Japanese GP: Rosberg dominates as bad start thwarts Hamilton
Nico Rosberg won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka after Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton suffered a terrible start that dropped him to eighth, and he spent the race recovering to third.
Rosberg dominated the race, staying well out of reach of Max Verstappen's Red Bull and winning by 4.9s. His victory handed Mercedes its third straight Constructors' Championship.
Verstappen had Hamilton for company in the closing stages, after the Briton had carved his way through the field to third.
Hamilton attacked Verstappen in the closing stages, but had to take the escape road after an ambitious lunge at the chicane.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth and fifth, with Malaysian GP winner Daniel Ricciardo a disappointing sixth.
Story of the race
Rosberg led from pole position, as Hamilton bogged down and dropped to eighth off the startline. "Sorry guys," he said on the radio.
Rosberg led Verstappen, Force India's Sergio Perez (whose brakes smoked profusely on the grid), Ricciardo (delayed by swerving around Hamilton), Vettel (likewise), Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel got ahead of Ricciardo into 130R on the opening lap to rise to fourth.
Rosberg eased away out front, leading by 1.2s on lap two as Vettel sliced past Perez into Turn 1 to grab third. Raikkonen overtook Hulkenberg into Turn 1 at the start of lap six for sixth place.
Hamilton followed suit past Hulkenberg a lap later at Turn 1, having had a near miss with him through 130R seconds earlier.
Raikkonen had a big moment through the Degners on lap eight in his pursuit of Ricciardo, but held sixth ahead of Hamilton.
Verstappen admitted he was "starting to struggle with the left-rear" on lap 10 and pitted a lap later, with Ricciardo coming in seconds later – both Red Bulls switching to the hard tyres.
Rosberg led by 7.3s over Vettel, Perez and Raikkonen, the majority of the leaders pitting for hards on lap 13.
Ricciardo, who had run wide at Spoon, and Perez jumped ahead of Raikkonen during the first stops by undercutting him.
Raikkonen repassed Perez – as they both passed Jolyon Palmer's Renault – just as Hamilton rejoined ahead of them. Hamilton then picked off Ricciardo on the exit of Spoon, and later passed the long-running Williams of Valtteri Bottas to leap to fourth.
Ricciardo passed late-stopping Felipe Massa's Williams at Spoon for sixth, with Raikkonen doing likewise at Turn 1 at lap later.
Ricciardo passed Bottas for fifth around the outside of Turn 1 on lap 17, with Perez mirroring his move seconds later on Massa. The Mexican also found his way past Bottas on lap 19.
Rosberg set a new fastest lap to lead Verstappen by 4s at this point, with Vettel another 3s back. Hamilton was 12 further in arrears in a solid fourth.
Hulkenberg pulled a great move on Bottas around the outside of the Casio Triangle chicane on lap 21 to put both Williams behind the Force Indias. "See you later," he said over the radio.
Raikkonen sparks second pitstops
Having lost out in the first round of stops, Raikkonen was the first of the frontrunners to pit for a second set of hard tyres to attempt to undercut Ricciardo's fifth position.
Verstappen was the next in, soon after complaining about backmarkers not getting out of his way.
Leader Rosberg pitted for the final time on lap 29, handing the lead briefly to Vettel, who also complained about the Manors not moving aside: "Lost a second for nothing, for [bleep]sake!"
Hamilton was now within 4s of Vettel before his final stop.
Ricciardo suffered a slow right-front change, which put him only 5s ahead of Perez's Force India.
Hamilton pitted on lap 34, forcing Ferrari to respond with Vettel – who went for the soft tyre for the final sprint to the finish. Hamilton undercut Vettel with ease, the Ferrari rejoining a second in arrears.
At the front, Rosberg was 4s clear of Verstappen. Hamilton set a new fastest lap at this point, but Vettel responded on his softer tyres with a fastest lap of his own on lap 37.
But, as Hamilton thwarted his attack, Vettel sighed: "Pulling away on the straights."
Instead, Hamilton pulled away and closed in on Verstappen's second place.
He got into DRS range with six laps remaining, but couldn't make a move until the penultimate lap at that chicane.
Hamilton tried an ambitious lunge, as Verstappen moved to cover the inside line, and sailed off down the escape road – which ended the duel. "Max moved under braking," complained Hamilton.
Vettel finished a distant fourth, ahead of teammate Raikkonen. Malaysia winner Ricciardo was sixth, well clear of Perez – who opted for medium tyres for his last stint – and Hulkenberg. The Williams of Massa and Bottas rounded out the top 10.
Haas's Romain Grosjean lost time at the first corner, locking up and almost brushing the back of Hulkenberg, while teammate Gutierrez spun at the chicane trying to pass a Toro Rosso. Grosjean finished 11th, ahead of Renault Jolyon Palmer.
Daniil Kvyat was 13th for Toro Rosso, from Renault's Kevin Magnussen and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso went off at Turn 1 early on trying to pass Massa, but later pulled a great move on Felipe Nasr's Sauber into 130R. When he was told to push, while Carlos Sainz was close behind him, Alonso replied: "I wish, with which tyres?"
Alonso beat Sainz to 16th, with Button finishing 18th having dropped to last off the start.
Nasr finished 19th ahead of Gutierrez and the Manors of Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein.
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 1:26'43.333 |
| 2 |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG | 4.978 |
| 3 |  Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 5.776 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 20.269 |
| 5 |  Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 28.370 |
| 6 |  Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG | 33.941 |
| 7 |  Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 57.495 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | Mercedes | 59.177 |
| 9 |  Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 1'37.763 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Mercedes | 1'38.323 |
| 11 |  Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 1'39.254 |
| 12 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | Renault | 1 lap |
| 13 |  Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 14 |  Kevin Magnussen | Renault | Renault | 1 lap |
| 15 |  Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 16 |  Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Honda | 1 lap |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 18 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Honda | 1 lap |
| 19 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 20 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 21 | Esteban Ocon | Manor | Mercedes | 1 lap |
| 22 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | Mercedes | 1 lap |
