Valtteri Bottas overtook pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel at the start and went ahead to win the Japanese Grand Prix to help Mercedes clinch a record-tying sixth straight constructors’ championship, a day after Typhoon Hagibis battered parts of the country.
Coming to the race day, there were concerns about whether their would be qualifying but the Quali happened in the early hours of the day and the race happened in the evening.
The Mercedes driver started in third position but took advantage of Sebastian Vettel’s fault start to overtake the German to go on and lead the race till he won it.
Bottas picked up his third win of the season and first since Azerbaijan in April to close the gap on Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings but the latter still holds a hefty 64-point advantage with only four races remaining as he bids for a fifth individual title in six years.
Mercedes matched Ferrari’s constructors’ winning streak from 1999-2004 during the days of Michael Schumacher but with Hamilton or Bottas now the only two racers who can win the drivers’ title, they’re assured of a sixth straight double to pass the legendary Italian team.
