enson Button (McLaren) won the Japanese Grand Prix but couldn't stop Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) from finishing third, and by doing so earning his second straight title. Alonso drove a fine race, from fifth, to take the second spot on the podium.
Tire wear had a big impact on the race, which could explain why Jenson Button came out on top. He seems to have the edge in tricky conditions – Hungary 2006, Australia 2010, Canada 2011 for example.
At the start however, Vettel showed no mercy for the Brit and shoved him one the grass. Button kept control of his car but lost a place to his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Soon Button reclaimed the position, when Hamilton suffered a puncture on lap 8.
Button then moved to first, on lap 19 when he came out of the pits ahead of Vettel.
On lap 24, the safety car was deployed to remove some debris left by Felipe Massa (Ferrari) on the track as he attempted a pass on Hamilton. The incident was reviewed by the stewards, but no further action were taken.
Alonso made good use of the restart – and of his fresher tires – to take second spot to Vettel. The gap with Button then stabilized, until the leader came across some traffic in the dying stages of the race. Button won the race from Alonso by a mere 1.1s.
A further 8 seconds adrift was the No.2 Red Bull of Mark Webber. The Australian had a quiet afternoon. He tangled with the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, but suffered no damage and finished fourth, one place ahead of Hamilton. Schumacher enjoyed a good strategy. He briefly led the race – for the first time since his comeback – and took sixth spot from former Ferrari team-mate Massa, who finished seventh.
Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) both came from a long way back on the grid, after suffering some hydraulic problems on Saturday, to finish respectively eighth and 10th. Vitaly Petrov took ninth for the resurgent Lotus Renault team.
Adrian Sutil (11th), Paul di Resta (12th), Kamui Kobayashi (13th), Pastor Maldonado (14th and Jaime Alguersuari (15th) fought each other very hard, even though they were out of the top 10 – and out of the points.
In the second Lotus Renault, came Bruno Senna (16th), who had a disappointing afternoon. His race was ruined when he was forced wide in corner 2.
Spectators could enjoy a good show involving the back markers in intra-team fights. Heikki Kovalainen (18th) fought his Team Lotus team-mate Jarno Trulli (19th), so did Timo Glock (20th) with his Virgin team-mate Jérome d'Ambrosio (21st). Daniel Ricciardo couldn't fight his misfortunate HRT team-mate Liuzzi – who finished a lap down on him – but gave the Virgins a run for their money.
Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) was the unluckiest of them all. He lost a wheel on lap 35, for which his team was deemed responsible and fined €5,000.
Race results – Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka)
1 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 53 laps
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 1 "160
3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault RB7) - 2 "006
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault RB7) - 8 "071
5 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 24 "268
6 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 27 "120
7 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 28 "240.
8 - Sergio Perez (C30 Sauber-Ferrari) - 39 "377
9 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 42 "607
10 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 44 "322
11 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 54 "447
12 - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Force India VJM04) - 1'02 "326
13 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'03 "705
14 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR6) - 1'04 "194.
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'06 "623
16 - Bruno Senna (Renault R31) - 1'12 "628
17 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'14 "191
18 - Heikki Kovalainen (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1'27 "824
19 - Jarno Trulli (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1'36 "140
20 - Timo Glock (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 2 tours
21 - Jérôme D'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
22 - Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 2 laps
23 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 3 laps
Fastest lap by Jenson Button (McLaren) in 1'36 "568.
Retirement
Lap 35 – Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso)
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 324; 2.Button 210; 3.Alonso 202; 4.Webber 194; 5.Hamilton 178; 6.Massa 90; 7.Rosberg 63; 8.Schumacher 60; 9.Petrov 36; 10.Heidfeld 34; 11.Sutil 28; 12.Kobayashi 27; reste 13.Di 20; 14.Alguersuari 16; 15. Buemi, Perez 13; 17.Barrichello 4; 18.Senna 2; 19.Maldonado 1.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 518; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 388; 3.Ferrari 292; 4.Mercedes 123; 5.Renault 72; 6.Force India-Mercedes 48; 7.Sauber-Ferrari 40; 8.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 29; 9.Williams-Cosworth 5
According to Formula1.com
Tire wear had a big impact on the race, which could explain why Jenson Button came out on top. He seems to have the edge in tricky conditions – Hungary 2006, Australia 2010, Canada 2011 for example.
At the start however, Vettel showed no mercy for the Brit and shoved him one the grass. Button kept control of his car but lost a place to his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Soon Button reclaimed the position, when Hamilton suffered a puncture on lap 8.
Button then moved to first, on lap 19 when he came out of the pits ahead of Vettel.
On lap 24, the safety car was deployed to remove some debris left by Felipe Massa (Ferrari) on the track as he attempted a pass on Hamilton. The incident was reviewed by the stewards, but no further action were taken.
Alonso made good use of the restart – and of his fresher tires – to take second spot to Vettel. The gap with Button then stabilized, until the leader came across some traffic in the dying stages of the race. Button won the race from Alonso by a mere 1.1s.
A further 8 seconds adrift was the No.2 Red Bull of Mark Webber. The Australian had a quiet afternoon. He tangled with the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, but suffered no damage and finished fourth, one place ahead of Hamilton. Schumacher enjoyed a good strategy. He briefly led the race – for the first time since his comeback – and took sixth spot from former Ferrari team-mate Massa, who finished seventh.
Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) both came from a long way back on the grid, after suffering some hydraulic problems on Saturday, to finish respectively eighth and 10th. Vitaly Petrov took ninth for the resurgent Lotus Renault team.
Adrian Sutil (11th), Paul di Resta (12th), Kamui Kobayashi (13th), Pastor Maldonado (14th and Jaime Alguersuari (15th) fought each other very hard, even though they were out of the top 10 – and out of the points.
In the second Lotus Renault, came Bruno Senna (16th), who had a disappointing afternoon. His race was ruined when he was forced wide in corner 2.
Spectators could enjoy a good show involving the back markers in intra-team fights. Heikki Kovalainen (18th) fought his Team Lotus team-mate Jarno Trulli (19th), so did Timo Glock (20th) with his Virgin team-mate Jérome d'Ambrosio (21st). Daniel Ricciardo couldn't fight his misfortunate HRT team-mate Liuzzi – who finished a lap down on him – but gave the Virgins a run for their money.
Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) was the unluckiest of them all. He lost a wheel on lap 35, for which his team was deemed responsible and fined €5,000.
Race results – Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka)
1 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 53 laps
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 1 "160
3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault RB7) - 2 "006
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault RB7) - 8 "071
5 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 24 "268
6 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 27 "120
7 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 28 "240.
8 - Sergio Perez (C30 Sauber-Ferrari) - 39 "377
9 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 42 "607
10 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 44 "322
11 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 54 "447
12 - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Force India VJM04) - 1'02 "326
13 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'03 "705
14 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR6) - 1'04 "194.
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'06 "623
16 - Bruno Senna (Renault R31) - 1'12 "628
17 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'14 "191
18 - Heikki Kovalainen (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1'27 "824
19 - Jarno Trulli (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1'36 "140
20 - Timo Glock (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 2 tours
21 - Jérôme D'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
22 - Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 2 laps
23 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 3 laps
Fastest lap by Jenson Button (McLaren) in 1'36 "568.
Retirement
Lap 35 – Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso)
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 324; 2.Button 210; 3.Alonso 202; 4.Webber 194; 5.Hamilton 178; 6.Massa 90; 7.Rosberg 63; 8.Schumacher 60; 9.Petrov 36; 10.Heidfeld 34; 11.Sutil 28; 12.Kobayashi 27; reste 13.Di 20; 14.Alguersuari 16; 15. Buemi, Perez 13; 17.Barrichello 4; 18.Senna 2; 19.Maldonado 1.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 518; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 388; 3.Ferrari 292; 4.Mercedes 123; 5.Renault 72; 6.Force India-Mercedes 48; 7.Sauber-Ferrari 40; 8.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 29; 9.Williams-Cosworth 5
According to Formula1.com