Nico Rosberg has extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to 33 points with victory in the Japanese GP. Hamilton suffered a nightmare start, falling as low as eighth off the line, but launched a spirited comeback drive to minimise the damage by finishing third at Suzuka.But Hamiltons recovery drive was rebuffed through the final laps when he caught but was unable to pass Red Bulls Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton drops back to eighth after a poor start in the Japanese GP. As he launched a desperate attempt to overtake the Red Bull on the penultimate lap, Hamilton was driven off track by the typically-defiant teenager. Mercedes lodged a protest against Verstappens driving several hours after the chequered flag had fallen but later withdrew it. There is no protest from myself, tweeted Hamilton. Just heard the team had but I told them it is not what we do. We are champions, we move on. We take a look at Lewis Hamiltons battle with Max Verstappen from the Japanese GP. The damage, however, was done at the start when Hamilton lost more than five positions into the first corner of a race for the fourth time this year.I made a mistake, Hamilton admitted. Working my way up from there was tricky, but I did the best I could.Nico did a great job so congrats to him. After scampering off the line while his team-mate stumbled, Rosberg was able to cruise to a straightforward victory. With just four races of the season to go, Rosbergs lead of the championship is equivalent to a full race victory and a sixth place. Even if Hamilton is to win all of the remaining races, his championship hopes would still be dependent on Rosberg finishing at least one of those races below fourth.While Rosberg, who has won four of the five races since the summer break, now has one hand on the Drivers championship, the result confirms Mercedes status as Constructors champions for a third successive season.Sebastian Vettel, who threatened to turn the air blue over the lack of blue flags for backmarkers, took a modest fourth for Ferrari ahead of stable-mate Kimi Raikkonen as just five teams monopolised the points-finishing positions. Force India extended their lead over Williams in the teams standings as both Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez beat Felipe Massa and a faltering Valtteri Bottas in a straight fight. Japanese GP result1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:26:43.3332. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 4.9783. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, + 5.7764. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, + 20.2695. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 28.3706. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 33.9417. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 57.4958. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, + 59.1779. Felipe Massa, Williams, 97.76310. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, + 98.32311. Romain Grosjean, Haas, + 99.25412. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, + 1 lap13. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, + 1 lap14. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, + 1 lap15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, + 1 lap16. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, + 1 lap17. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, + 1 lap18. Jenson Button, McLaren, + 1 lap19. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, + 1 lap20. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, + 1 lap21. Esteban Ocon, Manor, + 1 lap22. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, + 1 lapDont miss The F1 Reports review of the Japanese GP on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday evening Also See: Brundle doubts Vettel stay The Formula 1 Gossip column Tony Gonzalez Jersey .com) - Jimmy Butler made four key free throws down the stretch to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Boston Celtics, 109-102, on Friday. Armani Watts Jersey . Yup, he definitely needed this one. Craig homered twice and had three RBIs Wednesday night to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Craig went 4 for 5 and Yadier Molina added three hits for the Cardinals, who salvaged the final game of a three-game set in hopes of staying within shouting distance of front-running Milwaukee in the NL Central. http://www.prochiefsauthentic.com/Youth-Martinas-Rankin-Elite-Jersey/ . In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic stunned Canada, 5-4 in a shootout. Dominik Simon scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker. The United States scored its first three goals on power plays. "Overall, I love to see the power-play goals we were able to get tonight," said U. Jason Spriggs Jersey . During the furious first few hours of free agency Tuesday, the team agreed to terms with strong safety Donte Whitner, a Cleveland native who cant wait to play in his hometown. Cameron Erving Jersey . Despite Arsenals financial firepower, the 31-year-old midfielder was the only arrival in the January transfer window. Signed until the end of the season as injury cover, Kallstrom might not be fit until mid-March after arriving Friday at Arsenal having injured his back earlier in the week while training with Spartak Moscow.BETHESDA, Md. -- Justin Rose has won enough times on the strongest golf courses to appreciate how one mistake can make a difference. He got away with one Sunday at Congressional to win the Quicken Loans National. Shawn Stefani did not. With the poise and the putting touch of a U.S. Open champion, Rose atoned for a 4-iron he hit into the water on the 18th hole to make a 15-foot bogey putt that got him into a playoff and gave him new life. On the 18th hole in the playoff, Stefani hit the same type of shot that rolled into the same pond left of the green. There are no second chances in a sudden-death playoff. Rose won with a par on the first extra hole for his first victory since the U.S. Open last summer at Merion. This one required about as much work, with Congressional far more difficult and unrelenting than when it hosted a soggy U.S. Open three years ago. "Congressional got its reputation back after the U.S. Open," Rose said. "I really enjoy this type of golf and this type of test. I think it tested all of us. Im delighted." The Englishman was far from delighted after thinking he had thrown this one away. Tied for the lead as he played the 18th, Rose tried to squeeze a 4-iron through a tiny gap in the trees from 209 yards away, playing toward the right side of the green for a chance at par. Instead, he turned it over and realized when he jogged toward the fairway that it was headed for the water. His caddie, Mark Fulcher, told Rose that Stefani had just made bogey behind them on the 17th. "Everything else was forgotten at that point," Rose said. "I wiped the slate clean and just focused on my putt on 18. An amazing feeling in any sort of championship when you make a putt like that. That means something. Thats special. "And then the playoff, it was just up to me to not do what I did the first time around." He left that to Stefani, who had drilled his tee shot in regulation and narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt for his first PGA Tour victory. In the playoff, Stefani pulled his tee shot in the trees and got relief from grandstands blocking his view of the green. He chose a 6-iron to punch it around the trees. "The grass closed the club down," Stefani said, "and it went left into the water. I was trying to play it down the right side and have a chance at a putt, two putts for a par. Thats the way it goes. It was great to have a chance to win." Both closed with a 1-under 70 and finished at 4-under 280 on a course that looked like a U.S. Open, and played like onee the way so many contenders -- seven players had at least a share of the lead at one point -- tumbled down the leaderboard.dddddddddddd Only six players broke par in the final round. And it was only the second time this year that the winning score was higher than the 36-hole lead (6 under). That also happened at Torrey Pines, which like Congressional, previously hosted a U.S. Open. No one crashed harder than Patrick Reed, who had a two-shot lead to start the final round, still had a two-shot lead at the turn and didnt even finish in the top 10. He made back-to-back double bogeys, shot 41 on the back and closed with a 77 to tie for 11th. "This definitely burns and definitely gets me more fired up for more events coming up," Reed said. Even though he got a reprieve with the clutch bogey putt, Rose looked like a U.S. Open champion the way he put himself into position. He hit 5-iron to 5 feet for one of only four birdies on the 11th hole Sunday. Staring at potential bogey from deep rough on the 14th, he boldly hit 3-wood up the hill and between the deep bunkers to the middle of the green. It was a par, but Rose called the 3-wood his "shot of the day." And before his blunder on the 18th, he holed an 8-foot sliding par putt on the 17th. "I felt like all aspects of my game were tested this week, and its really nice to win in that fashion," Rose said. Stefani, whose only major experience was at Merion last year, plodded along like a U.S. Open veteran with one par after another. He joined Rose in the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th. So many others fell back. Brendon Todd was tied for the lead until a double bogey in the water on the 10th. Marc Leishman three-putted for bogey on No. 7 and made bogey on the easiest par 4 at Congressional. Brendan Steele made a late rally, only to take on too much from the rough on the 18th and find the water for double bogey. This was the first British Open qualifier on the PGA Tour -- the leading four players not already exempt from the top 12 at Congressional get into Royal Liverpool next month. Stefani earned one spot as the runner-up. Charley Hoffman (69) and Ben Martin (71) each birdied two of the last three holes to tie for third. Steele got the last spot with a 71 that put him in a three-way tie for third with Andres Romero and Todd, who already is exempt. Steele earned the spot over Romero because he has a higher world ranking. Romero closed with a 68, the low score in a final round when the scoring average was 73.7. ' ' '