F1, Japanese Grand Prix: Five Talking Points

The Japanese Grand Prix was packed with on-track action throughout the course of 53 laps. Lewis Hamilton coursed to his fifth victory in Japan and is now behind only Michael Schumacher who has six to his name.

Sebastian Vettel had a horrid time during the race and ultimately finished sixth. He provided entertainment by fighting for track position, but it was not for the lead of the race as he would have wanted.

Valtteri Bottas held onto his second place even as Max Verstappen in third gave a good challenge to the Finn. The charging Australian, Daniel Ricciardo claimed the fourth position after a stellar drive from down in 15th as Kimi Räikkönen finished behind him in fifth.

The two Toro Rosso drivers could not capitalise on their sixth and seventh starting positions and ended up outside the points. While Carlos Sainz surged through from thirteenth to tenth, his teammate, Nico Hülkenberg had to retire with a problem cropping up on his car.

The race might have been disappointing for a few teams and drivers, but it did provide the fans with some entertainment throughout. The Japanese Grand Prix has been done with, but before we head to the United States, let us look at the key talking points from the race in Suzuka:

#5 Forgettable day for Ferrari

Ferrari would want to move on from the race at Suzuka as quickly as possible. Kimi Räikkönen had an opportunity to slip past Max Verstappen when the latter had a lock-up and went off track. Unfortunately for Kimi, as Max rejoined the track, a collision between the two was imminent and consequently, the Finn lost his place to Sebastian Vettel behind him.

Räikkönen, eventually, went for a pit stop on lap 18 and came out in traffic. By the time he made up the lost places, he had given up his position to Daniel Ricciardo and had little to no chance of improving on his fifth place.

Sebastian, on the other hand, made headway on lap one but later lost all progress and had to rejoin at the back after a collision with Max. From there on, all they could do was damage control to get up to P6.

The championship difference between Vettel and Lewis Hamilton is now up to 67 points and Ferrari, themselves have slipped 78 points behind Mercedes.

#4 Collisions, penalties, retirements and safety cars

The race turned out to be a busy one for stewards. The initial stages of the Grand Prix had blink and you’ll miss moments between multiple drivers. Kevin Magnussen had an incident with Charles Leclerc on lap four and a subsequent puncture on the Haas car was the reason for a safety car to be deployed. Kevin limped his car to the pits but later retired on lap 20.

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll had moments of their own and were both handed five-second penalties. Another driver who was asked to serve a five second time penalty was Max Verstappen due to running off track and rejoining unsafely, which resulted in Kimi Räikkönen being pushed off track. A collision also took place between Sauber teammates, Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson as the latter touched the back of the former’s car.

A virtual safety car was deployed later due to Charles Leclerc retiring his car after he felt ‘something broke’ and a trip to the gravel. Nico Hülkenberg, too, had to retire after an issue was spotted on the rear end of his car.

#3 Daniel leapfrogs from 15th to 4th

Daniel Ricciardo looked absolutely gutted after his qualifying was cut short due to loss of power. Starting in P15, the Australian put his head down and went to work. Luck was on his side because the early safety car bunched up the field and did not let the front-runners build up a huge gap from the midfield.

The Red Bull driver picked up places one by one and by the time he emerged from the pits on lap 24, he was ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and in fourth. After initially staying close to his teammate, Max Verstappen, his degrading medium tyres forced him to pull back.

The driver of the day, as voted by the fans, provided for a pleasurable watch while making his way up the grid. Despite a difficult second season, a sixth-place finish in Russia and a P4 in Japan would boost his morale and have him ready to tackle Texas in two weeks' time.

#2 Rollercoaster for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel has had a disappointing weekend by all means. Not being able to qualify farther than 9th already put him on the back foot. At the start of the Grand Prix, it looked like Vettel might be able to make up a good amount of positions when he moved ahead from P8 to P4 on the first lap, especially with the early safety car keeping the field bunched.

However, as the German had a look-see for moving ahead of Max Verstappen, the lack of room spelt a recipe for disaster. The duo collided and while the 21-year-old stuck to his position, Vettel had to rejoin in 19th. The four-time world champion climbed back through the field, but he had to settle for sixth.

Max had been given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and rejoining unsafely which would have helped Sebastian’s case had he just waited for a better opportunity later.

#1 Lewis Hamilton takes his fourth consecutive win

The race was interesting, make no mistake, but little to nothing of the reason for that was Lewis Hamilton. The British driver had a smooth ride from the start of the race to the end. A flawless drive mixed with a speedy pit stop ensured that Lewis was never really under threat from anyone behind him.

Mercedes were dominant throughout, even with slight drivability concerns on the race leader's car. Max Verstappen did challenge Valtteri Bottas for the second place, but the Finn was able to hold onto his position.

With the fourth consecutive race win under his belt, Lewis has pushed the gap to championship rival even further, increasing it to a whopping 67 points.