How Hamilton matched Senna's win tally at Suzuka in 2015

At Suzuka, Lewis Hamilton matched Ayrton Senna's tally of victories with a win that also pushed his title lead further out. Nico Rosberg dropped to fourth at the start but recovered to take second, and Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari. It was the first race at Suzuka since Jules Bianchi's fatal accident at the previous event.

Why did this win matter so much to Hamilton?

Hamilton arrived as the defending winner and the championship leader, 41 points ahead of Rosberg. A win would also take him level with Senna, who won his three world titles at Suzuka. Hamilton said afterwards he had wanted to hit back after retiring in Singapore.

Vettel had arrived eight points adrift in third, on 203 points. Kimi Raikkonen was on 107 points and Valtteri Bottas on 101, while Mercedes led Ferrari by 153 points in the constructors' standings, with Williams a further 112 points behind Ferrari in third.

The race was the 41st Japanese Grand Prix and the fourteenth round of the season. It was also the first event since Bianchi crashed at the Japanese race the year before, an accident that proved fatal nine months later.

Hamilton matched Senna's wins at Suzuka while McLaren's row over the Honda engine played out in public.

What did Pirelli bring to Suzuka?

Pirelli chose its two hardest dry compounds for the third year in a row, the orange-banded hard as prime and the white-banded medium as option. The company cited the lateral loads through corners such as 130R as the reason, and it expected a gap of 0.6 to 0.8 seconds per lap between the two compounds.

The two wet compounds, the green-banded intermediate and the blue-banded full wet, were also available as they are at every event. Suzuka had a single DRS zone, running from turn 18 to turn 1 on the main straight, as Monaco also had that season.

Nico Hulkenberg took a three-place grid penalty after being judged at fault for the collision with Massa in Singapore. Red Bull fitted new turning vanes to both cars to improve airflow under the car, after Kvyat had been the only driver to use them in Singapore. Mercedes brought a revised rear wing endplate and McLaren a new front wing.

The weekend was also hard for the smaller teams. Lotus's equipment arrived late in Suzuka, and cash-flow problems meant the team's hospitality unit had not been paid for in time, so the staff were kept out of it. Manor Marussia said they would mark the anniversary of the Bianchi accident in a very private way.

How did the wet first practice session unfold?

Carlos Sainz Jr opened the first session with the fastest time, 1:49.434 in the rain, about half a second ahead of Kvyat. Eight drivers did not set a time, citing aquaplaning in the later stages of the session. Rosberg used the power unit from the Italian Grand Prix until a coolant leak forced a change.

Palmer again stood in for Grosjean at Lotus and never set a timed lap. The first fifty minutes were mostly installation laps, and most timed laps were set on full wets before the Williams cars went out on intermediates.

Kvyat set the session's best at 1:48.277, a margin of 0.023 seconds over Rosberg, while Hamilton was third and half a second off the pace. Vettel was fifth fastest while completing the most timed laps of the session, nineteen in all. Sainz heard strange noises from his power unit and still finished seventh.

Fernando Alonso waited forty minutes to begin his running because of an unspecified power unit issue. On Saturday the track was dry, and Rosberg set the fastest time at 1:33.995. Hamilton was about three-tenths of a second behind him, while Ricciardo followed in third, half a second off Rosberg's pace.

Kvyat had a poor Saturday. Running wide at Spoon and at the Degners cost him time, and he finished eleventh fastest. The Williams cars were ahead of the two Ferraris, as most drivers piled on laps to compensate for the thin running on Friday.

How did qualifying end with a red flag?

Rosberg took pole by 0.076 seconds from Hamilton after a session that was disrupted by a red flag. Kvyat crashed at turn ten and his car rolled over, and only 36 seconds were left when the session restarted, which was too little for any further laps.

In the first part Verstappen stopped his Toro Rosso at the hairpin, which denied several drivers a clean improvement. Ericsson, whose first timed lap was hampered by a spin, was eliminated in 17th place. Button missed Q2 after his engine mode was miscommunicated, and Nasr and both Manor Marussia drivers were also out.

In the second part the two Mercedes were fastest again. Verstappen was unable to continue, and Hulkenberg, Sainz, Maldonado and Alonso were eliminated. Alonso felt his effort was probably the finest of his career around Suzuka, a telling remark after a hard weekend for McLaren.

In the final part Rosberg beat Hamilton, with Bottas third and Massa losing fourth to Vettel after a mistake towards the end of his lap. Raikkonen was sixth after what he called an average lap. Kvyat's crash then brought out the red flag, and Hamilton was frustrated, having been a tenth and a half clear of his teammate just before the flag.

How did the race start and develop?

Hamilton passed Rosberg at the start, because Rosberg had less power available after a temperature problem. Rosberg slipped two places, to Vettel and Bottas, by turn two, and Ricciardo and Massa touched and both suffered punctures. Perez also pitted with a puncture.

After the first lap Hamilton led Vettel by 1.6 seconds. Alonso lost ninth to Sainz on lap four, and Rosberg was told to hold off Bottas because his engine was overheating. Kvyat, who started from the pit lane, had climbed to 15th by lap eight.

Alonso was the first to pit for a scheduled stop on lap nine, and Bottas followed on lap eleven. Vettel came in on lap 13 and Raikkonen a lap later. Rosberg pitted on lap 15 and passed Bottas two laps after emerging, and Hamilton changed tyres on lap 16.

On lap 18 Hamilton's advantage over Vettel was 8.1 seconds, and Rosberg trailed by a further 3.8 seconds. Verstappen passed Alonso for a points position on lap 26, and two laps later Sainz damaged his front wing by clipping a bollard as he entered the pits.

At the second round of stops Raikkonen moved past Bottas. Bottas and Rosberg pitted together on lap 29, and Vettel pitted two laps later to emerge behind Rosberg. Rosberg was about ten seconds down on Hamilton when Hamilton made his stop on lap 32.

Grosjean went off track on lap 33, and Stevens took a five-second penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. Ericsson overtook Perez for 12th on lap 43, and Verstappen passed Sainz for ninth two laps later. Kvyat moved past Perez on lap 45, and by lap 49 he had also passed Ericsson for 13th.

Stevens spun while fighting Rossi a lap later, and Rossi again finished ahead of his more experienced teammate. Two laps from the end Felipe Nasr retired, and he was classified last, four laps behind the winner. Hamilton cruised home, 18.9 seconds clear of Rosberg.

How did the win change the championship?

Hamilton extended his championship lead over Rosberg to 48 points, with Vettel eleven points further back in third. Rosberg's deficit therefore grew, and the race was the first since the 2011 European Grand Prix in which every car was classified as a finisher.

Hamilton stressed at the podium interview how important it was to strike back after Singapore. He said equalling Senna's wins at a track where he had loved watching Ayrton drive felt surreal, and he said he was full of joy. Rosberg admitted his title hopes were going the wrong way and said he needed to win at the next race.

Vettel said he could have stayed ahead of Rosberg if he had come in one lap sooner at the second round of stops. He still called it a great day. Kvyat finished 13th after starting from the pit lane, and he complained that the race had been boring for him.

Why did McLaren have a public row at Suzuka?

Alonso criticised the Honda power unit openly, and when Verstappen overtook him on lap 27 he shouted over the team radio that it was a GP2 engine. He later said the power deficit was like another category. Team chief executive Ron Dennis criticised Alonso's public remarks, saying they did not reflect the professionalism he expected from his drivers.

Button also complained on the radio about the power unit, after cars had passed him into the 130R corner. The row, which The Daily Telegraph called a complete meltdown, came amid speculation about both drivers' futures. Button's 2016 McLaren seat was confirmed five days after the race.

Alonso later made clear that McLaren would be where his Formula One career ended, saying he had three years left with the team. He said the radio chatter should have stayed private.

What did the teams argue about off track?

Mercedes disputed the television coverage with Bernie Ecclestone, because their cars were visible for only six minutes of the ninety-minute race. Niki Lauda said he had watched all day and seen plenty of Saubers and Honda cars instead, and he blamed whoever was doing the filming.

Sainz called his bollard strike a rookie error, and said it came from an urge to overtake Maldonado during the pit stops. Kvyat's frustrated comments about his race came in the same weekend. Both sides aired their views in public that weekend.

Suzuka 2015 at a glance