Nico today took his 23rd Formula One career victory - his first at the Suzuka International Racing Course and ninth of the 2016 season so far. Lewis recovered from a slow start which dropped him to P8 on the first lap to clinch P3 at the flag - the 100th podium of his Formula One career.
The Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows have now sealed a third consecutive Constructors' World Championship title with a 60th Formula One Grand Prix victory.
Mercedes AMG Petronas (593) lead Red Bull (385) by 208 points in the Constructors' Championship - an unassailable lead with four races remaining in the 2016 season.
Nico (313) leads the Drivers' Championship by 33 points from Lewis (280) in P2, with the battle for the Drivers' title now solely between the two Silver Arrows drivers.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: It is a great honour today to represent the hundreds of people in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart who have made us triple World Champions. The story begins on the shop floor of our team and goes all the way to the board room of Mercedes-Benz. It is a tale of passion, commitment and incredible people working beyond their limits to win. And not just doing it once, but re-motivating themselves to surpass their achievements year after year. This is their moment - all those heroes in the background who are the core of what makes this team so special. It is a humbling experience to walk the corridors of our factories and to see their faces every day. If I had a hat like Niki's, I would take it off to them. And, okay, it might sound a bit corporate... but we couldn't do it without the support of all the partners who invest in our vision and in our determination to win. Thank you to each and every one for their fantastic contribution to this success.
Looking back at today's race, so much was decided at the start. Nico got a perfect start, while Lewis suffered on the right-hand side with the damp line but also got a bad getaway. We know that our clutch is tricky to manage and we have not given the drivers the easiest system to use this year. Our first indications suggest that the clutch release was the problem today - but we will look into all the data before reaching a definitive conclusion. After that moment, Nico put in a perfect drive. He managed the gaps, controlled the race and took a really well-deserved win. For Lewis, it was fight-back time and he did that just as well as we know he can. Helped by a great strategy, on a circuit where it's tough to pass, he came back from P8 to P3 in a great drive. It was a fantastic way to win the Championship today, with two cars on the podium. And now, it's finally mathematically between only our two boys. The gap in the Championship is now 33 points and we will let them battle it out in a clean race to the end. If this season has shown one thing, it's that anything can happen and big swings are possible. There are 100 points still to be scored and a lot of racing still to go.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): A terrific result today and congratulations to the whole team for securing a third consecutive Constructors' World Championship. This has come from a huge amount of great work over many years and is an achievement that every individual will treasure. The race was quite straightforward for Nico but didn't start brilliantly for Lewis, which immediately gave us a challenge we hadn't expected to bring him up from eighth position to the front again. He drove one of his strongest races of the season to recover to third - and it could even have been second save for a rather controversial manoeuvre by Max Verstappen at the final chicane. He had some fantastic pace, great management of the tyres, and great management of the traffic particularly. He made up a huge amount of time to finish only six seconds away from Nico, having been as far as 20 seconds behind at one point in the race. So, congratulations to Lewis for a great recovery, although I'm sure he'll be feeling disappointed with the result overall. For Nico, whilst it was a less dramatic day, he drove a perfect race. There were some issues for him to overcome in terms of managing fuel, as it turned out we were a bit short on fuel load. But he handled it well with a perfect drive to sum up a perfect weekend from his point of view with a very well-deserved first win at Suzuka. This is a classic track - one of the greats of the Formula One World Championship both now and throughout history - and I think we delivered a great spectacle befitting the venue to secure our third World Championship.
Maurizio Arrivabene: Considering our starting position, being pushed back by a double penalty, we did the best we could today. It's just a shame that the traffic from backmarkers did not allow Seb to take the best out of our strategy.
Felipe Massa finished ninth and Valtteri Bottas 10th in the Japanese Grand Prix. Both cars began the race on the medium tyre, but lost positions at the start, with Valtteri falling to P13 and Felipe P14. On lap 24 Felipe stopped for a set of hard tyres to push for a one-stop, as did Valtteri on lap 26. After a slightly slower pitstop, Valtteri re-joined behind Felipe on track in P13. Both cars moved up the order as those ahead pitted, and overtook Sainz for P10 and P11 on lap 30. When Grosjean came in for his final stop Felipe and Valtteri moved up to P9 and P10 where they finished the race.
Valtteri remains seventh in the Drivers' Championship, while Felipe reclaimed ninth position. The team remains fifth in the Constructors' Championship with 124 points, 10 points adrift of Force India. Congratulations to Mercedes on securing their third consecutive FIA Formula One World Constructors' Championship title.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: Quite honestly, with the car and the pace we had this weekend that was pretty much all we could have done as a team. We played a risky strategy in order to get ourselves in the points and we got three points in the end. The team can be reasonably proud. We've acquitted ourselves well. It's a shame for Valtteri because he had that ninth position in hand ahead of Felipe, and so we were keeping him out longer to give him better tyres towards the end of the race. Unfortunately, the stop was slower than our usual and he came out behind Felipe. Apart from that, I think the team has done a good job with no mistakes and we've pushed on to where we could be in this race. The overriding point is that the car just wasn't quick enough and that has been the biggest disappointment of the weekend in both qualifying and the race. However, we've got four races left. We need to regroup, and understand how we are going to get some more performance out of the car for the remaining races. We will push forward and will not give up.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "A fantastic drive by Max today. A very mature performance, moving into second place and then really looking after his tyres resisting pressure initially from Sebastian and then at the end of the race from Lewis, with some great racing. It was fantastic to see him split the Mercedes and achieve our eighth 2nd place of the year. For Daniel it was a harder race, he struggled in particular it seemed in sector two of the circuit and we need to look at the data very closely to understand why. He was disadvantaged at the start, beginning on the damp side of the track but nonetheless he drove a very controlled race to bring the car home in sixth and secure valuable points towards our position in the Constructors’ Championship. Our congratulations go to Mercedes for securing their third consecutive Championship, a fine achievement."
Sahara Force India scored ten points in today's Japanese Grand Prix as Sergio Perez raced to seventh place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in eighth.
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "We leave Japan feeling satisfied with our performance across the whole weekend. We qualified well, which allowed us to execute the optimal two-stop strategy with both cars. Seventh and eighth was the most we could realistically hope to achieve given the reliability of the cars at the front of the field, so it's rewarding to bring home ten important points. It was very enjoyable watching Checo and Nico involved in several close fights in the early laps. They pulled off some exciting moves - which were very important because they enabled the strategy to play out in our favour. With four races to go, we must maximise our potential at every event because there's still a long way to the end of the season."
Renault Sport Formula One Team team-mates Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen drove a measured Emirates Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka today. The team opted for a one-stop tyre strategy for the 53-lap race, with both Jolyon and Kevin fighting in the middle of the pack throughout and taking the chequered flag in P12 and P14 respectively. Jolyon gained four and Kevin three places from their starting positions.
Kevin started the race from P17 with new set of Pirelli's hard compound tyres. He stopped on lap 25 for a new set of medium tyres. Jolyon started the race in P16 on new medium tyres. He stopped on lap 25 for a new set of hard tyres.
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal: "It was a good weekend for us in terms of performance, with our best Free Practice 3 to-date where we were in the top ten. Qualifying, however, was a bit disappointing. Of course Jolyon got into Q2, but I think that we could have done better overall on Saturday afternoon. Our race pace was similar again to what we had seen in FP3; we fought with Williams in terms of pace until the end of the race and we were in front of McLaren and Toro Rosso. Today's race confirmed that we have gone a step forward in pure performance, despite a tricky qualifying session on Saturday. Overall the weekend has been encouraging and both drivers did a solid job in the race with a strategy that worked well for the team."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Starting from P13 and P14 made it a difficult race for us today. We simply don't have the speed on the straight lines, something you certainly need to perform well. Both drivers did a good start and after the first lap we moved up to P11 and P12. Our pit-stops were also carried out well, but we lost time in traffic and therefore we were only able to finish 13th and 17th. Fortunately, neither Haas nor McLaren scored any points, but of course the last four races of the season won't be easy for us, because all the others made steps forward with the development of their Power Units - as we are out with last years' specification, we simply face a disadvantage regarding speed... We just have to be focused and finish the season in a reasonably good way."
The Sauber F1 Team finished the Japanese Grand Prix in P15 (Marcus Ericsson) and P19 (Felipe Nasr). Both drivers completed the race distance of 53 laps on a one-stop strategy. It was the second race of the 2016 Formula One season, after the Chinese Grand Prix, without any retirements. After a short stopover in Switzerland, the team will head to the next and final back-to-back race weekend this season in Austin and Mexico City.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "Our starting positions led into a difficult race. Therefore, it was important to choose strategies which were different to those of the other competitors. In order to make a one-stop strategy work, it was mainly up to the drivers. In that sense, Marcus put in a flawless performance and was able to keep some of our direct competitors behind him. On hard tyres, Felipe was able to remain in his position after the race start. Later on he had to box a bit earlier than planned after braking too late and flat spotting his tyres."
The Japanese Grand Prix was a very disappointing race for the McLaren-Honda partnership. Fernando Alonso put up a spirited battle to take the fight into the midfield, but he was never in a position to challenge for points. He eventually finished 15th.
Jenson Button started 22nd on the grid after the team elected to change his power unit components before the race, incurring a penalty. Starting so far back meant that his potential was limited, and, despite pulling off a couple of satisfying passing moves, he finished only 18th.
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "There's no point denying that we're thoroughly disappointed, because we are.
"Having scored points with both cars last weekend in Malaysia, to finish 16th and 18th here in Japan is hard to take, frankly.
"However, such is the esprit de corps and will to win that now characterise all who work for both McLaren and Honda, as one unified racing force, that we'll put this forgettable weekend behind us straight away and refocus our attentions and ambitions on the next race: the United States Grand Prix at Austin.
"But before we do so, I want to pay tribute to the Suzuka fans, who are amongst the most devoted and enthusiastic in the world. As ever, they came out in force today - many of them in support of their home team, McLaren-Honda - and we would dearly love to have been able to give them something better to cheer about than in the end we did. Next year we will."
Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: "We expected a difficult race today, as the results of Friday and Saturday were less than ideal, and the Suzuka circuit is a very difficult place at which to gain positions unless you start from a good grid slot.
"Also, we weren't able to gain places at the start, so, for the majority of the race, both drivers had to battle at the back of the field, and weren't close to the points-scoring positions.
"In this long F1 calendar, we have good and bad results that we have to cope with, but the results of this weekend were very disappointing, especially knowing that there were so many fans here to support us.
"We will accept the results today, analyse the data, regroup and hope to return to scoring points at the next race, in the USA."
Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "On the face of it, not a race to particularly write home about, but we do leave the Far East with another two-car finish, having maintained our position in the championship. These last three races have been pretty tough, but we head home from Japan looking forward to the final four events of the season, starting in Austin in two weeks' time. In the meantime, congratulations to our powertrain partner, Mercedes-Benz, on securing the triple - a very impressive performance."
Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez finished 11th and 20th, respectively, in the Japanese Grand Prix Sunday at Suzuka Circuit.
The duo used a two-stop strategy in the 53-lap race around the 5.807-kilometer (3.608-mile), 18-turn track. Since both drivers advanced to the third and final qualifying round on Saturday, they had to start the race on the same set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires they used in Q3.
Grosjean began the race from seventh and Gutierrez rolled off in 10th - the best collective starting position for Haas F1 Team this season. They both moved quickly when the race went green, but Grosjean was pushed wide at the start by the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, which dropped him to ninth. Gutierrez held his position and slotted in behind his teammate.
Grosjean pitted at the end of lap 10 for a new set of Pirelli P Zero Orange hard tires and Gutierrez followed a lap later with the same strategy.
As other teams' strategies played out, Grosjean was 14th and Gutierrez was mired in 20th after 15 laps. Gutierrez's race was made even more difficult when he spun on lap 20 at the entrance to the Casio Triangle when Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr. attempted a block.
Gutierrez promptly recovered, and along with Grosjean, they set their sights on making strong, consistent laps. When Williams teammates Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas pitted on laps 24 and 28, respectively, it allowed Grosjean to rise to ninth and Gutierrez to climb to 14th.
Shortly after Bottas pitted, it was time for Gutierrez to make his second and final stop. At the end of lap 28, Gutierrez brought his Haas VF-16 to the attention of his crew for a new set of Orange hards. Two laps later, Grosjean did the same.
By lap 33 after pit stops had cycled through, Grosjean was 11th and Gutierrez was 20th. It's where the two drivers would finish, despite Grosjean pressuring Bottas in the final laps for 10th.
Winning the Japanese Grand Prix was Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes driver made a clean sweep of the race weekend, ending up first in each practice session and winning the pole before securing his 23rd career Formula One victory, his ninth of the season and his first at Suzuka. Rosberg beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 4.978 seconds while his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton finished third. The victory allowed Rosberg to add 10 more points to his lead in the championship standings, as 33 points now separate him from Hamilton, his nearest championship pursuer.
Seventeen rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team remains eighth in the constructor standings with 28 points. The American squad maintained its 19-point gap to seventh-place Toro Rosso and the 20-point advantage it holds over ninth-place Renault. Mercedes clinched the constructor championship via Rosberg's victory and Hamilton's podium.
Four races remain on the 2016 Formula One schedule, with the series heading to Haas F1 Team's home race in two weeks. The United States Grand Prix takes place Oct. 23 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Guenther Steiner: "Not really the race we wanted today finishing 11th again with one car and 20th with the other having started seventh and 10th. I think a few things happened today - everyone else had a good race and everybody finished, so nobody dropped out. We tried to take the fight to the Williams, but we didn't manage it in the end. They were able to make a better strategy by starting on tires they wanted, but that's racing. This weekend we've seen that our car shows speed and we were also competitive in the race. So, we're able to take that away from here."
The Japanese Grand Prix lived up to its action-packed reputation, with plenty of overtaking and a wide variety of tyre strategies at work. A two-stop soft-hard-hard strategy proved to be the most popular option, used by all the top three.
Nico Rosberg won the race after making a perfect start from pole and resisting attempts by the Red Bull drivers to 'undercut' him by making their first pit stops early. The other Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton stayed out slightly longer to gain track position, eventually finishing third after slipping down to eighth following a poor start.
At the final pit stops he got past Vettel, who ran the soft tyres for his final stint. Hamilton used the extra durability of the hard tyres to challenge Red Bull's Max Verstappen for second in the closing stages, setting up an unpredictable finale.
Not everybody followed the two-stop strategy though: Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa stopped only once and both finished in the points. Both Renaults and Saubers also stopped only once.
All three tyre compounds were seen at the start of the race, with the top 10 all starting on softs, while the one-stoppers began on either the medium or the hard tyre. Force India was the only team to use all three compounds during the race.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: "There was plenty of overtaking and tactics at work in Suzuka, with the three compounds we made available providing a wide variety of options when it came to how to run the strategy. The dry weather and absence of safety cars meant that we had two stops for most of the field, but there were some other options that worked well too, including a one-stopper at one of the most demanding circuits of the year in terms of tyre usage. Congratulations to Mercedes for another constructors' title."
Truthometer
On Saturday a three-stop strategy looked to be theoretically fastest. Instead, Nico Rosberg used two stops to win the grand prix, starting on the used softs, stopping after 12 laps for hards and after 29 laps for hards again.
