Sebastian Vettel reaffirmed his position in the 2010 title fight as he led Red Bull Racing’s third 1-2 finish for this year at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.
The German led the race after getting pole position in the rescheduled qualifying session the morning before the race. He was also strong in both Friday practice sessions, but opted not to set a time during Saturday practice, like many other drivers, due to terrible weather conditions.
This brings him to 3rd in the Drivers Championship standings with 206 points. His teammate Mark Webber still leads the championship with 220 points, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has the same points as Vettel, but is ranked 2nd by virtue of having more race wins this year.
It wasn’t exactly a good day for Lewis Hamilton who qualified P3 but had to drop five places to start from P8 after a gearbox change on Saturday. Then the McLaren driver eventually had problems during the race as he lost third gear. His teammate Jenson Button, who was at 5th place that time, eventually caught up with him and finished 4th.
The race had six retirements, including Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi, and Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg who all retired after crashes at the start of the race.
Robert Kubica’s race ended early when he lost his right rear wheel under the Safety Car period following several incidents after the first lap. This was rather unfortunate especially for the Renault fans as the Pole seemed to be the only driver who could shake things up on the podium.
But for many, the real star of the race was local boy Kamui Kobayashi, who drove what many considered a superb race, overtaking five drivers with some aggressive moves: Nick Heidfeld, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari and Rubens Barrichello were all passed by the Sauber driver. He went on to finish P7, while his teammate finished P8, making this Sauber’s best finish of the year so far.
The title fight now continues to the relatively unknown Korea. Points are important, but wins will definitely count more. Who will come out on top?
Photo © Clive Mason / Getty Images
