Past races in Japan always have had race incidents that bring out the safety car and this year it was different. At the race start while entering the first corner, Alonso make a move to the left and clips the rear tire into Raikkonen's front wing. Alonso blows his tire and spins out causing confusion. Going into turn 2 Williams's Senna hits Rosberg knocking him out of the race. Grosjean continued his first lap incidents by taking Webber out. Unlike Rosberg, Webber was able to keep his car going. Grosjean would later be hit by a 10 second stop and go penalty. The harshest penalty a driver can receive during the race.
Michael Schumacher managed to avoid all the collisions and managed to climb up to 16th by the time the safety car was out. through out the race, he passed other drivers with ease and with 5 laps to go began a battle with Torro Rosso's Riccardo to claim 10th place. Riccardo managed to stay ahead to claim the final point, leaving Schumacher to finish 11th, just outside the points.
Pole Sitter and race winner Sebastian Vettel maintained constant control of the race and was never threatened. With this win, he is now only 4 points behind Alonso in the championship. Ferrari's Massa showed the car's pace and finished in 2nd place after starting in 10 place. The home town favourite, Kamui Kobayashi in his Sauber Ferrari kept Jenson button at bay and finish 3rd and celebrate a podium finish in his home race.
Full Race Results
After 53 of 53 laps
| #Position | Driver | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fastest lap: S Vettel 1:35.774 on lap 52 | |||
| 1 | Germany | S Vettel | Red Bull |
| 2 | Brazil | F Massa | Ferrari |
| 3 | Japan | K Kobayashi | Sauber |
| 4 | Great Britain | J Button | McLaren |
| 5 | Great Britain | L Hamilton | McLaren |
| 6 | Finland | K Raikkonen | Lotus |
| 7 | Germany | N Hulkenberg | Force India |
| 8 | Venezuela | P Maldonado | Williams |
| 9 | Australia | M Webber | Red Bull |
| 10 | Australia | D Ricciardo | Toro Rosso |
| 11 | Germany | M Schumacher | Mercedes |
| 12 | Great Britain | P Di Resta | Force India |
| 13 | France | J Vergne | Toro Rosso |
| 14 | Brazil | B Senna | Williams |
| 15 | Finland | H Kovalainen | Caterham |
| 16 | Germany | T Glock | Marussia |
| 17 | Russian Federation | V Petrov | Caterham |
| 18 | Spain | P de la Rosa | HRT |
| 19 | France | R Grosjean (ret.) | Lotus |
| 20 | France | C Pic (ret.) | Marussia |
| 21 | India | N Karthikeyan (ret.) | HRT |
| 22 | Mexico | S Perez (ret.) | Sauber |
| 23 | Spain | F Alonso (ret.) | Ferrari |
| 24 | Germany | N Rosberg (ret.) | Mercedes |
Team & Driver Quotes
Nico Rosberg felt he had a
Michael Schumacher:
For Ross Brawn:
Norbert Haug had this to say
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