More Lewis woe as Rosberg extends lead
Rosberg sauntered to his ninth victory of the season in yesterday’s Japanese Grand Prix and while Hamilton recovered to finish third, the Briton is now 33 points behind his Mercedes team-mate.
Indeed Hamilton could win each of the four remaining races and still come up short in the championship.
Max Verstappen crossed the line in second, despite a late lunge from Hamilton at the chicane on the penultimate lap, while Mercedes wrapped up their third consecutive Constructors’ Championship after taking an unassailable points lead over Red Bull.
Hamilton, who walked out of his press conference with the written media on Saturday in response to what he deemed to be disrespectful coverage of his antics on Snapchat earlier this week, was faced with a damp grid slot following overnight rain.
He hinted at sabotage from his own Mercedes team following his engine failure in Malaysia last weekend before taking aim at the media here but there was no one else to blame for what happened at the start of yesterday’s race.
Hamilton continued his written press blackout afterwards but did speak — albeit briefly — in the official press conference for the top three drivers, an obligation which is mandatory for drivers under the sport’s regulations.
“I don’t think the damp patch had really anything to do with it,” Hamilton said.
“I made a mistake, and then just working my way up from there was tricky.”
Regarding the 33-point gap to Rosberg, Hamilton added: “I’ll give it everything I’ve got as I did in the race and we’ll see what happens.”
Following poor starts in Australia, Bahrain, Canada and Monza Hamilton was again painfully slow to get going in Suzuka.
By the time he got down to turn one he had been passed by six drivers. Rosberg, who started from pole, had no such concerns as he retained the lead and never looked back.
Hamilton progressed to third, one place ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
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