Bottas returns to victory at Suzuka, Mercedes crowned

Those who thought Ferrari was cured of its failings will be in favor. Dominators in qualifying this Sunday, the drivers of the Team got their feet caught in the carpet in the first meters of the race. 

Stuck in pole position, Sebastian Vettel moved before the lights went out, stopped at the last minute, and finally accelerated again. Too late to counter the superb takeoff of Valtteri Bottas, 3rd on the grid. The Finn entered the first turn calmly in the lead and took control of the race with authority. 

Behind, Max Verstappen, 5th at the start, had already made the outside at Lewis Hamilton, started in front of him in 4th position, and tried to do the same on Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque, who started 2nd, then closed the door, moving out of the way. The two young guns touched and Verstappen finished his race on the grass. He will abandon 15 loops later, furious at his rival's maneuver.

At the wheel of a car whose front wing was dangling and rubbing on the track at the front left, Leclerc, who would also lose a rear-view mirror later, had to return to the pit box to change the nose and plunged in the standings by consequently. 

Curiously, the stewards initially decided not to investigate the collision, before changing their minds, then finally reserving their judgment for after the race. This is not the only strange choice of the officials, who did not penalize Vettel for his suspicious flight whereas Kimi Raïkkönen had been for similar facts in Sochi. 

Taking advantage of the free lane, Bottas was able to carve out the road and open up comfortable gaps at the front of the race. The Finn was calmly heading towards victory when he was assailed by doubt. With two stops, his race strategy was similar to that of his direct pursuer Vettel but his teammate Hamilton would only enter the pits once. 

That was the original plan anyway, with Hamilton eventually switching to a two-stop plan. With around fifteen laps to go, it was the Briton who was leading the proceedings and showing a very solid pace. Was he finally going to try to take his train of mediums to the end and resist a fooled Bottas? The Finn expressed concern on the radio and was assured that his neighbor in the garage was going to stop again. Which he ended up doing on the 42nd lap. 

Bottas thus takes his 3rd success of the season, his 6th in his career. Until the end, Vettel resisted a Hamilton back on his heels. The double podium Mercedes, claiming the best lap in the race for the championship leader, allows them to score 15 points more than Ferrari, despite Leclerc's rise to 6th place. L'Etoile is thus the Manufacturers' world champion for the 6th consecutive year, a Ferrari record equaled over the period 1999-2004. 

Alexander albon brings joy to the hearts of Honda fans with 4th place, his best career result. The Thai rookie is ahead of an excellent Carlos Sainz, 5th for McLaren. 

Leclerc finished 6th but remains under investigation by the FIA ​​for his collision with Verstappen. Very good turnaround in the situation at Renault. Left 15th and 16th, Nico Hulkenberg et Daniel Ricciardo both finish in the points. The Australian finished 7th, the German 10th. Between the RS19s slips a sparkling Pierre Gasly on Toro Rosso, although involved in a collision at the start of the last lap with Sergio Pérez (Racing Point, ninth).

Find in AUTO issue 2238hebdo, on sale Monday evening in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands, analysis of the Japanese GP by our special correspondents.