Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won a wet and sombre Japanese Grand Prix yesterday to extend his F1 lead over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to 10 points with four races remaining.
The race started behind the safety car due to heavy rain and ended without celebration after Marussia’s Jules Bianchi was taken to hospital following a crash that left the young Frenchman seriously injured.
Rosberg, who had started on pole position, finished second following a third deployment of the safety car and then red flags being displayed.
Germany’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is leaving Red Bull for Ferrari at the end of the season, took third place with the result based on positions after 44 of the scheduled 53 laps.
Daniel Ricciardo, who would otherwise have been on the podium, was fourth for Red Bull.
The drivers’ tense faces as they waited to step on the podium told the true story of the afternoon, with Bianchi foremost in their thoughts.
The victory was Hamilton’s eighth of the season but first at Suzuka. The 2008 champion’s only other win in Japan was at the Fuji circuit with McLaren in 2007.
The race started as scheduled but behind the safety car due to rain from an approaching typhoon that threatened to intensify through the afternoon.
The cars completed one lap and were then led back into the pit lane to await a re-start.
“Lewis is saying the conditions are so poor he cannot see you,” Rosberg’s race engineer told the German as the two Mercedes threaded their way carefully around the circuit.
When the race resumed, again behind the safety car, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was an immediate casualty with his car gliding to a halt.
“It was a shame. I had power down in the car, an electricity problem and the car switched off. Maybe some water in some connectors,” said the Spaniard, whose future remains unclear after Vettel’s announcement.
“Probably we lost an opportunity today.”
When the safety car came in after eight laps, the battle was on with Hamilton chasing Rosberg in the spray and passing him in a breathtaking moment of bravery on lap 29 after their first pitstops.
The Briton was 16 seconds clear of the German when the race was stopped, the margin later reduced to 9.160 in the final results.
Compatriot Jenson Button also shone in the wet, making the right call to run in third place for McLaren before then dropping back to fifth at the finish.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas was sixth for Williams, ahead of Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa, as the team consolidated third place overall and pulled further away from Ferrari.
Japanese Grand Prix result
| 1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) | Mercedes | 1:51:43.021 |
| 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) | Mercedes | +00:09.160 |
| 3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) | Red Bull-Renault | 00:29.122 |
| 4. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) | Red Bull-Renault | 00:38.818 |
| 5. Jenson Button (Britain) | McLaren | 01:07.550 |
| 6. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) | Williams-Mercedes | 01:53.773 |
| 7. Felipe Massa (Brazil) | Williams-Mercedes | 01:55.126 |
| 8. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) | Force India-Mercedes | 01:55.948 |
| 9. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) | Toro Rosso-Renault | 02:07.638 |
| 10. Sergio Perez (Mexico) | Force India-Mercedes | 1 lap |
| 11. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1 lap |
| 12. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) | Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 13. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) | Sauber – Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 14. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) | McLaren | 1 lap |
| 15. Romain Grosjean (France) | Lotus-Renault | 1 lap |
| 16. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) | Lotus-Renault | 1 lap |
| 17. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) | Caterham-Renault | 1 lap |
| 18. Max Chilton (Britain) | Marussia-Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 19. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) | Caterham-Renault | 1 lap |
| 20r. Jules Bianchi (France) | Marussia-Ferrari | 3 laps |
| 21r. Adrian Sutil (Germany) | Sauber-Ferrari | 4 laps |
| r. Fernando Alonso (Spain) | Ferrari | 42 laps |
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, 1:51.600, lap 39.
Next race: Russian GP, October 12.
Drivers’ standings
1. Hamilton (Mercedes) 266; 2. Rosberg (Mercedes) 256; 3. Ricciardo (Red Bull) 193; 4. Vettel (Red Bull) 139; 5. Alonso (Ferrari) 133; 6. Bottas (Williams) 130; 7. Button (McLaren) 82; 8. Huelkenberg (Force India) 76; 9. Massa (Williams) 71; 10. Perez (Force India) 46; 11. Raikkonen (Ferrari) 45; 12. Magnussen (McLaren) 39; 13. Vergne (Toro Rosso) 21; 14. Grosjean (Lotus) 8; 15. Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 8; 16. Bianchi (Marussia) 2.
Constructors
1. Mercedes 522; 2. Red Bull 332; 3. Williams 201; 4. Ferrari 178; 5. Force India 122; 6. McLaren 121; 7. Toro Rosso 29; 8. Lotus 8; 9. Marussia 2.