Seated 3rd on the grid for the 53 Japanese Grand Prix took control from a very good start.

With Ferrari on pole Seb Vettel did not have the ideal start from a roll forward then pause then pounce on the lights-out.

Mercedes had their lead man on a one stopper as Bottas was concerned being on a two stop strategy would his team mate pass him on fresher tyres. Not to be in the race result.

Drivers of the day were Alex Albon in 4th and Daniel Ricciardo in 7th. The Aussie has a canny way of getting his car into the points whether its a clash or just a tough machine to handle.

Next race is Mexico October 25.

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	TIME/RETIRED	PTS
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	52	1:21:46.755	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	FERRARI	52	+13.343s	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	52	+13.858s	16
4	23	Alexander Albon	RED BULL RACING HONDA	52	+59.537s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	MCLAREN RENAULT	52	+69.101s	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RENAULT	51	+1 lap	8
7	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	51	+1 lap	6
8	10	Pierre Gasly	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	51	+1 lap	4
9	11	Sergio Perez	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	51	+1 lap	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	RENAULT	51	+1 lap	1
11	18	Lance Stroll	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	51	+1 lap	0
12	26	Daniil Kvyat	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	51	+1 lap	0
13	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN RENAULT	51	+1 lap	0
14	7	Kimi Räikkönen	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	51	+1 lap	0
15	8	Romain Grosjean	HAAS FERRARI	51	+1 lap	0
16	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	51	+1 lap	0
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	51	+1 lap	0
18	63	George Russell	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	50	+2 laps	0
19	88	Robert Kubica	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	50	+2 laps	0
NC	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA	14	DNF	0

Note – The classifications of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg are provisional subject to the outcome of a protest initiated by Racing Point. Leclerc received a 5-second and a 10-second post-race penalty for causing a collision and then driving his car in an unsafe condition. Hamilton scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.