The conditions at Suzuka were hot and dry, as the lights went out. Both Mercedes drivers took a perfect start, Hamilton maintaining his lead. Verstappen was third and Kimi fourth. Sebastian had started to the race from P8, as Force India's Ocon had been given a 3-place grid penalty for ignoring the red flags in the qualifying. Sebastian's start was mesmerising, and the passionate German jumped two positions right away, moving to 6th. There was drama already on the opening lap. Verstappen made a mistake coming to the last chicane, ending up off track. Kimi, who had been right at the Dutchman's tail, smelled his chance and went to the outside. Max re-joined the track and crashed into the left sidepod of Kimi's SF71-H! There was debris flying off Kimi's Ferrari. Verstappen stubbornly maintained his 3rd place, and Sebastian, too made it ahead of his teammate, claiming P4 already. The incident was taken into investigation by the stewards, and Verstappen was handed a 5-second time penalty for re-joining the track unsafely.
Meanwhile, there was drama in the midfield as well. Sauber's Leclerc was in the tow of Haas' Magnussen, lurking for a chance to overtake the Dane. However, Magnussen made a sudden change of line twice, and Leclerc crashed into the rear of Magnussen's Haas! Magnussen ended up off track and suffered a rear-left puncture. What a dangerous move from the Haas pilot indeed! This incident, too was taken into investigation by the stewards, but no further action was warranted. This incident reminded very much of that between Sebastian and Hamilton in Russia last week. Had Magnussen been penalised for today's incident, it would have made the stewards look extremely inconsistent. The puncture destroyed the Dane's rear-left rim and ended the race for him.
Safety car was deployed as there was a lot of debris on track from Magnussen's car. Leclerc had to pit for a new nose. Re-start took place a few laps later. The order of the top five remained unchanged. But there was more breath-taking drama on lap 8. Sebastian, who desperately needed to chase down Hamilton, saw his chance coming into the spoon. Self-confident Sebastian dived alongside Verstappen, but Max wasn't going to let Sebastian get past him. Sebastian's move led into contact between the two, and Sebastian span. Max, too got some damage to his RB14, but was able to maintain P3. The move proved extremely costly for Sebastian, who dropped down to P19. My heart was bleeding; this was not the turn that I would have wanted to see in the race! At this very moment I felt so desperate; Sebastian's realistic chances for winning the championship this year are fading away for good. The incident was taken into investigation by the stewards, but it was seen as a racing incident and no penalties were given.
Kimi, who was struggling with the performance of his SF71-H especially in the left-turning corners, was the first top driver to pit on lap 17. The Iceman switched to the white-walled hardest rubber. Kimi showed excellent pace after his pit stop. He first made his way past Renault's Sainz, and then the Force India duo of Ocon and Perez. They were impressive and clever overtaking moves from the experienced Finn. Verstappen pitted on lap 21 for a different tyre strategy. The flying Dutchman opted for a fresh set of soft Pirellis and re-joined the track in P5, right ahead of Kimi. Both Bottas and Ricciardo pitted on lap 24, both for a fresh set of mediums. Thanks to a well-planned strategy, also Ricciardo re-joined the track ahead of Kimi. Race leader Hamilton pitted on the sequential lap, for a similar tyre choice to his teammate. It told everything about the Briton's dominance, as he re-joined the track in the lead. Bottas was second, followed by the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Ricciardo.
Sebastian made his compulsory pit stop on lap 27. The German Ferrari ace opted for a fresh set of the middle compound and re-joined the track in P16. Sebastian had to start the overtaking roulette all over again... My heart was aching when I watched him struggle throughout the race. But gutsy Sebastian made his way through the field again, climbing back up to P6 in only seven laps. After that there was a 40-second gap to his teammate Kimi in P5, so that was unfortunately the end of the overtaking show for the German.
Virtual safety car was deployed on lap 41, as Leclerc's Sauber stopped on track due to a technical failure. With ten laps to go, Verstappen had hunted down Bottas, who was slowed down by the lapped cars. The Finn locked his front tyres when lapping Alonso, and Verstappen got right at the Finn's tail. But Bottas gave the Dutchman no chance for an overtaking move. Race leader Hamilton was hungry to get the grand slam, and the Briton set the fastest lap time on the second last lap. However, Sebastian set the screens purple on the penultimate lap and deprived Hamilton of the fastest lap time.
Flying Hamilton was in a class of his own. He had controlled the race perfectly and took his fifth consecutive victory. The dominant Briton has won six races out of seven, which is a remarkable statistics. Bottas made the day perfect for the Silver Arrows by finishing the runner-up. Max, who had collided with both Ferrari drivers, completed the podium for Red Bull. Ricciardo managed to make his way from P15 up to P4 and was well-deservedly voted as the Driver of the Day. Kimi finished the race in P5, and Sebastian had to settle for tame P6 after his venturesome overtaking attempt on Verstappen. This time it was Force India's Perez, who was the best of the rest, claiming P7. Haas' Grosjean, Force India's Ocon and Renault's Sainz completed the top ten.
Sebastian's situation in the championship battle is now extremely sticky. He is now massive 67 points down on Hamilton, who has done everything perfectly in the past five races. Hamilton clearly enjoys doing his job, and he has the momentum on his side. In the USA in a fortnight Hamilton already has the chance to Secure his fifth world title. Without major technical issues I don't believe Hamilton can lose the title anymore. The same implies to the constructors' championship battle. Ferrari are already 78 points down on Mercedes, which is like a light year already. It seems inevitable, that Mercedes will clinch the constructors' title, sooner or later.
I hope, that Sebastian could put all the massive pressure aside and concentrate on enjoying the driving, which he's so skillful and talented at. With success or no success, he has my support, always!
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