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2016 Japanese Grand Prix | Hamilton faces the beginning of the end

We're told the Japanese mamushi viper haunts the undergrowth around Suzuka. If the pit viper attended the weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, it avoided human visitors but it put a nasty bite on Lewis Hamilton's championship hopes. The Briton, lined up second on the grid next to Mercedes-AMG Petronas teammate Nico Rosberg, flubbed his start. By the end of Turn 1 Hamilton was in eighth. Hamilton didn't suffer alone. The beginning of the race was a melee; many of the leaders got caught out either by the damp track or by having to swerve around slow starters. Only Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Red Bull's Max Verstappen took off clean. The German rolled up another lights-to-flag victory despite the pass-happy race happening behind him. Rosberg was as unbothered by the Dutchman in second place as he was by the official Formula 1 camera feed. Verstappen didn't have much work to do until the final ten laps of the race. Thanks to the Mercedes team's strategy – or Ferrari waiting too long to pit – Hamilton got up to third on Lap 36 of 53. Unable to make a DRS-enabled pass on Verstappen down the front straight toward the end of the race, the Mercedes driver took a creative line through Spoon corner. Closing in down the back straight, Hamilton jinked inside to try a pass through the final chicane. Verstappen moved over in the braking zone while Hamilton was still behind him, closing the door on the move. Hamilton protested over his team radio, but seemed resigned to a third place finish after the incident – he didn't try any more passes in the final laps. The Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line fourth and fifth, respectively, in recovery drives after penalties. The scuderia tried an aggressive final stint after Hamilton successfully undercut Vettel in the pits. Ferrari put Vettel on the soft-compound Pirellis so he could hunt the Mercedes, but after a few laps of close pursuit the tires gave up and Vettel fell back. Daniel Ricciardo couldn't get comfortable in his Red Bull the entire weekend. The Aussie finished where he started, in sixth place. Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg followed the Red Bull home in two-up formation for Force India, Williams doing the same in the final two points-paying positions with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Rosberg's 23rd career victory – his ninth of the season and first ever in Japan – puts him 33 points ahead of Hamilton in the Driver's Championship with four races left.

McLaren Special Operations showing limited-edition 650S at Goodwood

When things get under way at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, McLaren will be among the automakers revealing new metal. The F1-team-turned-automaker is expected to reveal the GT3 racing version of the new 650S, but will also have a new special edition of the same to show off to prospective buyers and supercar enthusiasts alike. Previewed in concept form just a couple of months ago, the 650S by McLaren Special Operations offers a number of upgrades over the existing supercar. Supervised by Woking's design director Frank Stephenson, the MSO 650S features satin-finish carbon-fiber exterior components, a three-piece rear bumper, a more aggressive rear diffuser, 10-spoke lightweight diamond-cut alloys and an interior decked out in black leather, Alcantara, glossy trim and more satin-finish carbon. Buyers will be able to choose between coupe and Spider in one of three special metallic paint finishes: Agrigan Black (with a ruby red flake) as previewed on the concept, Papaya Spark that reinterprets McLaren's signature orange and the above-pictured Sarigan Quartz silver with "a subtle gold infusion." Regardless of the color or body style, however, only 50 examples of the MSO 650S will be offered, starting at GBP252,500 in fixed-roof form. That represents a premium of more than GBP50,000 ($85k) over the stock 650S, for an approximate US sticker of $350,000. McLAREN SPECIAL OPERATIONS CONFIRMS BESPOKE 650S MODEL TO PREMIERE AT GOODWOOD - Bespoke design inspired by the recent MSO Concept with design collaboration with McLaren Automotive Design Director, Frank Stephenson - Just 50 examples to be available globally - MSO 650S Spider to debut in the Supercar Paddock and on the Hill run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed McLaren Special Operations (MSO) has confirmed production plans for a run of bespoke examples of the McLaren 650S following the strong reaction to the MSO 650S Coupe Concept shown in China earlier this year. Just 50 examples of the MSO 650S will be available globally, available in either a Coupe or Spider bodystyle. The production car will make its global debut, in Spider form, at this summer's Goodwood Festival of Speed in the Supercar Paddock, and will be seen in action taking part in the famous Hill run. The bespoke McLaren Special Operations division was launched in 2011, and offers a full personalisation service for McLaren owners.

McLaren 675LT is already sold out

You wouldn't associate McLaren with doing things slowly, but we didn't anticipate how fast it would sell out of the 675LT. The British racing team turned exotic automaker revealed the 675LT as a longer, more hardcore version of the 650S at the Geneva Motor Show this past March. At the time it announced that only 500 examples would be made. Now just two months later, McLaren spokesman Wayne Bruce confirmed to Autoblog that the entire production run has already sold out. "Around half the buyers" who placed their orders for the 675LT, Bruce tells us, "are new to the brand." The other half, by extension, are existing McLaren customers who already own (or have owned) a 12C, 650S or P1. The 675LT sits in the company's new Super Series alongside the aforementioned 650S and the more accessible Asian-market 625C. With 666 horsepower on tap from McLaren's signature 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, the Longtail will rocket to 62 in under three seconds en route to a top speed of 205 miles per hour. It comes exclusively in fixed-roof-coupe form and retails for GBP259,500. That's equivalent to about $400,000 at current exchange rates, and comes out to about the same (in either currency) as what Lamborghini charges for an Aventador. Related Video: