Japanese Grand Prix: Red Bull 1-2 as Vettel wins fifth consecutive race

Sebastian Vettel won an action packed Japanese Grand Prix after some fine racing and a well thought out pit stop strategy by the Red Bull team.

Red Bull also made it a memorable 1-2 after Mark Webber, who started on pole, came in second.

Romain Grosjean in the Lotus, who had a brilliant start and led for a good portion of the race, came in third.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen battled it out at the end of the race to finish fourth and fifth respectively. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Jenson Button (McLaren) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) completed the top ten.

There were three retirements in the race – Bianchi and van der Garde crashing out on Turn 1 of the first lap and Lewis Hamilton retiring after he had problems with a rear tyre puncture that caused damage to his car. It was also a race that saw many penalties imposed as Rosberg, Ricciardo and Massa were given drive through penalties.

Grosjean was the best driver on the track as he leapfrogged everyone to take the lead going into Turn 1. He looked all set to get a race win until Red Bull changed their pit strategies to put pressure on him from the front and the back. He ultimately caved in when Webber overtook him on the penultimate lap.

This was Vettel’s fifth straight win and he could wrap up the driver’s championship at the next race in India. Fernando Alonso has a very slim mathematical chance to catch up as Vettel only needs a fifth place finish to clinch the title with four races to go.

Japanese Grand Prix 2013 Results