German Nico Rosberg held all the aces by completing a perfect weekend to win the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix at Suzuka.

After slipping to a clean getaway from pole, Rosberg was never headed, completing a consummate race to move to a 33-point advantage.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen split the Mercedes machines with Lewis Hamilton climbing back to third after a poor getaway on the inside of the circuit, left damp from heavy overnight rain.

Hamilton made a last ditch lunge on the final lap but was forced down the escape road before accusing Verstappen of moving under braking.

The three-times world champion Hamilton had earlier crawled away from the start and dumped six positions, dropping to eighth.

The Brit then took seven laps to retrieve just one position after passing the struggling Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.

While Rosberg shot away to the lead from Verstappen, Sergio Perez was, like his team-mate Hulkenberg, down on pace with a line of traffic quickly gathering behind the Mexican.

After 11 of the 53 lap journey, Red Bull decided to bring Verstappen in who was immediately followed by Ricciardo with the team-mates switching their soft tyres for hard compound Pirellis.

Once on the hard tyres Hamilton duly started to haul himself up the order, moving to fifth after 15 laps.

Sebastian Vettel finished fourth after Ferrari gambled on soft tyres for his final stint while Raikkonen was fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, Perez, Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

After 33 laps Ricciardo was summoned to the pits however the change on the front right was botched, costing him a valuable three seconds.

Hamilton pitted on the next lap before he was released into fourth just in front of Raikkonen.

Vettel, who had been frustrated by slower runners, pitted after 35 laps as Ferrari then gambling by fitting the German with soft tyres.

The stop saw Hamilton move into third with Vettel in hot pursuit of the Mercedes driver and seemingly armed with more grip.

However Hamilton responded by pulling away in the straights to protect his podium.

Hamilton then pressed on and began to hound Verstappen as he attempted to further minimise the damage inflicted again by Rosberg.

Towards the back end of the race Verstappen, Vettel and Raikkonen all complained of drivers failing to obey blue flags.

The result saw Mercedes clinch the Constructor’s Championship for a third season in succession.

The fourth last round is scheduled for the Circuit of the Americas at Texas from October 21-23.

Result: Japanese F1 Grand Prix

Points standings