Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win at the Japanese GP, yesterday.

Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix yesterday to equal the late Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 Formula One victories and move 48 points clear of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with five races remaining.

On a sunny afternoon at Suzuka, in marked contrast to the dark and tragic 2014 race that he also won, the double world champion seized the lead from pole-sitter Rosberg at the start and never looked back.

The win was the Briton’s eighth of the season, with Rosberg anchoring the eighth one-two finish for dominant Mercedes as the champions returned to form after a mysterious dip in Singapore last weekend.

“For me to come here to a race where I used to love watching Ayrton drive, to match his wins... I can’t really describe it. It doesn’t feel real at the moment,” said Hamilton after saluting the fans from the podium.

Rosberg took the chequered flag 18.9 seconds behind Hamilton with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the winner in Singapore, finishing third in an exact repeat of last year’s top three at Suzuka.

Hamilton now has 277 points to Rosberg’s 229 with Vettel dropping back on 218 but refusing to give up his championship hopes until mathematically ruled out.

“It’s not done until it’s done. So, the chance is there – and what kind of racing driver would I be if I stopped believing?,” said the German.

“You have to keep believing otherwise I guess it’s pointless rocking up and trying to fight.”

Mercedes, who have now won 11 of 14 races, moved a step closer to retaining their constructors’ title with 506 points to Ferrari’s 337.

If last year’s post-race ceremonies were muted in the aftermath of the late Jules Bianchi’s horrific and ultimately fatal accident, only a brief microphone failure prevented Hamilton from expressing his joy on the podium this time.

“I am so happy right now,” he said, before Vettel poured champagne over his rival’s head.

“The team did a fantastic job this weekend, it’s great to be back up here as a team with a one-two.

“The car was beautiful to drive today.”

Rosberg had gone into the first two corners side by side with Hamilton but was forced wide to avoid a collision and dropped to fourth as Hamilton made his getaway.

“Lewis just got a better start, fair play and it was a good battle into turn two,” said the German.

“He had the inside and just made it stick and that was the end of it there. Then it was great to fight back to second place.

“Second was the best possible after that so I’m happy.”

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was fourth with fellow-Finn Valtteri Bottas fifth for Williams, whose other driver Felipe Massa was involved in a first-lap collision with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

That incident left both Massa and Ricciardo, who was overly optimistic in going for a gap between the Brazilian and Raikkonen, limping back to the pits with punctures.

“I haven’t seen the footage and don’t want to put the blame on anyone so we’ll call it a racing incident for now,” said Ricciardo.

Germany‘s Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Force India, with the Lotus duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado seventh and eighth in a boost for the financially-troubled team.

Dutch hotshot Max Verstappen who turns 18 this week completed his last race as a 17-year-old in the points, taking ninth place for Toro Rosso ahead of Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Japan GP result

Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton,1:36.145, lap 33.
Next race: Russia GP, October 11.

Drivers Championship
1. Hamilton 277; 2. Rosberg 229; 3. Vettel 218; 4. Raikkonen 119; 5. Bottas 111; 6. Massa 97; 7. Ricciardo 73; 8. Kvyat 66; 9. Grosjean 44; 10. Perez 39; 11. Huelkenberg 38; 12. Verstappen 32; 13. Nasr 17; 14. Maldonado 16; 15. Sainz Jr 12; 16. Alonso 11; 17. Ericsson 9; 18. Button 6.

Constructors
1. Mercedes 506; 2. Ferrari 337; 3. Williams 208; 4. Red Bull 139; 5. Force India 77; 6. Lotus 60; 7. Toro Rosso 44; 8. Sauber 26; 9. McLaren 17.