Hamilton wins, nears Formula One title
SUZUKA, Japan – Lewis Hamilton stormed to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, claiming his fourth straight Formula One win and moving a step closer to a fifth world championship.
Starting from pole, the Mercedes driver was never seriously challenged and crossed the finish line 12.919 seconds ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, 14.295 seconds back.
“The whole weekend has been incredibly strong for the team,” Hamilton said. “It’s a great 1-2 for Mercedes and shows you the strength and depth of our team.”
Hamilton has won six of the last seven races and now leads Sebastian Vettel by 67 points with four races left. He only needs to outscore Vettel by eight points at the next race in the United States to clinch a fifth world championship.
“We’ve gone from strength to strength as a team,” Hamilton said. “And Austin is usually a good track for us so I can’t wait to unleash this beast there.”
Vettel started eighth and quickly moved up to fourth place, overtaking both Toro Rosso cars that started ahead of him.
But the Ferrari driver attempted to pass Max Verstappen on the ninth lap and the two cars collided with the Ferrari spinning off into the runoff. The move dropped Vettel back to 18th place.
“I’m not the one who makes the rules,” Verstappen said. “It was a similar situation to what happened in China with him. He could have been more careful.”
Vettel worked his way back up to sixth but couldn’t move higher than that.
It was an impressive day for Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo who started 15th but finished fourth ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Force India’s Sergio Perez was seventh ahead of Haas driver Romain Grosjean.
Force India’s Esteban Ocan was ninth while Renault’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10.
There was an early collision with Sauber driver Charles Leclerc hitting the rear tire of Kevin Magnussen resulting in a puncture and bringing out the safety car.
Verstappen was given a five second penalty for an incident with Raikkonen where he clashed with the Ferrari as he rejoined after running off at the chicane.
Steve Torrence wins home NHRA race for 3rd straight victory
Steve Torrence won the AAA Texas NHRA Nationals at Texas Motorplex on Sunday for his third straight victory to open the Top Fuel playoffs and first career win in his home event.
Torrence beat Terry McMillen in the final with a 3.786-second pass at 325.92 mph. Torrence has eight victories this season and 24 overall. He leads the standings by 103 points.
“We were just here to go rounds,” Torrence said. “I don’t have a Top Fuel championship. I have a Top Alcohol championship and the year that I won that I won at Dallas. We’ve been trying to get it done here since 2010. This is a check off my bucket list to be able to come to Dallas and win. I couldn’t be prouder to pull off a victory in front of everyone that was here this weekend.”
Robert Hight won in Funny Car, Tanner Gray in Pro Stock and LE Tonglet in Pro Stock Motorcycle in the third of six events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.
Hight, the defending series and event champion, powered his Chevrolet Camaro SS to his second consecutive victory. He beat J.R. Todd with a 3.955 at 325.69.
Gray also raced to his second victory in a row, beating Jeg Coughlin Jr with a 6.622 at 207.62 in a Camaro. Tonglet won for the fourth time this year and 20th overall, topping Jerry Savoie with a 6.892 at 194.80 on a Suzuki. Tonglet also took the points lead.