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Hamilton extends his title lead as many F1 fans feel very deflated having gotten up expecting a fight which never came. As many head back to bed we are done for today, thanks so much for joining us in what was a damp squib of a race. I've been Aaron Irwin and a huge thank you for sticking with it. Hamilton wins, but that was surely never in doubt. Have a great day and see you in a couple of weeks in Russia.

Top Ten: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Maldonado, Verstappen and Sainz.

Hamilton haa now matched 41 race wins, the same as the legendary Ayrton Senna. Hard to say it was an entertaining race, not a huge amount of action to watch as Hamilton disappeared for 99.9% of the race.

Rosberg finishes second, Vettel third, with Raikkonen and Bottas completing the top five

53/53. Lewis Hamilton finally crosses the line to win the Japanese Grand Prix. He's had this won for a long time so it was a foregone conclusion.

52/53. Hamilton has had this won since lap one, and we've had a retirement on the penultimate lap as Nasr is out of his Sauber and walking down the pit lane.

51/53. Final three laps as Kvyat slides past Ericsson when he yields to let Raikkonen lap him. Very opportunist stuff from the young Russian.

50/53. It says a lot about the current state of Formula One when the most exciting battle in the entire race is for 12th place.

49/53. Nearing the end of what has been a rather bland Grand Prix, not for Verstappen's lack of trying, as Perez passes Ericsson for 12th.

47/53. Alonso sits in 11th, just outside the points, not bad for a GP2 engine eh Fernando...

45/53. Verstappen however furthers his star credentials by nosediving it down the inside of Sainz at the final chicane.

44/53. Hamilton has actually disappeared from the track, he's not been shown on TV for a while as Stevens spins spectcularly, but the Manor man keeps it going.

43/53. Into the final ten laps here, Top Ten: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Maldonado, Sainz and Verstappen.

42/53. If you wanted any more evidence that normal service has resumed? Both Manor Marussia's are running in dead last.

41/53. Kvyat breezes past Button on the run down to 130R. Meanwhile at the front Hamilton leads by 12 seconds as Rosberg and Vettel separated by under a second.

40/53. Approaching the final stages of the race here, nothing really exciting occurring as Hamilton has flew away since taking the lead at the very first corner.

39/53. Huge train of cars following each other round in a procession. It starts with Ericsson in 12th to Kvyat in 15th, while Bottas tries to get through the traffic.

38/53. Stevens under consideration for speeding in the pit lane, they have to be faster somewhere...

37/53. Singapore and Mercedes' lack of pace seems to have been an anomaly as normal service is resumed with Mercedes running 1-2.

36/53. No retirements yet, which is impressive, however there's still 18 laps to go here.

34/53. Perez is fighting Sainz now and trying to resist him passing. It won;'t be easy when they get into the DRS zone.

33/53. Hamilton's gap to Rosberg is nine or so seconds. Both Lotus' and Force India's are in the points, which is awesome to see the midfield pack being so competitive.

31/53. Rosberg has managed the undercut! Vettel will fight to get that place back.

30/53. Bottas rejoins from a stop in 8th, with Maldonado right in front of him as Raikkonen managed to undercut the Williams man in the stops as Vettel locks up into the pits.

29/53. Hamilton still way ahead with a 13 second gap to Vettel. Easy stuff as Rosberg pits.

28/53. It's thought Rosberg is waiting until the pit stops to pass Vettel. Could Mercedes achieve the undercut?

27/53. Massa is still running at the back following his disasterous first lap. McLaren are running 11th and 12th, which isn't bad going for the Woking team.

26/53. Verstappen sweeps past Alonso on the outside of turn one with the help of DRS. What a move from the 17 year old!

25/53. Hamilton holds a 12 second lead to vettel as he edges away slowly. McLaren look pretty decent here, and by decent I mean they're actually holding positions against faster cars.

24/53. Your top ten is as follows: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Bottas, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Maldonado, Ericsson and Alonso.

23/53. Rosberg is sitting third, but any chances of a race win appear lost already as we near the half way point of this race.

22/53. Bottas is being caught by Raikkonen as the Ferrari tries to demonstrate it's speed advantage.

21/53. Not much in this race just yet to justify the early start. Verstappen is showing why he's touted as a star as Kvyat pits for his second stop.

20/53. Alonso is still holding off Kvyat and Verstappen as it's thought Kvyat has an issue with his RB11.

18/53. Rosberg passes Bottaas! Nico gets the better of the Finn as he slides down the inside of the Williams into the final chicane.

17/53. Hamilton pits and stays in the lead comfortably as he looks like heading to yet another win already. Hulkenberg is sixth, thanks to great pit strategy.

16/53. Bottas keeps his place ahead of Rosberg as Verstappen is fighting Kvyat, who seems to have an issue as Hamilton on his way to pits.

15/53. Raikkonen pits as Alonso is trying to fend off Kvyat and Verstappen for 11th. Rosberg told to pit as he gets the first stop, not Hamilton.

13/53. Sainz is up to fifth, which is pretty impressive, however he's yet to pit. Grosjean passes Nasr.

11/53. Button pits as Ericsson spins at Spoon for the second consecutive day. Rosberg told to push hard as Bottas pits from third.

10/53. Alonso and Verstappen pit, three stop strategy believed to be the way forward for them.

9/53. Verstappen is pressuring Nasr now. The Sauber is impresively holding him off as Kvyat pits.

7/53. Roaberg told his engine temperatures are high and it's causing damage, the German just can't catch a break. Huge spaces between Hamilton and Vettel and Vettel and Bottas.

6/53. Apologies it was Verstappen who was fighting Alonso, Kvyat is impressively making his way up the field.

5/53. Hamilton told he needs a ten second gap as Rosberg is starting his fightback from fourth.

4/53. Hamilton already has a big lead. Sainz is all over the back of Alonso, as Roaberg asks for more power as the Toro Rosso passes the McLaren into turn one.

3/53. Perez collided with Sainz at turn one and went through the gravel. It was a good start by Hamilton as he started on the inside line.

2/53. Rosberg is fourth now as Bottas is second and Vettel third. Perez went off at turn one. Yellow flags for sector two as Massa's Williams has a puncture and has left debris.

1/53. And it's go! Rosberg drops back as Hamilton takes the lead. Massa and Ricciardo reporting problems and driving very slowly.

And they're back on the grid, here we go!

The mechanics are clearing the grid. Formation lap is underway!

The weather looks bright, rain doesn't seem likely. However this is Suzuka, where anything can happen.

The start is very close now, cars are on the grid and the tension is building, what are we going to see here?

Can we expect an exciting race here? Something worth getting up for? Let’s find, out as lights out is not far away!

Hamilton currently occupies first place in the world championship standings. He’s 41 points clear of Rosberg despite his DNF last time out in Singapore. Nico finished 4th despite Mercedes being off the pace and managed to cut into his team mate’s lead.

McLaren’s ‘home’ race isn’t exactly going to plan just yet. Engine supplier Honda are at their home circuit and their cars are currently P13 and P16.

Button’s future still hangs in the balance as the ‘will he-won’t he’ saga over whether he’s retiring or not continues. The Brit is P16 following a poor first session in which he was hindered by Verstappen’s Toro Rosso stopping on the exit of the hairpin.

Kvyat apologised to his team yesterday following his crash in Q3. The young Russian said: “It looks really bad I must say. I’m sorry to the guys; it’s been a tough couple of weeks already with this extra work for the guys so I’m sorry about that.”

REPORT: If you’re in need of a comprehensive report of yesterday’s action, there’s one right here. A report of how Rosberg achieved his pole position just in case you were asleep, or missed the highlights.

It was another poor day for McLaren at engine supplier Honda’s home race. Fernando Alonso is P13 following what he called one of the best laps of his career. Meanwhile Button could only manage 16th after Verstappen’s stop meant he couldn’t improve his time.

It appears to be normal service resumed here following Mercedes’ mini-blip at Singapore. Their lack of pace at Marina Bay continues to be an anomaly.

Suzuka is an interesting circuit, it’s the only ‘figure of eight’ circuit on the calendar. It’s seen many exciting and controversial moments, and was the scene of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s rivalry coming to a head in 1989.

We race today but of course it’s important to remember that we race today in honour of Jules Bianchi. It’s a difficult day for the sport as we return to the venue where Bianchi crashed and ultimately passed away following injuries he sustained in the crash. We’ll never forget.

Max Verstappen is P15 following the electrics stopping on his car as he exited the hairpin. This prevented many drivers, such as McLaren’s Jenson Button, from posting a faster time. The other key incident from Qualifying was Marcus Ericsson spinning at Spoon but somehow keeping his car going.

GRID: The grid for today’s race: Rosberg, Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Massa, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Perez, Kvyat, Sainz, Maldonado, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Button, Ericsson, Nasr, Stevens and Rossi.

Nico Rosberg is on pole for today after Qualifying was cut short following a huge crash from Daniil Kvyat in Q3. Lewis Hamilton was just 0.076 seconds behind him and starts second on the grid, while Valtteri Bottas is third.

Good morning and thank you so much for joining us so early for the Japanese Grand Prix. Aaron Irwin is here again to take you through all the lap by lap updates as we wait to see what happens here at Suzuka.

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About the author
Aaron Irwin
Formula 1 editor, Football League co-editor at VAVEL UK. Writer since July 2014. Hull City correspondent. Currently studying for a Journalism degree at Hull School of Art and Design.