Top five drivers of the Japanese GP

Romain Grosjean

After a shaky start to the season, Romain Grosjean made it clear that he can lead Lotus after Raikkonen departs for Ferrari in 2014.Grosjean made a great start from fourth on the grid and was already into the lead as the field drove passed the tricky first corner. He held his lead from two Red Bulls in the first stint and covered Webber’s pit stop on lap 11 by pitting a lap later. But it was his second stint that cost him a chance to win the race. During this stint, Grosjean was running on a used set of tyres and the difference could be seen in his lap times. He pitted on lap 29 while Vettel waited for eight more laps before pitting on lap 37. The latter then put on a DRS assisted move to take the lead of the race.After losing the lead to Vettel, Grosjean did a decent job of maintaining his pace in the final stint but eventually lost second place to three-stopping Mark Webber. Nevertheless, it was a great result from the Frenchman who an year ago was branded as a ‘first-lap nutcase’ at this very venue.