The Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a real thriller with Lewis Hamilton coming though to take the victory after a flawless drive from pole position. The 67-lap race had a bit of everything, but the most significant result was Hamilton’s fourth win of the season on a day when team-mate and championship rival Fernando Alonso crashed out of the event.
Hamilton extends his championship lead to 12 points over Alonso with two races remaining, while Kimi Raikkonen closes to within five points of the defending champion with his third position behind Heikki Kovalainen.
In treacherous conditions, the first 19 laps were completed behind the safety car and even at that point there had been plenty of drama. For many at Fuji Speedway it certainly was a case of ‘what if’ with a number of drivers rightly claiming that a podium position was a possibility before it all slipped away.
The start saw Hamilton pull a three second advantage over Alonso. Heading to the pits for the one and only stop for fuel and fresh tyres, this would prove vital as Hamilton was able to exit third on track with Alonso eighth. Hamilton would soon regain the lead, despite being tipped into a spin by Robert Kubica, while Alonso crashed heavily exiting turn five as he tried to make up ground.
Hamilton went on to pull out a comfortable advantage to take the win from Kovalainen by just over eight seconds. For the Renault rookie, it was a tremendous result as like Hamilton, it was an error free run in awful conditions - and his first Formula One podium.
For Ferrari, third position was perhaps a little fortunate as they made an incredible decision to start the race on intermediate tyres rather than the full wets as instructed by race control. Behind the safety car Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were soon pulled in for the correct tyres having both run off track. From the back of the field Raikkonen charged through the field and picked up the final podium position as Massa pitted in the final minutes of the race.
Massa would finish in sixth position after a great battle with Kubica on the final lap, but is now out of championship contention.
David Coulthard finished fourth but there will be few smiles in the Red Bull Renault pit. Mark Webber ran second just two seconds behind Hamilton when Alonso went off and brought out the safety car on lap 41. With Sebastian Vettel running a stunning third in his Toro Rosso, it looked to be a dream result for the Red Bull organisation. The dream soon turned into a nightmare as Vettel made solid contact with the back of Webber while still behind the safety car and both were out of the race. It was an unfortunate situation and while Webber will be furious, Vettel will be simply mortified about his costly rookie error.
Giancarlo Fisichella finished in fifth position in the second Renault, while Massa and Kubica traded positions on the final lap in a stunning bit of all-out racing rarely seen in modern day Formula One. Kubica, who served a drive through penalty for his contact with Hamilton earlier in the race, took the chequered flag 0.2 seconds behind Massa who had an eventful race himself, including a drive through penalty for overtaking behind the safety car.
onio Liuzzi started the race from the pit lane in his Toro Rosso and put in a great drive to secure the final point with eighth position* ahead of Adrian Sutil who also put in a solid performance in his Spyker Ferrari.
Honda certainly could have had a handful of points today with Jenson Button running fifth before an incident with Nick Heidfeld early in the race saw him pit for a new front wing. Rubens Barrichello ran seventh in the closing stages but had to pit for fuel and dropped to tenth, just ahead of the recovering Button.
Sakon Yamamoto finished 12th in the second Spyker ahead of Jarno Trulli who was off the pace in his Toyota. It was a poor weekend again from the Japanese-owned team with Ralf Schumacher also running towards the tail of the pack before mechanical problems intervened.
Nick Heidfeld looked solid all afternoon and was on for a sixth place finish until his engine started to misfire on the penultimate lap. The German pulled the BMW Sauber to a halt and he was classified 14th ahead of Takuma Sato. Anthony Davidson retired his SA07 late in the race making it a dismal weekend for the Super Aguri Honda squad.
Nico Rosberg ran outside of the top ten after his engine change penalty and retired with an electrical problem while Alex Wurz spun his Williams Toyota following contact from behind - possibly from Takuma Sato - at the start of the race, making contact with Massa and retiring on the spot.
A race with a bit of everything, but for Hamilton, it was a dream result as the F1 circus packs up and head to Shanghai for next weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
* Stewards decided after that race that Tonio Liuzzi was guilty of passing Adrian Sutil under caution. The Toro Rosso racer was handed a 25 second penalty dropping him from eighth to ninth and promoting Sutil and Spyker Ferrari into the points.
Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International
1. L.Hamilton
2. H.Kovalainen
3. K.Raikkonen