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Formula 1
Japanese GP
2012 Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix
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Lap 32: Grosjean has passed Glock and moves up into 16th place. He is six seconds behind Kovalainen.
Lap 32: Hamilton and Hulkenberg also pile in.
Lap 32: Kobayashi resumes behind Maldonado on hard tyres.
Lap 32: Hamitlon resumes and it's wheel-to-wheel with Raikkonen...
Lap 33: Hamilton keeps his foot burred and pulls clear of the Lotus at the tightening first corner. Great stuff.
Lap 33: Pic pits from 19th place in the Marussia.
Lap 33: Vettel sets the fastest lap again as Red Bull plan in his final stop.
Lap 33: Di Resta pits the Force India from 11th place, handing that spot to Mark Webber.
Lap 34: The pitstop shuffle puts Maldonado up to a temporary fourth ahead of Kobyashi, with Ricciardo now ahead of Hamilton and Raikkonen.
Lap 34: Plan B looks like a two-stop for Button, with the team now looking to go longer than Kobayashi to have fresher tyres at the finish.
Lap 34: Maldonado is in for service this time by.
Lap 34: Karthikeyan has pitted from 20th spot, but this doesn't look good. He is wheeled into the garage.
Lap 35: Massa is now clocked 16 seconds behind the dominant Vettel ahead of the final stops.
Lap 35: Di Resta rejoined in 14th spot after his recent spot, just ahead of Kovalainen, but Grosjean is right with the Finn now.
Lap 35: Riccardo makes his last pitstop from sixth on the road.
Lap 36: Senna is also in from 13th place. It's a quick stop and he rejoins.
Lap 36: Kobayshi is now 15 seconds behind Button, who is told to give it "everything you've got" before he pits.
Lap 36: It's a fumble at the rear for McLaren and Kobayashi is long gone as Button resumes on hard tyres.
Lap 36: Vergne pits the Toro Rosso from 12th place.
Lap 36: Hamilton finally finds some pace as he takes the fastest lap.
Lap 37: Button will have fresher tyres than Kobayashi at the end but will have to pass the Sauber on the road.
Lap 37: Massa makes his final stop from second place, taking hard rubber to the flag.
Lap 37: Maldonado is back to eighth after the second round of stops, but he has gained on Hulkenberg. The gap is just 1.5 seconds.
Lap 37: Schumacher has climbed to ninth, but he comes in for his second stop of the day. He takes on soft tyres and rejoins.
Lap 37: Button is clocked 4.4 seconds behind Kobayashi, with team-mate Hamilton a similar margin behind in fifth.
Lap 38: Leader Vettel is in for his final service.
Lap 38: A clean stop from Red Bull and Vettel is away for his cruise to the flag.
Lap 38: So Webber moves up into ninth place, with Ricciardo back to 10th, Schumacher rejoined in 11th with di Resta 12th.
Lap 40: Vettel completes his outlap with a 17.7 second margin over Massa.
Lap 40: Vergne is 13th with Grosjean slowly climbing through the field to 14th. Senna is 1.6s back from the Lotus and sets the fastest lap - 1m37.337s.
Lap 40: Vettel is told to look after his tyres as the team try to discourage the German from competing for the fastest lap.
Lap 40: Senna has bridged that 1.6s gap to Grosjean in double-quick time and is mounting a challenge. This is a fight for 14th.
Lap 41: Senna is all over the back of the Lotus now with his soft tyres.
Lap 41: Senna dodges left and right on the approach to Spoon curve but there is no room to get through at that part of the circuit.
Lap 41: Over the line and the battle for 14th remains in the hands of the Lotus driver, after Senna tries a late move.
Lap 42: While this battle is keeping the fans occupied, Charles Pic was forced into the pits with an engine problem. He has retired.
Lap 42: Button is eyeing some damage to Kobyashi's bid for a home podium and is now three seconds behind the Sauber.
Lap 42: Senna takes the racing line into the 130R as Grosjean defends the inside. It's quickly resolved in favour of the Brazilian. He's up to 14th.
Lap 43: @OfficialSF1Team is calling for your moral support for Kobayashi to hang on to third: "BUT closing 0.3 per lap on #Kamui. 13 laps to go. this will be very tight at the end. your support is much needed - #fingerscrossed #F1"
Lap 43: Hamilton has faded to 7.6 seconds back from Button in fifth.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Simon Strang
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