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Nico Rosberg answered his critics with a dominant victory at the Mexican Grand Prix, leading home his team-mate and new champion Lewis Hamilton.

The pole-sitter resisted the challenge from Hamilton at the start and controlled the race throughout, despite a late safety car period which cancelled out Rosberg’s lead to record his fourth win of the season and 12th of his Formula 1 career.

As for new 2005 world champion Hamilton crossed the finishing line second for his 15th podium in 17 races this season with Valtteri Bottas completing the top three.

Such was the pace of the Silver Arrows that they were able to pit for a second time before the safety car came out and still rejoin in front of the rest of the field.

Hamilton questioned the team’s decision to bring him in, as he felt his tyres were in good shape, but Mercedes insisted he had to pit for safety reasons, and he eventually relented.

The result means Rosberg reclaims second in the drivers’ standings after Sebastian Vettel crashed out.

This was a nightmare race for Sebastian Vettel. He started third but collided with his ex-Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at the first corner and picked up a puncture.

The four-time champion complained about Ricciardo’s driving on team radio but though the stewards investigated the incident, they deemed no further action was necessary.

Vettel recovered to the pits but he had a messy Mexican Grand Prix, spinning at the esses and then crashing out of the race at the same spot when the rear end of the car got away from him – bringing out the safety car.

There was more drama for the Scuderia when Kimi Raikkonen collided with Valtteri Bottas for the second time in three races following their last-lap clash in Sochi.

The Finns went side-by-side into Turn 4 with the Williams front-left hitting Raikkonen’s right-rear and breaking the Ferrari’s suspension.

Raikkonen retired instantly, signalling Ferrari’s first double retirement since the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat finished fourth, after losing a place to Bottas on the restart, while Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa completed the top six.

Nico Hulkenberg was seventh, one position ahead of home favourite Sergio Perez, who received rapturous cheers throughout the race and was the only driver who managed to only make one pit-stop.

Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean completed the top ten.

Pastor Maldonado missed out on his fourth consecutive points finish in P11, with Marcus Ericsson, Carlos Sainz Jr, Jenson Button, Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens the other finishers.

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso suffered a lack of power just after the start and was told by the team to retire the car at the end of the opening lap.

Shortly before the restart Button radioed his team to say the brakes on Felipe Nasr’s car were on fire and shortly after, the Sauber retired in the 55,000-seater stadium section, reporting his brakes were “finished”.

Mexican Grand Prix, race results after 71 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1:42:35.038
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    +1.954s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    +14.592s
4    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    +16.572s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault     +19.682s
6    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes     +21.493s
7    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    +25.860s
8    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes     +34.343s
9    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault     +35.229s
10    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes     +37.934s
11    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes     +38.538s
12    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari     +40.180s
13    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault     +48.772s
14    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda      +49.214s
15    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari     +2 laps
16    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari     +2 laps
–    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari     DNF
–    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari      DNF
–    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari     DNF
–    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    DNF

Drivers’ standings:

1 Lewis Hamilton 345
1 Nico Rosberg 272
3 Sebastian Vettel 251
4 Valtteri Bottas 126
5 Kimi Raikkonen 123
6 Felipe Massa 117
7 Daniil Kvyat 88
8 Daniel Ricciardo 84
9 Sergio Perez 68
10 Max Verstappen 47
11 Romain Grosjean 45
12 Nico Hulkenberg 44
13 Felipe Nasr 27
14 Pastor Maldonado 26
15 Carlos Sainz 18
16 Jenson Button 16
17 Fernando Alonso 11
18 Marcus Ericsson 9
19 Roberto Merhi 0
20 Alexander Rossi 0
21 Will Stevens 0
22 Kevin Magnussen 0

Constructors’ standings:

1 Mercedes 617
2 Ferrari 374
3 Williams-Mercedes 243
4 Red Bull-Renault 172
5 Force India-Mercedes 112
6 Lotus-Mercedes 71
7 Toro Rosso-Renault 65
8 Sauber-Ferrari 36
9 McLaren-Honda 27
10 Marussia-Ferrari 0

Next race: Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos. November 13-15.

A week on following the championship battle at Austin, Nico Rosberg strikes back with a strong performance in the Mexican Grand Prix to claim pole.

The Mercedes driver achieved his fourth successive pole, beating the new champion Lewis Hamilton by 0.188 seconds.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was 0.370 seconds adrift of Rosberg in third, claiming over team radio he “tried everything” to take the fight to the Silver Arrows.

Red Bull lost pace to its rivals in qualifying compared to practice, both cars ending up nearly a second adrift of the top spot.

Daniil Kvyat beat team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by just a tiny margin of one thousandth of a second as the RB11s placed fourth and fifth on the timesheet.

Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top six, just ahead of Williams team-mate Felipe Massa and the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen.

Mexican hero Sergio Perez out-qualified team-mate Nico Hulkenberg by less than a tenth of a second as the Force Indias completed the top ten.

Late improvements by Verstappen and Massa in Q2 meant Carlos Sainz Jr missed out on making the pole position shootout by just 0.007 seconds in the other Toro Rosso.

Romain Grosjean was P12, 0.223 seconds faster than Lotus team-mate Pastor Maldonado and just over a tenth away from making Q3 himself.

Marcus Ericsson couldn’t replicate the pace that put his Sauber tenth quickest in Q1, so he wound up P14 overall, ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

The Iceman complained of a problem with his brake pedal in Q1, where he ended up outside the top ten in the times.

He then stopped midway through Q2 after spinning at Turn 1.

The 2007 world champion will incur a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change following the breakdown he suffered with his SF15-T in final practice.

Fellow world champion Fernando Alonso squeaked ahead of the Sauber of Felipe Nasr by 0.009 seconds with his final flying lap.

Unfortunately the McLaren failed to escape Q1, along with the Manor Marussias and his team-mate Jenson Button, which failed to take part in session following engine problems in final practice.

Both McLaren-Hondas will start at the back on account of incurring grid penalties for multiple engine changes earlier in the Mexican Grand Prix weekend.

Qualifying positions, Mexican Grand Prix:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m19.480s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m19.668s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m19.850s
4    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m20.398s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m20.399s
6    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m20.448s
7    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m20.567s
8    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m20.710s
9    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m20.716s
10    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m20.788s
11    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m20.942s
12    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m21.038s
13    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m21.261s
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m21.544s
15    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m21.788s
16    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m24.136s
17    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m24.386s
18    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m22.494s
19    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m21.779s
20    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    No time

 

Lewis Hamilton achieved his dream result in winning his third Formula 1 world championship after clinching race victory in a thrilling United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who finished 2.8 seconds clear of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, becomes the first British driver to win back-to-back titles.

From second on the grid and on the run up the hill into Turn 1, Hamilton had the inside line, and not for the first time this season he forced Rosberg wide and off track after they had bumped wheels, relegating the German to fifth.

When Sauber’s Felipe Nasr lost most of his front wing at Turn 1 on lap two after clipping the rear-left tyre of team-mate Marcus Ericsson – on the occasion of the team’s 400th Grand Prix – debris at that corner led to the virtual safety car being called.

On the restart, Hamilton backed up those behind him to such a degree that once the racing resumed Rosberg soon passed Red Bull Racing duo Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

Over the next few laps, on wearing intermediate tyres and on a circuit not quite ready for a switch to slicks, a fantastic battle ensued between the leading quartet.

Ricciardo took the lead on lap 15 from Hamilton, with Rosberg through for second shortly after.

That forced Hamilton into the pits at the end of lap 18, taking on the softs, with the Briton setting the tone as the rest of the field followed him in either on that lap or the following one.

From fourth and second respectively, Hamilton and Rosberg made their way up to third and first with moves on Kvyat and Ricciardo, with the latter duo not as strong on slick rubber.

When Ericsson pulled his car out of the race at Turn 11 on lap 28, its positioning on the track brought the safety car out.

At that stage it wiped out a 10.6 seconds lead for Rosberg over Hamilton, who had passed Ricciardo for second just before Ericsson’s exit.

All bar the leading four – Rosberg, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Kvyat – pitted for another change of tyres, with fifth-placed Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari taking on a new set of mediums in an attempt to get to the end without another stop.

Once the safety car departed after five laps, the German soon cleared Kvyat and Ricciardo to move up to third before another incident on lap 37.

This time it was Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg retiring after running into the side of Ricciardo in a bid to claim fifth, leading to a second virtual safety car, under which Rosberg pitted, dropping to fourth, with Hamilton staying out.

Come lap 42, with Rosberg within six seconds of Hamilton, the safety car was deployed again when Kvyat lost his car on the approach to the final turn, sending him into a barrier.

That allowed Hamilton to make his second stop and come out behind Rosberg, whose hopes of extending the title race into Mexico next Sunday ended when he got out of shape at Turn 15 on the power and ran off track at Turn 16-17.

From there it was a smooth run to the finish for Hamilton, with Rosberg just holding off Vettel for second, followed by Toro Rosso’s Max Vertsappen in fourth after a long final stint on his tyres.

Just 12 drivers saw the flag, with eight retiring through mechanical failure or after on-track incidents.

So an entertaining United States Grand Prix with many wheel-to-wheel battle. Lewis Hamilton proved that he is a racer and his desire to win reveals his passion in the sport. Many congratulations in achieving the third drivers’ title.

United States Grand Prix, after 56 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h50m52.703s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    2.850s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    3.381s
4    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    22.359s
5    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    24.413s
6    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    25.619s
7    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    28.058s
8    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    32.273s
9    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    40.257s
10    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    53.371s
11    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    54.816s
12    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m15.277s
–    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    Spun off
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    Collision
–    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    Brakes
–    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    Brakes
–    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    Retirement

Drivers’ standings:

1 Lewis Hamilton 327
2 Sebastian Vettel 251
3 Nico Rosberg 247
4 Kimi Raikkonen 123
5 Valtteri Bottas 111
6 Felipe Massa 109
7 Daniil Kvyat 76
8 Daniel Ricciardo 74
9 Sergio Perez 64
10 Max Verstappen 45
11 Romain Grosjean 44
12 Nico Hulkenberg 38
13 Felipe Nasr 27
14 Pastor Maldonado 26
15 Carlos Sainz 18
16 Jenson Button 16
17 Fernando Alonso 11
18 Marcus Ericsson 9
19 Roberto Merhi 0
20 Alexander Rossi 0
21 Will Stevens 0
22 Kevin Magnussen 0

Constructors’ standings:

1 Mercedes 574
2 Ferrari 374
3 Williams-Mercedes 220
4 Red Bull-Renault 150
5 Force India-Mercedes 102
6 Lotus-Mercedes 70
7 Toro Rosso-Renault 63
8 Sauber-Ferrari 36
9 McLaren-Honda 27
10 Marussia-Ferrari 0

Next race: Mexican Grand Prix, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. October 30-November 1st

Nico Rosberg scored an important pole position at the Circuit of the Americans, following a twenty-hour delay and worsening conditions which postponed the final part of qualifying.

It was a complete washout on Saturday with many of the teams entertaining the soaking wet fans with fun and activities, including dancing! Come the on-track action, the qualifying session was held on Sunday morning but the rain continue to fall and the race officials decided to suspend after Q2.

Rosberg set the fastest time in that segment, a tenth clear of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who Rosberg must beat in the United States Grand Prix if he is to prevent Hamilton clinching a third world championship at this event.

Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull was fastest of all in Q1, but he ended up third on the grid, over a second slower than the Silver Arrows.

His team-mate Daniil Kvyat was fourth quickest, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who will receive a ten-place grid penalty for taking a fresh engine this weekend.

Sergio Perez beat Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg to the sixth fastest time by just over a tenth, while Kimi Raikkonen (who will also take a grid penalty), Felipe Massa and Max Verstappen rounded out the top ten.

Fernando Alonso’s predictions of a possible top-ten position in qualifying almost came true, as the McLaren driver missed out by less than a tenth of a second to Verstappen in Q2.

Several drivers, including reigning world champion Hamilton and 2007 title winner Raikkonen, survived a sliding moment at Turn 10 as rain worsened in this segment of qualifying, and Alonso’s team-mate Jenson Button suggested over team radio that conditions were bordering on unsafe.

Splashing to P11 for Alonso represented McLaren’s best qualifying result of the season so far, while Valtteri Bottas was 0.069 seconds slower than Alonso in P12, Bottas complaining of broken suspension on his FW37.

Jenson Button split the Lotus of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado in completing the top 15.

Carlos Sainz Jr joined the Saubers and Manor-Marussias in failing to escape Q1, after crashing heavily in the early stages of that session.

Sainz lost the rear of his Toro Rosso over the kerb at Turn 3, before crashing hard into the barriers on the outside of Turn 4 and causing the session to be stopped while track marshals recovered his broken STR10.

The Toro Rosso racer will need permission to start the race from the back of the grid after failing to set a time fast enough to make the 107 per cent cut-off.

After the session resumed, Vettel’s Ferrari glanced the barriers following a spin at Turn 10, and the four-time world champion tumbled down the timesheet as others gradually improved their times.

The Saubers tried in vain to dislodge Vettel’s Ferrari from P15 as Q1 came to a close.

Marcus Ericsson was over a second adrift in the end, while team-mate Nasr was a further 0.9 seconds shy, complaining of “zero rear grip” from his C34.

United States Grand Prix, qualifying positions:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m56.824s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m56.929s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m57.969s
4    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m58.434s
5    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m59.210s
6    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m59.333s
7    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m59.999s
8    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    2m00.199s
9    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    2m00.265s
10    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    2m00.334s
11    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    2m00.595s
12    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    2m01.193s
13    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    2m01.604s
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    2m02.212s
15    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m58.596s*
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    2m03.194s
17    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    2m04.176s
18    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m59.703s*
19    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    2m04.526s
20    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    2m07.304s

*Ten-place grid penalties for Vettel and Raikkonen

Lewis Hamilton edges closer to his third Formula 1 world championship by dominating the Russian Grand Prix following the retirement of his Mercedes team-mate and title contender Nico Rosberg.

The Mercedes driver went side-by-side with polesitter Rosberg on the rundown to Turn 2 on the opening lap, but Nico was able to keep the lead.

Then when the safety car was called into action for a first-lap collision between Nico Hulkenberg’s spinning Force India and an unlucky Marcus Ericsson, Rosberg encountered a problem with his throttle pedal.

He ran wide at Turn 2, allowing Hamilton to take the lead and then Valtteri Bottas into second.

Rosberg subsequently slowed, crawling back to the pits where he retired the Silver Arrows. This non-finish means he is now 73 points behind championship leader Hamilton with only one hundred still available.

As for Mercedes, the Brackley-based team will have to wait until at least Austin to unpack its constructors’ championship t-shirts as it failed to outscore Ferrari by the required three points.

It was Hamilton’s 42nd career win, putting him one clear of three-time world champion Ayrton Senna and level with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel finished in second position on track and moves into second in the drivers’ standings, though if Hamilton outscores Vettel by nine points and Rosberg by two in America he will be champion.

Force India’s Sergio Perez achieved Force India’s third-ever podium, after choosing to pit under a second safety car and running a long stint on the softs.

That safety car period had been caused when Romain Grosjean lost the rear end of his Lotus at Turn 3 and as he tried to corrected, the car wobbled the other way, sending him onto the marbles and into the barriers hard.

The Lotus driver walked away from the crash, but admitted he would probably feel a little sore the next day.

There was drama on the final lap, when Bottas passed Perez for third, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen following him through.

But Raikkonen then had a lunge at Turn 4, hitting Bottas at the apex and pushing the Williams into the barrier.

Raikkonen survived the damage to get to the finish in fifth, behind Williams’s Felipe Massa who produced a superb recovery drive from P15.

The race stewards confirmed they would investigate the collision between Raikkonen and Bottas.

Should Ferrari and Raikkonen get a time penalty, Mercedes would secure the constructors’ title. If not, then the US Grand Prix.

Daniil Kvyat finished sixth on his home track in the Red Bull ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus.

McLaren scored points with both cars for the first time this season with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, celebrating his 250th Grand Prix weekend but 248th start, ninth and tenth respectively.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz was on course for a superb points finish having started at the the back of the grid after missing qualifying following a high-speed crash in final practice.

But Sainz appeared to suffer a brake problem, causing him to spin twice, once into the barriers, and then retire the car a few corners later with significant damage to the rear wing.

Team-mate Max Verstappen, who suffered a puncture on the first lap when clipped by the spinning Hulkenberg, was classified P11.

Ricciardo was on course to finish fourth, but pulled off track with six laps to go, suggesting something had broken on the suspension in the Red Bull.

The Manor-run Marussias of Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens completed the list of finishers at Sochi.

Russian Grand Prix, race results after 53 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1:37.11.024
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    +5.953s
3    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    +28.918s
4    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    +38.831s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari     +42.358s
6    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault     +47.566s
7    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari     +56.508s
8    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes     +61.088s
9    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda     +79.467s
10    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda     +86.210s
11    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    +88.424s
12    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    DNF
13    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    +1 lap
14    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    +2 laps
15    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    DNF
–    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault   DNF
–    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    DNF
–    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    DNF
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes   DNF
–    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    DNF

Drivers’ championship:

1    Lewis Hamilton    302
2    Sebastian Vettel    236
3    Nico Rosberg    229
4    Kimi Raikkonen    129
5    Valtteri Bottas    111
6    Felipe Massa    109
7    Daniil Kvyat    74
8    Daniel Ricciardo    73
9    Sergio Perez    54
10    Romain Grosjean    44
11    Nico Hulkenberg    38
12    Max Verstappen    32
13    Felipe Nasr    23
14    Pastor Maldonado    20
15    Fernando Alonso    12
16    Carlos Sainz    12
17    Marcus Ericsson    9
18    Jenson Button    8
19    Roberto Merhi    0
20    Will Stevens    0
21    Alexander Rossi    0

Constructors’ championship:

1    Mercedes    531
2    Ferrari    365
3    Williams-Mercedes    220
4    Red Bull-Renault    147
5    Force India-Mercedes    92
6    Lotus-Mercedes    64
7    Toro Rosso-Renault    44
8    Sauber-Ferrari    32
9    McLaren-Honda    20
10    Marussia-Ferrari    0

Nico Rosberg claimed his second consecutive pole position in Formula 1, as the Mercedes team comfortably set the pace in qualifying at the Sochi Autodrome.

Rosberg was faster than his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton throughout the session, and he was able to deny the world championship leader a 50th career pole for the second race running.

Cool track conditions meant the drivers had to complete more than one timed lap on a set of tyres to get them up to temperature, and both Mercedes drivers only attempted one run in Q3.

Rosberg lapped 0.320 seconds faster than Hamilton on his first flying lap, before Hamilton made a mistake and went off at Turn 13 on his second run, so headed for the pits.

Rosberg was 0.160 seconds slower than his best on his second flying lap, but that didn’t matter, as his earlier time was enough to secure his third pole of the season.

Valtteri Bottas was again best-of-the-rest for Williams, fractionally clear of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, which improved by nearly two tenths on its second Q3 run but fell 0.053 seconds short.

Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake on his second Q3 effort at the same corner as Hamilton and ended up fifth quickest, ahead of Force India duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, who were separated by less than half a tenth of a second.

Romain Grosjean’s Lotus, Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso, and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top ten.

Russian home hero Daniil Kvyat failed to make the top ten shootout by just under a tenth of a second, setting the P11 fastest time in Q2 and complaining: “the tyres were not ready” temperature-wise.

Felipe Nasr put in a strong performance for Sauber to set P12, just 0.111 seconds slower than Kvyat’s Red Bull.

Jenson Button was over half a second further back in P14, but faster than the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado.

Felipe Massa made a mess of his first run in Q2 then failed to make the cut on his final run, complaining of traffic.

The Braziian was only P15, a full 1.701 seconds slower than Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was third quickest in Q2.

Fernando Alonso was the highest-profile driver to fail to make it through the first part of qualifying.

Last-gasp improvements from McLaren team-mate Button and Nasr put the double world champion out in Q1.

Russian Grand Prix, qualifying times:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m37.113s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m37.433s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m37.912s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m37.965s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m38.348s
6    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m38.659s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m38.691s
8    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m38.787s
9    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m38.924s
10    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m39.728s
11    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m39.214s
12    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m39.323s
13    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m39.763s
14    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m39.811s
15    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m39.895s
16    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m40.660s
17    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m43.693s
18    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m43.804s
19    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m40.144s
20    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault No time

Lewis Hamilton achieved his hero’s record of 41 Grands Prix victories with a commanding drive at Suzuka.

The Mercedes driver won the Japanese Grand Prix on the opening lap thanks to a better start from his team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Just a week on from the struggle around Singapore’s Marina Bay street circuit, normal service was resumed for Mercedes as Hamilton led home Rosberg by 18.9 seconds, scoring their eighth one-two of the season.

By winning the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton has now equalled the three-time world champion Ayrton Senna with 41 victories and from his 162nd start, one more than the Formula 1 legend.

The championship leader is now 48 points clear of Rosberg with 125 available from the remaining five races, with Sebastian Vettel falling 59 points adrift after the Ferrari driver could only manage third.

The key moment came in the opening seconds, as Rosberg and Hamilton ran side by side through the first corners.

With the preferable inside line at Turn 2, Hamilton was able to edge Rosberg aside, leading to the latter running marginally off track, allowing Vettel and Valtteri Bottas to sweep by into second and third place.

Aside from one complaint shortly before his second pitstop after 31 laps about “vibrations so big” that left him “struggling”, Hamilton was never troubled through to the chequered flag.

Rosberg limited the damage to his team-mate by passing Bottas on lap 17 before the undercut worked on Vettel 13 laps later come the second round of pit-stops.

Behind Vettel was team-mate Kimi Raikkonen as Ferrari made its own undercut work on Bottas who, from third on the grid at the start, had to settle for fifth place.

Williams team-mate Felipe Massa’s race was ruined in just a  few hundred metres as the passing Daniel Ricciardo’s left-rear tyre collided with his own front-right.

Both drivers suffered punctures, with Massa also requiring a new front-wing from damage sustained on the slow crawl back to the pits.

Massa finished P17 and two laps down, with only Manor duo Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens and late retiree Felipe Nasr behind him.

Ricciardo was P15 and a lap adrift, a week after finishing second in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Red Bull team-mate Daniil Kvyat – whose car was completely rebuilt following his heavy crash in qualifying, requiring a new chassis, power unit and gearbox – endured a frustrating race and multiple issues as he could only manage P13.

From P13 on the grid, after serving a three-place penalty for causing a collision with Massa in Singapore, Nico Hulkenberg put in a fine sixth in his Force India, gaining ground at the start and then jumping both Lotus drivers at the first round of pit-stops.

Despite the Enstone-based team’s ongoing financial woes, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado were seventh and eighth, with the Toro Rosso pair of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr rounding out the points scorers.

Verstappen had started P17 after serving his own three-place penalty for stopping in a potentially dangerous place in qualifying after his car suffered an electrical failure.

Sainz had his own moment in the Japanese Grand Prix, hitting a bollard on the entry to the pitlane, forcing his pit crew into an unexpected front-wing change. He then lost out in a late battle with Verstappen.

As for McLaren, on Honda’s home track, Fernando Alonso could have done no more to suggest he wants a swift exit from his three-year contract…

During the race, Alonso bemoaned his lack of pace, saying “it’s embarrassing, very embarrassing”, before later labelling Honda’s power unit as “GP2” standard, followed by an exasperated cry of frustration.

Alonso eventually finished P11, with Jenson Button P16.

So not the most exciting Japanese Grand Prix but for championship leader Lewis Hamilton, this was an important victory. He matches his hero’s achievement and extends the points advantage over Mercedes team-mate.

Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka after 53 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h28m06.508s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    18.964s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    20.850s
4    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    33.768s
5    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    36.746s
6    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India/Mercedes    55.559s
7    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m12.298s
8    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m13.575s
9    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m35.315s
10    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
11    Fernando Alonso    McLaren/Honda    1 Lap
12    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
13    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1 Lap
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
15    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1 Lap
16    Jenson Button    McLaren/Honda    1 Lap
17    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    2 Laps
18    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    2 Laps
19    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    3 Laps
20    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    Not running

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    277
2    Nico Rosberg    229
3    Sebastian Vettel    218
4    Kimi Raikkonen    119
5    Valtteri Bottas    111
6    Felipe Massa    97
7    Daniel Ricciardo    73
8    Daniil Kvyat    66
9    Romain Grosjean    44
10    Sergio Perez    39
11    Nico Hulkenberg    38
12    Max Verstappen    32
13    Felipe Nasr    17
14    Pastor Maldonado    16
15    Carlos Sainz    12
16    Fernando Alonso    11
17    Marcus Ericsson    9
18    Jenson Button    6
19    Roberto Merhi    0
20    Will Stevens    0
21    Alexander Rossi    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    506
2    Ferrari    337
3    Williams-Mercedes    208
4    Red Bull-Renault    139
5    Force India-Mercedes    77
6    Lotus-Mercedes    60
7    Toro Rosso-Renault    44
8    Sauber-Ferrari    26
9    McLaren-Honda    17
10    Marussia-Ferrari    0

Next race: Russian Grand Prix, Sochi. October 9-11.

Nico Rosberg achieved his second successive pole position at the iconic Suzuka circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix, as a spectacular accident for Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat brought a premature end to qualifying.

Rosberg was fractionally faster than his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton during the first runs in Q3, taking provisional pole by a small margin of 0.076 seconds.

Rosberg had just improved by 0.007 seconds in the first sector when Kvyat put a wheel off the track turning in to the kink on the approach to the hairpin.

His Red Bull was spat off into the barrier on the outside, tearing off the left-hand side of the RB11 before digging into the gravel trap and rolling over.

The Russian walked away from the wreckage but the accident brought out the red flags and halted any hopes for Hamilton of striking back, thus Rosberg confirmed his first pole since May’s Spanish Grand Prix, and only his second all season.

The Williams of Valtteri Bottas set the third quickest time, just under four tenths adrift of Hamilton, and ahead of Singapore Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel.

Felipe Massa made a mistake at the chicane on his best lap and ended up fifth, just 0.010 seconds clear of Kimi Raikkonen, who complained of too much understeer in his Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull and the Lotus of Romain Grosjean rounded out the top eight, ahead of the Force India of Sergio Perez and Kvyat, who both failed to set a time in Q3.

Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz, and Pastor Maldonado all failed to make the top ten shootout after a close battle at the end of Q2.

Hulkenberg lost out to Grosjean by 0.112 seconds, dropping the crucial time in sector one, while Sainz was slow in sector two (the Degners, the hairpin and Spoon), which meant he missed the cut by almost two tenths.

Maldonado was just 0.044 seconds further back in P13, followed by Fernando Alonso in the best of the McLarens, and Max Verstappen, who failed to take part in Q2 after stopping on track in the first part of qualifying when his Toro Rosso broke down with electrical problems.

Verstappen’s stranded car on the exit of the hairpin spoiled any hopes Jenson Button’s McLaren had of making it through to Q2.

The 2009 world champion earlier complained of problems with in correct engine settings on his first run, which required him to pit.

After aborting his second run because of the yellow flags, Button told his team firmly on the radio: “in the position we’re in we cannot make any mistakes” after winding up P16, just under two tenths adrift of team-mate Alonso.

Sauber suffered an even worse session, as both drivers had to abort their final flying laps.

Felipe Nasr complained: “I was on a good lap!” after qualifying P18, less than a tenth behind team-mate Marcus Ericsson, who spun under braking at Spoon Curve on his first run, after clipping the artificial grass with his right-rear wheel.

Will Stevens won the private battle of the Manor Marussias by default, after team-mate Alexander Rossi was late joining the session then also had to abort his flying lap due to the yellows.

Qualifying positions, Suzuka:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m32.584s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m32.660s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m33.024s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m33.245s
5    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m33.337s
6    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m33.347s
7    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m33.497s
8    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m33.967s
9    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes
10    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    No time
11    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m34.453s
12    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m34.497s
13    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m34.785s
14    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault No time
15    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m35.664s
16    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m35.673s
17    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m34.390s*
18    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m35.760s
19    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m38.783
20    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m47.114s

*Three-place grid drop due to a collision with Felipe Massa at the Singapore Grand Prix

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Singapore Grand Prix from pole as championship leader Lewis Hamilton retired with an engine problem.

The Ferrari driver led away from the start and negotiated one virtual safety car period and two full safety car deployments to achieve his third victory of the season and fourth in Marina Bay.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second with Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium in the other Ferrari.

The second safety car reacted to a fan getting on the track, walking on the straight after the Anderson Bridge before climbing over the barriers.

Hamilton was running in fourth position when he reported a loss of power and though his Mercedes team spent several laps trying to find a solution, it decided to retire the car after the reigning champion dropped to P16.

It was Hamilton’s first retirement in twenty races, and Mercedes’ second engine problem in as many races following Nico Rosberg’s non-finish at Monza.

Rosberg finished fourth, 14.2 seconds adrift of Vettel, to cut Hamilton’s lead to 41 points, with Vettel now just eight points further back in third position.

After a quiet opening stint of the race, and with Ricciardo starting to close on Vettel as the leader’s pace dropped away, the virtual safety car was called into action when Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg collided at Turn 3.

Massa had just pitted and was rejoining the track when he met with Hulkenberg at the apex, with the Force India crashing into the barriers.

The race stewards deemed Hulkenberg was at fault and handed him a three-place grid drop for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Massa continued, but had to pit because of a puncture to his front-right tyre before he later retired with gearbox issues.

His Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas survived a gearbox glitch in the closing stages to finish fifth, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat who pitted before the virtual safety car and dropped out of contention for a podium as a result.

Force India’s Sergio Perez was seventh place, holding off Max Verstappen, who fought back after failing to get away from the grid.

Toro Rosso got him going again and though he was a lap down, he fought back into the points. Was able to unlap himself when the safety car was deployed.

Following the second round of pit-stops, Verstappen was up in ninth and fought his way past Romain Grosjean to finish eighth.

His team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr lost several places when his car dropped into neutral, something that affected Massa and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso too, but Sainz rescued points with ninth after also passing Grosjean.

Verstappen was told by his Toro Rosso team to swap positions with Sainz on the final lap but did not do so.

Felipe Nasr scored the final point in the heavily-updated Sauber after a late pass on Grosjean with team-mate Marcus Ericsson P11.

Pastor Maldonado’s survived contact with Jenson Button to finish P12 with Grosjean stopping before the end but classified as P13.

It was a difficult day for McLaren-Honda, with Button and Alonso failing to finish. Both drivers forced to retire with gearbox problems.

The Manors were the last of the finishers with Alexander Rossi beating his team-mate Will Stevens to finish P14 on his Formula 1 debut.

So a brilliant victory for Sebastian Vettel. His fourth at the Marina Bay street circuit and the 42nd career in the sport.

Singapore Grand Prix, race results after 61 laps:

1    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    2h01m22.118s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1.478s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    17.154s
4    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    24.720s
5    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    34.204s
6    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    35.508s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    50.836s
8    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    51.450s
9    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    52.860s
10    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m30.045s
11    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m37.507s
12    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m37.718s
13    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    Not running
14    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    2 Laps
15    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    2 Laps
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    Gearbox
–    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    Retirement
–    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    Power Unit
–    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    Power Unit
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    Collision

Fastest lap Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 1m 50.041s (lap 52)

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    252
2    Nico Rosberg    211
3    Sebastian Vettel    203
4    Kimi Raikkonen    107
5    Felipe Massa   101
6    Valtteri Bottas    97
7     Daniel Ricciardo   73
8    Daniil Kvyat    66
9     Sergio Perez   39
10    Romain Grosjean    38
11     Max Verstappen   30
12    Nico Hulkenberg    30
13    Felipe Nasr    17
14    Pastor Maldonado    12
15    Fernando Alonso    11
16    Carlos Sainz    11
17    Marcus Ericsson    9
18    Jenson Button    6
19    Roberto Merhi    0
20    Will Stevens    0
21     Alexander Rossi 0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    463
2    Ferrari    310
3    Williams-Mercedes    198
4    Red Bull-Renault    139
5    Force India-Mercedes    69
6    Lotus-Mercedes    50
7    Toro Rosso-Renault    41
8    Sauber-Ferrari    26
9    McLaren-Honda    17
10    Marussia-Ferrari    0

Next race: Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka. September 25-27.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel achieved his 46th career pole position in Formula 1 with a superb performance in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion was the only driver to lap the Marina Bay street circuit in less than one minute, 44  seconds in qualifying, and he ends an unbroken run of 23 consecutive races of P1 slot for Mercedes.

The championship-winning team has struggled to be competitive so far in Singapore, and the best Lewis Hamilton could manage was the fifth quickest time, a massive 1.415 seconds adrift of Vettel.

Hamilton would later say it was down to the tyres. Not surprising following the controversy post-race at the Italian Grand Prix…

Vettel set the pace throughout Q2 and Q3, and found 0.4 seconds between his first and second runs in the top ten shootout to secure Scuderia Ferrari’s first pole position since the 2012 German Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo was second quickest for Red Bull, 0.543 seconds further back, while Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was third, just ahead of the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat.

Nico Rosberg rounded out the top six, 0.115 seconds slower than his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton.

The Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen made just a single run in Q3, but he managed to split the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas in seventh and Felipe Massa in ninth.

The teenager was only 0.122 seconds slower than Bottas, but 0.279 seconds quicker than Massa.

Romain Grosjean’s Lotus completed the top ten, nearly four tenths adrift of Massa’s Williams.

Others with hope of making the pole position shootout were scuppered by Carlos Sainz Jr striking the wall heavily at Turn 19 in his Toro Rosso, which brought out yellow flags and spoiled the end of Q2.

However, Force India reckoned Q3 was just beyond its drivers regardless.

Nico Hulkenberg improved a bit on his first run, but his one minute, 46.305 seconds lap was only good enough for P11, while team-mate Sergio Perez was bumped to P13 by the McLaren of Fernando Alonso.

Sainz wound up a lowly P14 on account of his error, yet 0.125 seconds faster than Jenson Button, who felt he had too much understeer.

A last-gasp effort from Button earlier in Q1 meant both Sauber drivers failed to progress past the first stage of qualifying.

Felipe Nasr looked set to make it through in the heavily revised C34, but he ended up 0.054 seconds shy of the cut-off.

The Sauber driver will start P16, 0.083 seconds quicker than team-mate Marcus Ericsson.

The Lotus of Pastor Maldonado was 0.225 seconds adrift in P17, but well ahead of the Manor Marussias.

Alexander Rossi, making his Formula 1 debut this Singapore Grand Prix weekend, led team-mate Will Stevens after the first runs in Q1, but the American ended up half a second adrift, thanks to a substantial improvement from Stevens at the end.

So a refreshing grid order for the race. With Ferrari and Red Bull in the mix. A non-Mercedes front row for quite some time but the speed of the Silver Arrows can never be discounted. Can Vettel win his third race this season or will we see Ricciardo scoring a top result? We shall find out on race day in Marina Bay.

Singapore Grand Prix, qualifying results:

1    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m43.885s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m44.428s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m44.667s
4    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m44.745s
5    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m45.300s
6    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m45.415s
7    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m45.676s
8    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m45.798s
9    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m46.077s
10    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m46.413s
11    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m46.305s
12    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m46.328s
13    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m46.385s
14    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m46.894s
15    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m47.019s
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m46.965s
17    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m47.088s
18    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m47.323s
19    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m51.021s
20    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m51.523s