Vettel Takes Hard-Fought Win in Japanese Grand Prix

It seems nothing can stop Sebastian Vettel. Even starting from second was not enough to keep the German down. This victory is his fourth Japanese Grand Prix win. However, the win was not enough to give Vettel the championship; Fernando Alonso finished in fourth, which still technically makes it mathematically possible for him to win the championship. Alonso’s title chances are certainly dwindling quickly, though.

The race started exciting with Mark Webber and Vettel both having a slow start. That allowed Romain Grosjean to rocket to the lead. Vettel eventually passed him on lap 41 while Grosjean was in the pits, but Grosjean held second place up until the final two laps when Webber finally got around him.

Also at the start of the race, Lewis Hamilton took damage that eventually forced him to retire from the race. Hamilton started in third and was clipped by Vettel to cause a right-rear tire puncture. He made it back to the pits but retired when the body damage to the car was slowing him too much.

Giedo van der Garde and Jules Bianchi also came together on the first lap and knocked each other out of the race.

To score fourth place, Alonso had to put in a hard fight. He was behind teammate Felipe Massa for much of the race but got around him in the final part of the race, but that was only enough for fifth. He also had to take on Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Raikkonen to get to fourth.

Esteban Gutierrez finished seventh to score the first points of his F1 career.

In the drivers' championship, Vettel has a 90-point lead over Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen overtakes Lewis Hamilton for third in the championship Nico Hulkenberg moves from 13th to 10th thanks to his strong performance. Gutierrez six points put him in 16th place.

Red BullRed BullAustria, 2004 > present12 models
1049 photos
3 videos
continues to lead the constructors' championship with a 148-point lead over FerrariFerrariItaly, 1947 > present233 models
5131 photos
37 videos
. SauberSauberSwitzerland, 1970 > present21 models
166 photos
4 videos
overtakes Toro RossoToro RossoItaly, 2006 > present10 models
110 photos
1 video
thanks to Gutierrez's good performance.