Pictures courtesy: Daimler
Nico Rosberg won the 2016
Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Gand Prix on October 9, 2016 and in the process
ensured that his team Mercedes seal the constructors’ crown. Rosberg extended
his championship lead to 33 points while his teammate Lewis Hamilton recovered
from a terrible start to finish third. The young lad from Red Bull Max
Verstappen came in second.
With Rosberg’s win, Mercedes won
the constructors’ title for the third year in succession. Fourth to come in was
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who in turn
was followed by his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. It was unfortunate for Red Bull’s
Daniel Ricciardo to come in sixth, even though he had done well in the initial
stages of the race.
Luck favoured the Force India
drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg who came in seventh and eighth,
beating arch rivals Williams, who saw Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas complete
the top ten. All 22 drivers finished the race.
As the race began, a mistake
by Hamilton meant that he was pushed back to eight position. Rosberg drove
effectively to manage his lead all throughout.
Rosberg now has 313 points to
his team mate’s 280, meaning he needs only three seconds and a third to clinch
his first title over the remaining four races - even if Hamilton wins all of
them.
Pos. DRIVER CAR
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
2 Max Verstappen Red
Bull Racing
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
5 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
7 Sergio Perez Force India
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force
India
9 Felipe Massa Williams
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams
11 Romain Grosjean Haas
12 Jolyon Palmer Renault
13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso
14 Kevin Magnussen Renault
15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
16 Fernando Alonso Mclaren
17 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso
18 Jenson Button Mclaren
19 Felipe Nasr Sauber
20 Esteban Gutierrez Haas
21 Esteban Ocon MRT
22 Pascal Wehrlein MRT