5 talking points of the Japanese GP

The Japanese Grand Prix famous for it’s brilliant track and an action packed race, lived up to the expectations as the 2013 edition was no different. The race witnessed some brilliant driving, different race leaders, a few disappointments and stands with enthusiastic Japanese fans cheering their favourite drivers.

Here are the five talking points of the Japanese GP.

Vettel has a tough day at work

Sebastian Vettel had to work hard for his win at the Japanese GP

If the qualifying was a hint of the things to come as Sebastian Vettel started second on the grid behind teammate Mark Webber, the start was proof enough that Vettel’s dominance, a regular phenomenon at the previous four races, was under a real threat at the Japanese GP. The reason was the Frenchman Romain Grosjean,who qualified fourth, moved into the race lead ahead of the surprisingly slow Red Bulls.

The race lead changed hands quite a few times during the race and it was impossible to predict and judge the race winner. But Vettel who waited patiently for his chance, got the better of his two rivals during the final pit-stop that helped him take the lead and finish at the front.

While teammate Mark Webber had his pit-stop strategy to question, Grosjean was slower than the charging Red-Bull of Vettel who was on a fresher pair of tyres. There was no stopping Vettel after that as he drove towards another victory(his fifth consecutive and ninth of the season) but in an unfamiliar manner of not leading races for almost every lap of the race. The German is most likely to be crowned Champion for the fourth time at the Indian GP.

The curious case of Romain Grosjean

Romain Gorsjean continued his brilliant run with a podium finish at the Japanese GP

From being called a first lap nutcase last year to almost winning the Japanese Grand Prix in 2013, the young Frenchman seems to have finally got his act together. While he was the reason for the pile up at Suzuka at the very first corner last time around, he was in the news for all the good reasons this time overtaking the Red- Bulls heading into the same corner.

Having lead for quite a few laps of the race it looked as if he would finally take his maiden win in Formula One but Lotus were unable to keep the strategically brilliant Red-Bull’s at bay. Despite missing out on the win Grosjean managed to stay ahead of his flamboyant teammate and take the final spot at the podium for the second time in a row.

Lotus giving Mercedes a tough fight

Ross Brawn,Team Principal Mercedes had a lot to worry about with a disappointing race for both drivers at the Japanese GP

While Lotus seem to be shaping up for a brilliant finish to the season, Mercedes seem to have lost their way after a promising first-half. Since his first win of the season in Hungary, Lewis Hamilton has just managed one podium at Spa and has been quite wayward to say the least. That could be attributed to Mercedes shifting their focus to the next year car development but the fingers of inconsistency have again been pointed at the Brackely based outfit.

Hamilton lost his opportunity trying to move ahead of Vettel at the beginning of the race with a punctured tyre before stalling his car in the pits with the Mercedes unable to recover from the earlier contact that damaged the car floors and meant aerodynamic trouble. Teammate Nico Rosberg also had some bad luck to blame for his eighth place finish.

A drive through penalty for unsafe release during the first stop meant the German had to play catch up to the front runners after he had climbed up to fourth place in the first lap. Mercedes find themselves in serious trouble of losing the second spot in the Constructors table with Ferrari already ahead into second place and fourth placed Lotus catching up fast with podiums and double point finishes.

Sauber-Sauber doing it right

Esteban Gutierrez shared the honors with his teammate Nico Hulkenberg as the Mexican finished in the points for the first time

Nico Hulkenberg the flag bearer of the Sauber resurgence carried forward his brilliant performance with a sixth place finish. But what added to the celebrations in the Sauber garage was rookie Esteban Guitierrez making it a double finish in the points with a highly commendable seventh place.

It was a measured drive from the Mexican driver (his first point earning finish of the year and his short career) having to defend himself from Rosberg in the Mercedes in the final laps of the race. The double point finish at The Japanese GP meant Sauber moved ahead of Toro Rosso in the Constructor’s tally and Force India could be a realistic target with four races left and both potentially points earning cars in the fray.

Massa finally defies Ferrari

Felipe Massa defied team orders for letting teammate Fernando Alonso to pass through at the Japanese GP

Felipe Massa finally did what he intended to – stand up for himself, after he was handed the pink slip by Ferrari. The Brazilian veteran unable to find a seat for 2014, defied team orders of ‘ Multifunction Strategy A’ a coded message asking him to let teammate Fernando Alonso pass through on lap 8.

After having followed that instruction on numerous occasions in his stint with Ferrari, Massa stayed put before Alonso eventually overtook him on lap 20. Despite his ‘I will run my own race’ effort, he was unfortunate tenth place finish after getting a drive through penalty for over speeding in the pit lane.

While Alonso shrugged the incident with everyone trying to go for ‘maximum’ remark, Ferrari too played down the incident as Team Prinicipal Domicalli said that they had to focus on bigger things (maintaining the second place in the Constructor’s) and would be support Massa till the end of the season. The fact remains that had Alonso been in the running for the Driver’s Championship, the incident could have definitely gone a different way.