Mercedes have explained why they pitted Lewis Hamilton for a second time at Suzuka, possibly denying themselves a 1-2 finish. Valtteri Bottas won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, with teammate Lewis Hamilton forced to settle for P3 behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton had been leading the race, on Medium tyres, ahead of Bottas with eleven laps remaining. Having run both compounds of tyre already, Hamilton didn't have to pit again and it looked as though he might try making to the end of the race. However, with ten laps to go, Mercedes brought Hamilton in for another set of Softs. This shuffled him back to P3 and five seconds behind Vettel. While Hamilton caught up and applied...
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