Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won a wet and sombre Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to extend his Formula One lead over Mercedes teammate 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.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who would otherwise have been on the podium, was fourth for Red Bull.
Tense faces
The tense faces of the drivers as they waited to step on the podium told the true story of the afternoon, with Bianchi foremost in their thoughts.
No champagne was sprayed, with the top three merely clinking the bottles and taking a quiet swig before placing them back on the floor.
“It's obviously a real anti-climax to hear that one of our fellow colleagues is seriously injured so that's really the main worry,” said Hamilton, who would otherwise have been delighted with his third win in a row and one of his most impressive performances.
Eighth of season
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 evening.
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.”
The results: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:51:43.021, 2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +00:09.180, 3. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 00:29.122, 4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 00:38.818, 5. Jenson Button (McLaren) 01:07.550, 6. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 01:53.773, 7. Felipe Massa (Williams) 01:55.126, 8. Nico Huelkenberg (Force India) 01:55.948, 9. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) 02:07.638, 10. Sergio Perez (Force India), 1 lap.
11. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1 lap, 12. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1 lap, 13. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) 1 lap, 14. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) 1 lap, 15. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1 lap, 16. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) 1 lap, 17. Marcus Ericsson (Caterham) 1 lap, 18. Max Chilton (Marussia) 1 lap.
Retired: Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham) 1 lap 20, Jules Bianchi (Marussia) 3 laps 21, Adrian Sutil (Sauber) 4 laps, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 42 laps.
Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton, 1:51.600, lap 39.
Standings: Drivers: 1. Hamilton 266, 2. Rosberg 256, 3. Ricciardo 193, 4. Vettel 139, 5. Alonso 133, 6. Bottas 130, 7. Button 82, 8. Huelkenberg 76, 9. Massa 71, 10. Perez 46, 11. Raikkonen 45, 12. Magnussen 39, Jean-Eric Vergne 21, 14. Grosjean 8, 15. Kvyat 8, 16. Bianchi 2, 17. Sutil 0, 18. Ericsson 0, 19. Maldonado 0, 20. Gutierrez 0, 21. Chilton 0, 22. Kobayashi 0.
Constructors: 1. Mercedes 522, 2. Red Bull 332, 3. Williams-Mercedes 201, 4. Ferrari 178, 5. Force India 122, 6. McLaren 121, 7. Toro Rosso 29, 8. Lotus 8, 9. Marussia 2, 10. Sauber 0, 11. Caterham 0.
