If he does, when he does, no one can say he does not deserve it. Vettel’s
consistency is extraordinary, but as the 26 year-old proved again on Sunday,
his battling qualities are not half bad either.
In fighting back to win this race, Vettel became only the sixth driver in
history to win five consecutive races, following in the footsteps of Alberto
Ascari, Michael Schumacher, Jack Brabham, Nigel Mansell and Jim Clark.
It was a tense scrap as the strategies came into play, and it could have
included Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had he not sustained a puncture in the
opening seconds.
Lining up on the grid, Hamilton pointed his car at such an angle it was
apparent the 28 year-old was aiming to arrow between the front-row Red Bull
lock-out.
When the five red lights disappeared Hamilton did exactly that, and managed to
pull alongside Vettel on the run down to the first corner.
But with the merest of touches, Hamilton punctured his right-rear tyre in
making contact with the front left on Vettel’s Red Bull.
It caused an instant deflation, dropping Hamilton to the back of the pack and
an immediate pit stop at the end of the first lap for fresh rubber.
But in limping back to the pits, it was eventually apparent Hamilton also
sustained damage to the floor of his car, resulting in him retiring for the
first time this season after eight laps.
Hamilton said: “I had a great start, one of my best all year, if not the
best. I went for the gap, I felt I had a clear gap, but then going into turn
one the rear tyre was down. I cannot believe my luck, but that’s life.”
Asked whether he could have continued, Hamilton replied: “Nah! The floor
was destroyed. I was a second and a half, two seconds down per lap. I
couldn’t have made it to the end.”
What then followed was the strategy battle between the two Red Bulls and the
Lotus, with Webber running a three-stop plan compared to the two of Vettel
and Grosjean.
The Frenchman, who had made a blistering start to take the lead from fourth on
the grid heading into turn one, led for the opening 12 laps before his first
stop.
Through the first round of stops Grosjean managed to recapture the lead, yet
all the while Vettel was calmly working to his strategy. The German played a
patient game, and despite a number of rare lock-ups, it proved enough to
again see him take the chequered flag.
“Ichiban!” Vettel screamed as he crossed the line, the Japanese word for
‘first’. “You’re the best team in the world, thanks a lot for bringing
the car home, thanks boys. I love you.”
Behind him, the key moment came a few laps from the end, with Webber failing
to get by Grosjean on fresh medium-compound tyres, thus losing any chance he
had of reeling in Vettel.
It was not until lap 52 of the 53 that Webber finally made his move to clinch
the runner-up spot.
Behind the leading trio, Alonso finished 45 seconds adrift of Vettel, with
Raikkonen fifth ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.
McLaren’s Jenson Button was ninth, Paul Di Resta 11th in his Force India,
while Marussia’s Max Chilton was 19th and is now the only driver to finish
every race this season.
“I’m blown away by today’s race,” Vettel said. “I had a very poor start,
I clipped my front wing and Lewis had a puncture, but after that I looked
after the tyres and had incredible pace, so overall fantastic. I’m so
overwhelmed. I’ve won here four times now, which is incredible.
“As for the championship we have a good gap, so we’ll still keep pushing.
It looks good at this stage, but it’s not over until it’s over.”
Webber, who quits Formula One for sports cars next year, said he was disappointed
not to have claimed victory in his final Japanese Grand Prix.
“The race was pretty good, although I’d like one more step on the podium,”
Webber said. “Seb went longer in his first stint, and that made the
difference, but I’m pretty happy with second. I got the best out of what I
could.”
Webber added that he had been a bit “surprised” that his strategy was changed
by his team from a two-stop to a three-stop midway through the race but put
it down to being “a piggy in the middle”, trying to catch Grosjean
while at the same time fending off Vettel.
Final positions:
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 26mins 49.301secs
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:26:56.430
3 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 1:26:59.211
4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:27:34.906
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus F1 Team 1:27:36.626
6 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:27:40.916
7 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:28:00.931
8 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:28:01.324
9 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:28:10.122
10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:28:18.564
11 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India 1:28:27.873
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap
13 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap
14 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India at 1 Lap
15 Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren at 1 Lap
16 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams at 1 Lap
17 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams at 1 Lap
18 Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham at 1 Lap
19 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia at 1 Lap
Not classified:
20 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 7 Laps completed
21 Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham 0 Laps completed
22 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 0 Laps completed
(Edited by Giles Mole)