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Suzuka (Japan), Oct 5 (IANS)
Lewis Hamilton triumphed for Mercedes at a wet Suzuka Sunday afternoon, but the race was overshadowed by an accident involving Marussia's Jules Bianchi.
The Frenchman, who went off at Turn 7 and made contact with a recovery vehicle dealing with a separate incident, was taken to hospital. The accident brought an early end to the race, which was red flagged and finished under the safety car, and the result backdated to lap 44.
Hamilton thus led home team mate Nico Rosberg, Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren's Jenson Button and the Williams cars of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Force India pair Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished eighth and tenth, sandwiching Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.
It had been Rosberg who led in the early stages, although the first attempt to start the race behind the safety car had to be aborted because of the conditions after only two laps. It was restarted after a 25-minute delay, and the safety car stayed out until lap nine. Once under normal conditions, the race quickly developed into the anticipated duel between Rosberg and Hamilton.
For the next 19 laps the Briton pursued his team mate, increasing the pressure despite a scare at Turn 1 when he ran wide and over the artificial grass when, he admitted, he had left his DRS open. Going into the same corner two laps later Hamilton's persistence finally told: he got a run on Rosberg down the straight, forcing the German to defend the inside line, which allowed Hamilton to sweep around the outside in spectacular fashion. Once into the lead, he began pulling away immediately.
As Rosberg consolidated second place, attention turned to the battle between Button and the Red Bulls. The McLaren driver was the first driver to pit for intermediate tyres, coming in on lap nine, and the decision paid off as he jumped up to third by the time everyone but the Mercedes had followed suit and switched to the green-marked inters.
Vettel and Ricciardo gradually closed in, however, with the Red Bulls the fastest cars on track at the halfway stage. Button eventually claimed an honourable fifth, his advantage having been lost when his car's steering wheel had to be changed during his final pit stop - with a problem which also affected his team mate Kevin Magnussen, who finished well down in 14th.
Vettel, meanwhile, dropped to fourth as a result of a late stop for fresh tyres, but with the race result being backdated was elevated back into third, ahead of team mate Ricciardo.
