Hamilton closes on third title
THe ease with which Lewis Hamilton muscled Nico Rosberg out of his path to win the Japanese Grand Prix demonstrated his clear superiority over his team-mate. The first lap summed up the season.
Pole-sitter Rosberg was forced off the track via a slight nudge at turn two from Hamilton. Rosberg recovered to finish second but is surely out of the title race.
The Brit dominated from start to finish, producing a drive Ayrton Senna would have been proud of, and has now matched his idol’s tally of 41 race wins.
More importantly, he moved 48 points clear of his Mercedes counterpart in the standings with five races left. It would take a monumental shift in fortune to stop Hamilton clinching his third title to join Senna, Sir Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda in the pantheon of all-time greats.
‘I can’t really describe it (matching Senna). It doesn’t feel real,’ said Hamilton. ‘It was important for us to strike back here. It’s remarkable what the team has done, the car was beautiful to drive.’
If British viewers struggled to wake up for the 6am start then the first lap was the ideal alarm. Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa collided almost immediately and had to amble round with punctures, while Sergio Perez soon found himself in the gravel.
Hamilton and Rosberg were side by side, and the German was lucky to avoid an accident after being pushed to the outside. It seemed we might be in for a repeat of a Mercedes rivalry. But Rosberg slumped behind Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, and Hamilton stormed into a comfortable lead.
The 30-year-old complained of vibrations and occasionally had to cool down his engine but reliability was his only real nemesis.
Vettel, who finished third, held a three- second lead over Rosberg halfway through here but Ferrari were not sporting as much pace. A slow pit- stop saw the Mercedes man make his move and he wasn’t to be caught.
Cash-strapped Lotus, who couldn’t even access their hospitality suite this weekend and will visit the High Court tomorrow for a third time over unpaid bills, finished with Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado in seventh and eighth places.
McLaren endured another disastrous afternoon with Fernando Alonso finishing 11th, Jenson Button 16th and both men rejecting claims from team chief Ron Dennis that they would stay in 2016.
Dennis was unequivocal that he had changed Button’s mind about retiring from Formula One after a phone call on Thursday and stated Fernando Alonso could not break his three-year contract.
But Button (below) criticised his boss for speaking publicly, saying: ‘every week I’ve spoken to Ron. I’m not going to say if it’s been resolved because we’re still discussing. That’s his choice for telling you that. It’s a private matter that shouldn’t be publicised. If we have a competitive car, I want to race. If not, who knows?’
Alonso, meanwhile, vented his frustration over the team radio at Honda’s home race. The Spaniard said: ‘ This is embarrassing’ as he was overtaken on the straight by a Sauber and yelled ‘ GP2 engine’ — referring to the sport’s feeder series and prompting Dennis to criticise his ‘professionalism’.
Sportsmail understands the 34-year-old, who earns £25million a year, is thinking seriously about quitting. When asked if he would stay next season, he said: ‘I don’t know. We need to get on top of our problems.’