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By: Geoff Creighton

Summary

Bottas jumps into the lead before a huge melee at Turn 1, Vettel avoids jump-start penalty
Hamilton is chasing down Vettel for second, but can he get close enough to pass?
Leclerc and Verstappen drop to back of field after lap one contact. Leclerc fights back into top six, Verstappen retires
Albon colides with Norris, Norris pits with brakes on fire
Status: Stopped
 
Vettel: "The lights were on but it was my mistake (the start). The Mercedes were difficult, they had more pace than us and Valtteri was flying. I just tried to get good exits where [Lewis] was a threat. I'm not happy with the start of the race, but everything else was fine, just lacked a bit of pace."
Bottas: "Yeah, I'm happy, very happy. Starting third is never easy here but there's no point giving up. I had a really nice car and Sebastian had an issue, so it was good to get the lead. Really proud of the team, sixth title in a row is so impressive."
Wolff: "Lewis, this is Toto. Difficult day but we've just won the constructors' championship. Thank you." Hamilton congratulates the team curtly, annoyed he couldn't win today.
Gasly seemed to pitch Perez into the wall at turn 2 there, as Perez attempted to pass around the outside.
Retirements: Verstappen
Out of the points: 11 Kvyat; 12 Norris; 13 Raikkonen: 14 Grosjean; 15 Giovinazzi; 16 Magnussen; 17 Perez; 18 Russell; 19 Kubica
Result: 1 Bottas; 2 Vettel; 3 Hamilton; 4 Albon; 5 Sainz; 6 Leclerc; 7 Ricciardo; 8 Gasly; 9 Hulkenberg; 10 Stroll
Albon and Sainz cross the line for fourth and fifth.
"I've missed that feeling," says the victorious Bottas.
That result means Mercedes has sealed the constructors' championship for 2019.
Leclerc didn't manage to set fastest lap, he finishes sixth.
Vettel holds off Hamilton for second by 0.4s.
And that's Perez! All of that good work undone with a crash at turn 2!
Bottas wins the Japanese Grand Prix!
Hamilton doesn't look like he's going to get close enough...
Bottas is on course to win this comfortably, he leads by 13s.
Perez has now cleared Hulkenberg, and Gasly is just a few tenths ahead too. Eighth place is on offer for Racing Point.
Vettel keeps it tidy through the chicane and holds Hamilton off into Turn 1 once more as they begin the final lap.
Hamilton again carries plenty more speed than Vettel through Spoon.
"I need more power," Hamilton tells Mercedes.
Two laps to go, Bottas leads by 14s and Vettel is still fending off everything Hamilton can chuck at him.
Ferrari suggests some settings to Vettel for "more performance".
Perez, having been lapping rather rapidly on fresher tyres, has now bumped Stroll out of the points. He's miles quicker than the cars ahead too.
Hamilton tries a look at the outside of Vettel into Turn 1 as they finally get past Gasly, but the Ferrari hangs on.
 
Hamilton carries a lot more speed through Spoon as Vettel struggles on his worn tyres, and Vettel locks up into the chicane as they both try to lap Gasly.
As they get to the hairpin, Hamilton is right under Vettel's rear wing but then the Ferrari gets away again on the following straight.
Four laps to go, Hamilton is right on Vettel but can't get close enough on the straights.
"Can I unlap myself?" Leclerc asks Ferrari as he chases Bottas on track. Mercedes warns Bottas that Leclerc will try to do just that and tells him to "be careful".
Gasly gets passed by Ricciardo into turn 1, and the Australian bags seventh as a result. Hulkenberg is also a lot quicker than Gasly at this juncture...
But Hamilton looks closer now through the middle sector of lap 49 of 53 as they approach a lot of traffic.
So far, Vettel is managing to keep Hamilton at bay...
 
Hulkenberg has finally passed Stroll, and Perez is now on his way back into this fight - going 4s faster than Stroll on the last round of laps.
Hamilton is right on Vettel for second and has a bit of a look into the first corner.
More softs for Leclerc and as expected he rejoins still sixth.
Leclerc does make that suggested pitstop, and should have enough in hand to stay ahead of Gasly and keep sixth.
Both Vettel and Hamilton are catching leader Bottas too, but you get the impression Bottas is pretty chilled at the moment.

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