Lewis Hamilton had hoped to equal his hero Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 race victories in Singapore, but in the end he did it at Suzuka - an altogether more appropriate venue given that the great Brazilian sealed all three of his world championship crowns there.
Victory on Sunday ensured the Briton of a hat-trick of wins in Japan, though like Senna only two of Hamilton's triumphs have come at Suzuka, with his other coming at Fuji in 2007.
Hamilton now has eight victories this season and needs just three more over the remaining five races to equal his personal best tally of 11 from last year.
Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates on the podium at Formula One World Championship, Rd14, Japanese Grand Prix, Race, Suzuka, Japan, Sunday 27 September 2015.
Nico Rosberg recorded his sixth second place finish of the season in Japan
What’s more, the championship leader’s advantage over team mate Nico Rosberg now stands at 48 points. Since 2010, when the current scoring system was introduced, no driver has overhauled more than a 24-point deficit over the final five Grands Prix.
Speaking of Rosberg, the German recorded his sixth second place finish of the season - and 16th over the past two years. The Mercedes driver has now spent 1,033 of his 9,697 Grand Prix laps to date in second place - considerably more than he’s spent in any other position.
In a similar vein to Rosberg, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has spent more time in third place this season (289 laps) than any other position, so it seemed only fitting that he should record his fifth third-place finish of the year at Suzuka. The German now has seven Japanese podium finishes to his name - one for every Grand Prix he’s competed in at Suzuka - and is just two off Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull Racing RB11 at Formula One World Championship, Rd14, Japanese Grand Prix, Race, Suzuka, Japan, Sunday 27 September 2015.
Despite the best efforts of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull finished outside of the points for the first time in 32 races
Elsewhere, Nico Hulkenberg equalled his best finish of the season with a fine sixth place, and is now just one point back from Force India team mate Sergio Perez in the drivers’ standings. The Mexican meanwhile finished outside the top ten for the first time in four races.
Behind Hulkenberg, Lotus recorded just their second double points finish of the season, with Romain Grosjean seventh and Pastor Maldonado eighth. Toro Rosso also got both cars home in the top ten, for the second race in a row and the third time this year.
Toro Rosso’s race was in stark contrast to stable mates Red Bull who saw neither of their cars score points for the first time since last year’s Australian Grand Prix, 32 events ago.
And finally, speaking of things that haven’t happened for a long time, Sunday’s race was the first since the 2011 European Grand Prix in which every car was a classified finisher. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr was the only driver not to take the chequered flag, but he had completed well over 90 percent of the race distance and hence was included in the results.
Fastest to 41
Only five drivers have scored 41 or more wins in F1 racing history. But who got there the quickest?
