Japanese GP 2010 Race Review: Sebastian Vettel Excels

In detail: Vettel wins in Japan

Sebastian Vettel has won an action packed Japanese GP, leading home his team-mate and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton suffered more bad luck, while local hero Kamui Kobayashi gave the fans plenty to cheer about when he carved his way through the field.

Qualifying for the Japanese GP at Suzuka was rained off on the Saturday as torrential downpours made it too dangerous for the F1 cars to venture out. Instead it was rescheduled for Sunday morning before the race. With the sun shining on Sunday, qualifying took place on a drying track. It was a tight battle at the front for pole position but Vettel eventually secured it, with his team-mate Mark Webber taking second. Hamilton qualified in third but was demoted to eighth due to a gearbox change. This promoted Robert Kubica up to a fantastic third for Renault, with Alonso in fourth and Button in fifth.

The start of the race proved chaotic as four drivers crashed out. Bizarrely Lucas di Grassi crashed on the way to the grid in his Virgin Racing, meaning the race started with only 23 cars. When the lights went out the cars at the front got away cleanly, but further back there were two separate incidents. Vitaly Petrov seemed to get a very quick start, but as he tried to pull left in front of Nico Hulkenberg he clipped Hulkenberg’s wheel and this put them both out of the race. At turn one, Felipe Massa tried a move up the inside and ended up cutting across the grass, which sent him back onto the track directly into the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi, causing both to retire. These incidents brought out the Safety Car which stayed out for six laps while the carnage was cleared up. Under the SC Kubica was also forced to retire when his right rear tyre became unattached from his car. This put both Red Bulls back into the lead, with Alonso in third. Alonso started to pull away from the two McLarens who were running fourth and fifth.

Adrian Sutil pitted to change tyres on lap 18 triggering a string of other drivers to pit including Hamilton, who came out in seventh and he instantly started setting fastest laps. After both Red Bulls and Alonso pitted they all started trading fastest lap. Button was on a completely different strategy and so stayed out ahead, but not pulling out enough of a gap. When he eventually pitted he lost out to his team-mate. Hamilton started reeling in Alonso, who was asked over the radio to “pick up the pace”. The two Mercedes GP cars were running line astern, with Schumacher behind Rosberg. Schumacher was told over the radio that if he were to attempt an overtaking move Nico would “know to be sensible”. Hamilton’s further disappointment after his crash in Friday Practice and gearbox change was when he lost third gear, meaning his team-mate was able to catch him and overtake, leaving Lewis in fifth place. Although not as good a result as he would have hoped, he still managed to finish the race and pick up some points after two disappointing races in a row.

A special mention has to go to Kamui Kobayashi, who was without a doubt the driver of the day. Having started 14^th on the grid, he fought his way through to finish seventh (not only due to retirements). He pulled off some great overtaking moves at the hairpin on a number of drivers. Jaime Alguersuari drove into the side of him when Kobayashi overtook, but this didn’t dent his confidence or car too much. He also pulled off similar moves on Sutil, Barrichello and team-mate Nick Heidfeld.

There were other retirements from the race including the five at the start. Sutil retired with smoke pouring from the back of his car, leaving a trail of oil in his path. Rosberg also retired after a failure on his car caused his tyre to become loose and come off. Up at the front Vettel took the chequered flag leading home a Red-Bull 1-2 which has increased their lead over McLaren in the Constructors Championship. Alonso continued his recent strong form to finish on the podium for Ferrari with Button in fourth, and Hamilton holding on to finish the race in fifth. Schumacher finished a solid sixth, with Kobayashi, Heidfeld, Barrichello and Buemi rounding out the top 10.

There are still question marks as to whether or not the Korean GP will go ahead in two weeks time, but an official inspection is due to take place on Monday and therefore we should know soon. The championship is really hotting up with Vettel closing in on team-mate Webber, and both McLaren drivers starting to lag slightly. The remaining three races are really going to be exciting!

Find Japanese Grand Prix tickets here.

Posted by Hannah Hough - Follow her on twitter @hannahhou.

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Last Comment Posted »

• It was a totally awesome performance, it's rare you see any driver make that many over takes. I was also impressed with Kubica in Singapore.

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