Bottas Wins Japan GP Handing Mercedes Record Constructors’ Championship

Valteri Bottas has won a drama-filled Japanese GP which has wrapped up the 2019 Constructors’ Championship for Mercedes.

Bottas was able to deliver a faultless drive which not only delivered a championship to his team but it has also kept his Drivers Championship dream alive.

Mercedes may have had to settle for the second row of the grid after a Ferrari lockout in qualifying but a terrible start from both of the prancing horses allowed Bottas to pounce and take the lead heading into turn one.

It was from there Bottas took control while Hamilton battled to find early speed.

Leclerc and Verstappen collided at turn two which caused Verstappen to spin and drop to near the bottom of the field and eventually retire due to car damage.

Verstappen was furious with Leclerc’s move when being interviewed by SKY Sports.

“We had a really good start for once, that was a positive. And then I just stayed on the outside and suddenly into turn two, Charles drove into the side of my car.

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“From my side I don’t think I could have done anything different there. We all know that you lose downforce behind the car so that is not an excuse and I think he is experienced enough to know that.

“The weird thing is initially they didn’t investigate it right away. My whole car is destroyed. The whole side. There are just holes in the side of the car. And now they will investigate it after the race. What more should he do to get a penalty?

“I like hard racing, but I don’t think this was hard racing, I think it was irresponsible driving into turn two. He had a bad start so for sure he was trying to recover places but there’s only so much you can do. It’s a shame that it happens.”

Leclerc continued for two laps in third place, irritating Hamilton as the Ferrari’s damaged wing showered the chasing Mercedes with sparks and then debris – which broke Hamilton’s right-side wing mirror.

On lap three, Leclerc pitted and dropped to the tail of the field behind Verstappen – as race control communicated that their first-lap incident would be investigated after all, having initially said it was not necessary.

Ferrari moved first in the strategy fight, pitting Vettel on lap 16 of 53 with Bottas following suit one lap later and Hamilton stopping on lap 20.

In that time, Bottas’s advantage over Vettel rose while Hamilton fell more than 20s adrift, a move that left him irate over the radio.

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All three committed to a two-stop strategy – despite Mercedes initially indicating to Bottas that Hamilton would one-stop – but executed it differently. Vettel pitted on lap 31 of 53 and ditched his softs for mediums, while the Mercedes ran longer and opted for softs.

Bottas stopped on lap 36, at which point he was 14 seconds clear of Hamilton, and Hamilton was desperate to find out what could be done to retain the lead.

“Tell me what I have to do to win this race,” pleaded Hamilton over team radio, convinced his tyres would not last the distance.

He came in again on lap 43, allowing Vettel back into second but with only a slim three-second cushion, which the Englishman proceeded to eat into by setting a new lap record.

Hamilton swarmed all over Vettel in the closing laps but was unable to get past and make it a Mercedes one-two.

Bottas was able to surge away to claim the victory and in doing so he became the first driver to win from the second row of the grid.

“I am very happy. Starting third here is never easy but no point ever giving up on anything. I knew anything is possible and the opportunities were there today. The first one was at the start and I had a really nice start. Obviously Sebastian had an issue so I managed to get in the lead. The pace was super good and I could really control the race. I really enjoyed it. Had fun.”

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Updated 2019 driver standings:

1. Hamilton – 338
2. Bottas – 274
3. Leclerc – 223
4.  Verstappen – 212
5. Vettel – 212

This means only Bottas can catch Hamilton now with 104 points still on offer.