Formula One news
Untouchable Alonso storms to second victory
12 October 2008 / Results / PhotosFernando Alonso stormed to his second win in two races ahead of Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen in the Japanese Grand Prix. The former champion seized the initiative on a day where championship rivals Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton finished eighth and twelfth.
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Raikkonen made a strong start to take the lead on the run down to turn one but Hamilton looked like he did not want to relinquish the lead, despite his championship situation and locked up all four tyres trying to outbreak the Ferrari into turn one. The net result was that he took himself, Raikkonen and Kovalainen wide allowing Kubica through to take the lead ahead of Alonso. Meanwhile down the field Nakajima got the attention of his home fans losing his front wing while David Coulthard was pitched into the wall just before turn two following contact at the start.
Meanwhile, Hamilton's super-aggressive start saw him rejoin behind title rival Massa and a lap later the McLaren lined up a pass in the chicane with the Brit having everything to lose and Massa, nothing to lose. Hamilton went down the inside of the first part of the chicane and as he tried to make his move stick, Felipe Massa took to the inside kerb of the second apex and from there contact was inevitable - the McLaren being spun through 180-degrees and having to wait for the entire field to pass.
Hamilton pitted for tyres and fuel, rejoining the race in at the back of the field. Meanwhile at the lead Kubica and Alonso were matching each other lap for lap ahead of Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Trulli, Bourdais, Massa and Piquet.
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Kubica kept his cool out front with a consistent 1.6s gap over Alonso but after 16 laps it was clear what Hamilton's fraught first few laps had cost him as he was a full minute behind the leaders.
As Kubica and Raikkonen were the first front-runners to pit on lap 17, news came from race control that Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty for his heroics in the first corner, causing Raikkonen to go off track. Felipe Massa was penalised too, given the same penalty for causing Hamilton to spin.
Meanwhile in the pit stops Fernando Alonso stayed out one lap longer than Kubica and made it count with a slightly shorter pit stop from Renault to rejoin the race ahead of the BMW. Massa and Hamilton ended up down in fourteenth and fifteenth after serving their penalties.
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Alonso was on a charge out front though and by lap 30 had built a lead of 7.8s over Kubica with Raikkonen a further 4.6s down the road. Massa meanwhile struggled for a while but eventually found a way past Jenson Button for twelfth with Hamilton fourteenth. With pit stops ahead of them and a nice slipstream move on Webber, Massa was up to eighth on lap 43 as Hamilton had just made his second stop of the afternoon.
After firing in a string of laps all within a tenth of a second, Alonso had built a lead of over twelve seconds to Kubica when he pitted on lap 43. The BMW was struggling, but pushing hard and pitted on lap 46 just as Kimi Raikkonen came alive with a new fastest lap in the Ferrari. The Finn pitted on lap 48 and rejoined the race just behind Kubica.
Raikkonen wasn't giving up though and made several attempts at trying to pass the BMW in the first corner, but Kubica stood his ground. As they fought for second, however, Nelson Piquet closed in on them both in fourth and on lap 58 was just a second behind Raikkonen.
Piquet's challenge never materialised and with graining tyres, Raikkonen was unable to do anything more about Kubica. Massa though was on the move and in the final stages closed in on points, passing Heidfeld and Webber to get back into the points in eighth.
Alonso though was peerless out front and stormed to his second victory of the season in a masterful drive to lead Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen home. Nelson Piquet Jr capped a great day for Renault in fourth ahead of Trulli.
Toro Rosso had another good points haul with Bourdais leading Vettel home in sixth and seventh while Felipe Massa took the final point, which could be vital in the outcome of the championship. Lewis Hamilton ended twelfth, seeing his championship lead cut to six points.
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