Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton dominates 2018 Japanese Grand Prix

Team orders were not needed as Lewis Hamilton coasted to his ninth victory of the 2018 Formula 1 season in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton earned his ninth victory of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season in the season’s 17th race, the Japanese Grand Prix. The win is his 71st career victory, moving him to within 20 victories of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 91 victories.

Hamilton’s victory came just one week after he won the Russian Grand Prix as a result of the fact that team orders were utilized to prevent teammate Valtteri Bottas from winning the race, allowing Hamilton, who leads the driver standings, to secure as many points as possible.

The 33-year-old Briton won the 53-lap race around the 18-turn, 3.609-mile (5.807-kilometer) Suzuka Circuit road course in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan by 12.919 seconds over Bottas, who finished in second place.

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Aston Martin Red Bull Racing teammates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Scuderia Ferrari teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez, Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Renault Sport’s Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top 10 by finishing in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place, respectively.

The race’s top three finishers all finished in the positions in which they started. However, Ricciardo started back in 15th place after advancing to the second of three rounds of qualifying before being sidelined with a mechanical issue that prevented him from attempting to advance to the third and final round.

Vettel, whose disappointing qualifying session left him starting in ninth place, moved up to fourth early on in the race. However, by attempting an overaggressive pass on Verstappen, who was already set to face a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and reentering it in a dangerous manner, on lap eight, he spun himself out, effectively ruining his chances for a great finish.

The race did not feature any lead changes, as Hamilton led all 53 laps. The lone safety car period that took place took place as a result of Kevin Magnussen’s car experiencing a flat tire on lap four, which littered the track with debris. Of the 20 drivers who started the race, all but three finished it, and of the 17 who finished it, nine finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results for the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit.

Race Results
1st – Lewis Hamilton
2nd – Valtteri Bottas
3rd – Max Verstappen
4th – Daniel Ricciardo
5th – Kimi Raikkonen
6th – Sebastian Vettel
7th – Sergio Perez
8th – Romain Grosjean
9th – Esteban Ocon
10th – Carlos Sainz Jr.
11th – Pierre Gasly
12th – Marcus Ericsson
13th – Brendon Hartley
14th – Fernando Alonso
15th – Stoffel Vandoorne
16th – Sergey Sirotkin
17th – Lance Stroll
18th – Charles Leclerc
19th – Nico Hulkenberg
20th – Kevin Magnussen

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Be sure to tune in to ABC tomorrow at 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 21 for the live broadcast of the 18th race of the 2018 Formula 1 season, the United States Grand Prix, from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

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