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Nico Rosberg has taken a dominant win in the Japanese Grand Prix, in a race that crowned Mercedes world constructors' champions for the third consecutive year.
A day after matching Juan Manuel Fangio's pole record, Rosberg matched Nelson Piquet's win tally in a race that saw him never challenged at the front.
His team mate, however, had a more trying race.
After a poor start due to a damp patch on his grid position, Hamilton was down in eighth place on the first lap, while Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hulkenberg, and Kimi Raikkonen all made their way past him.
For the rest of the race he carved his way beck into the top three, finally making his way past Vettel in the second round of pit stops. Vettel attempted to re-pass Hamilton, but was unsuccessful.
With Rosberg out in front, attention turned to Hamilton's battle with Verstappen as he closed in on the teenager.
On the penultimate lap, Hamilton attempted a move on the Red Bull drive, only to be forced down the escape road at the final chicane, leaving him settling for third.
Behind the top three, which was covered by only 5.7 seconds, were the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.
Traffic cost the former any chance of a podium finish, with the German very vocal over the radio as he struggled to deal with drivers being shown blue flags. Raikkonen meanwhile had to start the race with a five-plae grid penalty for a post-qualifying gearbox change.
Daniel Ricciardo had to settle for sixth place, ahead of Force India duo Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.
Force India's constructors' championship rivals Williams recovered after missing out on the top 10 in qualifying by using a one-stop pit strategy to take the final two points finishes - Felipe Massa took ninth on his last ever Japanese Grand Prix start, while Valtteri Bottas was tenth.
Haas's Romain Grosjean missed out on the points again in 11th. Jolyon Palmer, who was also keen to score this weekend, also missed out by finishing 12th. Daniil Kvyat split the Renaults, finishing ahead of Kevin Magnussen in 13th.
Marcus Ericsson was 15th, with Fernando Alonso the highest finishing McLaren Honda in 16th in what was a tough race for the team at their engine partner's home event. Carlos Sainz was behind his compatriot, with Jenson Button in 18th after he was forced to take an engine penalty before the race.
Felipe Nasr, Esteban Gutierrez, Esteban Ocon, and Pascal Wehrlein completed the field in a race that saw no retirements.
Rosberg's win now gives him a 33-point lead over team mate Hamilton with only 100 left to play for in the final four races. If Hamilton were to win all of the remaining races and Rosberg were to finish in second place in the final rounds, the German would still win the championship.
Circuit Suzuka - 09 October 2016
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
A. Antonelli
C. Leclerc
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Replies (2)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Great race, and awesome performance from Nico, he just blasted away. Im not sure how dominant Hamilton will be in Austin at this rate.
ianf1
Posts: 185
Yeah, Nico won't let this chance slip away now