Japanese GP: Race - RE-CAP & RESULTS

JAPANESE GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS

    Lewis Hamilton took his fourth consecutive victory in the Japanese Grand Prix after title rival Sebastian Vettel collided with Max Verstappen.

    Vettel had already made life difficult for himself after a number of mistakes in qualifying put him eighth on the grid. The Ferrari driver made quick work of the mid-field, managing to climb up to fifth behind the battling Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen.

    A lock up from Verstappen allowed Raikkonen to pull alongside, but he wasn’t about to let the Ferrari through. Verstappen pushed Raikkonen wide as he retired to the track and the Finn ran onto the grass, allowing Vettel to move up to fourth.

    The move earned Verstappen a five second penalty for not returning to the track safely. But Vettel opted not to wit for the Red Bull to take the penalty, trying to take P3 on track.

    He tried to dive up the inside of Verstappen, but the pair made contact and Vettel was sent into a spin. He was able to continue, but dropped to the back of the field.

    The Ferrari driver eventually managed to climb back up to sixth but, with Hamilton earning a relatively simple lights-to-flag victory, he left Suzuka  67 points behind the championship leader.

    Despite his penalty, Verstappen was able to challenge Bottas for second in the closing stages of the race. Bottas put up a strong defence to bring home Mercedes’ fourth 1-2 of the season.

    Daniel Ricciardo climbed up from 15th on the grid to take fourth, ahead of Raikkonen and Vettel.

    Racing was paused twice in Japan. The first interlude came when Kevin Magnussen brought out the safety car. The Haas driver had been trying to defend against Charles Leclerc on the start finish straight but moved late and collided with the Sauber.

    The contact damaged Leclerc’s front wing and Magnussen suffered a puncture. He continued around the track to try to make it back to the pits, leaving debris across the circuit.

    While the pair pitted, the safety car was brought out so marshals could clear the debris.

    Despite the early stop, Leclerc was enjoying a strong come back, battling with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. But his race came to an early end when he ran into the gravel at the second degner. He rejoined the track but was moving slowly and the Suber soon pulled to the side of the track, prompting a virtual safety car.

    Perez eventually finished best of the rest in P6 while a problem with the back of Hulkenberg’s Renault took him out of the race.

    Romain Grosjean took seventh, with Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz rounding out the top 10.

    Pierre Gasly finished 11th, ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Brendon Hartley.

    After clashing multiple times, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were both handed penalties. Alonso came home 14th, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, Sergey Sirotkin, and Stroll.

RESULTS:

1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 25 Points

2. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 18 Points

3. Max Verstappen / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / + 15 Points

4. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia / + 12 Points

5. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 10 Points

6. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 8 Points

7. Sergio Perez / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / + 6 Points

8. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / + 4 Points

9. Esteban Ocon / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / + 2 Points

10. Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain / + 1 Point

11. Pierre Gasly / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France

12. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

13. Brendon Hartley / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand

14. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Renault / Spain

15. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Renault / Belgium

16. Sergey Sirotkin / Williams-Mercedes / Russia

17. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

RETIRED - Charles Leclerc / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco / Mechanical

RETIRED - Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / Engine

RETIRED - Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / Collision Damage

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring

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