Japanese GP Champion : Fernado AlonsoSHIZUOKA : October 12, 2008 - Renault's Fernando Alonso stormed to his second win in a row at a wild Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, while McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton plunged from first to last and failed to score.
Hamilton finished in 12th after starting on pole, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa battling to eighth - later promoted to seventh - to close the gap on the Briton to five points with two races left.
The Formula One title rivals both received drive-through penalties, Hamilton for cutting across Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and causing mayhem behind him in a mad dash to the first corner.
Massa, who survived several scrapes during the race, was similarly penalised after the Brazilian collided with Hamilton on lap two, spinning the McLaren and leaving the Briton in 18th.
"I made a mistake at the first corner and I paid for it," Hamilton told reporters. "Then Felipe hit me off. I left room on the apex of turn 11 but he hit me pretty hard.
Hamilton, who won in Japan last year before allowing Raikkonen to make up a 17 point deficit over the final two races to take the title, said his championship hopes had not suffered serious damage.
"I don't think it makes any difference," said the 23-year-old. "I lost one point today which is I guess damage limitation. We'll move on to next week.
"We'll still be as competitive and we are going to make sure we win the last two races."
BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica finished second to boost the Pole's outside chances of the championship, while Raikkonen's third place ended his title defence.
CRUCIAL POINT
Massa picked up what could be a crucial extra point after stewards penalised Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais for a tangle with the Brazilian as his Toro Rosso emerged from the pits on lap 51.
"He just hit me coming out of the box (pits)," said Massa. "It was completely wrong. It could have been better in terms of points but we can't leave here saying it was a disaster."
Hamilton has 84 points with Massa on 79. Kubica has 72 with races in China and Brazil remaining.
"This is completely unexpected," said Alonso, a surprise winner in Singapore two weeks ago for a team who began the season struggling to score points.
"I can't believe it. Anything is possible now in the last two races," added the double world champion after capturing his 21st victory from fourth on the grid.
Raikkonen, who started alongside Hamilton on the front row, earned Ferrari six points, lifting them back above McLaren in the constructors' race. Ferrari have 142 to McLaren's 135.
Renault's Brazilian rookie Nelson Piquet finished fourth with Toyota's Jarno Trulli taking fifth at the Japanese team's home circuit.
Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, a winner in Italy last month, was promoted to sixth while Australian Mark Webber moved up to eighth for Red Bull.
Japan's only Formula One driver Kazuki Nakajima was 15th and the final finisher in his home debut for Williams.
2008 Japanese Grand Prix : Race result
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time/Retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault |
1:30:22
|
10 |
| 2 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber |
+5.2 secs
|
8 |
| 3 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari |
+6.4 secs
|
6 |
| 4 | 6 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault |
+20.5 secs
|
5 |
| 5 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota |
+23.7 secs
|
4 |
| 6 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | STR-Ferrari |
+39.2 secs
|
3 |
| 7 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari |
+46.1 secs
|
2 |
| 8 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault |
+50.8 secs
|
1 |
| 9 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber |
+54.1 secs
|
|
| 10 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari |
+59.0 secs
|
|
| 11 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota |
+62.0 secs
|
|
| 12 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes |
+78.9 secs
|
|
| 13 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda |
+1 Lap
|
|
| 14 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda |
+1 Lap
|
|
| 15 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota |
+1 Lap
|
|
| Ret | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari |
Gearbox
|
|
| Ret | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes |
Engine
|
|
| Ret | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari |
Puncture
|
|
| Ret | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota |
Accident damage
|
|
| Ret | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault |
Accident
|
Driver Championship Standings :
| Pos | Driver | Nationality | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | British | McLaren-Mercedes | 84 |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Brazilian | Ferrari | 79 |
| 3 | Robert Kubica | Polish | BMW Sauber | 72 |
| 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Finnish | Ferrari | 63 |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld | German | BMW Sauber | 56 |
| 6 | Heikki Kovalainen | Finnish | McLaren-Mercedes | 51 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Spanish | Renault | 48 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | German | STR-Ferrari | 30 |
| 9 | Jarno Trulli | Italian | Toyota | 30 |
| 10 | Mark Webber | Australian | Red Bull-Renault | 21 |
| 11 | Timo Glock | German | Toyota | 20 |
| 12 | Nelsinho Piquet | Brazilian | Renault | 18 |
| 13 | Nico Rosberg | German | Williams-Toyota | 17 |
| 14 | Rubens Barrichello | Brazilian | Honda | 11 |
| 15 | Kazuki Nakajima | Japanese | Williams-Toyota | 9 |
| 16 | David Coulthard | British | Red Bull-Renault | 8 |
| 17 | Sebastien Bourdais | French | STR-Ferrari | 4 |
| 18 | Jenson Button | British | Honda | 3 |
| 19 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Italian | Force India-Ferrari | 0 |
| 20 | Adrian Sutil | German | Force India-Ferrari | 0 |
| 21 | Takuma Sato | Japanese | Super Aguri-Honda | 0 |
| 22 | Anthony Davidson | British | Super Aguri-Honda | 0 |
Constructor Championship Standings :
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ferrari | 142 |
| 02 | McLaren-Mercedes | 135 |
| 03 | BMW Sauber | 128 |
| 04 | Renault | 66 |
| 05 | Toyota | 50 |
| 06 | STR-Ferrari | 34 |
| 07 | Red Bull-Renault | 29 |
| 08 | Williams-Toyota | 26 |
| 09 | Honda | 14 |
| 10 | Force India-Ferrari | 0 |
[Source : SuperWheel ; Image courtesy of ING-Renault F1 Team]
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