Vettel romps to second Suzuka win (Japanese Grand Prix review)
Sebastian Vettel continued his love affair with the Suzuka circuit with an emphatic win from pole position.
He led home team mate Mark Webber as Red Bull dominated the Grand Prix, strengthening their position in the constructors’ championship.
The race got off to a dramatic start as four cars crashed within a few hundred metres of the start.
Vitaly Petrov made contact with Nico Hülkenberg, then Felipe Massa cut across the first corner and slammed into Vitantonio Liuzzi.
That brought out the safety car which picked up Vettel, who had held the lead at the start, followed by the fast-starting Robert Kubica.
But the Renault driver’s race wasn’t to last much longer. His right-rear wheel detached from the car, forcing him to retire.
That promoted Webber to second ahead of Fernando Alonso, followed by the McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
More gearbox gremlins for Hamilton
The top five finished in that order but not before McLaren had mixed up the order a little. Button stayed out a long time, having started the race on the hard tyres, and briefly took over the lead after the others had pitted.
The Red Bulls caught him but, knowing he still had to pit, held back. Alonso could do little to reduce their lead even as he came under pressure from Hamilton, who picked up speed after switching to the hard tyres, getting out of Button’s slipstream and quickly passing Kamui Kobayashi.
But Hamilton’s hopes of taking on Alonso ended when he lost third gear. He was left to finish the race using just fourth gear and higher, leaving him struggling around the slower corners, particularly the hairpin. That was where Button eventually passed his team mate after his late change to soft tyres.
Michael Schumacher arrived home in sixth place after spending most of the race stuck behind his team mate. At one point he was told “there are no team orders, but Nico knows to be sensible”.
Rosberg had already made his pit stop during the early safety car period and lost time after failing to pass Sebastien Buemi following the restart.
He stayed ahead of Schumacher until he suffered a similar failure to Kubica six laps from home. Unfortunately for Rosberg it happened at the Dunlop corner, sending him crashing into the barriers.
Kobayashi on fire at home
It promoted Kobayashi to a very hard-fourth seventh place achieved with a string of gutsy overtaking moves. Among the drivers he scalped, most with very late-braking overtaking moves at the hairpin, were Jaime Alguersuari, Adrian Sutil and then Alguersuari again.
The second time Alguersuari made Kobayashi go the long way around the outside, and gave him a shove at the exit of the corner, failing to keep him behind and succeeding only in damaging his own car.
Kobayashi was one of few drivers to start on hard tyres and picked off Alguersuari for the second time after changing to softs. He then sized up and passed Rubens Barrichello and team mate Nick Heidfeld – the latter getting well out of Kobayashi’s way at his favourite overtaking spot.
Kobayashi’s victims followed him home – Heidfeld, Barrichello, Buemi and Alguersuari. In 12th place was Heikki Kovalainen, the highest finishing position for a new team so far, which all-but guarantees Lotus the coveted tenth place in the constructors’ championship.
Jarno Trulli was 13th ahead of Timo Glock, the only Virgin driver to take the start after Lucas di Grassi had a bizarre and as-yet unexplained crash at 130R on his way to the grid.
Webber could do nothing about Vettel – but he could stop him from claiming the fastest lap, setting the best time on the last lap of the race. But Vettel won the war, beating Webber home for the third race in a row to move within 14 points of him in the drivers’ championship.
2010 Japanese Grand Prix
- Force India pair expect busy Friday
- Technical review: Japanese Grand Prix
- Tom Hitchings watches the Japanese GP at Suzuka
- Massa pleased by di Montezemolo’s support
- Hamilton takes heart from McLaren pace
- Mercedes admit missed opportunity to keep Schumacher in front of Rosberg
- Alonso says five drivers can still win title
- 2010 Japanese Grand Prix: the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend? (Poll)
- Dominant win for Vettel piles pressure on Webber (Red Bull race review)
Image © Red Bull/Getty images
wakenabeb said on 10th October 2010, 9:44
Hey Keith, I think you mean hard-fought seventh place for koba
hoshi said on 10th October 2010, 9:48
i think we should stop pointing out typo mistakes..they are taken care of immediately by keith.
On another note….Kobayashi has been mighty impressive..someone should get him at mclaren…button is just too sedate or at ferrari..massa is failing rather miserably.
and how abt yammamoto doing a decent race..thats a surprise..
but overall quite a fantastic race today..
wakenabeb said on 10th October 2010, 9:52
Just pointing it out. Keith may not have realized the mistake.
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 10th October 2010, 10:59
@ hoshi
Both the Japanese driver raced well given their machine, I think it will be too early for Kobayahsi to move in a place like Mcalren or Ferrari & neither will take him as they are happy with their line-up. The best from my point is that stay with Sauber for 2011, gain more experience then if can then move to Red Bull if they want to replace Webber or Renault if they have vacant seat.
Rahzam said on 10th October 2010, 15:32
How about replacing Massa in Ferrari?
Leftie said on 10th October 2010, 18:50
for some reason my imagination gets stuck when it receives a task of coming up with an image of “japanese ferrari driver” :) dunno why, though
Renault seems more likely, but there’s also quite a queue behind a racing seat alongside Kubica
Sauber looks good with the resources at their disposal for next few years – looking forward for even more KK electrifying perfomances on the track. i’m becoming a fan, really.
Ady said on 10th October 2010, 16:01
RedBull will be more interested in promoting drivers from their young drivers programme. Koby could gain some good experience at Ferarri, if he is not too quick for Alonso. Perhaps a Renault seat would be good also. I see no reason for McLaren to change their line up for a while.
MercedesBeenz said on 10th October 2010, 9:47
I think Webber let him have the win, he had more in hand as his end of race fasted lap showed.
KONL said on 10th October 2010, 10:06
I’m not sure.
Yes, I guess he did not want to repeat what happened in Turkey
But even so, I don’t think the difference was enough for him to overtake
theo said on 10th October 2010, 10:06
wow, you must be new to the sport.
Vettel had enough pace in hand to cover mark at any time. If webber was fast enough he would of been on pole!
Mike said on 10th October 2010, 10:12
… Well, his last lap was impressive… and the idea that the fastest driver in the race will always take poll is just silly…
I don’t see why his idea is so bad….. Even If I don’t agree personally.
Steph (@) said on 10th October 2010, 10:22
I think Vettel had the pace all weekend but it was much more unclear today. Webber nicked flap and there was a time when he was taking whole heaps of time out. Webber said he couldn’t pass because “he new the rules” so whether Seb wasn’t really bothering (although we assume he really wanted the flap) is possible. Just because one has pole doesn’t mean they are the fastest all race but Vettel did seem absolutely on it all weekend.
W154 said on 10th October 2010, 11:17
When you quote Webber saying “he new(sic) the rules” it implies there were team ‘orders’ like first into first corner wins. Webber was very close to SV when he pitted, could have reeled off 3-4 fast ones and got in front after pit stops. MW very subdued in press con, is there something going on we missed?
Mike said on 10th October 2010, 11:53
Possibly…. but why bother getting worked up about it? The WSMC demonstrated that clear team orders are actually quite acceptable…
AK said on 11th October 2010, 0:34
That comment has nothing to do with team orders. It is Mark’s pet peeve for the season, i.e. the ban on refueling and the loss of that element as a means to gain positions on track.
He brings it up at every processional race, especially when he’s the one who finishes behind someone.
MercedesBeenz said on 10th October 2010, 14:17
What Vettel and Wbber further proved today is that the FIA rules are ‘flexible’ ;) for some and not other
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 10th October 2010, 12:19
Webber has the lead in the WDC… why have a go at Vettel? Vettel out qualified Webber and then set FL. Mark had no chance of getting around Vettel without a mistake on Vettels part.
Steph (@) said on 10th October 2010, 14:20
It may be a team order of hold stations but that’s not against the rules and although it’s less fun it’s certainly understandable although I don’t know if it was as Horner keeps insisting that they’re racing.
Webber set the flap and caught Seb by quite a bit at one stage but as Vettel was leading I can’t pretend to know whether he was still controlling the pace or genuinely threatened by Mark. It is a track where usually only a mistake will let someone through though I believe so I doubt he was toon fussed. This was very much Vettel’s weekend
Tom said on 10th October 2010, 14:50
I think it’s more a case of ‘championship management’.
The Bulls were hardly challenged (and to be fair, it was expected) this weekend, and it seemed a case of bag the points, save the engines.
Electrolite said on 11th October 2010, 1:41
I think Vettel and Webber were pretty evenly matched on pace, it’s just one was ahead of the other. Mark knows what he’s doing i’m sure.
wakenabeb said on 10th October 2010, 9:47
I’m wondering why everybody keeps saying the 12th place seals 10th place for Lotus. I’m sure a lucky point by any of the new teams is still possible, however remote the chances of that happening may be.
Matt G said on 10th October 2010, 10:34
Non of the new teams would get it on pace so the only way for it to happen would be to have 9 retirements in front of the new teams. I don’t think that is going to happen but you never know.
W154 said on 10th October 2010, 11:26
A wet race at Korea or Brazil could quite easily throw the race wide open as it closes the gap between old and new teams and a newbie could quite easily drive a steady race in poor conditions to get 10th or better so we can’t say 12th is good enough until after Brazil. Not much chance of rain at Abu Dhabi!!
wakenabeb said on 10th October 2010, 11:45
Or rain. Remember Markus Winkelhock leading Nurburgring a few years ago? Too bad they had to suspend the race and restart it later, otherwise he might have kept his huge lead.
Dean Yamasaki said on 10th October 2010, 17:31
LOL, how soon we forget!
Even the announcers on SPEED were laughing about it then.
“Markus Winkelhock leads the race!!!!!”
Hahah!
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 10th October 2010, 19:39
Sure, anything could still happen, but I seriously doubt we’re gonna see a Virgin or HRT finish as high as 12th in the remaining races unless there’s some massive pile-up that knocks out at least 6 or 7 cars.
Formel1 GP said on 10th October 2010, 9:47
Good race for Red Bull, Fernando did the maximum as in the previous races. But it’s a shame that Hamilton lost the third gear, he already had to suffer the penalty…
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey) said on 10th October 2010, 9:49
One day, when I’m very old and grey, my grandkids will ask me about the Formula 1 legends I was around to see in my time. ‘Cept they won’t be asking me about Schumacher, Alonso or Button…
…they’ll be asking me about Kamui Kobayashi.
BasCB said on 10th October 2010, 9:51
LOL MAG, I hope to see him be the first japanese WDC, maybe in a Ferrari after 2012?
Steph (@) said on 10th October 2010, 10:25
You better tell them about Felipe Mag ;)
I don’t think so BasCB. Massa or Robert probably given the amoun t of speculation. Fernando’s there until the end of his career assuming that Ferrari don’t pull a Renault 07 and lose all their pace with the tyre change.
rbc said on 10th October 2010, 10:20
kamui kobawho?????????
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey) said on 10th October 2010, 11:13
Nice try, but Kobayashi is far too awesome for puns – not at all like:
Who-is Hamilton?
Robert Who-bica?
Michael Who-macher?
Who-no Senna?
Jarno Who-lli?
Fernando Alon-so what?
Todfod said on 10th October 2010, 13:25
Lol. I agree Kobayashi is a little too fresh for the who jokes. I’m a Kamui fan too, ever since he pulled those sweet moves on Button at Abu Dhabi last year. Kamui for rookie of the year.. without a doubt.
REREER said on 10th October 2010, 13:41
Yeah, Kobayashi definitely impressed me!
Especially last year at abu dhabi! ;D
Stevie said on 10th October 2010, 14:36
Second that! That Kobayahi-person is awsome! Only that a** of jaime alguersuari tried to stop him because he thought he could be interesting by hitting someone who obviously passed him!
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 10th October 2010, 19:41
Kamui comfortably has the most points of the rookies. 27 to Petrov’s 19 and Sulkenberg’s 17.
Mark said on 12th October 2010, 5:10
Nice! LOL
Cacarella said on 10th October 2010, 17:29
Anyone else notice Brundle call him Koba-wasabi during the race?
Pink Peril said on 10th October 2010, 23:47
He also called him Kobay-bashi as well, which was a bit harsh.
BasCB said on 10th October 2010, 9:50
What’s it whith wheels coming off cars today at Suzuka. To me it looked like DiGrassi also lost his wheel (although he might have just got onto the grass/astroturf), then Kubica and Rosberg. Strange.
Vettel likes it here, as it makes him do as he does best. Just win qualli, then race away to the finish. hated him repeating his “this is what i am talking about” in the end though.
Without Kobayashi the race might have been boring, as Buttons strategy came to nothing with the degradation of the sofst less than hoped for.
The first few laps between Schumi and Rosberg were good, but after Schu was told he could have a go, he never got that close again.
Mike said on 10th October 2010, 9:57
Hopefully next year the Pirelli tyres last nowhere near as long!
mskii said on 10th October 2010, 10:03
I could be completely wrong with my understanding of these cars and physics but I wonder if the lateral forces put on the tyres through the first section of s’s in particular contributed to the tyre’s coming off. It was in that section where Roseberg’s detached, it just seems like a hell of allot of pressure would be exerted against them. Anyway, I’d like to see an analysis by someone who knows the technical stuff.
Matt G said on 10th October 2010, 10:35
The threads for the wheel nuts are in the opposite direction to the movement of the car so all the forces the cars goes through actually tightens the wheel nuts. It also means the thread is different for each side of the car.
wakenabeb said on 10th October 2010, 11:48
Maybe it just got ripped of its threads by the forces instead of unscrewing itself
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey) said on 10th October 2010, 12:06
Well, I learnt something new today. Thanks!
Martin_B said on 10th October 2010, 13:29
I used to own an Alfa with left-hand threads on two of the wheels, only I didn’t know it.
The first time I changed a wheel took about sixty thousand swear words before I finally figured out what the problem was.
Younger Hamilton said on 10th October 2010, 9:57
AGAIN I cannot believe this is happenning in terms of being religious, what has Lewis Hamilton done to suffer all these events why is Mark getting away with everything why does the person who wins the season opener go on to win the Drivers Championship it doesnt make sense and another thing why on earth is Seb joint 2nd with Fernando in the championship he has made more errors than Lewis has.I want answers PLEASE?? i’ve has 6 weeks of torment in F1 plus in Football as well.Why is everything going WRONG???
BasCB said on 10th October 2010, 9:59
See it as God testing your patience :o
Sebs second, because his car is so much faster he could have been WDC about 3-4 races ago without his own mistakes.
theo said on 10th October 2010, 10:04
own mistakes which include a spark plug failure and 2 braking failures.
people on this forum have such short memories, so you forgot about the first 2 races already?
idiot
Younger Hamilton said on 10th October 2010, 10:33
Are you calling me an Idiot. if thats so then does Lewis take out Webber by slamming his car into the Radiator of the Red Bull and does he take out his own team mate when trying to overtake him and move out the outside when not necassary.When in the lead and the safety car is out does Lewis exceed 10 car lengths and later when given a penalty starts shouting and complaining to his team.Anyway Redbull have been more unreliable than McLaren.
zecks said on 10th October 2010, 11:52
I’m not a mark fan but he has had some unlucky moments too, like turkey and valencia. On another day there would have been no contact
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 10th October 2010, 12:05
You can’t call Valencia luck. That was 100% Webber’s fault.
BasCB said on 10th October 2010, 17:21
Well maybe, but those are things out of control for the driver
(They all had problems, look at Hamilton, not his fault with the wheel rim in Spain, nor Hungary or the gearbox here. Button had Monaco and Vettel taking him out, Alonso had the clutch in Malaysia and got cought out badly by the SC in Valencia, etc.).
If Vettel had not thrown away safe points in Turkey, Spa, or Hungary to name the worst, he would now be about 40 points ahead.
Only Alonso did almost as much by himself to hurt himself with the false start in China and crashing in Monaco.
Steph (@) said on 10th October 2010, 10:17
I think it’s pretty even to be honest. Things balance themselves out usually when it comes to fighting for the title.
Seb had two miserable first races with reliability which got Lewis a podium in Bahrain, Lewis benefitted when the RBR’s went bonkers at Turkey and when the Louts held up Alonso at Canada, Button’s had rotten luck with Monaco and being taken out at Spa and Alonso had bad luck with Valencia and Silverstone as well as engine troubles. Webber has had a life time of bad luck. Things may seem like they’re rubbish now but it’ll even out.
rbc said on 10th October 2010, 10:21
you are in the wrong side son
KONL said on 10th October 2010, 10:01
It’s a HUGE shame that Kubica retired
Otherwise the top 5 would have been extremely interesting
Other than Hamilton’s pace after the pitstop and Kobayashi raping of every driver in the mid field, it wasn’t terribly exciting
Adam Tate said on 10th October 2010, 10:10
As well as every member of the Big 5 drove today, driver of the day has to go to Kobayashi. I have not been this impressed in a long time. That charge was epic! were He in a top car he would have been unstoppable today. I think Heidfeld showed quite well, a good qualifying run and a good race, but Kobayashi was out of this world. I already think Sauber are idiots to replace Quick Nick with a rookie, but they will be the dumbest in the field if they eventually replace Kobayashi with a Mexican rookie to satisfy moneybags Carlos.
rodrigo said on 10th October 2010, 10:53
If he keeps driving like today, and improves qualifying consistancy, Kobayashi will be recruited by a top team in 2012 replacing one of MSC, MW or FM… Sauber will not have the moneybags to keep him after 2012
Steph (@) said on 10th October 2010, 10:35
keith according to Byron Young on twitter (ByronF1) Petrov has been given a 5 place grid drop at the next race for causing the collision at the start
LosD said on 10th October 2010, 10:53
Strange. To me Petrov was just unlucky to get clipped by a slow starter, while Massa’s idea to use the grass caused the collision with Liuzzi.
Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 10th October 2010, 17:52
Massa lost control after being forced there by Rosberg.
Esteban said on 10th October 2010, 10:36
“Lucas di Grassi had a bizarre and as-yet unexplained crash at 130R on his way to the grid.”
………………………………………..
Di Grassi is one of the drivers on the grid that fewer misses. What is impressive for a rookie, especially with a difficult car to drive.
Obviously it was not his fault.
See the accident. The car was to the other side suddenly. It is perceived that there was any problem with the car.
alexf1man said on 10th October 2010, 10:43
If Vettel had dropped to 5th I would have 50 prediction points :(
Zahir said on 10th October 2010, 14:28
If Hamilton had stayed 4th and Button fifth I would have had 50 points! I really thought I was going to do it but when that radio transmission came through I was gutted.
Doubley gutted as a Hamilton fan but atleast i still got a good hall of points.
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 10th October 2010, 10:50
First I have to say there were some very poor people who were given the responsibility of directing the show for us on TV. During the safety car they didn’t gave us a clear picture of how Petrov, Massa, Hulk, & Luizzi crashed out of the race ( I meant on board shot). They even didn’t bothered to show us the replay of Roseberg pass over a Torro Rosso around 130R & Schumacher’s move on Barrichello which was crucial for his race strategy.I also wanted to see the on board shot of Schumacher when Nico’s wheel came off as he was 1 second behind him & may have given us a better picture of w3hat happened then that we saw.
Secondly I may be wrong but the safety car may have been on track for two extra lap which weren’t necessary.
Otherwise it was a awesome race with lots of drama, felt bad for Kubica & Kobayashi really provided the entertainment.All his moves were awesome as he just dived in the inside of all the moves he did, braked late & accelerated fast.There I saw again he will be a driver who many of the bigger teams will want in their team, & after people like Massa & Kimi came under the Sauber hut this may be another of the natural talent waiting to win a WC in the future if he have the right machine & the right direction.
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 10th October 2010, 11:17
I agree Wasf1… Camera coverage was fail!
wakenabeb said on 10th October 2010, 11:59
I think the japanese gp is one of the very few races left in the calender that has it’s tv broadcast not managed by FOM. I think Fuji tv did the coverage today. Probably explains it, not enough practice.
rayan said on 10th October 2010, 12:10
i clearly agree with WASiF1…..iam frustated with the telecast…..if a british driver ex.HAM overtaking others will be shown in all angles and appreciated too….
BliNnk said on 10th October 2010, 11:59
I feel kubica had a great chance to win the race. The renaults seemed fastest on the straights while the red bulls were nowhere near. I know it’s not just about straight line speed, but I still feel he could’ve gotten past vettel sometime during the initial part of the race.
SUCH a shame if he never gets a championship winning car.
d-d said on 10th October 2010, 18:24
not really, unfortunately. Red Bulls were simply too quick – see Alonso. Quite possibly he would be later overtaken by Webber as well – if not on the straights then in the pits.
However, I believe 3rd place was well within his reach. Really a pity because we won’t see Renault again that strong this season anymore.
But now I can’t wait for next GP in Korea – a new track for everybody. Except cars all will be equal.
Sebas said on 10th October 2010, 12:23
Viva la Vettel!
Would have loved to see a fight between Alonso and Kubica.
IDR said on 10th October 2010, 13:30
http://www.flickr.com/photos/idrs/
MercedesBeenz said on 10th October 2010, 14:25
and Viv el ‘flexible’ wings ;)