Bottas edges out Vettel, Hamilton finishes third, on a day when Mercedes wins the 2019 Constructor’s Championship.
SUZUKA, Japan—October 13th—It has been months since Valtteri Bottas won a race, but on Sunday afternoon–following a busy morning that included qualifying–the Finn took his third victory of the season. He won the Japanese Grand Prix with an 11.3-second cushion over pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took third.
The win gives the AMG Mercedes team its sixth constructor’s championship in a row, breaking the team record of consecutive championships held by Ferrari from 2000 through 2004.
“It has never been done before and that’s why it feels great,” exclaimed Mercedes team manager, Toto Wolff.”
“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, the sixth title in a row is so impressive.”
Bottas went around Vettel at the start when the German nearly jumped the line, and he held the lead for a good portion of the race–until his first pit stop–at which time Hamilton took the lead. Bottas regained it five laps later after Hamilton’s pit stop and maintained it for the rest of the race.
Vettel and Hamilton battled for second but, try as he might, Hamilton could not get around his Ferrari rival, settling for the final step on the podium.
There was excitement at the beginning when Charles Leclerc tangled with Max Verstappen on the second turn on the opening lap, the Dutchman sprung into the gravel, but continued from a bit, retiring his car midway through the race. Leclerc is under investigation for possibly causing the accident, despite recovering and finishing sixth overall.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez was in the points until his final lap when he was struck by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly going into the esses.
Alexander Albon gave points for Red Bull finishing in fourth, while Carlos Sainz Jr. was fifth for McLaren. Gasly was eighth and Lance Stroll finished in tenth. Renault grabbed double points with Daniel Ricciardo in seventh and Nico Hulkenberg in ninth. But the Renaut team had their steering wheels and electronic systems confiscated by the F.I.A. following a protest by Racing Point for an unfair brake bias system. Hearings about this protest will be evaluated this coming week.
The Formula 1 grid will now take a two-week break before going to Mexico on October 25-27. Hamilton still leads the championship over Bottas by 64 points. Hamilton needs to be 78 points clear of the Finn to win his sixth world title.
