Sebastian Vettel drove a dominant Japanese Grand Prix from pole position to snatch his third victory of the season, in a race that saw championship rival Fernando Alonso retire on the very first lap. The German is now just 4 points behind the Spaniard in the standings.
Alonso had contact with Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen on the first corner which sent him off track and into the gravel, therefore had to retire. Ferrari though had something to celebrate about as Felipe Massa took second position, his first podium finish since 2010.
Local hero Kamui Kobayashi secured his first ever podium finish after having to fend off a resurging Jenson Button. Button ended up in fourth place ahead of McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Kimi Raikkonen crossed the finish line in sixth ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and William’s Pastor Maldonado, while Mark Webber had to come from the back of the grid after being hit by Romain Grosjean on the first corner, to claim ninth followed by Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo in tenth.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h28:56.242 2. Massa Ferrari + 20.639 3. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 24.538 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 25.098 5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 46.490 6. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 50.424 7. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 51.159 8. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 52.364 9. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 54.675 10. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:06.919 11. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:07.769 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:23.400 13. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:28.600 14. Senna Williams-Renault + 1:28.700 15. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 17. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap 18. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 19. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 1 lap