2012 Japanese Grand Prix 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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 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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

"Fantastic!" says Kobayashi as he thanks the team and reflects on a great drive to third place.

De la Rosa ends the race in 18th place, while the retiring Grosjean was the last classified finisher in 19th spot.

Kovalainen ended up 15th - a solid finish after a brilliant opportunistic start from the Finn. Glock was 16th with Petrov 17th.

Out of the points, Schumacher finishes in 11th, with di Resta 12th. The Scot held off Vergne (13th) and Senna (14th).

Maldonado finishes well in eighth spot for Williams, with Webber ninth and Ricciardo holds onto the final point with 10th spot.

Delight for Red Bull, Ferrari and particularly Sauber as the crowd celebrate wildly at Kobayashi's home podium.

Raikkonen holds on to fading rubber for sixth, ahead of a strong seventh for Hulkenberg.

Hamilton takes the points for fifth but would have wanted more on a day when Alonso didn't make it past Turn 1.

Button piled on the pressure to the flag but ends up in fourth after surviving another attack of gearbox gremlins.

But it's delight for the home fans as Kobayashi holds on for a brilliant home podium for Sauber.

Massa limits the damage for Ferrari with a great, but distant, second place.

A commanding victory from the world champion, taking giant strides towards a title defence after Alonso's early exit.

Sebastian Vettel wins the Japanese Grand Prix!

Lap 53: Meantime, Grosjean is wheeled into the garage and his difficult afternoon is over for Lotus.

Lap 53: A timing glitch meant that Ricciardo wasn't picked up as he crossed the line on his last lap. He is still 10th.

Lap 53: Button has DRS for his final attempt but it is not enough and Kobayashi looks on course for a brilliant podium.

Lap 52: Vettel sets the fastest lap at a rapid 1m35.774s on his penultimate tour of a dominant day in Japan.

Lap 52: Ricciardo in 10th is doing well holding off Schumacher, while behind them di resta is similarly able to contain Vergne and Senna.

Lap 51: Button closes to 1.2 seconds behind Kobayashi as he finds the benefit of fresher tyres.

Lap 50: He loses 14 seconds with that and comes out very close to de la Rosa's HRT.

Lap 50: Petrov answers the call and comes in to serve his drive-through penalty.

Lap 50: Ricciardo gets slightly out of shape in the slow hairpin, but Schumacher is not close enough to gain any advantage.