Lewis Hamilton produced an exhibition in Japan to record his eighth victory of the season and edge ever closer to clinching this year’s Formula One title.
Hamilton appeared to have his work cut out after he qualified behind pole-sitter and his main rival Nico Rosberg for Sunday’s race at a sun-drenched Suzuka.
But despite starting on the dirtier side of the track, Hamilton, who now joins his idol Ayrton Senna on 41 career victories, drew alongside his Mercedes team-mate before muscling his way through at turn two.
Rosberg dropped to fourth after falling off the track in his attempt to cling on to the lead, but he battled his way back to finish second with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel completing the podium places.
HAMILTON: “To come here, where I used to love watching Ayrton drive, and match his career wins, is amazing for me” pic.twitter.com/Ws4LGsh2uF
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 27, 2015
Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth for Ferrari with Valtteri Bottas fifth in his Williams. His team-mate Felipe Massa and the fast-starting Daniel Ricciardo banged wheels on the run down to turn one. Both suffered punctures and both spent the remainder of the race running towards the back of the field.
Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth for Force India. Romain Grosjean, whose Lotus team are to appear at the High Court on Monday over an unpaid tax bill, was seventh with his team-mate Pastor Maldonado eighth.
The Toro Rosso duo of Verstappen and Carlos Sainz completed the points-paying positions. The Dutchman passed his team-mate in the closing stages with a fine move into the chicane.
Daniil Kvyat, who was involved in a huge shunt in Saturday’s qualifying session, started from the pit lane after his Red Bull mechanics worked through the night to change his chassis, gearbox, engine and a number of other components. He ended the race in 13th.
#JAPANESEGP PROVISIONAL RACE CLASSIFICATION: #F1 pic.twitter.com/JYZfY6HKms
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 27, 2015
“I am so happy right now,” said Hamilton, who joined his idol on 41 career wins at a track where the Brazilian won all three of his world titles.
“For me to come to a race where I use to love watching Ayrton drive and to match his wins – I can’t really describe. It does not feel real at the moment.”
Hamilton, who retired from last week’s race in Singapore, added: “It was important to strike back. The Ferraris were incredibly quick at the last race. We did not bring our A-game so we really had to take a step back in these last few days and make sure we brought it here.
