2012 Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix

Five drivers retired from the Japanese Grand Prix:

Pic retired in the pits with an engine problem, while Karthikeyan also ended his day in the garage. Perez spun at the hairpin while embroiled in a huge battle with Lewis Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso were involved in a melee at the start - an incident that slashes the Spaniard's points lead in the title race.

The crowd goes wild for the local hero, chanting 'Kamui', as the top three drivers walk out onto the Suzuka podium.

The German national anthem rings out for this afternoon's winner - Sebastian Vettel.

That is followed by the Austrian national anthem for today's winning constructor - Red Bull Racing.

Vettel collects his prize for a faultless drive to victory today and is clearly delighted with his progress in the points table.

Red Bull head of car engineering Paul Monaghan is on hand to get the constructors' prize on a weekend when the team returned to dominance.

Massa receives his award for a good drive to second place. He's happy. Could this improvement be enough to secure a Ferrari drive in 2013?

The crowd are delirious as Kobayashi picks up his trophy for a fantastic third - the first Japanese home podium since Aguri Suzuki in 1990.

Massa managed to knock his bottle of champagne over as he walked to the front of the podium to salute his team and the fans.

So it's a short spraying of the bottle for the Brazilian, as Vettel and Kobayashi get to work soaking eachother.

The top three and Monaghan then stand atop the podium for the traditional end-of-race photograph, as the fans chant 'Kamui, Kamui!' again.

Jean Alesi is on hand to interview the drivers on the podium.

So it's a massive change in the drivers' championship as Alonso counts the cost of his elimination, with Vettel now just four points behind.

Raikkonen remains a distant third in the standings, with Hamilton now just a few points behind the Finn.

Another victory extends Red Bull's lead in the constructors' race, with Ferrari and McLaren still in a scrap for second.

Sauber is now well clear of Force India in sixth and even closing on Mercedes thanks to Kobayashi's great maiden podium finish.

Stick with AUTOSPORT for all the reaction to the Japanese Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel did exactly what he needed to do and put himself right in the 2012 title fight.

The race was shaped immediately at the start when championship leader Alonso tangled with Raikkonen's Lotus. The Finn was unscathed but the Ferrari driver slewed across the gravel and sensationally out of the race. That left Vettel in front of Kobayashi and all he had to do was control the race from there, to slash the gap to just four points.

Felipe Massa put in an excellent drive to second place and the Japanese fans got exactly what they were craving - a podium for Kamui Kobayashi. You can guarantee that the crowd will stay right where they are for hours to come and celebrate this excellent result.

McLaren drivers Button and Hamilton recovered reasonably well to score good points, but it is without doubt a crushingly bad day for Alonso and the Scuderia now has much work to do.

This was the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix weekend on AUTOSPORT Live. Thanks for joining us over the last three days of action. We will be back to do it all over again on Friday as the Formula 1 circus moves onto the next event - Yeongam and the Korean Grand Prix, in five days' time.