David Milam
Staff Writer

Mercedes once again takes victory by beating a Ferrari pole sitter for the second race in a row and in turn, secures their standing as the 2019 Constructors’ Champions.

Sebastian Vettel took pole position during the Sunday morning qualifying session, which was delayed a day due to Typhoon Hagibis. A bad start saw Vettel jumped by Valterri Bottas who went on to secure his 3rd win this season.

Ferrari started the race with a front row lock out by drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc but a bad start led to Bottas take the lead of the race from third. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also had a great start, hoping to show off the power of his Honda engine in its home country.

Going into turn one Verstappen and Leclerc collided sending Verstappen into the grass and giving him race ending damage, retiring his car during lap 15.

In the midfield there were many excellent performances, McLaren driver Carlos Sainz once again continues his dominant streak, holding on to fourth during most of the race and finishing in an excellent P5.

Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo had a dreadful qualifying, starting the race from the back of the grid in P16 but an excellent performance saw him turn that around into a surprising P6 finish.

The race ended with Valterri Bottas crossing the line underneath a yellow flag as Racing Point’s Sergio Perez crashed into the barriers just before the start/finish straight.

Vettel managed to salvage his race with a P2 finish as he fought off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton crossing the line just ahead of him. Red Bull’s Alexander Albon also finished in an excellent P4, the Thai driver’s best finish of his career in Formula 1.

The result of the race gave Mercedes enough points to officially declare them this years Constructors’ Champions, making this their sixth consecutive win in a row.

Mercedes can also rest easy now knowing that all other drivers but theirs, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, have been eliminated from Drivers’ Championship contention.

With only 4 more races to go Formula 1 heads to Mexico City for the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix. Mercedes will have a fierce battle on their hands as Lewis attempts to secure his 6th World Championship from rival teammate Valterri Bottas.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is the defending champion for the Mexican Grand Prix and will be fighting Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for a third place finish in the Drivers’ Championship.