Lewis Hamilton has won a wet Japanese Grand Prix and snatched possible victory from his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg in a accident and incident filled Sunday race after the race was red-flagged. He drove superbly after an accident involving Marussia’s Jules Bianchi to win at Suzuka for the first time. He increased his advantage over team mate Rosberg to 10 points with four rounds left this season. Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel finished third for Red Bull.
There was no traditional spraying of champagne on the podium with news already having filtered through of Bianchi’s crash. The 25-year-old collided with a recovery vehicle after spinning off the track on lap 46 of the Suzuka circuit. The recovery vehicle had been retrieving Adrian Sutil’s damaged Sauber when the collision occurred. After the crash Bianchi was unresponsive over the team radio. The Frenchman was then rushed to hospital with a police escort as race officials gave the race the red flag. Hamilton now leads Rosberg by 10 points with four races remaining.
RESULTS – 44 LAPS (RED FLAG):
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1h51m43.021s | – |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1h51m52.201s | 9.180s |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull/Renault | 1h52m12.143s | 29.122s |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1h52m21.839s | 38.818s |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Mercedes | 1h52m50.571s | 1m07.550s |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1h53m36.794s | 1m53.773s |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1h53m38.147s | 1m55.126s |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1h53m38.969s | 1m55.948s |
| 9 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1h53m50.659s | 2m07.638s |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1h51m22.646s | 1 Lap |
| 11 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1h51m48.409s | 1 Lap |
| 12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1h51m49.838s | 1 Lap |
| 13 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber/Ferrari | 1h52m14.678s | 1 Lap |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1h52m22.070s | 1 Lap |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Renault | 1h52m22.780s | 1 Lap |
| 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Renault | 1h52m42.898s | 1 Lap |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham/Renault | 1h52m50.427s | 1 Lap |
| 18 | Max Chilton | Marussia/Ferrari | 1h53m36.282s | 1 Lap |
| 19 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham/Renault | 1h53m59.121s | 1 Lap |
| 20 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia/Ferrari | 1h48m14.109s | Spun off |
| 21 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber/Ferrari | 1h46m17.524s | Spun off |
| – | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 6m19.243s | Retirement |
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP:
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 266 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | 256 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 193 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | 139 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | 133 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | 130 |
| 7 | Jenson Button | 82 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | 76 |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | 71 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | 46 |
| 11 | Kimi Raikkonen | 45 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | 39 |
| 13 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 21 |
| 14 | Romain Grosjean | 8 |
| 15 | Daniil Kvyat | 8 |
| 16 | Jules Bianchi | 2 |
| 17 | Adrian Sutil | 0 |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | 0 |
| 19 | Pastor Maldonado | 0 |
| 20 | Esteban Gutierrez | 0 |
| 21 | Max Chilton | 0 |
| 22 | Kamui Kobayashi | 0 |
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP:
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 522 |
| 2 | Red Bull/Renault | 332 |
| 3 | Williams/Mercedes | 201 |
| 4 | Ferrari | 178 |
| 5 | Force India/Mercedes | 122 |
| 6 | McLaren/Mercedes | 121 |
| 7 | Toro Rosso/Renault | 29 |
| 8 | Lotus/Renault | 8 |
| 9 | Marussia/Ferrari | 2 |
| 10 | Sauber/Ferrari | 0 |
| 11 | Caterham/Renault | 0 |
