By Ayeotan Shola
Sunday, September 27th is the day Lewis Hamilton won his 162nd race, one more than the record holder, Senna started in a career that ended tragically at Imola in 1994.
Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix today to equal the late Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 Formula 1 victories, and move 48 points clear of Mercedes team mate and closest rival Nico Rosberg with five races remaining
On a sunny afternoon at Suzuka, in marked contrast to the dark and tragic 2014 race that he also won, the 30-year-old Briton seized the lead from pole-sitter Rosberg at the start and never looked back.
It was his eighth win of the season, with Rosberg anchoring the eighth 1-2 finish for dominant Mercedes as the champions returned to form after a shocking dip in Singapore last weekend.
Rosberg took the chequered flag 18.9 seconds behind Hamilton with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the winner in Singapore, coming in third.
2015 Japanese GP results
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1min28:06.508
2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +00:18.964
3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 00:20.850
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:33.768
5. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes 00:36.746
6. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India – Mercedes 00:55.559
