Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas surged into the lead at the start and held on to win the typhoon-hit Japanese Grand Prix yesterday for his third Formula One victory of the season and first since April.
Bottas, who started third on the grid, pulled ahead of Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc almost immediately and then used an effective two-stop pit strategy to finish 11.376 seconds ahead of Vettel. Bottas’ teammate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton was third.
“Starting third is never easy here, but there’s no point giving up,” Bottas said. “I had a really nice car and Sebastian had an issue, so it was good to get the lead. Really proud of the team, sixth title in a row is so impressive.”
Photo: Reuters
With Bottas holding a comfortable lead over the closing laps at the Suzuka Circuit, there was a fierce battle for second place between Vettel and Hamilton.
Hamilton made a desperate attempt to pass Vettel over the final two laps, but was unable to pull ahead.
However, the podium finishes for Bottas and Hamilton ensured that Mercedes won their sixth-consecutive constructors’ championship.
Vettel started from pole position but got off to a bad start.
There was contact between Leclerc and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen at Turn 2 and Verstappen was sent into a spin before being forced to retire.
Organizers canceled Saturday’s qualifying session with Typhoon Hagibis set to hit Japan’s main island.
The FIA is to launch an investigation after the checkered flag was shown a lap early.
The blunder means that under Formula One rules the finishing positions and points will be calculated at the end of lap 52, not the full race distance of 53 laps.
It was good news for Racing Point’s Sergio Perez who crashed at the start of lap 53 in ninth position.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg had inherited ninth on what he thought was the final lap, but was relegated to 10th, while Racing Point’s Lance Stroll crossed the line in 10th at the end of lap 53, but drops to 11th and scores no points.
Additional reporting by AFP
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