Japanese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton closes in on title as Sebastian Vettel retires

LEWIS HAMILTON opened up a whopping 59 point lead in the F1 championship after his victory in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Brit started on pole and drove a faultless race for his 61st career win while his nearest title rival Sebastian Vettel had another shocker.

Vettel was forced to retire on the fifth lap when his Ferrari had a faulty spark plug, allowing Hamilton to extend his lead in the title race.

But Hamilton was made to work for his win as Max Verstappen again pushed him to the wire while his Red Bull team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, was third.

Meanwhile, Vettel was forced out of this race and could not hide his disappointment and Hamilton could now win the title in Austin in two weeks’ time if results go his way.

The gutted German said: “It is normal to be critical, especially when things go wrong. It is part of our job.

“But I need to protect them. They have done an incredible job so far, apart from the last two races with the reliability issues.

“But it is like that sometimes and it hurts. We are disappointed and now I will get back and have some rest and go flat out for the last four races.

“We still have a chance and it depends on what happens in the next races, but it is not as much in our control as we’d like.

“But overall the team is in a good way and we are improving and have got a lot further than other people thought, but right now you don’t look at the positives.”