Vettel wins again at Suzukaposted in F113 | 10 | 2013
RED BULL'S SEBASTIAN VETTEL continued his unrelenting march towards his four successive Formula One World Championship when he won the Japan Grand Prix. It was his fifth straight race victory, and his third in Japan in four years.
The German now heads to India in a fortnight knowing he needs only to finish fifth, or higher, to clinch this year's title.
But Vettel was made to fight for his win au Suzuka. Starting from second on the grid behind team-mate Mark Webber, he was jumped by the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
Related: Is Di Resta really under pressure?
The Frenchman led the race until the final round of pitstops, after which he was overtaken first by Vettel, then Webber.
Lewis Hamilton also got the jump on both the Red Bulls, but his right-rear tyre was clipped by Vettel's front wing, instantly puncturing the tyre. He was later forced to retire due to he damage caused to the underfloor of the car as he returned to the pits.
Vettel's closest rival, Fernando Alonso — albeit that he's now 90 points in arrears in his Ferrari — battled through tio finish fourth, completing a great pass around the outside of Nico Hulkenberg's Suber heading into Turn 1 to seal the position.
Scot Paul di Resta narrowly missed out on scoring a world championship point when he was lost 10th place in the closing laps as the tyres on his Sahara Force India lost performance. He finished 11th.
DRIVER QUOTES
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull:
“A very rewarding win today; it’s a great feeling. I love this track and it’s just fantastic to win here. It was a horrible start to be honest; we found ourselves sitting in third place and then tried to go longer in the first stint.
"I had great traction after I got past Romain and after that the only threat was Mark who got stuck behind Romain. We could then manage the gap until the end of the race. The Championship is the big target of course, but the season is very long still and the best way to wrap it up is not to think about it.
"I’m happy to go home for a bit now and to relax before we go out to India. That’s an impressive country and I’m looking forward to racing there in a couple of weeks.”
Mark Webber, Red Bull:
“We were on the back foot a bit after Romain’s great start. I wanted to put pressure on him for the win. Sebastian was on a different strategy to me and in the end it worked out pretty similar. It’s hard to know which was right (a two or three stop strategy), as we were trying to cover off Romain. I did my best and in the end it was a good result.”
Romain Grosjean, Lotus:
“Today was just a very, very good race. What a start! It was superb to go past both the Red Bulls like that and it’ll be one of my best memories of the year. The car was fantastic on the first set of tyres and we managed to pull away, but then the Red Bulls were able to reel us in later on.
"Ultimately, we were the only car to almost catch the bull. It’s been a great home race for my engineer; it’s always good to come to Japan and it’s really good to be back on the podium again.”
Fernando Alonso, Ferrari:
“Fourth place was the most I could do today, as the three ahead of me were really out of reach and so, given our starting position and how practice went in general, I am happy. It was an action packed race and even if we suffered with traffic, degradation was more normal than in Korea and we were back to having a good pace. Certainly, we need to find something extra if we want to finish on the podium in the next four races.
"Today, Mercedes had a few problems and we made up some important points, but we must give it our all, if we want to stay second in the Constructors’ classification, because they are not far behind. I am very proud of having become the driver with the most points in the history of this sport, even if for a few years now, with the change to the points system, you get more. Now I want to celebrate this record and think about the next race in India. This one is already in the past.”
Jenson Button, McLaren:
“The first two stints of the race were pretty difficult as I had massive understeer. That was my fault: on the lap-to-grid, it felt like I had too much front-end, so I took some wing out of the car. It was the wrong thing to do – it left me with too much understeer, and I kept locking up the fronts, which destroyed the front tyres. For the third set, we added some front-wing, and the balance came back to me.
"In the end, the car was really good to drive – especially my final stint on the Option tyre, which was a lot of fun, especially as I was able to chase down and pass a couple of other cars. In the closing laps, I made a great move on Paul [di Resta] around the outside of the chicane.
"I made the same move on Felipe [Massa] too, but he forced me over the kerb, so I ended up getting him on the straight. So it was an enjoyable end to the race, but a disappointing beginning.”
Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus:
“I had a very poor start. I left the line with wheelspin and lost a few places which wasn’t ideal, but I managed to gain places back later on in the race. After the final pit stop the car was working much better. It ran well in the last half of the race and I was very happy with it. It was a pretty normal race I would say. It’s difficult to overtake here so it’s good that we got some points. We did what we could.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes GP:
“I got a fantastic start this afternoon, better than both Red Bulls for probably the first time this year. Mark moved right, so I had to move as well, which sandwiched Sebastian between me and Romain. Seb's front wing clipped my right rear, cut the tyre and that was that. It wasn't his fault at all, just one of those things that wasn't meant to be this afternoon.
"I feel most gutted for the team - the guys here at the track and in the factory - because they are doing an amazing job right now and we're just not getting the reward for it. Looking to the last four races, I will just be going out there to enjoy them and score as many points as I can for the team.
"I still believe that second in the Constructors' Championship is in our reach if our luck takes a turn for the better and that's what we will all be aiming for.”
Paul di Resta, Sahara Force India:
“At the start of the race I didn’t get a good launch and a few cars came by me, and then we lost out at the first pit stop because the Williams of Bottas jumped us. That compromised the second stint, which is why we went very aggressive with an early second stop to get track position and move ahead of the Williams.
"The car felt better for the final stint and it looked like we were on course for a point. In the end we were about five laps too short with the tyre life because I couldn’t defend from Jenson [Button]. With four races to go we need to take the positives from this weekend and will travel to India determined to get back in the points.”
F1 Japanese Grand Prix — Results:
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h26m49.301s
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +7.1s
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +9.9s
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +45.6s
5. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault +47.3s
6. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari +51.6s
7. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari +1m11.6s
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1m12.0s
9. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +1m20.8s
10. Felipe Massa Ferrari +1m29.2s
11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1m38.5s
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
14. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
15. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault +1 lap
17. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault +1 lap
18. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault +1 lap
19. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
Fastest lap: Mark Webber, 1m34.587s
Not classified/retirements:
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 9
Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1
Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1
World Championship standings, (After 15 of 19GPs):
Drivers:
1. Vettel 297
2. Alonso 207
3. Raikkonen 177
4. Hamilton 161
5. Webber 148
6. Rosberg 126
7. Massa 90
8. Grosjean 87
9. Button 60
10. Hulkenberg 39
11. Di Resta 36
12. Sutil 26
13. Perez 23
14. Ricciardo 18
15. Vergne 13
16. Gutierrez 6
17. Maldonado 1
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 445
2. Ferrari 297
3. Mercedes 287
4. Lotus-Renault 264
5. McLaren-Mercedes 83
6. Force India-Mercedes 62
7. Sauber-Ferrari 45
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 31
9. Williams-Renault 1
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Jim McGill