McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton won an action-packed Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen.
The McLaren driver's victory saw him take a massive step towards becoming the first rookie to win the Formula One Drivers' World Championship after closest rival Fernando Alonso failed to finish at a sodden Fuji Speedway.
The 22-year-old overcame terrible conditions, two safety car periods and all manner of incidents with a mature drive to claim his fourth win of the season and open up a 12-point lead over his team-mate at the top of the drivers' standings with just two races to go.
Alonso saw his title chances all but washed away after losing control of his McLaren on lap 42 and crashing into the safety barrier, while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen kept his slim hopes alive by finishing third.
Race Report:
With the rain still falling at the Fuji Motor Speedway and no sign of the mist lifting the race looked destined to start behind the Safety Car. With just ten minutes to go, race control confirmed this to be the case. The ambient temperature was just 18C.
So it was Berndt Maylander in the AMG Mercedes pace car that started the race with Hamilton and Alonso denied the chance of a tussle into Turn 1.
The Ferraris had less downforce than the rest of the grid with an extra 5kph speed advantage on the straight, so would struggle under these conditions. What was most surprising, though, was that given this lack of grip they had opted to start the race on the Bridgestone shallow wet tyres and not the extreme wets that the Race Director Charlie Whiting had prescribed before the race.
The inadequacy of grip was proven on Lap 2 when Massa ran wide at Turn 3 where there was a lot of run-off water and lost a place to Nick Heidfeld. He duly retook his 4th place in the queue, his team failing to tell him that this wasn't allowed under Safety Car rules. The Brazilian would be made to serve a drive-through penalty for it later in the race.
The bigger problem for Ferrari was that despite all the other teams and even the TV commentary teams being aware that everyone had to start on full wets, Ferrari said they were not. Massa had to come in at the end of Lap 2 for full wets, at the same time taking on fuel, while Raikkonen came in a lap later.
It looked like the decision had already lost the team the chance of securing the drivers' championship because their cars were now P.20 and P.21, but there was still a long way to go and many twists and turns in the plot.
There seemed to be little change in the track conditions for many laps, although all the drivers were radioing in to their teams moaning about the conditions. Ralf Schumacher told his Toyota engineers that it was "complete madness to continue at the moment" on Lap 6.
With so much water falling - and a dry line failing to be established due to the low speeds and water clearance - thoughts now began to turn to the likelihood that the whole race might be run behind the Safety Car. In which case they would have to change Safety Cars, because it wasn't fuelled till the end of the race.
If that was the case, then the cars that had been recently fuelled - such as Raikkonen - might make it through to the end of the GP i.e. last would become first, as all the others would have to make a stop sooner or later. Massa took on fuel on Lap 15 and a new set of extreme wets.
A significant instruction came from Charlie Whiting at Race Control on Lap 16 - lapped cars may now overtake - and the only person who had been lapped, Tonio Liuzzi, was allowed to overtake the crocodile and speed round unhindered. His lap time of 1:36.413 showed that the cars could easily lap within 12 seconds of the pole time.
The visibility was getting better and on Lap 19 it was radioed through that the Safety Car would be coming in. Lewis Hamilton backed up the pack going through the last few corners as the race proper got underway.
The braking point for Turn 1 at racing speed would be a matter of sheer guesswork for everybody in these conditions but Hamilton and Alonso got through unscathed. Nick Heidfeld, with the absence of the Ferraris, was now in third place and Jenson Button challenged him up the inside into Turn 1. The two collided as Heidfeld failed to give the Brit any room, sending Heidfeld down the order and the Honda's front wing got trashed.
Though Jenson was able to continue for a few more laps without it, he eventually had to bow to the inevitable and come in for a new one. Further back Alex Wurz lost his Williams under braking for Turn 1 hit the barrier on the inside and ricocheted across the track, taking out an innocent Felipe Massa. Though Massa was spun round, his car was seemingly undamaged.
The race order on Lap 20 was: Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel in an incredible 3rd place for Toro Rosso, Mark Webber, Jenson Button (yet to pit for his new wing) Fisichella, Kovalainen, Kubica (who had water getting into his air filter), David Coulthard in 9th place and Nick heidfeld in 10th.
On Lap 21 Hamilton whittled the Fastest Lap down to 1:29.018 - only five seconds off pole time on extreme wet tyres, a total vindication of Charlie Whiting's decision to start the race. Further back Adrian Sutil was up to 10th place and the flying Kimi Raikkonen had made it through to P14 despite his big fuel load.
Takuma Sato gave his fans a heart-stopping moment when he exited the pits on Lap 22 with his car very much on fire, however the spray off the track was enough to extinguish it before he even got up to racing speed.
At the front Lewis Hamilton was edging out a gap to Alonso - on Lap 23 he was 2.6 clear and on Lap 24 with a new Fastest lap of 1:28.806 he was 3.0 clear. Raikkonen was 43 seconds back in P12. We were staring at the possibility of McLaren guaranteeing one of their drivers would win the drivers' title in Japan should the Finn fail to get above 7th place.
By Lap 26 Raikkonen was up to P.11 with the two McLaren drivers trading similar times. Crucially, though, Hamilton had taken pole position with more fuel on board and it was Alonso who pitted first at the end of Lap 27. At the same time Hamilton lowered the fastest lap to 1:28.193 giving him a decisive edge.
Because when Alonso exited the pits he was behind a train of Fisichella/Kovalainen/Kubica and Coulthard. When Hamilton pitted a lap later he was able to get out in front of them.
On Lap 28 Raikkonen continued his inexorable move forwards taking P10 off Sutil. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso left the track and spun briefly dropping three seconds back from Coulthard.
With Hamilton pitting from the lead and rejoining in P3 it was now a case of Toro Ross leading the Japanese GP on sheer pace! The positions on Lap 30 were: Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Fisichella, Kovalainen, Kubica, Coulthard, Alonso, Heidfeld, and Raikkonen in 10th
Vettel handed the lead of the race to Red Bull's Mark Webber on Lap 32 and sank back down to P9 in front of Raikkonen. At this stage of the race, both Alonso and Hamilton were beginning to look very slow. Hamilton was fuelled to the end of the race and was being caught by the much lighter Renaults and Kubica. Alonso was similarly being caught by Vettel and Raikkonen.
The hard-charging Kubica, who'd got past the Renaults, then threw his BMW-Sauber into now-second place Lewis Hamilton and bounced the McLaren to the side of the track to take a place. Luckily for Hamilton he could continue but felt a vibration all the way to the line. The stewards subsequently penalised Kubica by giving him a drive-through penalty (which looked a bit harsh under the circumstances, given the huge variety of lines drivers were taking through the turns).
Just as this was happening Sebastien Vettel dived clumsily down the inside of Fernando Alonso into Turn 1 pushing the Spaniard into the run off area. Alonso was now behind Kimi Raikkonen and two places behind Vettel. Alonso clealy got the red mist down after this because he set the fastest middle sector of anyone during the race immediately afterwards.
In front of him, though, his team-mate was suffering just as badly. Hamilton ran wide early on Lap 36 and was passed by the Renaults and David Coulthard. With Mark Webber pitting on Lap 36 and Kubica on Lap 37 he was now 4th, but the three cars in front of him would all have to stop fairly soon and Lewis wouldn't have to stop again.
On Lap 38 it was clearly raining harder as the lap times started to go back down to 1:33s and 1:34s. Kimi Raikkonen, needed to stop once again on Lap 40 just as Alonso started to close on him again. The Ferrari pitcrew looked slightly disorganised with the fuel hose going on very late.
With Fisichella the last of the leaders to pit on Lap 41 this left Lewis Hamilton in the lead, followed by a closing Mark Webber, Sebastien Vettel and Fernando Alonso. None of these drivers needed to stop before the chequered flag so the race was on.
And then on Lap 42 Alonso ruined his World Champioship by losing control of his Mclaren before Turn 6 and sliding it into the wall. With bits of rear end deposited all over the track there was no option but to deploy the Safety Car again. Though it was good news for 11th placed Kimi Raikkonen it was even better news for leader Hamilton. What's more it left the Toro Rosso team in P3 and P4!
Liuzzi had to pit on Lap 44 and so the order as the cars circulated on Lap 46 was Hamilton from Webber, Vettel, Kovalainen, Massa, Coulthard, Fisichella, Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen in 9th place.
The catastrophe for the Red Bull organisation happened on Lap 47 when Sebastien Vettel chose to watch Lewis Hamilton's car instead of Mark Webber in front of him and in that split second of inattention thumped his car into the back of the Australian's. Both cars were out, though Vettel was able to hobble back to the pits to retire his car in tears.
This now elevated the Ferraris to an incredible 3rd and 7th!
On Lap 49 the race was re-started and as the cars flashed around after the opening charge Raikkonen was up to an incredible 5th place. While Hamilton was able to drive away from Kovalainen at over a second a lap, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th were all close and racing hard.
The positions on lap 52 were: Hamilton, Kovalainen, Massa, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Barrichello and Robert Kubica in 9th place.
Coulthard was setting personal best times keeping his Red Bull in front of former McLaren team-mate Raikkonen, but Kimi was very brave into Turn 5 and taking a line that no-one else chose into that corner. He would go off there at least twice towards the end, but such was the grip on the run-off tarmac that it hardly affected his lap time. On Lap 57 he nailed DC with an impressive overtaking move that left Coulthard no chance at all.
Raikkonen was now in 4th place with another Ferrari in front of him - and Massa was duly called in for tyres and a splash of fuel on Lap 59 leaving Raikkonen clear in third place to challenge Heiki Kovalainen for second place. It had been an amazing transformation of his fortunes from Lap 3 when he had been at the back of the field.
Usually in the closing stages of he race there is very little change in the order, but with the late Safety Car there was racing all the way to the line. Rubens Barrichello's late pit-stop allowed Robert Kubica through and Nick Heidfeld's retirement on Lap 65 meant that he and Felipe Massa would be fighting it out in the closing stages.
Hamilton was under no threat but had to keep his concentration to the line in atrocious conditions. Meanwhile the fight of the moment was the Finnish battle of Rakkonen versus Kovalainen for P2. Heiki kept the place to the line, but had to fight very hard for Renault's first podium of the year.
Hamilton kept his composure to the line and took the most impressive win of his short GP career, the rookie having only driven his McLaren once before in the rain of the Nurburgring. To have held his nerve and kept his car on the tarmac when his World Champion team-mate couldn't, proved to even the sternest critic that it is not luck that has put him as firm favourite to take the drivers' title.
David Coulthard finished fourth ahead of Fisichella in fifth and the entertainment of the day - Massa versus Kubica involved in a no holds barred dodgems race for sixth place. The cars swapped positions four or five times on the last lap, Massa pushing Kubica wide and Kubica returning the favour on Massa at the very last corner. The Ferrari shot off onto the run-off tarmac after a fairly brutal sweep from the BMW.
However the move was so extreme it had put Kubica's tyres onto the grass while Massa had more grip on the runoff tarmac and sped off to the line in front. It will certainly make the highlight tape at the end of the season and it was great to see the two shaking hands in Parc Ferme. It's what F1 is all about.
Tonio Liuzzi picked up a consolation point for Toro Rosso, but there were chances today when it could have been their first podium.
It was an epic race with strong performances from many drivers. But on a day when the safety of everyone was in the hands of Race Director Charlie Whiting, the FIA man had shown that he was a superb judge of the conditions. And though drivers moaned incessantly about the conditions, the lap times justified each decision he mde in the race.
James Hunt won his World Championship for McLaren in the rain of Fuji in 1976. Hamilton has put on hand on the trophy 31 years later.
Frank Hopkinson
Results
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 2:00:34.579
02 H. Kovalainen Renault + 8.377
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 9.478
04 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 20.297
05 G. Fisichella Renault + 38.864
06 F. Massa Ferrari + 49.042
07 R. Kubica BMW + 49.200
08 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 55.600
09 A. Sutil Spyker F1 + 1:01.100
10 R. Barrichello Honda + 1:28.300
11 J. Button Honda + 1 laps
12 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 + 1 laps
13 J. Trulli Toyota + 1 laps
14 N. Heidfeld BMW + 2 laps
15 T. Sato Super Aguri + 2 laps
Did not finish
16 R. Schumacher Toyota + 122 laps
17 A. Davidson Super Aguri + 46 laps
18 N. Rosberg Williams + 18 laps
19 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso + 21 laps
20 M. Webber Red Bull + 22 laps
21 F. Alonso McLaren + 26 laps
22 A. Wurz Williams + 48 laps
