Engine problems forced Vettel to retire on the fourth lap.
Lewis Hamilton moved close to a fourth Formula One world championship on Sunday after winning the Japanese Grand Prix. The race saw Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel retire with engine problems.
Hamilton now leads Vettel by 59 points in the standings with four races remaining. He could clinch the title as early as the next US Grand Prix.
"I could have only dreamed about having such a gap in the standings. I owe everything to the team. They are meticulous," said Hamilton after the race.
"The track was fantastic and the team did an incredible job. Max didn't make it easy for us though..." he added.
The Mercedes driver crossed the line 1.2 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, after picking up vibrations on his tyres in the dying stages of an otherwise trouble-free race.
Verstappen's Australian team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished third.
Vettel suffered the agony of another retirement on Sunday as his Formula One title hopes disappeared almost over the horizon. Engine problems forced the German out of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix on the fourth lap after his Ferrari mechanics had worked feverishly on the starting grid to try and fix an engine problem.
"Of course it hurts, and we’re all disappointed," said the four times world champion, who hugged his mechanics and gave the crowd a quick wave after returning to the pits.
"Now I think we just have to get back, get some rest and go flat out for the last four races and see what happens."
Vettel had lined up alongside Hamilton on the front row at a sunny Suzuka, hoping the hotter conditions could handicap the Briton after he proved unbeatable in qualifying.
But all was clearly not well, with Ferrari mechanics hurriedly changing the car's spark plug as the seconds ticked away.
The German made a clean start, hanging on to second off the line, but it soon became apparent the problem ran much deeper as Vettel, clearly lacking power, plummeted down the order.
He was finally called in to the pits: "Box, Sebastian, box. We retire the car," he was told.
It was the third race in a row that Vettel’s hopes had been dealt a battering.
In Singapore the 30-year-old crashed out on the opening lap after colliding with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who had tangled with Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Two weeks later in Malaysia, the Ferrari driver finished fourth after engine problems in qualifying forced him to start at the back of the field.
Triple champion Hamilton capitalised on both occasions, winning in Singapore and finishing second in Malaysia.
But Sunday’s setback could be the most decisive yet, opening the possibility that Hamilton could wrap up his fourth title as early as the next race in Austin, Texas, if not Mexico a week later.
"We still have a chance this year...obviously it’s not as much in our control as we would like," said Vettel.
Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished fifith behind Mercedes' Bottas. Force India's Esteben Ocon and Sergio Perez finished sixth and seventh respectively.
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