Vettel Wins In Japan... But Still No Title

At times it seemed that Lotus’s Romain Grosjean or Red Bull’s Mark Webber might emerge victorious from a tactical race in Japan on Sunday, but in the end it was Webber’s team mate Sebastian Vettel who took his ninth success of the season - and fifth in a row - after a finely judged two-stop race.

All three drivers led the race at one point or another, but as the Red Bulls split their strategies between a two-stop for Vettel and a three-stop for Webber, the single Lotus got outfoxed and outpaced over the 53 laps. Webber forced his way through to second place on the penultimate lap, with a strategy that put the emphasis on on-track action rather than playing out the passing in the pit stops.

Alonso played second fiddle for a long stint to Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa, but then he moved ahead of the Brazilian. And in the closing stages fought and won a tight battle with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. (The latter was also displaced near the finish by Kimi Raikkonen, who brought his Lotus home fifth) But as Esteban Gutierrez drove the best race of his short F1 career to score his first points with seventh place, it was a fantastic race for the team.

It was a tough race for Mercedes (who lost Lewis Hamilton as a contender in the first corner). As Grosjean came down the inside Hamilton was pinched between the two Red Bulls. As Vettel had to move left to avoid the Lotus he clipped the Mercedes’ right-rear tyre with his left front-wing. Hamilton managed to get to the pits with a puncture, resumed, but soon retired as the resulting aerodynamic damage was costing too much a lap.

Paul di Resta drove a great race for Force India but just lost out on points to Button and Massa in the closing stages and thus finished 11th, while Jean-Eric Vergne fought to 12th for Toro Rosso, just ahead of team mate Daniel Ricciardo. 

Caterham and Marussia lost Giedo van der Garde and Jules Bianchi at the very first corner when the Dutchman and the Frenchman collided at the start, but after serving a drive-though penalty in the first five laps for driving through a red light during qualifying, Charles Pic fought through to lead Marussia’s Max Chilton home.

Sebastian Vettel	Winner
Mark Webber	Second
Romain Grosjean	Third
Fernando Alonso	P4
Kimi Räikkönen	P5
Nico Hülkenberg	P6
Esteban Gutiérrez	P7
Nico Rosberg	P8
Jenson Button	P9
Felipe Massa	P10
Paul di Resta	P11
Jean-Éric Vergne	P12
Daniel Ricciardo	P13
Adrian Sutil	P14
Sergio Perez	P15
Pastor Maldonado	P16
Valtteri Bottas	P17
Charles Pic	P18
Max Chilton	P19
Lewis Hamilton	Retired (Puncture)
Giedo van der Garde	Retired (Accident)
Jules Bianchi	Retired (Accident)