Japanese GP: Vettel on another planet

Author of pole position, Sebastian Vettel was able to avoid the incidents of the first corner to take the lead while his teammate Mark Webber was a victim of the enthusiasm of Romain Grosjean in the first turn. However, the biggest casualty of this first round was Fernando Alonso, forced to abandon following a small contact with Kimi Räikkönen. After a lap under the safety car regime, Vettel resumed his march towards victory. The German pilot was never worried, whether by Kamui Kobayashi or Felipe Massa, to win his third victory of the season. He is therefore four points behind Fernando Alonso in the championship.

Behind the untouchable Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa returns to the podium. The Brazilian had no longer appeared in the Top 3 of a race F1 since the Korean Grand Prix in 2010. The driver Ferrari ahead of Kamui Kobayashi, who signs his first podium in the category at home. The Japanese was able to resist the attacks of Jenson Button at the end of the race to achieve the best result of his career. Lewis Hamilton finished in fifth position ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo.

Romain Grosjean once again experienced a difficult race. If the Frenchman did not retire on the first lap following his collision with Mark Webber, he received a 10-second stop & go since the track marshals deemed him responsible for the incident. The Lotus driver returned to his garage one lap from the finish to retire. The tricolor clan was not celebrating in Japan since only Jean-Eric Vergne took the checkered flag, in 13th position.

Discover the analysis of the Japanese Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.