Jenson Button won a close fought Japanese GP, beating of a very closely packed grid. But, he could not stop Sebastian Vettel winning his second consecutive Driver's World Championship.
The race started fairly well for Button. He got a very good start, and was side-by-side with Vettel, but Sebastian pushed Jenson over to the right hand side of the track, forcing JB to touch the grass, and slow down. This let Lewis Hamilton through into second. Vettel lead Hamilton, Button, then Massa, Alonso, Webber. Kobayashi had fallen down the field, but DiResta had jumped upto 8th.
Tyres were the words on most people mouths today. Many expected at least three stops from the leading drivers, and thats what we got. By lap 8, the tyres, which had already been through a qualifying session, were beginning to loose grip. However, it would be a puncture that would lead to the first pit-stop. Hamilton seemed to get a puncture near the Spoon corner, letting Button into second. Lewis managed to hold onto 3rd before the pits. But, after Lewis had opened the gates, the rest of the leaders followed.
Pitting first was a mistake for Hamilton, as he lost second and third. Alonso, who had taken Massa suprisingly easily, had jumped Lewis in the pits to hold third place. He followed Button and Vettel. By lap 13, only 5 seconds separeted the top 5, and Massa and Webber were not too far down the road. It wasn't long though before a second stop was needed. Vettel pitted first this time, and again, the first man who stopped lost the most. Vettel's pitstop let Button take the lead, but a lap latter, when Jenson had had his pitstop, he maintained the lead after a fast in-lap.
This left Hamilton leading Massa at the front. Hamilton was leading going around 130R, but Massa tried to take Lewis on the outside of the chicance. Lewis did not seem to see him, and the two touched, breaking a piece of Felipe's front wing. The two soon pitted, but they did leave a piece of Ferrari on the track. As it was close to the racing line, the safety car was deployed, letting the marshalls to clear up the debris.
The safety car lead Schumacher, then Button, Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Massa and Hamilton. Michael was in the lead due to not pitting, and with a scramble for fourth, he was increasing the gap to those four drivers, especially Hamilton. He was trying to ensure that he would be ahead of them after he pitted for the last time. With the safety car back in the pits, it wasn't long until the leaders went for their last pistop. Button held off Vettel, but Alonso managed to jump Sebastian into second place. Hamilton had managed to jump both Massa, and Rosberg, who hadn't pitted yet. This meant that by the time Schumacher had pitted, he rejoined 6th, behing Lewis, but ahead of Massa.
The closest battle now was for second. Vettel was all over the back of Alonso. The Ferrari had the higher top speed, meaning that even a Red Bull with KERS and DRS was not enough for the young German. It wasn't long before Red Bull were on Sebastian's radio telling him to accept third, and take the title. This left Alonso to start turning the wick up on Button. With 5 laps to go, Button had a lead of 3.7 seconds over Fernando. The Spaniard, though, was closing in about 1 second/lap. with 3 laps remaining, the gap was down to 1 second. Button though chose to put his foot on the gas, ensuring victory. He crossed the line ahead of Alonso, with Sebastian Vettel taking third, and his second Driver's World Championship.
Race Results
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 5
2 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 4
3 - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
4 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
5 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
6 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 11
7 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 6
8 - Sergio Perez - Sauber - 25
9 - Vitaly Petrov - Renault - 13
10 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 7
11 - Adrian Sutil - Force India - 9
12 - Paul Di Resta - Force India - 20
13 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 15
14 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 24
15 - Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso - 16
16 - Bruno Senna - Renault - 27
17 - Rubens Barrichello - Williams - 8
18 - Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus - 18
19 - Jarno Trulli - Lotus - 17
20 - Timo Glock - Virgin - 21
21 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin - 30
22 - Daniel Ricciadro - HRT - 38
23 - Vitantonio Liuzzi - HRT - 23
R - Sebastian Buemi - Toro Rosso - 12
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