Hamilton wins the shortened Japanese GP

Yesterday, we saw Lewis Hamilton winning his third consecutive race of the 2014 season of the shortened Japanese Grand Prix ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel following a serious incident with Marussia driver Jules Bianchi that has left him in hospital suffering a serious head injury.

Although details on the incident which stopped the race remained unconfirmed just after the race was stopped on Lap 44. It was then confirmed that Bianchi's Marussia car hit the recovery truck which was attending to the Sauber of Adrian Sutil which had already run off the circuit at the same point and hit the barriers as the rain intensified again into the closing stages of the race. The FIA then confirmed that Bianchi was unconscious after the accident and has been taken to local hospital by road ambulance.

After hearing this news after the race was stopped on Lap 44, a sombre air swiftly descended on all at Suzuka as the paddock awaited for news on the Marussia driver’s condition with muted celebrations following on the podium as a mark of respect from the top three finishers of the Japanese Grand Prix.

With race-day having been beset by poor weather with Typhoon Phanfone approaching mainland Japan, before the race even began, it was announced that due to the heavy rain at the Suzuka circuit that the race started behind the Safety Car in grid order.

It is the first race that has started under the Safety Car since the Canadian Grand Prix in 2011. In order to get half points, two racing laps need to be completed and for full points, at least three quarters of the race distance would need to be completed which would be Lap 40.

At 3pm local time, the Japanese Grand Prix got underway under the Safety Car. On the first lap of the race, Marcus Ericsson spins his Caterham at the final corner of the circuit. Ericsson appears to struggle finding a reverse gear and with help from the marshals, he is able to continue.

But the conditions on the track did not get any better and the race is stopped after the second lap and under the Safety Car, it leads the drivers back to the pit lane where they will start if the race restarts. The Japanese Grand Prix is then restarted under the Safety Car at 3.25pm local time and within four corners, Fernando Alonso officially retires from the Grand Prix due to electronical issues.

By Lap 6, Lewis Hamilton and Jean-Eric Vergne announce that visibility is better and it is okay to race. By Lap 9, the Safety Car went into the pitlane and the race went ahead as it normally would do.

Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg by 9.180 second and ahead of Sebastian Vettel just over 29 seconds in third place. On Lap 29 of the race, Hamilton was able to pass his team mate Rosberg who was struggling with oversteer on his car with a good move that saw him take the lead of the race.

Hamilton now leads the standings by ten points ahead of Rosberg after his third win in succession and eighth of the campaign, but Rosberg did a solid job to finish in second and cannot be discounted to fight back and challenge Hamilton for the championship in the remaining four races of the season.

After battling with Daniel Ricciardo and Jenson Button during the race, Sebastian Vettel finished in third place in a weekend that saw him announce he would be departing the Red Bull team for potentially Ferrari, but Vettel nor Ferrari has confirmed their positions regarding next season.

Daniel Ricciardo finished the race in fourth ahead of Jenson Button in fifth place after battling with him throughout the race and passed Button for position on Lap 42 of the race. Button was on course for a podium finish after switching to intermediates at the end of Lap 9 which ended up being the right decision until a problematic second pit stop saw Vettel and Ricciardo pass him on the track to finish in fifth place.

The Williams drivers of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe finished the race in sixth and seventh places after they too were battling with the Red Bulls and the McLarens in the early stages of the race. But the Williams team do struggle with the pace and performance of their car in conditions such as this, but they still managed to get good points finishes from the weekend.

Nico Hulkenberg finished the race in eighth place ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in ninth place and his team mate Sergio Perez who picked up the final point in tenth place one lap down on the race winner. With the news that Daniil Kvyat will be replacing Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull for next season, he finished the race in eleventh place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in twelfth place who has struggled all weekend to be on the pace of the frontrunners.

Esteban Guiterrez had a reasonable weekend and was at one stage in the running for a much needed point until Perez was able to pass him. But he finished the race in thirteen place ahead of Kevin Magnussen in fourteenth place who suffered problems with his steering wheel during the race and had to make an extra pit stop. But he finished ahead of the Lotus drivers of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado who finished in fifteenth and sixteenth places.

Marcus Ericsson continued his good form from Singapore throughout the course of the weekend and finished the race in seventeenth place ahead of Max Chilton in eighteenth place, his team Kamui Kobayashi in nineteenth place, Jules Bianchi in twentieth place and Adrian Sutil in twenty-first place. Fernando Alonso did not finish the race due to electronical issue on his car and retired from the race on Lap 4.

Lines by www.grahamandleigh.co.uk

The race classification of the Japanese Grand Prix is as follows below:-

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1.51.43.021s
Nico Rosberg Mercedes 9.150s
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 29.122s
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 38.818s
Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1.07.550s
Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1.53.773s
Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1.55.216s
Nico Hulkenberg Force India -Mercedes 1.55.948s
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 2.07.038s
Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1 lap
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 lap
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1 lap
Esteban Guiterrez Sauber-Ferrari 1 lap
Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1 lap
Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1 lap
Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1 lap
Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1 lap
Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1 lap
Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1 lap
Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 3 laps
Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 4 laps
Fernando Alonso Ferrari Not classified

After the race yesterday, the FIA have issued the following press statement regarding the condition of Jules Bianchi after his incident at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. The press release stated the following:-

'On Lap 42, Adrian Sutil lost control of his car, spun and hit the tyre barrier on the outside of Turn 7. The marshals displayed double waved yellow flags before the corner to warn drivers of the incident. A recovery vehicle was despatched in order to lift the car and take it to a place of safety behind the guardrail. While this was being done the driver of car 17, Jules Bianchi, lost control of his car, travelled across the run-off area and hit the back of the tractor.

'Once the marshals reported that the driver was injured, medical teams were despatched and the Safety Car was deployed. These were followed by an extrication team and an ambulance.

'The driver was removed from the car, taken to the circuit medical centre and then by ambulance to Mie General Hospital. The CT scan shows that he has suffered a severe head injury and he is currently undergoing surgery. Following this he will be moved to intensive care where he will be monitored.

'Mie General Hospital will issue an update as soon as further information becomes available.'

It has been reported within the last few hours that Bianchi has had his operation yesterday evening is that he has out of surgery and breathing unaided on his own. The hospital has informed the media that the next 24-48 hours are critical for Bianchi and his progress from the surgery. We will keep you updated with Bianchi as soon as we receive something official from the hospital, Bianchi's family or from the Marussia team.

But for all at Driving for Pleasure, the Japanese GP race result does not matter, our main concern and priority is that Jules Bianchi is okay after his accident and that he is as well as he can be under the circumstances. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this sad and difficult time. We are all thinking about you and we hope you are okay Jules and that you keep fighting, we are behind you all the way.