10
Valtteri Bottas has taken his third race win of the 2019 season, as he dominated proceedings at Suzuka.
The Finn took his first victory since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix earlier this year, crossing the line over 11 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Despite getting both of its cars on the front row after qualifying, Ferrari's day quickly unravelled after Charles Leclerc made contact with Max Verstappen at Turn 1, sending the latter into a spin.
Red Bull opted to retire Verstappen from the race on lap 15 of the race due to the damage he sustained, while Leclerc carved his way through the field to eventually finish in sixth place.
Vettel, who claimed pole position earlier on Sunday, lost his lead off the line as he moved forward before the lights went out, which hurt his momentum on the second time of asking, allowing Bottas to storm into the lead of the race.
Bottas then controlled the race as the optimum strategy worked out to be a two-stop, with Vettel the first of the leaders to make a stop, barring Leclerc, who pitted after making contact with Verstappen.
Bottas pitted one lap later than Vettel while Lewis Hamilton stayed out - however the degradation was higher than expected, meaning the Briton dropped well behind Bottas and Vettel after making his first stop.
Vettel made his second stop on lap 32, while Bottas stayed out for a handful of laps longer. However, the Finn had pulled out a sizeable advantage and emerged comfortably in front of Vettel.
Hamilton made his final pit stop of the race in the final 10 laps and closed up onto the rear of Vettel on fresh soft tyres, but he couldn't find a way past the Ferrari driver.
Alexander Albon secured his career-best finish by crossing the line in fourth place, but made contact with Lando Norris early on, which forced the McLaren driver into the pits.
Albon was not penalised for the incident and came home in front of the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz, who scored his third fifth-place finish for the season.
After making a third pit stop in the last handful of laps for soft tyres, Leclerc ended the grand prix in sixth place, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who resurged after being left frustrated after qualifying.
The Australian went deep into the race on the medium compound before attacking the pack late on with fresh tyres.
On the final lap, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez came together at Turn 1, which sent the Mexican driver into the barriers and out of the race amid a battle for eighth place.
Despite crashing out, Perez was still classified in ninth place, as a premature showing of the chequered flag display meant that he kept his position.
Nico Hulkenberg was tenth, picking up the final point position ahead of the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll.
Circuit Suzuka - 13 October 2019
Grand Prix of Belgium
2 members have this team as their favourite
abhidbgt
Posts: 283
Just heard Valtteri's radio. It was absolutely legendary. James, it's Valtteri.
:D