Results of the 2008 Japanese F1 Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso was again the unlikely winner for the second time in as many weeks, thanks to a bit of luck, good tactical work from Renault and a superb middle stint that put him out of reach of second placed Robert Kubica. Kimi Raikkonen finished third as title rivals Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton 'cancelled' each other out in dry conditions.
Kubica's second place leaves him in serious contention for the Drivers' Championship if the intense rivalry at the top ruins the final two races for Massa and Hamilton, who collided on lap two. Both earned driver through penalties for different offences Ð Hamilton's was caused by forcing Raikkonen off the track at the first turn - and the two found themselves duelling at the back of the field.
This meant that once again rookies and outsiders were able to pick up points, Nelson Piquet Jnr finished fourth, making it Renault's best race in two years, Jarno Trulli was fifth for Toyota ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais in the fighting Torro Rosso's, but the latter was penalised, gifting Massa seventh. Mark Webber gained the final point.
Lewis Hamilton couldn't fight his way back as successfully as Massa and came away empy handed, so that he now leads the Brazilian by five points going into the final two races. Ferarri have also now retaken a seven point lead in the Constructors' Title after Heikki Kovalainen retired in the other McLaren when a points finish was on the cards.
But the day belonged to Alonso who out drove Kubica's superior BMW, taking the lead at the first pitstop with a quicker refuelling and then driving the pants off his Renault to build a sufficient lead on his lighter fuel load. Raikkonen recovered from his lap one clash with Hamilton and worked his way up to third.
Three drivers go into the final two races with a realistic chance of winning the 2008 title; Hamilton need only finish ahead of Massa or on the podium at both to win the title, but you can't outrule Robert Kubica repeating Raikonen's improbably feat last season if Massa and Hamilton take each other out again. But for McLaren to win the Constructor's Championship their junior driver is going to have to finish well up the points in both races, as they trail by seven.
Results of Japanese Grand Prix:
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one hour 30 minutes 21.892 seconds
2 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 5.2 seconds behind
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari at 6.4secs
4 Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault at 20.570secs
5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 23.767secs
6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari at 39.207secs
7 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari at 46.200secs
8 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault at 50.811secs
9 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 54.120secs
10 Sebastien Bourdais* (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari at 59.000secs
11 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota at 1:02.096
12 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes at 1:18.900secs
13 Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda one lap behind
14 Jenson Button (GB) Honda at one lap
15 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota at 1 lap
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 22 laps
R Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 16 laps
R Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 8 laps
R Timo Glock (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 6 laps
R David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 0 laps
* Bourdais penalised