2012 Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix

Vettel

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 15 of this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka.

Sebastian Vettel produced a dominant display both in final practice and in the qualifying session itself to claim his fourth straight pole at this wonderful 5.807km track with a lap of 1m30.839s, ahead of Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber.

Rivals don't fear Red Bull's upturn in form

Local hero Kamui Kobayashi is a magnificent third on the grid and needs a result today. The Sauber driver is fighting for a drive next season and has to convert a solid qualifying result into a large haul of points. Romain Grosjean is alongside him in the Lotus, with new McLaren signing Sergio Perez fifth and championship leader Fernando Alonso departing from sixth. This could be another damage limitation exercise for the Spaniard.

The drivers have completed their laps to the grid and we expect an intense 53-lap race this afternoon.

This is how the standings look heading in to today's race: World Championship standings, round 14: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Alonso 194 1. Red Bull-Renault 298 2. Vettel 165 2. McLaren-Mercedes 261 3. Raikkonen 149 3. Ferrari 245 4. Hamilton 142 4. Lotus-Renault 231 5. Webber 133 5. Mercedes 136 6. Button 119 6. Sauber-Ferrari 100 7. Rosberg 93 7. Force India-Mercedes 75 8. Grosjean 82 8. Williams-Renault 54

Fans in the packed grandstands rise for the Japanese national anthem.

The unthinkable has happened - we've had three dry and fine days at Suzuka with plenty of sunshine and no rain during the on-track action.

Dry and sunny conditions will continue through the race today, with a slight north-westerly breeze and air temperature up to 26 degrees, allowing track surface temperature to reach almost 40 Celsius.

Here's how the grid will line up after a raft of penalties are applied: Pos Driver Car 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 4. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 5. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes * 9. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 10. Felipe Massa Ferrari 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 15. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes * 16. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 17. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 18. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 19. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari *** 20. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 22. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 23. Michael Schumacher Mercedes ** 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth * Five-place gearbox penalty ** 10-place penalty for collision in Singapore *** Three-place penalty for impeding

Button

"A very fast and tactical race," promises Pirelli's Paul Hembery as the teams prepare for the challenges of Suzuka on soft and hard compound tyres.

Red Bull certainly is very fast this weekend and looks set to dominate from the front in what is likely to be a two-stop event.

Soft rubber had a significant margin in qualifying and looks to be a reasonable race tyre, with strategists looking for feedback from the drivers over the first stint to make a choice of compound for the middle part of the race.

Blistering of the rear tyres is a concern for teams thanks to the high-speed nature of the circuit, meaning outfits will be keeping a close eye on the rubber for any signs of trouble.

Sauber, Lotus, Ferrari and McLaren drivers will all be eying the podium today, with the latter setting a strong race pace on Friday but ending up boxed back in 8th and 9th on the grid and looking to make early progress.

Great atmosphere on the grid as the drivers begin to get comfortable in the cars infront of a cheering crowd.

There are just five minutes remaining until the formation lap begins at Suzuka.

One DRS zone here, slightly shorter than last year, with the wing allowed to open down the pit straight.

With an increase in wind speed, track temperature has cooled to 32 Celsius as the drivers concentrate in their cockpits ahead of the race.

Final choice of tyres now on the cars, with those outside the top 10 having the option of starting on the harder compound.

Polesitter Vettel puts on his gloves, as he finishes off his pre-race routine.

Early indications are that Vergne, Pic and Schumacher are the men rolling the strategy dice with a first stint on hard compound tyres.

The formation lap begins at Suzuka. Vettel answers the call and leads the field of 24 away from the grid under glorious sunshine.

All 24 drivers left the grid without problem, as Vettel rounds Dunlop and heads for the Degner curves.

The safety car has been out in a majority of recent events here, with recovery of a stranded car often difficult at this classic venue.

The Red Bull driver takes them through Spoon and starts the uphill drag towards the fearsome 130R corner.

Exiting the chicane now and Vettel slows the pace down dramatically, as he attempts to get the field bunched up behind him.

But many of them have held back and there are large gaps, as the drivers head to the grid.

The grid is now all set. We are ready for 53 racing laps this afternoon. We await the lights...

Lap 1: The five red lights go out and we are racing in Japan!

Lap 1: Vettel gets away extremely well and Kobayashi is through into second place ahead of Webber into the first corner.

Lap 1: Down to the hairpin for the first time it is Vettel from Kobayashi and Button as carnage sets in behind.

Lap 1: But there are problems behind and Alonso has spun at the first corner!

Lap 1: The safety car has been deployed.

Lap 1: Rosberg is also out of the race and he climbs out of the car. Alonso is out of the race!

Lap 1: This does huge damage to his points lead and the Spaniard is already storming back to the Ferrari garage.

Lap 1: Vettel forms up behind the big Mercedes tailed by Kobayashi, Button, Massa, Raikkonen, Perez, Hamilton and Hulkenberg.

Lap 1: Webber was also involved in the melee and he has dropped all the way down to 22nd position.

Lap 2: Grosjean pits the Lotus and the front wing is being changed.

Lap 2: Senna is also in for a new nose and he rejoins at the back of the field.

Lap 2: Still waiting for replays of that first corner drama which has huge implications for the points standings.

Lap 2: Webber pits the Red Bull and the crew change him onto hard tyres. He gets away.

Lap 2: The safety car will pit at the end of this lap.

Lap 2: Button cut through the carnage and is back up to his qualifying spot of third as we head towards the restart.

Lap 2: An explosive start to the race and extreme repercussions for the championship. The field is already up to the 130R as they get ready for the restart.

Lap 3: The safety car comes into the pitlane and we are racing once again.

Lap 3: This changes everything in the world championship. If Vettel can win this race and Alonso doesn't score, there could be just four points in it!

Lap 3: Vettel streaks away up front as Button looks to challenge but it's a battle behind as Perez and Raikkonen go wheel-to-wheel.

Lap 3: This is like a GP2 race and the drivers are really going at it - certainly no caution from them today as the title race gets more tense.