History made for Mercedes, a dramatic race at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka and a race to forget for the prancing horse.
Drama at the start
Starting from the front, the race seemed like it would be comfortable for the Scuderia. A collision in turn 2 on lap 1 between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc however dropped both to the back of the grid. A few laps later, Verstappen had to retire from the race due to damage sustained on his car.
Leclerc fought his way back up the pack to finish in P6 with the attempt to claim back some points for his team but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
Champions Battle
Valtteri Bottas set the pace at the front from the first corner making it hard for anyone to catch him. Right behind, a hard fought battle between Lewis and Sebastian for P2 over the course of the race was the main focus. Mercedes chased a 1/2 victory that would guarantee them the constructors championship. Sebastian managed to come out victorious in that mini battle, but due to Charles being too many places behind, Mercedes won the Constructor war.
Valtteri came on top and won the race after a few late pit-stops and rotations in between the Mercedes team mates. Lewis Hamilton’s silver arrow finished a strong P3 with Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel splitting them at the end.
Final stages drama and glory
In the dying lap of the race, Sergio Perez crashed after impact with Torro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and became the second retirement of the race.
The race end was overshadowed however by the glory of Mercedes’ F1 team winning their 6th Constructor’s Championship and writing Formula 1 history by becoming the first constructor to win 6 titles in a row.
With the pressure of securing the constructor championship relieved, the Mercedes team mates can now focus on their personal battle for the Drivers Championship heading into the remaining 4 Grand Prix.
Looking ahead
F1 travels to Mexico in two weeks time and enters the final stages of this season. The race for the Drivers world championship is now just between the Mercedes Team mates.
Third placed Charles Leclerc is mathematically out of the running, guaranteeing a fierce inter-team battle can be expected to top off a great season for Formula 1.
(Picture by Zytonits, under Creative Commons license)
