BOTTAS SECURES MERCEDES' SIXTH CONSTRUCTOR'S TITLE

It was Bottas's 100th points scoring finish which ended up in victory at Suzuka. Due to this victory Bottas is now the only driver which can catch Hamilton in the Drivers Championship meaning it's a confirmed sixth drivers and constructors title for the Silver Arrows - a feat only previously achieved by Ferrari.

Verstappen and Leclerc attempted to make two fit into one going into the first corner which at Suzuka simply doesn't work which Verstappen found out the hard way by spinning off after making contact with Leclerc and ultimately spinning off before rejoining the track and then retiring later on in the race - [Pictured Below].

The affects having qualifying on race day seemed to show as drivers made some stupid mistakes - for example Albon diving down the inside of Norris on the exit of 130R is something you don't usually see and then you have the contact between Perez and Gasly going into turn one causing the Racing Point to have a similar moment to Verstappen but this ended up with Perez in the wall.

On the other hand you had drivers like Leclerc who was still able to make some fantastic overtakes on the likes of Gasly and Verstappen. However it wasn't all great overtakes for Leclerc who finished the race (initially) in P6 but was handed a 15 second time penalty for the collision with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen which demoted him down to P7.

It appeared to almost become a battle of the pit stops when Hamilton realised he was 'out of the race' when told by his engineer that Bottas was a pit stop ahead and the frustrated Hamilton was demanding answers over the radio.

The Drivers Championship after the Japanese Grand Prix;

1. Lewis Hamilton - 338 - (+16)

2. Valtteri Bottas - 274 - (+25)

3. Charles Leclerc - 221 - (+3)

4. Max Verstappen - 212 - (+0)

5. Sebastian Vettel - 212 - (+18)

The next race is the Mexican Grand Prix.