Lewis Hamilton took a relatively easy Japanese Grand Prix victory after making a bold overtaking move on his team-mate on the opening lap of the race.
The Mercedes driver started second behind Nico Rosberg, but come the second corner of the race, the Briton was ahead and remained there until the end of the 53-lap race.
Hamilton matches his hero Ayrton Senna’s win tally of 41, but took one race more than the Brazilian to do so.
Rosberg completed a Mercedes 1-2, despite falling back to fourth at the start.
© Octane Photographic
Sebastian Vettel finished 13 seconds ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in third and fourth, whilst Williams’ Valtteri Bottas completed the top five cars.
Nico Hulkenberg made up seven places from his 13th placed grid position to finish sixth for Force India. A number of incidents ahead helped promote him up the order, including punctures for Felipe Massa and Daniel Ricciardo as a result of contact, whilst Sergio Perez ran wide through the gravel at the start.
Lotus enjoyed a good race result with Romain Grosjean finishing seventh and Pastor Maldonado eighth. The Toro Rosso duo brought up the final points paying positions.
2015 Japanese Grand Prix Race Result:
# | Driver | Team | Gap | Points |
01. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 25 | |
02. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | +18.9 | 18 |
03. | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | +20.8 | 15 |
04. | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | +33.7 | 12 |
05. | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | +36.7 | 10 |
06. | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | +55.5 | 8 |
07. | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | +72.2 | 6 |
08. | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | +73.5 | 4 |
09. | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | +95.3 | 2 |
10. | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | +1 lap | 1 |
11. | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | +1 lap | |
12. | Sergio Perez | Force India | +1 lap | |
13. | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | +1 lap | |
14. | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | +1 lap | |
15. | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | +1 lap | |
16. | Jenson Button | McLaren | +1 lap | |
17. | Felipe Massa | Williams | +2 laps | |
18. | Alexander Rossi | Marussia | +2 laps | |
19. | Will Stevens | Marussia | +3 laps | |
20. | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | DNF |