Sebastian Vettel dominated the Japanese Grand Prix (Round 15) from start to finish at Suzuka. He was followed in second place by a resurgent Felipe Massa in Ferrari and home hero Kamuyi Kobayashi in surprise third place for Sauber. Kobayashi’s third place now equals the highest result scored by a Japanese driver in the Japanese Grand Prix, Aguri Suzuki, (third place in 1990).
The safety car came out on the first lap after Raikkonnen in Lotus made contact with Alonso’s Ferrari. The current leader on drivers’ championship suffered a puncture and was forced to retire. On the same corner Romain Grosjean collided with Mark Webber compromising his and the Red Bull driver’s race. He was later given a 10-second stop and go penalty for the incident. Another victim of this first lap carnage was Nico Rosberg in Mercedes who also suffered damage and was forced to pull out of the race.
The podium finishers were followed by the McLaren duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth place. Kimi Raikonnen took sixth place ahead of the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg. His team mate Paul di Resta who fought a spirited battle with seven times world champion Michael Schumacher ended the race in 12th place. The Mercedes driver also announced his retirement from the sport for the second time, earlier this week.
Rounding up the top ten were Pastor Maldonado in eighth, Daniel Ricciardo in ninth and Mark Webber in tenth who clawed his way up the field from 23rd place after the first lap incident. Narain Karthikeyan retired his HRT on lap 35 with a suspected mechanical problem. Sergio Perez spun out after attempting to overtake Jenson Button who he will join at McLaren for the 2013 season.
In the drivers’ championship, Fernando Alonso's lead has been cut to 4 points at 194 points, with Sebastian Vettel in second with 190 points. They are followed by Kimi Raikonnen in third place. In the constructors championship Red-Bull Renault leads with 324 points with McLaren Mercedes in second place with 283 points and Ferrari in third with 263 points.
