The Complete 2007 Japanese GP Review

In the space of a single, soaking, afternoon in Japan, Lewis Hamilton put an end to 2007's remarkably close title battle and moved to within sniffing distance of a historic championship victory in his first season of Formula One.

Such a result seemed unthinkable seven months ago, and indeed in the weeks building up to Fuji it began to look increasingly unlikely - as Fernando Alonso recovered his serenity and narrowed Hamilton's lead to just two points. Amid suggestions that Hamilton had taken the stress of the inter-team feuds and the 'spygate' furore to heart and had begun to tense up on-track, it seemed as if Alonso might sneak a third straight title after all.

Fuji changed all that, as it was Alonso who slipped up in dramatic fashion and Hamilton who produced a flawless drive to victory, putting him 12 points ahead in the standings.

Prior to the race, the headlines had again been dominated by the McLaren drivers' relationship, largely because Hamilton had become noticeably less guarded in his comments about Alonso.

Each of his press briefings resulted in a new headline-friendly nugget. Despite Hamilton's insistence that his comments were being misrepresented ("the media - they're terrible, they try to twist all of your words and put words in your mouth"), lines like "since what's gone on in the last few weeks they've realised who the real people are in the team and who they really should back", "I think the team have gone out of their way, they've bent over backwards to make him feel comfortable... and then you saw what he did to the team" and "I'd much rather it were Fernando in a Ferrari and me in a McLaren" required little twisting.

By contrast Alonso - who had not been shy about stating his case earlier in the year - spent most of this weekend in a mood of dignified resignation. He remained stoically silent whenever he was quizzed about any aspect of his relationship with the team, recent controversies or his future, and was grimly realistic after the race.

It had looked difficult for Alonso from the moment he lost pole, and he will surely reflect on how many times this year he has narrowly missed the top spot in Q3 and then had a scruffy race that could have been avoided if he had started in front.

Fuji was another example, and even before his crash he was only running fourth. The momentum had already returned to Hamilton - and Alonso aquaplaning into the wall just emphasised that trend. At a track blessed with abundant asphalt run-off areas, it was somehow unsurprising that Alonso would be caught out by a puddle at virtually the only corner where the barriers border the track...

"It's not over, because it has to be over mathematically," Alonso said.

"But no doubt I need a very unlucky weekend for him, I need a retirement for Lewis with a mechanical problem or something, to have a chance to win. If the races are completely normal, it's over.

"We have to try doing the maximum and try to win both races, now more than ever, and maybe even with less pressure, because we only need to race and wait for a miracle maybe I can race more relaxed now."

That miracle may yet come - he did take 12 points out of Hamilton in the space of Silverstone and the Nurburgring after all - but the odds now favour the rookie. Hamilton can end the 16th race of his Grand Prix career as world champion if results go his way in Shanghai next weekend.

Practice

Practice one - Friday am

Practice one - Friday am

Friday morning was spent acclimatising to the track, and the drivers' response was largely positive, as what had appeared on paper to be a less-than-inspiring layout proved more challenging in reality - mainly due to the amount of gradient.

Kimi Raikkonen was fastest by 0.379 seconds over Felipe Massa, and the McLarens in third and fourth ahead of Nico Rosberg.

Adrian Sutil picked up where he had left off at Spa by taking an eye-catching ninth place for Spyker, having been as high as fifth earlier in the session. His teammate Sakon Yamamoto had a less productive morning, stopping with an engine failure.

Countryman Takuma Sato fared little better - sitting out the first hour while the rear end of his Super Aguri was changed. But teammate Anthony Davidson buoyed the local team's home fan-base with 10th place.

Practice two - Friday pm

McLaren dominated the afternoon, with Lewis Hamilton beating Fernando Alonso by 0.2 seconds.

The Ferraris were third and fifth, as Jarno Trulli threw in a quick lap for circuit owners Toyota and split Massa and Raikkonen. The latter was nearly a second off the pace, but was confident this was due to an errant set-up choice rather than a fundamental lack of speed.

Only the Renaults interrupted McLaren's possession of the top two places, moving to the front briefly after 15 minutes. Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella were ultimately pushed back to sixth and seventh.

Yamamoto was in trouble again, spinning in the final corners and then being clipped by Rubens Barrichello as he rejoined. The Spyker appeared undamaged, only for its loosened front wing to fall off as it pitted. Barrichello managed to continue unscathed, but was deeply unhappy with his car all day.

That was hardly rare given Honda's dreadful season, but it was more surprising to hear Nick Heidfeld bemoaning his BMW's handling as he ended the day only 15th.

Practice three - Saturday am

Fog led to the abandonment of the wet final session, which had repeatedly been delayed until the officials finally admitted defeat five minutes from when it was due to end.

There had been an attempt to start the session after half an hour, but just four minutes of running took place before the cloud closed in again and forced a red flag. Only the Williams and Trulli managed flying laps.

Qualifying

Part one

Conditions were not much improved by the time qualifying began, but the visibility was deemed sufficient for the medical helicopter to fly, so the session commenced on schedule.

It soon became clear that seeing was more of a problem than staying on track, as the front-runners lapped just six seconds shy of their dry pace. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa battled for the top spot in Q1, with the world champion the only man confident enough to sit out the final minutes.

Lewis Hamilton took his time getting up to speed and saw his initial lap pushed right down to 18th in the closing minutes. He eventually recovered to a safe fourth.

The only real surprise of the segment was the form of Sebastian Vettel, who put the Toro Rosso seventh despite having never driven the car in the wet before, and spinning twice early on.

His teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi also made it through, but the Spyker and Super Aguri drivers were unable to produce giant-killing performances.

Crippling understeer left Adrian Sutil 19th, between Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato - whose Super Aguris simply lacked speed, although Davidson managed to make his go a second faster than Sato could. The local favourite filled an all-Japanese back row, alongside Sakon Yamamoto.

Alex Wurz and Rubens Barrichello are no strangers to the back of the grid this season, and experienced Q1 elimination for the sixth time in 2007. The Williams driver blamed traffic and a disruptive weighbridge summons for his 17th place.

Ralf Schumacher was 14th in the session, but ended it on three wheels after running into Yamamoto at the chicane while trying for another lap.

"He moved to the outside and seemed to decide fairly late to turn in - I guess he hadn't seen me. I expected him to leave the door open and when he didn't that was it," said Schumacher, whose Toyota bounced into the air and broke its rear wing and suspension as it crashed back down to earth.

Part two

After his Q1 scare, Hamilton wasted little time in taking charge of Q2, beating Alonso to first position by 0.053 seconds.

There was little of the usual last minute excitement in the battle to squeeze into the top ten, as most drivers set their best times early and then struggled to find enough grip to improve further.

That was good news for the hugely impressive Vettel, who sat on the bubble in 10th for many minutes before it was confirmed that he had got Toro Rosso into Q3 for the first time ever.

He was a full second faster than teammate Liuzzi, but the Italian's lacklustre 15th place - ahead of the sidelined Schumacher - was largely due to the team's gamble of setting one car up for the dry and one for the wet. It was easy to guess which was which as Liuzzi floundering and Vettel strode on towards the top ten.

Jarno Trulli's bid for a tenth consecutive top ten start failed as the Toyota lacked pace in the rain. The Italian could only manage 14th behind David Coulthard, who was troubled by understeer - caused in part, he felt, by a wing adjustment he had not requested.

Renault also gambled on a dry Sunday - but this left Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen struggling with inadequate downforce in Saturday's rain. Only last gasp efforts got them up to 11th and 12th.

Part three

The drizzly, inconsistent conditions meant that Q3 was not necessarily going to follow its usual structure, and sure enough Alonso's early 1:25.539 lap on a full fuel tank stood as provisional pole even after Hamilton and the Ferraris tried fresh tyre runs with four minutes to go.

Alonso then moved the target to a 1:25.438 after his pit stop, so Raikkonen's 1:25.516 on his second run remained insufficient.

With the oversteering Felipe Massa unable to improve on his first effort and mired in fourth place, it was down to Hamilton - the last man on a flying lap - to try and wrestle pole from his teammate. The rookie rose to the challenge, beating Alonso by 0.070 seconds and then celebrating the achievement like a victory as he crossed the line and saw the result on a giant screen.

"I was overwhelmed," said Hamilton. "It was just as exciting as my first pole. I was so ecstatic I wanted to jump out of the car and do something crazy."

Having lost a little time due to a glitch with his gearshift system and in traffic, Raikkonen was confident of racing with the McLarens on Sunday, while Alonso was not too downcast about missing out on pole either. But Hamilton was confident he had the measure of both of them.

"I'm in the perfect position," he said. "Obviously I have these two breathing down my neck - but I'm not really too bothered. I just feel that the car's underneath me this weekend."

Happier with his car in the wet, Nick Heidfeld harboured hopes of infiltrating the top four, but although he took fifth, the BMW driver remained 0.8 seconds behind Massa. Heidfeld's teammate Robert Kubica was an unhappy 10th, seven tenths slower.

Although Nico Rosberg was sixth fastest, Williams had discovered a problem with his Spa engine before refitting it, so he had incurred an engine change penalty and would fall to 16th.

That elevated Jenson Button into the top six, as the Briton lived up to his reputation as a rain specialist to give Honda their best qualifying position of a dismal season.

"The driver can make a difference in these conditions and I just wish we had more races in these conditions really," he said.

"If it is dry it will probably be tough, but if it's wet then we have got the chance of scoring some damn good points."

Button beat Red Bull's Mark Webber by just 0.001 seconds, with the remarkable Vettel only 0.059 seconds slower in ninth and convinced that he could have beaten them both had Toro Rosso got him out in time for a final flying lap.

Qualifying results

* Nico Rosberg changed his engine before qualifying and therefore dropped to 16th on the grid

The Race

Conditions had worsened by Sunday morning, and the main question initially was whether the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix would take place at all.

The race began on time, but behind the safety car, and as driver after driver radioed their teams to complain that they could barely see their own steering wheels through the thick spray, it looked like the race might comprise of two hours under yellow.

Even behind the safety car there was incident aplenty. Race control had issued a directive insisting that the whole field started on extreme wet Bridgestones rather than the standard 'intermediate' wets.

But the Ferraris used intermediates, and the team remained adamant that they had not received the email stipulating extreme wets until seven minutes after the race start.

"We unfortunately can only accept that it came too late and surely the communication should have been different," said Jean Todt.

The FIA later announced that in future similar instructions would be issued both by email and in paper form, and ironically Todt acknowledged that Ferrari's tyre choice was actually inappropriate for the constantly-evolving conditions.

"Before the start of the race, there was a very small drizzle which helped us to make the decision to take these tyres and once the start happened, then the rain got much more intense, so definitely if we would have the choice, knowing that rain would increase as it did, it would probably have been very different," he said.

Indeed Felipe Massa had already spun by the time they were called in for full wets on laps three and four, and then worsened his situation by re-passing Nick Heidfeld behind the safety car - an error that would earn him a drive-through penalty.

Both Ferraris then made additional stops to fill their fuel tanks to the brim, a wise move given the unpredictability of the weather. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jarno Trulli (who had also spun under yellow), Sakon Yamamoto, Alex Wurz, Rubens Barrichello and Takuma Sato also topped up.

Although the conditions appeared little better, by lap 19 the officials deemed the track ready for racing and withdrew the safety car.

The McLarens got safely through the first corner in grid order, while moderate chaos ensued behind them. With the Ferraris dumped to the back of the field, Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button had gained third and fourth places, but both Heidfeld and teammate Robert Kubica's BMWs had developed misfires in the damp conditions and struggled on the straight.

"Due to the misfire I was only in sixth gear on the straight which means I was relatively slow. That was very dangerous because the drivers behind me could hardly see me," said Heidfeld.

"I tried to find a line where I would be as safe as possible. But then Jenson Button crashed into my car and damaged it."

Button shoved the BMW into a half-spin, dropping Heidfeld to 10th and ripping off his front wing. He persevered for two laps with little front downforce, before finally pitting for repairs and losing yet more time as an engine sensor problem caused the Honda to cut out.

Even deeper in the spray, Wurz's Williams spun across the grass approaching Turn 1 before clipping Massa's Ferrari mid-corner and mangling the Williams' suspension and front end.

Wurz was convinced he had been hit from behind on the approach to the corner, and although he could not identify his assailant - "I guess whoever it was couldn't see me, just like I couldn't see anything else" - the deranged nose on Takuma Sato's Super Aguri suggested that the Japanese driver could have been the culprit.

"Visibility was zero on the main straight and then suddenly someone braked in the middle of the straight in front of me, we touched and I damaged my front nose," said Sato, who also had a dramatic flash fire on his Super Aguri when he pitted for a new wing, although it was soon extinguished by the downpour as he accelerated back out.

Amazingly Massa's Ferrari was not damaged when struck by Wurz, although it was pushed into a spin. Massa quickly rejoined and then took his drive-through penalty, out-braking himself and revisiting the Turn 1 run-off immediately afterwards, before resuming already 65 seconds behind the leaders.

The McLarens were in a race of their own at the front. The Heidfeld/Button incident had delayed the field and allowed them to complete the first racing lap seven seconds clear of Sebastian Vettel, who had chosen the correct route around the tangled cars and snatched third.

Although the Toro Rosso lost up to two seconds per lap to the McLarens, Vettel kept a two-second cushion over fourth-placed Mark Webber, who benefited from the two Renaults being caught up behind Button's damaged Honda for two laps. After just four laps of racing, Webber was 13 seconds clear of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen, who had Kubica (his misfire clearing once up to speed) and David Coulthard close behind.

Adrian Sutil had made outstanding progress in the opening laps to take his Spyker up to ninth ahead of the delayed Heidfeld, although the BMW got back ahead on lap 25, once Heidfeld had decided it was worth continuing despite the damp electrics and the damage sustained in the clash with Button.

Raikkonen leapt to 14th on the first green lap then became bogged down in traffic. By the time he passed Sutil for 10th on lap 27, he was already 51 seconds behind Hamilton.

The leader had immediately opened out a three-second advantage over Alonso, but the Spaniard then kept the gap static, and both McLaren drivers believed they could have gone faster than the other in the initial stint.

"I was a little bit quicker in the first part but it was difficult to follow that close because I couldn't see the corners in the spray and the water," said Alonso.

"I wasn't particularly feeling pressure from Fernando," reckoned Hamilton. "I was saving fuel and easily driving away, and I could have, if I needed to, pushed more if he was on my tail."

But their main problem was the light fuel loads both had needed to carry in their fight for pole. Alonso had to pit just eight laps after the safety car had pulled off, and he rejoined at the back of the Fisichella-Kovalainen-Kubica-Coulthard queue, whereas Hamilton stopped a lap later and emerged just ahead of them.

It was a massive blow to Alonso's chances, and one he compounded by running wide and losing another three seconds on the next lap.

Now laden with fuel and lacking their initial pace, both McLarens became vulnerable in the traffic. Kubica was in a hurry to make up ground before his lap 36 pitstop, and after passing both Renaults - who also swapped places on lap 30 - he started taking two seconds per lap out of Hamilton.

The BMW was right with the McLaren as they neared the end of lap 34, but Kubica's attempt to pass at Turn 14 ended with both cars spinning into the run-off area.

"I was running much quicker and in corner 14 he was doing a completely different line," said Kubica.

"He was completely wide, I was much quicker, I stayed inside and then he cut in to the apex, I was there and unfortunately we touched. I think it was a racing accident."

Hamilton wasn't so sure: "Maybe he was a little bit too far behind to come up the inside to make the move. I couldn't see him, I couldn't hear him, and he touched me.

"It wasn't really a risk that he needed to take as he could have passed me down the straight or somewhere else."

Both rejoined between Kovalainen and Fisichella, with Kubica getting going before Hamilton - although he would soon receive a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. Hamilton then lost more places to Fisichella and Coulthard on the following laps as he feared that a vibration started by the tangle would develop into a more serious problem.

"I thought 'shoot, there's something wrong with my car' - maybe the rear tyre was going down or there was something wobbling," said Hamilton. "I was very fortunate - the team said the car seemed to be okay, so just keep it on the track."

Any hopes Alonso had of capitalising on Hamilton's problems were soon dashed when he too received a clout in traffic. Vettel had confidently led for four laps after the McLaren pitstops, and rejoined behind Alonso and Heidfeld. The light BMW then passed the McLaren into Turn 1, but when Vettel tried to repeat the move a lap later Alonso was sent spinning.

"I did not see Vettel in my mirrors and was surprised when he hit me," said Alonso, who continued in 10th but with some chunks of his rear aerodynamics missing.

"I was later on the brakes and side-by-side, and he seemed to open the brakes and turn. And by accident, we touched," said Vettel, who quickly regained his composure and overtook Heidfeld.

While Vettel was busy colliding with title contenders, Webber had led for four laps before making his own pitstop and rejoining between Hamilton and the Toro Rosso. The extra low-fuel laps and Hamilton's incident with Kubica meant that Webber closed the gap to the McLaren from 21 seconds to just 2.6 once their stops were complete.

The Renaults also took turns in the lead before pitting on laps 39 and 41 - Kovalainen stopping first having already pulled eight seconds clear of his teammate.

Coulthard, the BMWs and Raikkonen, who had risen as high as fifth, all pitted during the same period, which meant that on lap 41 Hamilton was back in first place but still only two seconds ahead of Webber, with Vettel and Alonso running third and fourth and respectively six and 10 seconds behind the leader.

It was already looking like Hamilton would leave Japan in a much stronger championship position, and his prospects received an enormous boost on lap 42 - when Alonso lost control on standing water approaching the hairpin and slammed into the tyres.

"I had aquaplaning and the car was into the wall," he shrugged.

The wrecked McLaren scattered debris across the track and prompted the reappearance of the safety car. This brought Webber back onto Hamilton's tail, and the Australian was certain he could take the fight to the points leader in the remaining laps.

But he was never given the chance, as Vettel ran into the back of the Red Bull as the field warmed their tyres and brakes behind the safety car, ending both their races.

"It's kids with not enough experience - they do a good job and then they f*** it all up," fumed Webber.

"Vettel was a bit wild behind me during the first safety car period and then did a very good job of hitting me very hard under the second safety car."

The stewards decreed that Vettel must take a 10 place grid penalty in China as a punishment for causing the crash. He was distraught after retiring in the pits, and hugely repentant.

"First of all I'm very sorry for Mark - I had no intention to put him out nor myself," he said.

"I was exiting Turn 13 and looking at Lewis, because all of a sudden he seemed to slow down really much and I thought he had a problem. By the time I was looking back to the front I was already crashing into Mark's rear end."

"In the end we cannot rewind. Of course I am disappointed with myself."

However Hamilton hinted that Webber could have handled the safety car situation better.

"I was constantly on the radio to my engineers to tell the Red Bull team to get Mark to make a little more of a gap because I couldn't go any faster because the pace car was in front of me," he said. "I'd move over because I couldn't see Mark and then he'd just appear alongside me, so he kept out-braking himself. I felt something was going to happen, and I guess my instincts told me right."

Toro Rosso might still have had a car in the top three, for after filling right up with fuel under the first safety car, Liuzzi had calmly moved up to fourth as others pitted. But the team opted to bring him in for his final stop during the second yellow. Spyker chose the same plan for Adrian Sutil, who had run the first 44 laps on one tank of fuel and was ninth when the safety car reappeared.

Ferrari decided to leave Massa on-track, so he appeared in third behind Hamilton and Kovalainen at the lap 48 restart. Despite exploring a number of run-off areas, Massa's pace had been consistent enough that Coulthard, Fisichella, Heidfeld and Raikkonen all rejoined behind him after their stops, although the Brazilian would still have to come back in for a splash-and-go unless the race was halted early.

Kovalainen could not challenge Hamilton at the restart, and the McLaren driver built a 15-second lead before cruising through the final laps to clinch a vital win and re-establish a 12-point championship advantage with just 20 points still available.

"The team was telling me to slow down, that I was a second faster than anyone, and I was saying that I was going as slow as I feel comfortable doing," he said.

"In the last couple of laps I took it easy because it was so wet and my tyres were getting old, and we were aquaplaning. But I'm thrilled to take it home."

With no further interruptions, Massa had to pit again on lap 58. But no sooner had one Ferrari disappeared from Kovalainen's mirrors, than the other one arrived. Having passed Coulthard around the outside of the 100R, Raikkonen quickly closed on the Renault and almost grabbed second - nosing ahead at the hairpin on the final lap before running wide and allowing Kovalainen to secure his first ever podium, and Renault's first of 2007.

"I couldn't see him, my mirrors were steamed up, but I saw my pit-board and every lap he was a second closer to me, so I knew at some point he was going to attack," said Kovalainen.

"I had no idea where he was quicker, he was probably a little bit quicker everywhere - the gap was coming down so fast. I was aquaplaning in many places but I really wanted the second place so I was willing to take a risk and go flat-out through those aquaplaning moments and just hope that I didn't lose the car.

"I think the team deserves one podium - at least - from this year."

Coulthard and Fisichella took comparatively serene fourth and fifth places, ahead of the most spectacular battle of this action-packed race.

Heidfeld had seemed set for sixth before his battered and sodden BMW finally expired on the final lap. That elevated Kubica into the top six, but Massa was closing fast after his late stop.

The Ferrari attacked into the chicane on the last lap, bouncing off both the kerbs and the BMW. But Kubica stayed ahead until Turn 14, where Massa surged down the inside, again with slight contact.

Heikki Kovalainen, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen © Reuters

It wasn't over yet, as Kubica dived past the Ferrari into the final corner, forcing Massa out wide onto the run-off, where he found better traction and managed to accelerate back on course in front and claim sixth. Both laughed about their incredible joust afterwards, although Kubica acknowledged it all had been "a bit on the risky side."

There was controversy over eighth too. Liuzzi and Sutil both charged back into the top ten after their pitstops, swapping places twice along the way. With Heidfeld's late retirement allowing Liuzzi up to eighth, Toro Rosso thought they could celebrate their first point of 2008.

But the stewards decreed that Liuzzi's move on Sutil had taken place under the yellow flags for Anthony Davidson's Super Aguri, which had stopped with a throttle problem. They imposed a 25-second penalty on Liuzzi, allowing Sutil to take his and Spyker's first ever point - pending the outcome of Toro Rosso's appeal.

Barrichello had run eighth for a while before having to make a splash-and-dash fuel stop. He rejoined 11th, then gained 10th when teammate Button - who had made minimal progress after his early delay - tangled with the lapped Sato on the last lap and pulled off.

It had been a superb return to the Formula One calendar for Fuji - but a dismal race for the track's owners. Both Toyotas were slow all afternoon, with Ralf Schumacher pitting several times for attention to water-logged electrics before retiring following a puncture, and Trulli only finishing 13th behind Yamamoto, who was still able to beat the Toyota even after a spin. The Williams-Toyotas fared little better, with Wurz out within seconds and Nico Rosberg stopping with electronic issues.

Race results

67 laps; 305.721km;
Weather: Wet.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  2h00:34.759
 2.  Kovalainen    Renault              (B)  +     8.377
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  +     9.478
 4.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     (B)  +    20.297
 5.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  +    38.864
 6.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    49.042
 7.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  +    49.285
 8.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  +    55.622
 9.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +  1:00.129
10.  Barrichello   Honda                (B)  +  1:28.342
11.  Button        Honda                (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Yamamoto      Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  +    2 laps
15.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:28.193

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)    56
Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    55
Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)    50
Vettel        Spyker-Ferrari       (B)    47
Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)    47
Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)    42
Wurz          Williams-Toyota      (B)    20


World Championship standings, round 15:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton     107        1.  Ferrari              170
 2.  Alonso        95        2.  BMW Sauber            92
 3.  Raikkonen     90        3.  Renault               51
 4.  Massa         80        4.  Williams-Toyota       28
 5.  Heidfeld      56        5.  Red Bull-Renault      23
 6.  Kubica        35        6.  Toyota                12
 7.  Kovalainen    30        7.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 8.  Fisichella    21        8.  Honda                  2
 9.  Rosberg       15        9.  Spyker-Ferrari         1 *
10.  Coulthard     13
11.  Wurz          13
12.  Webber        10
13.  Trulli         7
14.  R.Schumacher   5
15.  Sato           4
16.  Button         2
17.  Vettel         1
18.  Sutil          1 *

* Pending an appeal by Scuderia Toro Rosso

Team-by-Team

Hamilton is fastest in second practice, takes pole, then commands the extremely wet race to move to within touching distance of a remarkable championship triumph - quickly shrugging off a tangle with Kubica along the way.

Alonso narrowly misses pole to his teammate, runs second initially, but emerges in traffic after his pitstop and later collides with Vettel. He is running fourth when he crashes heavily on lap 42.

A gamble on dry settings leaves Fisichella and Kovalainen 11th and 12th on the grid, but they make brisk progress in the race. On a very long first stint, they both lead before their pitstops. Kovalainen passes and pulls away from Fisichella early on, then emerges in second as others stumble. He holds the position under pressure from Raikkonen. Fisichella doesn't have the same pace and finishes fifth.

Raikkonen and Massa dominate first practice but are only third and fourth on the grid behind the McLarens. Both spin during the safety car and have to pit after starting on intermediates. Raikkonen charges back through to third, nearly taking second from Kovalainen.

Massa also incurs a drive-through penalty for passing under yellow, and is tagging into a spin by Wurz, but rises to third before needing a splash-and-dash stop. He recovers to sixth after a vigorous tussle with Kubica.

Button is an outstanding sixth on the grid in the wet but tangles with Heidfeld at the start. He loses his wing then is further delayed by an engine sensor problem. Spends the race at the back but is set for 10th before colliding with Sato on the last lap. Barrichello can only manage 17th on the grid. He tops up under the safety car and gets as high as eighth before requiring a last minute pitstop. Finishes 10th.

Heidfeld qualifies fifth, while Kubica struggles to ninth. Both are hampered by misfiring engines in the heavy rain, and Heidfeld is pushed into a spin by Button at the first corner. He recovers to sixth but his car stops on the last lap. Kubica charges hard early on, but is penalised for punting Hamilton into a spin. Gets back up to sixth but loses out to Massa in a spectacular last lap duel.

Trulli's fourth place in second practice is the highlight of a dreadful weekend for the circuit owners. The Italian qualifies 14th in the wet, while Schumacher collides with Yamamoto and is 16th. Both are off the pace on Sunday, with Schumacher eventually retiring after a series of electrical problems and a puncture, and Trulli struggling to 13th, having spun under yellow at the start.

Webber starts seventh then runs a long first stint and moves up to second. He is keeping pace with Hamilton and set to challenge for the lead when Vettel hits him under yellow. Coulthard is only 12th on the grid but makes good progress on the race and rises to fourth by the flag.

Rosberg is sixth fastest in qualifying but required a pre-race engine change so falls to 16th. He spends most of the race around 12th before electrical problems force him to retire. Wurz has another bad qualifying and starts 18th, then crashes at the first corner under green after contact with an unidentified car sends him spinning into Massa.

Vettel is outstanding in the wet and takes eighth on the grid - STR's first Q3 appearance. He leaps to third when the race commences and even leads when the McLarens pit. But his race ends in disaster when he hits Webber under caution and takes them out of second and third.

Liuzzi gambles on dry settings in qualifying and is only 15th, so starts from the pitlane in the T-car with a wet set-up. He tops up with fuel under the caution and moves up to fourth as others pit, but loses ground by making his second stop during the second safety car. He recovers from 15th to eighth, only to be penalised for passing Sutil under yellow, dropping him to ninth.

Sutil is a superb ninth on Friday morning but has bad understeer in qualifying and starts 20th. He charges to ninth early on, and runs on the fringes of the top ten throughout. Battles hard with Liuzzi late on and is handed eighth when the Italian is penalised for passing under yellow.

Yamamoto has an engine failure in first practice, is swiped by Barrichello after spinning in second practice, then gets hit by Schumacher in qualifying. He starts last, but drives a strong race, beating Trulli to 12th despite a spin.

A very disappointing home race as Davidson and Sato only manage 19th and 21st on the grid. They don't feature on Sunday, with Davidson retiring from 15th with a throttle sensor problem, and Sato breaking his front wing - possibly on Wurz - at the start, then colliding with Button on the final lap.

Lap-by-Lap

Pre-race: The persistent rain stops with about 15 minutes to go and the skies brighten slightly. Drivers come to the grid on a mixture of wet and extreme-wet tyres.

Kimi Raikkonen spins in the chicane under safety car orders © LAT

Kimi Raikkonen - on wets - runs very wide during the formation laps. Tonio Liuzzi, who qualified with a full-dry set-up yesterday, remains in the pits. A Safety Car start is declared.

Lap 1: For the first time in 30 years a Formula One race kicks off at Fuji. Pole position qualifier Lewis Hamilton leads behind the Safety Car.

He is followed by Fernando Alonso, Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, and Robert Kubica, who rounds up the top 10.

Behind them, Giancarlo Fisichella in 11th leads teammate Heikki Kovalainen, David Coulthard, Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Nico Rosberg (who dropped 10 positions on the grid due to an unscheduled engine change), Rubens Barrichello, Anthony Davidson, Adrian Sutil, Takuma Sato, Sakon Yamamoto and Alex Wurz, who drops from 17th to the tail of the field after an incident unseen in the spray.

Liuzzi joins in one lap down.

Lap 2: Massa spins while running behind the Safety Car. He pits at the end of the lap to change from wets to extreme wets.

Lap 3: Raikkonen - also running ordinary wets - pits for extremes.

Lap 4: Massa and Raikkonen are now 20th and 21st respectively.

Lap 6: Raikkonen spins at Turn 10.

Lap 10: The drivers continue to fan out across the track in a bid to get a half-decent view as spray continues to envelop the circuit. Liuzzi makes a routine refuelling stop.

Lap 12: Vettel and Kubica swap sixth and seventh places. Trulli spins at Turn Six and drops from 11th to 13th.

Lap 13: Vettel and Kubica resume their rightful positions. Yamamoto pits.

Lap 14: Raikkonen makes a routine stop.

Nick Heidfeld tangles with Jenson Button as the race gets underway © LAT

Lap 15: Massa pits.

Lap 16: Liuzzi is authorised to unlap himself. Trulli drops from 13th to 17th.

Lap 17: Massa is handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking under the Safety Car. Hamilton slows briefly and Alonso almost catches up with him.

Lap 18: Barrichello, Sato and Trulli pit.

Lap 20: The Safety Car comes in. Hamilton pulls 1.9 seconds clear of Alonso and Vettel moves up to third as Button pushes Heidfeld sideways, wiping off the Honda's nose. Wurz and Massa tangle at Turn One. Massa pits for his drive-through.

Lap 21: Massa runs wide as soon as he rejoins. Hamilton leads by 2.2 seconds. Sutil passes Heidfeld.

Lap 22: Raikkonen passes Davidson. Sato pits with a damaged nose - and rejoins with the back of his car in flames.

Lap 23: Button pits and the missing nose is replaced on his car.

Lap 26: Heidfeld repasses Sutil. Rosberg passes Yamamoto.

Lap 27: Alonso pits. Raikkonen passes Sutil.

Lap 28: Hamilton pits. Vettel leads. Alonso runs wide. Schumacher pits.

Lap 29: Vettel leads from Webber and Hamilton. Alonso is eighth, behind Coulthard.

Lap 30: Fisichella drops behind Kovalainen and Kubica.

Lap 31: Liuzzi passes Davidson.

Despite several pitstops Kimi Raikkonen worked his way back into third © XPB/LAT

Lap 32: Vettel pits. Webber leads. Kubica passes Kovalainen, Rosberg passes Davidson. Massa passes Yamamoto.

Lap 34: Kubica tips Hamilton into a spin. They drop to third and fourth. Heidfeld passes Alonso. Massa passes Davidson.

Lap 35: Heidfeld pits. Vettel nudges Alonso into a spin. The Spaniard drops behind both Vettel and Raikkonen. Liuzzi and Rosberg pass Sutil.

Lap 36: Webber pits, as does Kubica. Coulthard passes Hamilton.

Lap 37: Barrichello passes Yamamoto. Davidson pits.

Lap 38: Kubica is handed a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable collision.

Lap 39: Kovalainen and Coulthard pit. Massa passes Sutil.

Lap 40: Raikkonen and Rosberg pit. Kubica comes in for his drive-through.

Lap 41: Fisichella pits. Yamamoto spins at Turn Three.

Lap 42: Alonso crashes heavily at Turn Five. The Safety Car is deployed.

Lap 44: Liuzzi, Sutil and Sato pit.

Lap 46: Vettel hits Webber. The Australian is out on the spot. Vettel slowly drives back to the pits to retire.

Lap 48: Schumacher pits.

Lap 49: Restart. Hamilton pulls 2.6 seconds clear of Kovalainen. Raikkonen passes Heidfeld and Fisichella for fifth. Rosberg slows up, pits at the lap's end and stops again almost as soon as he rejoins. Liuzzi gains five places and moves up to 10th.

Lap 50: Hamilton leads by 4.2 seconds.

Lewis and Anthony Hamilton in parc ferme © LAT

Lap 52: Liuzzi runs wide at Turn Nine and loses 10th place to Sutil.

Lap 53: Schumacher retires to the pits.

Lap 55: Davidson pulls off to retire.

Lap 56: Liuzzi passes Sutil.

Lap 57: Raikkonen passes Coulthard for fourth.

Lap 58: Raikkonen runs very wide at Turn Five. Massa pits. Sutil is back ahead of Liuzzi.

Lap 60: Barrichello and Trulli pit.

Lap 61: Raikkonen runs wide at Turn Nine.

Lap 65: Heidfeld slows up and stops at the end of the pit lane at the start of lap 66. Liuzzi passes Sutil.

Lap 67: Hamilton wins just as the race's two-hour limit expires. Kovalainen beats Raikkonen for second. Coulthard takes fourth.

Massa and Kubica run side by side through the final few corners, swapping places several times before Massa emerges ahead, in sixth. Liuzzi claims the final point. Button fails to complete the lap.