Vettel's win In Japan opens up title race

For a track built in 1962, the Suzuka Circuit is always a fan and driver favourite. With a healthy mix of sharp turns and fast straight-aways, the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix was just as exciting as its inaugural race in 1987.

Sebastian Vettel moved to within four points of Fernando Alonso in the fight for the world championship, after the Japanese Grand Prix. The race saw Red Bull dominate as Ferrari’s leader met with another first-corner disaster.

A chaotic race start saw Fernando Alonso move across the circuit, closing in on Kimi Raikkonen, clipping the front wing of the Lotus and picking up a puncture that saw him spin off at turn one. Turn two, Romain Grosjean was (again) involved in an opening-lap incident as he heaved into the rear of Mark Webber, consigning both of them to the back of the field. Romain Grosjean received a ten second stop/go penalty for the incident, while as the field tried to avoid the two colliding Bruno Senna ran in to the back of Nico Rosberg, leaving the Mercedes out of the race.

While Alonso crashed out on the first lap, it seemed Ferrari has all their eggs in one basket with his teammate, Felipe Massa. Without the pressure, it seems, of his driver’s champion leader still on track, Massa proved to Ferrari that he still deserves to be in Formula One. Massa went on and finished second (making this his first appearance on the podium since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix).

“It’s nice,” Massa said. “It’s like a relief. It was great race and was able to push hard from the beginning to the end and show that we are here to fight for victory and for pole and not just to fight for a few points.”

All the action seemed to have taken place within the first 20 laps of the race, and so from then on the race was largely settled, as drivers tried to look after their tyres before Button’s late assault on Kobayashi.

The final laps were nail-biting for the track side fans watching Jenson Button pressure their hometown driver, Kamui Kobayashi. When Kobayashi crossed the finish line ahead of Button, the entire place went up in a roar. All chanting was ‘Kam-u-i’ as it he became the first Japanese driver on a podium here since 1990 (Aguri Suzuki came third in the Lola at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix).

This race finish sees Sebastian Vettel becoming the first back-to-back winner in the 2012 and the result also see Alonso on the verge of losing his championship lead heading to Korea next weekend.

Sebastian Vettel	Winner
Felipe Massa	Second
Kamui Kobayashi	Third Fan’s Choice
Jenson Button	P4
Lewis Hamilton	P5
Kimi Räikkönen	P6
Nico Hülkenberg	P7
Pastor Maldonado	P8
Mark Webber	P9
Daniel Ricciardo	P10
Michael Schumacher	P11
Paul di Resta	P12
Jean-Éric Vergne	P13
Bruno Senna	P14
Heikki Kovalainen	P15
Timo Glock	P16
Vitaly Petrov	P17
Pedro de la Rosa	P18
Romain Grosjean	Retired (withdrew)
Charles Pic	Retired (engine)
Narain Karthikeyan	Retired (withdrew)
Sergio Pérez	Retired (spun off)
Fernando Alonso	Retired (puncture)
Nico Rosberg	Retired (collision)