Hamilton surprised by Vettel’s struggles

Lewis Hamilton has been shocked by Sebastian Vettel’s dramatic decline after his rival’s calamitous crash in the Japanese Grand Prix left the Briton on the brink of world championship glory.

Hamilton, who yesterday claimed his fourth consecutive victory and his sixth triumph in seven spellbinding rounds, is now 67 points clear of the Ferrari driver with only 100 left on the table of this one-sided title battle.

The 33-year-old Englishman needs only eight more points, and will wrap up his fifth title at the US Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time if he takes the chequered flag in Austin, and Vettel is third or lower.

The German limped home to sixth at Suzuka after a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Vettel, eighth on the grid after a combination of driver and team errors in Saturday’s dry-wet qualifying, executed an impressive opening lap to climb four places.

But disaster struck just eight circuits into the grand prix when he attempted an unrealistic move on Verstappen as he decelerated from 190mph at the Spoon curve.

Under braking, Vettel barged into the side of Verstappen’s Red Bull before spinning round in a flurry of sparks.

Vettel protested his innocence and took aim at the Dutchman, first over the radio, and then following the race, but the stewards tellingly took no action.

It marked his seventh mistake of an increasingly-erratic campaign which has unravelled since the summer break.

After 10 rounds, Vettel led Hamilton by eight points, but he has lost a staggering 75 to his rival in the space of just seven races.

“In terms of Sebastian’s performance, of course, I didn’t expect him to fade away,” Hamilton said. “I definitely hadn’t anticipated that Ferrari would tail off as they have.

“Their performances have not been as strong as they were before. This is what happens in head-tohead battles with top competitors.

Hamilton crossed the line 12.9 seconds clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who finished the race with Verstappen hot on his heels.

Daniel Ricciardo recovered from 15th to fourth, while Kimi Raikkonen was fifth.