Vettel leads Red Bull one-two in Japan
Mark Webber P2, Fernando Alonso P3.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has won the 2010 edition of the Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka circuit, ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, securing another one-two finish in the season for the Milton Keynes based team.
Third place for Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher, Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, Nick Heidfeld, Williams’ Rubens Barrichello and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi.
2010 Japanese Grand Prix, lap by lap highlights:
Formation lap: Sebastian Vettel starts from pole position for the eighth time in the season ahead of team-mate Mark Webber. Third place on the grid for Renault’s Robert Kubica, fourth for Fernando Alonso, fifth for reigning world champion Jenson Button in the McLaren, sixth for Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg and seventh for Williams’ Rubens Barrichello. Position eight for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton after a five-place drop following a gearbox change penalty, nine for Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg and ten for Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher. Huge crash and heavy damage at the 130R turn for Virgin’s Lucas Di Grassi on his way to the grid: the Brazilian will definitely not take the start.
Race start: Green light at Suzuka! Into turn 1: Vettel, Kubica, Webber and Alonso. Safety car deployed. Petrov, Massa, Liuzzi and Hulkenberg all out.
Lap 2 of 53: Rosberg, Trulli, Glock and Senna pit. Replays show Petrov touching Hulkenberg, turning sharp left and hitting the barriers. Massa and Liuzzi crashed while entering Turn 1.
Lap 3 of 53: Vettel P1, Kubica P2, Webber P3, Alonso P4, Button P5, Hamilton P6.
Lap 4 of 53: Kubica is pulling off the track. The Pole lost his rear right wheel. He’s out. This is good news for Webber who regains P2.
Lap 5 of 53: Vettel P1 then Webber, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Barrichello, Schumacher and Heidfeld.
Lap 6 of 53: Safety car in this lap.
Lap 7 of 53: The race restarts. Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Button.
Lap 8 of 53: Fastest lap for Vettel: 1:38.001. Schumacher overtakes Barrichello for P6.
Lap 9 of 53: Another fastest lap for Vettel: 1:37.527.
Lap 10 of 53: Heidfeld P8, Sutil P9, Alguersuari, Kobayashi, Buemi, Rosberg, Kovalainen, Yamamoto, Trulli, Glock and Senna.
Lap 12 of 53: Trulli pressuring Yamamoto for P15.
Lap 13 of 53: Kobayashi has passed Alguersuari for P10.
Lap 15 of 53: Trulli has passed Yamamoto for P15.
Lap 18 of 53: Kobayashi overtakes Sutil for P9.
Lap 19 of 53: Sutil and Heidfeld pit. Race control: Incident between Petrov-Hulkenberg and Liuzzi-Massa will be investigated at the end of the race.
Lap 21 of 53: Barrichello pits from P7.
Lap 22 of 53: Alguersuari pits from P9. He rejoins in P13.
Lap 23 of 53: Hamilton pits from P5 and rejoins in P7.
Lap 24 of 53: Schumacher pits. He rejoins in P9.
Lap 25 of 53: Alonso pits from the third place. Vettel pits from P1. Vettel rejoins in P3, Alonso in P4. Hamilton passes Kobayashi for P5.
Lap 26 of 53: Webber pits. Fastest lap for Hamilton: 1:35.675. Button now leading the Japanese Grand Prix, but has yet to stop.
Lap 27 of 53: Schumacher and Rosberg battling for P8.
Lap 29 of 53: Fastest lap for Alonso: 1:35.452. Buemi pits from P7.
Lap 33 of 53: Yamamoto pits.
Lap 35 of 53: Button, Kobayashi and Kovalainen have yet to pit.
Lap 37 of 53: drivers out so far: Kubica, Hulkenberg, Massa, Petrov, Liuzzi and Di Grassi.
Lap 39 of 53: Button pits from the lead. He rejoins in P5. Kobayashi has pitted.
Lap 40 of 53: Team Radio for Hamilton: the Briton says he has lost third gear.
Lap 41 of 53: Fastest lap for Button: 1:34.205.
Lap 44 of 53: Button passes Hamilton for P4.
Lap 45 of 53: Smoke and oil coming off Sutil’s car at the 130R. The German spins, recovers, makes it to the pits and retires.
Lap 48 of 53: Rosberg has gone off at Turn 5. He’s out of the race. Kobayashi passes Barrichello and Heidfeld for P7.
Lap 52 of 53: Fastest lap for Vettel: 1:33.653.
Last lap: Fastest lap for Webber: 1:33.474. Sebastian Vettel leads another Red Bull one-two in the season ahead of team-mate Mark Webber. Fernando Alonso finishes third, Jenson Button fourth, Lewis Hamilton fifth, Michael Schumacher sixth, Kamui Kobayashi seventh, Nick Heidfeld eighth, Rubens Barrichello ninth and Sebastien Buemi tenth.
2010 Japanese Grand Prix race results:
Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 53 | Winner | 1 | 25 |
2 | 6 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 53 | +0.9 secs | 2 | 18 |
3 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 53 | +2.7 secs | 4 | 15 |
4 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | +13.5 secs | 5 | 12 |
5 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | +39.5 secs | 8 | 10 |
6 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 53 | +59.9 secs | 10 | 8 |
7 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 53 | +64.0 secs | 14 | 6 |
8 | 22 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 53 | +69.6 secs | 11 | 4 |
9 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 53 | +70.8 secs | 7 | 2 |
10 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 53 | +72.8 secs | 18 | 1 |
11 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | +1 Lap | 16 | ||
12 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | +1 Lap | 20 | ||
13 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | +2 Lap | 19 | ||
14 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | +2 Lap | 22 | ||
15 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | +2 Lap | 23 | ||
16 | 20 | Sakon Yamamoto | HRT-Cosworth | +3 Lap | 24 | ||
17 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | +6 Lap | 6 | ||
Ret | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | +9 Lap | 15 | ||
Ret | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | +51 Laps | 3 | ||
Ret | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | + secs | 9 | ||
Ret | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | + secs | 12 | ||
Ret | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | + secs | 13 | ||
Ret | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | + secs | 17 | ||
Ret | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | + secs | 21 |
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