Formula One news
Vettel dominates Japanese Grand Prix
04 October 2009 / Results / PhotosGermany's Sebastian Vettel drove a superb race from pole position to control proceedings in Japan on Sunday. A late Safety Car intervention proved only a minor distraction as the Red Bull driver held on from pole position. Both championship battles go on to Brazil in a fortnight as Brawn finish in the final two points positions.
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| Vettel leads away as Hamilton shoots down the outside of Trulli |
With qualifying in Japan on Saturday having been delayed by half an hour following no less than three red stoppages, Toyota's Timo Glock was forced to miss the race at Suzuka due to a heavy accident in which his left leg was injured; a Sunday morning decision by the team grounded its driver on safety grounds.
With five men - including Button, Barrichello and Alonso - having received 5-place grid drops for disobeying yellow flags on Saturday, it was a mixed-up grid field which made its way around to the grid on an October day when crowds enjoyed pleasant ambient temperatures of 25°C (77°C).
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| Championship leader Button kept out of danger in the midfield |
Vettel was away clearly as the five red lights went out although Champion Lewis Hamilton's start was arguably the best, making the most of KERS to drive around the outside of Trulli into Turn 1. Mark Webber, having started from the pit lane after missing qualifying, made the first of five stops at the end of Lap 1 in what proved to be a miserable afternoon for the Australian as Red Bull bookended the field.
A bad start for championship leader Jenson Button saw the Englishman drop outside the top ten on a day when a top four position could have confirmed the title, depending on Barrichello's placing. However, an efficient pit-stop strategy allowed the Somerset pilot to move back into eighth and secure one crucial World Championship point on a day when his team-mate reduced the margin to its pre-Singapore amount of 14.
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The battle for second place proved compelling all afternoon as Hamilton and Trulli - both on two-stop pit strategies - battled for McLaren and Toyota honours; with the former needing a 3-second margin to the later-stopping Italian before their final trips to the pit lane, Trulli's rapid in-laps allowed the red and white car to emerge from the pit lane ahead, much to the delight of the team and Japanese spectators.
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| Alguersuari's Toro Rosso slammed into the wall at 130R |
Two retirements allowed Webber to slip into the final place of 17th as Toro Rosso endured double-trouble for the second consecutive race; technical problems grounded Switzerland's Sébastien Buemi although team-mate Jaime Alguersuari appeared to be a victim of fatigue when spinning off and crashing heavily at the infamous 130R corner. The Spaniard's second large accident of the weekend resulted in a late deployment of the Safety Car by Race Director Charlie Whiting.
With Vettel holding his lead from Trulli, it was a KERS-failed Hamilton's job to hold off fellow Champion Kimi Räikkönen in a final four-lap sprint to the flag; that he did as Germans Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld picked up more solid points for their respective Williams and BMW teams.
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Brawn experienced a nervous quartet of final laps as, with Barrichello seventh, Button held off the charging Robert Kubica for the final point; the Brackley team headed by Ross Brawn now needs only half a point more to secure the Constructors' world title in a fortnight's time.
With Vettel having produced a sensational performance - which included stretching his lead to nearly five seconds in the final four laps - the 22-year-old is now only a couple of points in arrears of Barrichello in the standings, who in-turn trails Button by 14 heading to Rubens' home race in Brazil.
The Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Round 16 of 17 in 2009, will take place on the weekend of 16-18 October.
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