Hamilton dominates in Japanposted in F127 | 09 | 2015
LEWIS HAMILTON TOOK another significant stride towards his third F1 World Championship when he dominated the Japanese Grand Prix (Alonso slams 'GP2 Honda engine).
But Hamilton, whose 41st win equalled that of his hero, Ayrton Senna, was only achieved following a close first-lap moment with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
In the end, the double world champ finished a comfortable 18.9 seconds clear of the German as the duo recorded their eighth one-two of the year. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was third.
Hamilton's 41st win came in his 162nd start, one more than Senna, the late three-time champion.
The win means the Englishman now heads to Russia with a healthy 48-point advantage in the title race ahead of Rosberg.
With Hamilton starting from second on the grid, the key moment came as he and polesitter Rosberg sped through Turns 1 and 2 side-by-side.
Hamilton was able to edge Rosberg aside, leading to the latter running marginally off track, allowing Vettel and Williams's Valtteri Bottas to sweep by, temporarily, into second and third.
Though the two Mercedes came close to touching, Rosberg took the view that he had been forced to "avoid a collision."
Related: Vettel dominates in Singapore
Speaking after the race, the German admitted: "I've not seen it on TV, but it was close. I had to avoid a collision, but it's difficult to comment.
"The car is really back to its best: it was a pity to lose out at the start. It was a battle round Turn 1 and 2, and it got very close on the exit of Turn 2, so I had to back out of it and that lost me the race.
"Lewis just got a better start. In Turn 2 he had the inside and he made it stick."
Hamilton, perhaps not surprisingly, said he suffered with understeer as the two Mercedes fought over the lead.
"I didn't feel it was particularly that close," he smiled. "The inside line is the inside line, so it was my corner.
"We were very close. I was understeering, running out of grip.
"I imagine Nico ran out of road but that is what happens when you're on the outside."
Once ahead, Hamilton was never troubled and cruised to another dominant victory. Rosberg, meanwhile, eased himself passed Bottas on lap 17 before carrying out the undercut on Vettel 13 laps later at the second round of stops.
Related: Hamilton wins at Monza after tyre scare
While Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, with Bottas fifth. The Finn's Williams team-mate, Felipe Massa, had his race ruined inside the opening few hundred metres and eventually finished a distant 17th, two laps down.
Massa fell victim to Daniel Ricciardo when the Aussie's left-rear tyre collided with the Braziian's front right. Both men suffered punctures, with Massa also requiring a new front-wing due to damage sustained on the slow crawl back to the pits.
Having started 13th, following his grid penalty, Nico Hulkenberg brought his Force India home sixth, jumping both Lotus drivers — Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, who eventually finished seventh and eighth — at the first stops.
Toro Rosso pair Max Verstappen, who had started 17th, and Carlos Sainz Jr completed the points scorers in the top 10.
And there was further misery, and embarrassment, for the ailing Honda-powered McLaren.
On Honda's home track, Fernando Alonso bemoaned his lack of pace, saying "it's embarrassing, very embarrassing", before later labelling Honda's V6 engine as "GP2" standard, followed by an exasperated cry of frustration.
The double world champ eventually finished 11th, with Jenson Button 16th.
F1 — Japanese Grand Prix, Result:
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 53 laps 1hr 28m 06.208s
2. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes +18.9s
3. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari +20.8s
4. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari +33.7s
5. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes +36.7s
6. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes +55.5s
7. Romain Grosjean FRA Lotus-Mercedes +1m 12.2s
8. Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus-Mercedes +1m 13.5s
9. Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Renault +1m 35.3s
10. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
11. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda +1 lap
12. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
13. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
14. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
15. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
16. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda +1 lap
17. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
18. Alexander Rossi USA Manor-Ferrari +2 laps
19. Will Stevens GBR Manor-Ferrari +3 laps
Retired:
Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari 50 laps completed
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Jim McGill