Alonso is the one in striking distance. The worry is that Vettel leaves
Alonso, and the rest, standing. The way the double world champion won on
Sunday, by over 20 seconds and clearly with plenty to spare, was ominous.
But somehow, the way this season has evolved, an uncomplicated stroll to the
finish line seems unlikely.
Sunday’s race was typical of this season, and not just because Grosjean was
involved in a first-lap accident. It involved major players in the title
race failing to reach the finish line, or even the second corner. When that
happens leads can quickly change hands.
Alonso fell victim to a puncture when he was clipped by the front wing of
Raikkonen’s Lotus as they duelled off the start line, the Spaniard at least
partly responsible for his own demise. Just seconds later Webber was sent
spinning by Raikkonen’s team mate Grosjean, who was given a 10-second
stop-and-go penalty for what was his seventh first-lap incident this year.
Webber recovered well to finish ninth but his championship hopes are
effectively over and his fierce criticism of Grosjean was understandable.
Hamilton had a few choice words to say about Pérez, too, after a fascinating
duel between the pair underscored by recent announcements concerning their
respective futures. “He didn’t drive very well,” Hamilton said of Sauber’s
22-year-old Mexican, who he claimed passed him with a “crazy” move on lap
six before spinning off 13 laps later trying the same thing. I saw him
coming [on lap six] and I have a championship to fight for and he doesn’t
so…” said Hamilton, who eventually finished fifth to reduce his deficit to
Alonso to 42 points.
“I thought that he was going to do a crazy manoeuvre, which he did. Then
[later] when he was behind me I saw it coming again so I moved a little to
the inside, and he just flew down the outside of me. He out-braked himself
with me. It was interesting.”
Pérez accepted responsibility for the incident, apologising to his team, but
Sauber had no reason to be angry, Kamui Kobayashi holding off McLaren’s
Jenson Button for a brilliant third place to become only the second Japanese
driver, after Aguri Suzuki in 1990, to finish on the podium at Suzuka, and
only the third Japanese in the history of the sport to finish on a podium
anywhere.
Kobayashi’s future remains uncertain, with Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn
declining to get caught up in what was an emotional celebration lent greater
resonance by Japan’s tsunami last year. “The crowd were fantastic,” she
said. “It was like Kamui had won the race. But we always said we would make
our decision irrespective of the outcome here.”
Kobayashi mounted something of a collectors’ item of a podium featuring
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa for the first time in two years. So long has it been,
the Brazilian managed to botch his champagne celebrations but he may well
have secured himself another season at Ferrari with his solid drive to
second place. The Force India pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta
remain hopeful of unseating him.
Alonso is already steeling himself for the next round of his battle, and has
clearly been delving into Japan’s past in preparation.
“If the enemy thinks in the mountains, attack by sea,” he told his Twitter
followers, quoting from Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings.
“If they think in the sea, attack by the mountains.” Let battle commence.
Results:
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull – Renault 1:28:56.242 2. Felipe Massa
(Brazil) Ferrari +00:20.639 3. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber – Ferrari
00:24.538 4. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 00:25.098 5. Lewis Hamilton
(Britain) McLaren 00:46.490 6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus – Renault
00:50.424 7. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India – Mercedes 00:51.159 8.
Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams – Renault 00:52.364 9. Mark Webber
(Australia) RedBull – Renault 00:54.675 10. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
Toro Rosso – Ferrari 01:06.919 11. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes
01:07.769 12. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India – Mercedes 01:23.460 13.
Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso – Ferrari 01:28.645 14. Bruno Senna
(Brazil) Williams – Renault 01:28.709 15. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)
Caterham – Renault 1 lap 16. Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia – Cosworth 1 lap
17. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham – Renault 1 lap 18. Pedro de la Rosa
(Spain) HRT – Cosworth 1 lap 19r. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus – Renault 2
laps r. Charles Pic (France) Marussia – Cosworth 16 laps r. Narain
Karthikeyan (India) HRT – Cosworth 21 laps r. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber –
Ferrari 35 laps r. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 53 laps r. Nico Rosberg
(Germany) Mercedes 53 laps (rank: r = retired, nc = not classified) Fastest
Lap: Sebastian Vettel,1:35.774, lap 52.