LEWIS HAMILTON won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to equal the late Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 Formula One victories and move 48 points clear of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg with five races remaining.

    In doing so, the Briton took another huge step toward his own third title. Teammate Nico Rosberg was second with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finishing third in an exact repeat of last year’s top three at Suzuka. With five races left, Hamilton now has 277 points to Rosberg’s 229 with Vettel further back on 218.

    He will surely win many more races in years to come but No. 41 will always be special. “For me to come here to a race where I used to love watching Ayrton drive and to match his wins... yeah, I can’t really describe it, it doesn’t really feel real at the moment,” the Mercedes driver said.

    It was Hamilton’s 162nd race, one more than Senna started in a career that ended tragically at Imola in 1994, and he had already overtaken the Brazilian’s tally of 80 podiums and 19 fastest laps.

    Senna won twice at Suzuka in 1988 and 1993 and Hamilton’s victory was also his second at the circuit.

    (SD-Agencies)