German Nico Rosberg won the Grand Prix of Japan
- by Belinda Burton
- in Sport
- — Oct 11, 2016
His win has surpassed the 300-point on the season and now sits 33 points ahead of Mercedes teammate Hamilton with four races remaining.
"It has been an awesome weekend for sure, the whole weekend had gone great from the word go", said Rosberg, who led every session at Suzuka.
The 31-year-old acknowledges that there is still time for Hamilton to fight back as the Brit looks to secure his third World title with Mercedes.
"It doesn't really matter now, we'll move forwards", Hamilton said.
Hamilton made an terrible start from second on the grid, his auto struggling for grip on an area of track that was still damp from overnight rain, and he fell to eighth by the first corner.
But Mercedes' head of motor sport, Toto Wolff, says Hamilton can still win because he can take positives from his setbacks and that "he needs the enemy". During the week he was OK and then all these things around the press conferences, whether it affects him or not, I don't think so.
Mercedes have withdrawn a protest lodged against Max Verstappen for his defence of second place from Lewis Hamilton in the Japanese Grand Prix.
However, he already faces a tough task adding to that tally with Rosberg set to take a fresh engine in Texas. "I got everything right so it has been a ideal weekend and I am very happy about that". There are four weekends to go, and Lewis will regroup.
Formula One: Lewis didn't self-destruct, says Rosberg
Seventh place went to Sergio Perez, while Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas rounded off the top ten. After a hard week, Lewis Hamilton overcame a woefully slow start to finish third at the Japanese Grand Prix.
But as the race wore on, it was Verstappen who would hang onto second place, coming under pressure from Hamilton during the closing stages.
Vettel and Raikkonen were fourth and fifth respectively, with Ricciardo, the victor in Malaysia last weekend, a distant sixth.
While Rosberg jumped into the race lead from pole position, Hamilton had a forgettable one, ending up in eighth place when the dust had settled.
"Lewis was pushing really hard", Verstappen said.
Hamilton closed in on the Red Bull driver on the penultimate lap but when trying an ambitious overtake around the outside of 130R, he was forced to pull out of the corner and thus blow his chances of sealing a crucial extra three points.
Nico Hulkenberg's Force India and the second Haas of Esteban Gutierrez rounded out the top 10.
"I did as well as I could I think", said Hamilton, who courted controversy this week by hinting his Malaysia heartbreak may have been caused by sabotage from within Mercedes.
"I was happy to claw back some points and I ll give it everything I ve got (for the rest of the season)".
