos Sainz. However, Verstappen replied with a simple "No!" and kept trying to pass Perez.
Sebastian Vettel brought home the win for the Scuderia Ferrari team and Raikkonen finished in 3rd. Daniel Ricciardo took his Red Bull to 2nd place. A good result for the Austrian team after their recent struggles and an apparent 'Divorce' from Renault coming in 2016. While it was a great celebration for Ferrari, the team later got in a bit of trouble for going against Parc Ferme rules.
But, indeed, no one had a better day than American driver, Alexander Rossi, who not only had to make his F1 debut at one of (if not THE) trickiest circuit on the calendar - But he also finished 14th and ahead of Will Stevens, who will be his team-mate for the other 4 races he will drive in this season.
Here are the results from the race & Next weekend is the Japanese GP. The teams will head to Suzuka Circuit and another race will be ticked off the calendar.
RACE RESULTS:
1. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-Renault / Australia / + 18 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 15 Points
4. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 12 Points
5. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland / + 10 Points
6. Daniil Kvyat / Red Bull-Renault / Russia / + 8 Points
7. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 6 Points
8. Max Verstappen / Toro Rosso-Renault / Netherlands / + 4 Points
9. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / + 2 Points
10. Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil / + 1 Point
11. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden /
12. Pastor Maldonado / Lotus-Mercedes / Venezuela
13. Romain Grosjean / Lotus-Mercedes / France (Retired - Qualified as Finished)
14. Alexander Rossi / Manor-Ferrari / America
15. Will Stevens / Manor-Ferrari / Great Britain
RETIRED - Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain / Gearbox
RETIRED - Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / Gearbox
RETIRED - Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / Boost Pressure
RETIRED - Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / Gearbox
RETIRED - Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / Collision Damage
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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