The Complete 2008 Japanese GP Review

"I cannot believe it right now," said Fernando Alonso after stepping off the Fuji podium, "this is completely amazing."

The Renault driver was talking about his unexpected second successive victory, but his words were equally applicable to the escapades of title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Before the race, Hamilton had been determined not to let his title-focused approach get mistaken for weakness.

"Everyone seems to think that I'm a big bailer-out and I give up," he said with reference to his cautious third place in Singapore - a result McLaren had actually hailed as a sign of new-found maturity.

"Generally I don't drive conservatively, I always push. I think it's a new skill of mine, to analyse when I need to be cautious and when to take necessary action. I'll just take the necessary precautions to make sure that we don't make any silly mistakes."

Yet in the race he contrived to turn his pole position into a 12th place finish after a wild attempt to re-pass the faster-starting Kimi Raikkonen into the first corner earned him a penalty.

But what really cost Hamilton positions was the tangle with Massa a lap later, and the blame firmly lay with Massa in that incident, for the Ferrari driver had handed fifth place to his title rival by running wide and then ran into the McLaren's left rear wheel in a ham-fisted attempt at retaliation.

Both were ill-advised moves, and both received the same drivethrough penalty... and both drivers felt this was unjust.

When asked if the penalties were fair, Massa replied "for him yes, for me I am not sure," while Hamilton had the opposite view.

"If you watch the replay you will see that everyone went wide and for some reason I got a penalty for that," he said of his first corner lunge. "We both got the same penalty, but I didn't hit anyone and he did."

It could be argued that this was more due to luck than judgement...

Either way, Massa's insistence that both Hamilton and Sebastien Bourdais (who was penalised for hitting Massa as he rejoined following a pitstop - even though replays indicated that Bourdais had done all he could to get out of the way as Massa blithely turned in on him) deserved penalties whereas he didn't was surely a unique viewpoint.

Both put their title bids in jeopardy unnecessarily. Hamilton's sublime pole lap and some of Massa's determined late passes aside, neither title contender showed themselves at their best this weekend.

As they stumble towards the crown in the fastest cars in the field, neither Hamilton nor Massa seems to be handling the pressure of the title fight especially well - which might give double champion Alonso a wry smile.

For the first time in a long while, the Spaniard seems to be relishing his racing. Renault's feisty underdog spirit suits him well: it propelled him to back-to-back titles, and now it's inspired back-to-back shock wins, as the team and their talismanic driver remind the world just what an awesome combination they were before Alonso's unhappy McLaren sojourn. Assuming Renault's late-2008 surge hasn't come at the expense of work on their 2009 car, their form is rather ominous for next year.

Robert Kubica reckoned his hard-fought second was an even better result than his Canada win, as he now believes his BMW has fallen a long way from winning pace. Yet that didn't stop him leading the opening stint and determinedly fending off Kimi Raikkonen's quicker Ferrari for second - in a car his teammate couldn't even get beyond Q1 or into the points.

Alonso isn't going to win this year's title, and Kubica now requires a miracle if he is to do so. But both are driving like the champions they respectively have been and probably will be. Hopefully history will recall their 2008 achievements as well as celebrating whichever one of the actual title contenders pulls himself together most effectively in the remaining two rounds.

It's time for Massa to find some consistency, and Hamilton to put his theories into practice.

"Having experienced last year, I know what I need to do," said Hamilton before the race. "Now it's just a question of me going and doing my job.

"If I don't do my job, then I'll lose. But if I do my job, it should be okay..."

Practice

Practice one - Friday am

In dry and sunny conditions very different to the rain that dominated the 2007 Fuji weekend, Friday practice got off to an uneventful start as Lewis Hamilton out-paced title rival Felipe Massa by 0.153 seconds in the opening session.

Their respective teammates Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen backed them up in third and fourth, ahead of the two Renaults, with Fernando Alonso faster than Nelson Piquet.

The session saw little action of note, aside from Nick Heidfeld's spin at Turn 10 - something that perturbed the German as "it seldom happens to me".

His countryman Adrian Sutil starred by taking 11th place for Force India, as he again flew at a track he knows better than most thanks to his season in Japanese domestic racing.

"It's always an advantage if you know the circuit well and I just feel good here," he said.

Practice two - Friday pm

Timo Glock guaranteed some positive local headlines for circuit owners Toyota when he beat Alonso to the fastest time in second practice.

"It would be nice to keep the position like this for the whole weekend..." said Glock, who admitted that his wish probably wouldn't come true...

Hamilton took third, the top trio covered by just 0.080 seconds, with Massa a further 0.018 seconds back in fourth. Raikkonen and Red Bull's Mark Webber completed the top six, while Kazuki Nakajima - the sole home driver on the grid - took a promising seventh. The Williams man had struggled on heavy fuel early in Q1, but picked up speed as the day progressed.

This session was also somewhat serene, with few errors or problems bar hydraulic issues for Heidfeld and Sebastian Vettel.

Practice three - Saturday am

Fuji lived up to its reputation on Saturday morning with rain showers leaving the track damp throughout final practice. Although the rain had stopped by the time the session commenced, the surface never quite became dry enough for slick tyres, and times remained seven seconds adrift of Friday's pace.

There was still a late scramble for the top spot as the track improved, though, and it was BMW's Robert Kubica who emerged on top, with his teammate Heidfeld fourth behind Glock and Piquet.

But BMW boss Mario Theissen played their performance down.

"To see Robert at the top of the times was quite nice, but mainly related to the fact that he was out in the final minutes when the track was already drying," he said.

Massa was the best of the big names in seventh, with Hamilton 11th having completed just eight laps - although McLaren felt this was enough to prove that their wet set-up worked.

The conditions inevitably led to plenty of trips over the ample asphalt run-offs, and spins for both Raikkonen and Jarno Trulli.

Qualifying

Part one

It was his inconsistent qualifying form that prompted BMW to dawdle over re-signing Nick Heidfeld for 2009 - and just days after his contract was renewed, the German had another forgettable Saturday as he struggled to 16th at Fuji on a now-dry track.

"Now we know it was the wrong decision to stay on the harder tyre compound for the second outing in Q1," Heidfeld grimaced, although it should be noted that his teammate Robert Kubica was only 0.151 seconds faster in 14th place.

The BMW driver joined the two Hondas and the two Force Indias at the back of the field. Rubens Barrichello had been optimistic about his chances of reaching Q2 for the first time since June following practice, and his first two runs saw him comfortably above the cut-off point.

But the veteran Brazilian was pushed back to 17th as others improved, and he abandoned his final lap when a wing change caused tyre graining. He still beat teammate Jenson Button though, the Briton struggling over the bumps at corner apexes.

Given his promising Friday form, 19th looked like a disappointment for Adrian Sutil, but the German - who was 0.8 seconds quicker than Force India teammate Giancarlo Fisichella - was satisfied with his personal performance.

"I did some really good laps and the last one was particularly on the edge," he said.

At the front, Timo Glock continued to impress by going fastest of all, ahead of the two title contenders.

Part two

Few surprises in Q2, as the two Red Bulls, the two Williams, and Renault's Nelson Piquet were eliminated from the session.

Nico Rosberg had always predicted that Williams would slip back after their Singapore heroics, and sure enough he found himself in 15th.

"It wasn't very nice to qualify 15th today, especially having come from Singapore where I finished on the podium, but that's the reality," he said. "We just seem to be missing something on these types of circuits."

As had been the case all weekend, Kazuki Nakajima was the faster of the Williams duo on home ground, but he was only one place ahead in 14th.

The Red Bulls were also in an unusual order, with David Coulthard out-qualifying Mark Webber for only the second time this season as they took 11th and 13th respectively.

"I didn't get the best out of it," Webber admitted. "I never like to make excuses - if you're not quick enough, you don't go through."

He wasn't sure that even a canny strategy could help him score from the seventh row.

"Going through the strategies, I very quickly learnt that it's not much fun qualifying out of position, because there aren't many strategies that are going to get you out of the poo."

Coulthard didn't spare his teammate's blushes either...

"I guess Mark's frustrated because he doesn't want to be beaten by a guy who's retiring..." he joked.

They were split by Piquet, who briefly caused a flurry of media excitement when rumours spread that he was accusing Lewis Hamilton of blocking him, and that Renault were therefore protesting the championship leader.

This prospect left Hamilton nonplussed, but Renault soon dismissed it as nonsense, with Piquet admitting from the outset that his poor time was due to an error.

"I went up a bit on a kerb, which was still a bit damp and I had to correct the car," said Piquet. "It's not a big thing in itself but it cost me some precious tenths and my place in Q3."

Part three

Ferrari looked to be in excellent shape halfway through Q3. With the first flying laps complete, Kimi Raikkonen sat on provisional pole, 0.247 seconds faster than teammate Felipe Massa, while Hamilton was only third, another 0.026 seconds adrift.

But their fortunes turned around a few minutes later, for while Raikkonen improved by 0.2 seconds on his second run, Hamilton gained a full seven tenths and grabbed pole with a 0.240-second advantage.

"On the last lap I managed to put all the sectors together and pick up my last sector and bring it home, so I was very, very happy," said Hamilton, who admitted that his first attempt "wasn't very good".

Second place still marked Raikkonen's first front row appearance since France, but the Finn was far from satisfied.

"It is nice to be back, but it is still not where I want to be," he grumbled. "I am still not happy with the car and it is quite frustrating."

His teammate was even more downbeat - as Massa was pushed right back to fifth when Heikki Kovalainen and Fernando Alonso surged through to the second row positions.

"I just had no grip in Q3," said Massa. "I had a very quick car in Q1 and Q2, and had some great laps. Then in Q3 I could not find the grip and for sure we can always look at the strategies, but I think I could have done a better lap."

At least Ferrari had Raikkonen in play at the front of the grid, not that the champion was spending too much time thinking about how to help Massa.

"I don't look to the championship that much now," said the Finn. "I'll just try and go and win some races and finish with a nice three last races of the season. That would be good."

Kubica made it to sixth, despite BMW's Q1 scare, but remain underwhelmed.

"The balance of the car was fine, but it was just lacking grip," he said. "I tried everything I could, and this was the best I could manage."

The Toyota pair were also a little downbeat, having ended up on the fourth row - Glock behind Jarno Trulli despite his superb performances in practice and Q1.

"Q3 was a bit of a mystery because as soon as we put the fuel on the car was rather unbalanced and we lost a lot of grip," said Trulli, while Glock agreed that they were "slightly further back than we'd hoped."

Toro Rosso got both cars through to the top ten again, Sebastian Vettel taking ninth with a half-second margin over his heavier teammate Sebastien Bourdais.

Qualifying results

Pos  Driver       Team                     Q1        Q2        Q3     
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:18.071  1:17.462  1:18.404
 2.  Raikkonen    Ferrari             (B)  1:18.160  1:17.733  1:18.644
 3.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:18.220  1:17.360  1:18.821
 4.  Alonso       Renault             (B)  1:18.290  1:17.871  1:18.852
 5.  Massa        Ferrari             (B)  1:18.110  1:17.287  1:18.874
 6.  Kubica       BMW Sauber          (B)  1:18.684  1:17.931  1:18.979
 7.  Trulli       Toyota              (B)  1:18.501  1:17.541  1:19.026
 8.  Glock        Toyota              (B)  1:17.945  1:17.670  1:19.118
 9.  Vettel       Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:18.559  1:17.714  1:19.638
10.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:18.593  1:18.102  1:20.167
11.  Coulthard    Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:18.303  1:18.187
12.  Piquet       Renault             (B)  1:18.300  1:18.274
13.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:18.372  1:18.354
14.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:18.640  1:18.594
15.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:18.740  1:18.672
16.  Heidfeld     BMW Sauber          (B)  1:18.835
17.  Barrichello  Honda               (B)  1:18.882
18.  Button       Honda               (B)  1:19.100
19.  Sutil        Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:19.163
20.  Fisichella   Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:19.910

The Race

During the build-up to the race, McLaren had been keen to emphasise their wise approach to this year's title battle, as they strived to avoid squandering their advantage again.

"We're very keen to win the world championship and we can't afford to make any mistakes," said team boss Ron Dennis. "Mistakes always cost us at McLaren, so we're very careful about how we go motor racing.

"We're absolutely aggressive in qualifying, then we take great care in the opening laps, and then we push hard and moderate based on what our competition is doing."

With Lewis Hamilton's title rival Felipe Massa four places behind him on the Fuji grid, following that strategy in Japan could well have taken the Briton a big step closer to the world championship. Unfortunately for McLaren's title prospects, Dennis's words about 'taking great care in the opening laps' didn't seem to be at the forefront of Hamilton's mind when the race got underway...

A slow start saw him instantly lose the lead to Kimi Raikkonen, and he decided to strike back immediately - diving down the inside with locked wheels at the first corner.

Although minimal contact was made, Hamilton's move caused chaos throughout the field, as he took both Ferraris (Massa having made a rapid start) onto the run-off with him, and teammate Heikki Kovalainen slid wide in sympathy.

"I was trying to turn in and there was first one McLaren and then a second and I think they both hit me and I had nowhere to go," said the bemused Raikkonen.

Massa wasn't impressed with his title rival either ("for me that was a little bit too optimistic especially if you are thinking about the championship"), and Hamilton himself admitted that the move had been "a mistake."

But Kovalainen couldn't see what all the fuss was about: "I thought it was just a normal first corner," he shrugged.

The resultant concertina down the field saw Timo Glock, David Coulthard, Sebastien Bourdais and Nelson Piquet bang wheels, Mark Webber fly over the run-off and fall to last, and Giancarlo Fisichella run into the back of Rubens Barrichello, doing minor damage to both cars.

Coulthard came off worst, his weakened right rear suspension folding as he accelerated through Turn 2, causing the Red Bull to veer sharply into the barriers. The helpless Kazuki Nakajima clipped Coulthard's car as it slewed across his path, breaking the Williams' front wing.

Glock would also retire with damage seven laps later, although he felt it had been caused by debris from Coulthard's crash rather than his barging match with Bourdais.

Robert Kubica thought he had made a bad start and then out-braked himself at the first corner, yet he somehow emerged in the race lead, ahead of the similarly surprised Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton got back on track alongside Alonso and tried to pass the Renault straightaway, but with dirty and flat-spotted tyres, he succeeded only in losing more ground, as Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli and Massa swept through, the Ferraris having rejoined in sixth and seventh before Hamilton split them.

This was a worrying situation for McLaren, and it soon got worse. Massa ran wide into Turn 10 on the next lap and Hamilton gratefully cruised past and into fifth - only for the Brazilian to clatter over the kerbs at the second part of the chicane and push the McLaren into a spin.

"For me it was just a racing incident," Massa argued. "He pushed me a little bit close to the gravel. I put two wheels on the gravel, he closed the door and then we touched."

Hamilton's summary was more direct: "Felipe drove into me."

Down to last by the time he was pointing in the right direction, Hamilton immediately pitted for fresh tyres and to switch to a one-stop strategy, while Massa took a detour over the grass and fell behind Raikkonen and Bourdais, where he remained throughout the first stint.

Before long, the stewards announced that both Hamilton and Massa would receive drivethrough penalties for their rash moves. Massa's was certainly the more clear-cut case, but most agreed that Hamilton's first corner antics were also clumsy at best.

While the title contenders were showcasing their frailties, Kubica and Alonso were making the most of their surprise positions up front. Kovalainen shadowed them closely, and Raikkonen would soon join the group as well, having passed Trulli into Turn 10 on lap seven.

As the first stops neared, the top four were running virtually nose-to-tail, with Trulli a lonely fourth, Bourdais 17 seconds off the lead in fifth and comfortably resisting the muted and soon-to-be-penalised Massa, with the fast-starting Piquet and Sebastian Vettel close behind.

After his first corner delay, Webber was one of the unsung heroes of the opening laps, hacking through the traffic to an early 10th despite his one-stop fuel load, and pulling away from the even-heavier Nick Heidfeld after they swapped places while dicing with the Hondas and slow-starter Nico Rosberg.

Adrian Sutil had been part of this battle, running as high as 10th after an excellent start, only to suffer a messy tyre blow-out on the pit straight on lap eight. His teammate Giancarlo Fisichella didn't last much longer before stopping with gearbox problems.

Kubica and Raikkonen turned out to be the lightest of the front-runners, both stopping on lap 17, while Alonso ran one lap longer. But despite having been heavier on the grid, Alonso asked to be short-fuelled for his second stint as he felt his best chance to beat Kubica was to make a break for it.

"I asked the team if we can manage to exit the pits in front of Robert because I wanted some free air in the second stint, so they had to give me less fuel," said the former champion.

Sure enough, he rejoined ahead of Kubica and Raikkonen, and once the late-stopping Trulli, Bourdais and Piquet finally pitted after each taking a turn in first place, Alonso picked up the lead and the clear track he desired.

His task was made easier by Kovalainen's departure, as a suspected engine failure sidelined the McLaren on lap 17. The Finn had planned to stop notably later than his rivals for the victory, so had been in excellent shape.

"Sometimes these things happen," he said. "I just saw some pieces of metal flying from the exhaust and that is never a good sign."

But Alonso still had to deal with Kubica and Raikkonen, who were both planning later final stops. Unsure exactly how much heavier their rivals were, Renault urged Alonso to push to the maximum, and in another glorious reminder of their title-winning days, the Spaniard obliged in style, reeling off lap after lap 0.5-0.7 seconds quicker than his pursuers.

"I had to drive every lap like a qualifying lap," said Alonso, "and I was able to do it."

He certainly was. By the time he headed for the pits again on lap 43, the Renault driver was 13 seconds ahead of Kubica, and 18 seconds clear of Raikkonen. That was far more than they could overturn in the three and five laps before their respective final pitstops. Alonso had done enough to secure another surprise, but fully deserved, victory.

Stopping late did give Raikkonen a chance to challenge Kubica, though. A low-key second stint had seen him fall away from the BMW, but he then set a series of new fastest laps on low fuel, and reckoned that had he not had to lap a Honda on his in-lap, he would've rejoined in second.

Instead he came out a few metres behind Kubica, but did his utmost to pass the BMW on-track. For three laps in a row, he slipstreamed the Pole down the pits straight, but on each occasion Kubica doggedly hugged the inside line at Turn 1 and held on to his position.

By now it was becoming a three-way fight. Piquet was in the best form of his troubled F1 career, driving superbly on heavy fuel loads and then sprinting as his car became lighter near the end of his long stints. That allowed him to close on Trulli in the first half of the race, and then vault past the Toyota in the final stops.

With Kubica and Raikkonen delaying each other in their battle, Piquet was soon right behind them, but just when it looked like Renault might get two cars on the podium, a small error at Turn 5 led him to lose touch with the dice in front.

Meanwhile at the fourth attempt, Raikkonen managed to draw alongside on the exit of the corner and edge ahead. Still Kubica would not be defeated though, and he stayed wheel to wheel with the Ferrari through to Turn 3, where he had the inside line again and Raikkonen had to take to the run-off area.

That move ultimately sealed the position for Kubica, for his tyres then started to recover from their graining phase just as Raikkonen ran into the same problem. The BMW edged a few seconds clear, and Raikkonen had to settle for third.

Attention then turned to his teammate's increasingly spectacular recovery charge. At first, it looked unlikely that Massa would salvage anything from this race. Their penalties had left him and Hamilton down in 13th and 14th, 14 seconds apart - a gap that the McLaren started swiftly reducing.

But Massa picked up his pace as Hamilton got closer, and also had the superior strategy. Having filled right up just after their collision, Hamilton had to pit again on lap 40 and then start a final 27-lap stint with heavy fuel on the fragile soft tyres. Massa, however, fared much better than anyone else on the softs, using them for all bar the final stint. He took on a large fuel load at his planned lap 18 stop just before his penalty, and stayed out until lap 53 - giving him a crucial 13-lap window on lighter fuel than his title rival.

During that period, Hamilton was languishing amongst the Hondas, lapping in the mid-1:20s, and often having to get out of the leaders' way, while Massa was getting down towards the 1:18s and briskly carving through the lower top ten traffic.

There was only one blip in his charge, when he arrived at the first corner alongside Bourdais as the Toro Rosso rejoined after its final stop on lap 50. Bourdais - slightly ahead under braking - clung to the inside, and as Massa tried to drive around the outside, contact was made and the Ferrari lost five seconds with a spin.

Unharmed in the incident, Bourdais continued to beat teammate Vettel to sixth on the road after his best F1 performance yet - only to fall to 10th when the stewards gave him a 25-second penalty for the incident, to the Frenchman's amazement.

"I did everything I could not to run into him and he just squeezed and turned and behaved like I didn't exist," said Bourdais.

"What am I supposed to do? I could have unrolled the red carpet and given him the corner. That is the only thing I could have done.

"He was going to pit in three laps, I was ahead of him and he was going to finish behind us anyway. Why would you even think about doing something like that? I don't understand."

Again, Massa's view was somewhat at odds with this.

"I was turning in the corner and then he hit me coming out of the pits," he said. "He was a little bit too optimistic on the inside and to me it was completely wrong."

At least the Ferrari escaped damage, and was able to rejoin ahead of Rosberg in 10th after its final stop. Massa then produced an epic charge over the final 14 laps - setting a fastest lap half a second clear of anyone else's. Within five laps he had eradicated the eight-second gap to Heidfeld and cruised past the BMW, then set his sights on Webber, who was a further seven seconds ahead in eighth.

Massa caught the Red Bull on the penultimate lap, and despite Webber determinedly squeezing the Brazilian to the inside - to the extent that Massa had to take to the pit exit to complete the pass - he could not hold on to the position.

"I had some front graining and it was hard to maintain a good pace at the end of the race," Webber said. "Felipe had fresh tyres towards the finish and also a faster car. I pushed him to the limit when he made his overtaking move, but that's what it's about."

Massa had no complaints.

"It was a little bit tight, but I managed to pass him," he said. "Sometimes you need to take risks. One point for me was very important at that moment."

Ultimately both would score thanks to Bourdais' penalty, which meant that Massa narrowed Hamilton's championship lead to just five points as the Briton had to settle for 12th, a lap down on the victorious Alonso, who may well have reflected that he didn't make such heavy weather of wrapping up either of his championships.

And as he mounted the podium smiling with both delight and disbelief at his second consecutive victory, Alonso certainly looked like he was enjoying life far more than Hamilton and Massa at the moment...

Race results

67 laps; 305.416km;
Weather: Cloudy, dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  1h30:21.892
 2.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +     5.283
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +     6.400
 4.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +    20.570
 5.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    23.767
 6.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    39.207
 7.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +    46.158
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    50.811
 9.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    54.120
10.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    59.085 (penalty)
11.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  1:02.096
12.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +  1:18.900
13.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:18.426

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)    22
Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)    17
Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)    9
Glock         Toyota                (B)    7
Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 16:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton      84        1.  Ferrari               142
 2.  Massa         79        2.  McLaren-Mercedes      135
 3.  Kubica        72        3.  BMW Sauber            128
 4.  Raikkonen     63        4.  Renault                66
 5.  Heidfeld      56        5.  Toyota                 50
 6.  Kovalainen    51        6.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari     36
 7.  Alonso        48        7.  Red Bull-Renault       29
 8.  Vettel        30        8.  Williams-Toyota        26
 9.  Trulli        30        9.  Honda                  14
10.  Webber        21
11.  Glock         20
12.  Piquet        18
13.  Rosberg       17
14.  Barrichello   11
15.  Nakajima       9
16.  Coulthard      8
17.  Bourdais       4
18.  Button         3

Team-by-Team

Raikkonen has a quick spin in the wet on Saturday morning, then takes second on the grid, while Massa qualifies a potentially costly fifth.

Both visit the run-off area in company with the McLarens during the crazy start, then Massa punts Hamilton into a spin as they battle for fifth, earning a penalty. He later spins after turning in on Bourdais as the Toro Rosso exits the pits, but a late charge gives him seventh once Bourdais himself is controversially penalised.

Raikkonen recovers to third in the first stint, but cannot progress further, losing a spectacular battle with Kubica at the end.

After topping wet final practice, Kubica isn't over-impressed with his car's speed as he qualifies sixth, but Heidfeld is ten places further back on the grid. He hadn't enjoyed Friday much either, spinning in the morning, then suffering a loose brake balance adjustor and hydraulic problems in the afternoon.

The start mayhem allows Kubica to lead, and although Alonso beats him in the first stops, he hangs on to second despite huge pressure from Raikkonen. Heidfeld manages to progress to ninth on a one-stop strategy.

Alonso qualifies a competitive fourth, emerges in second at the start, then passes Kubica in the first stops and proceeds to pull away and score another victory.

Piquet is a poor 12th on the grid, yet stars in the race, making a rapid start, then driving very well on long stints to move up to fourth, even challenging for the podium before a late error drops him back from Kubica and Raikkonen.

Back to the midfield after the Singapore heroics, with Nakajima and Rosberg only 14th and 15th on the grid - although the local driver is as high as seventh in practice.

Nakajima's race is ruined when he clips Coulthard's crashing Red Bull at the start and breaks his front wing, consigning him to 15th and last at the flag. Rosberg has a bad start, pits only once and finishes 11th - which he felt was the car's limit.

Coulthard unusually out-qualifies Webber as they take 11th and 13th, but crashes heavily on lap one after first corner wheel-banging causes his suspension to break.

Webber is pushed off and down to last at the start, but recovers impressively on a one-stop strategy, taking ninth on the road after having to give way to the flying Massa, before gaining a place and a point when Bourdais is penalised.

Glock tops second practice and Q1, yet is only eighth on the grid, one place behind Saturday morning spinner Trulli, as the car's balance goes awry on full tanks.

He is an early retirement in the race after sustaining damage in the first corner shoving matches, but Trulli escapes the chaos and runs fourth at first. He is later passed by Raikkonen, then falls behind Piquet at the stops, so finishes fifth, feeling that the cold conditions hurt Toyota's performance.

Vettel, who lost time with hydraulic issues on Friday, and Bourdais qualify ninth and 10th, but the latter gets ahead at the start and goes on to beat his teammate to sixth, as both race well on heavy fuel strategies.

But a post-race penalty for tangling with Massa as he rejoined after his final stop drops Bourdais to 10th, and gives sixth to Vettel.

A poor home race sees Barrichello and Button start 17th and 18th, and finish 13th and 14th.

Both gain ground at the start only to swiftly lose it again - Button suffering with tyre wear and Barrichello with rear end damage after being hit by Fisichella. Even one-stop strategies can't get them near the points.

Sutil is as high as 11th in practice, yet only qualifies 19th, just ahead of Fisichella.

But the young German flies to 10th amid the first lap incidents, and is running competitively on a two-stop strategy when a tyre failure forces him out on lap eight. Fisichella also retires 13 laps later, due to a gearbox failure when running 12th.

Hamilton tops first practice and takes pole, with Kovalainen a happy third on the grid.

But the race goes rapidly off-key when Hamilton runs very wide on the first lap trying to re-pass the fast-starting Raikkonen. He receives a drivethrough penalty for the move, but not before being pushed into a spin by Massa, leaving him firmly last. From there he can only recover to 12th.

Kovalainen rejoins third after his first corner excursion, but retires with engine failure on lap 17 while challenging Alonso and Kubica.

Lap-by-Lap

Lap 1: Lewis Hamilton loses his pole position to Kimi Raikkonen who overtakes him at the first corner. Both run wide - as does Heikki Kovalainen.

The chaotic start of the Japanese Grand Prix © LAT

Robert Kubica grabs the lead as cars scatter in all directions. Fernando Alonso is second, from Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Felipe Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Nelson Piquet, Sebastien Bourdais, Timo Glock, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello, Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima who pits for a new nose after running wide at Turn Two while trying to avoid David Coulthard. The Scot spins off and strikes the barriers hard. Kubica leads by 0.6 seconds.

Lap 2: Hamilton tries to pass Massa at Turn 11. The Brazilian attempts to regain his position and the cars touch. Hamilton spins and pits at the end of the lap. Bourdais passes Piquet. Webber passes Fisichella.

Lap 3: Vettel and Sutil pass Button. Webber passes Heidfeld.

Lap 4: Webber overtakes Barrichello but is repassed by Heidfeld.

Lap 5: Glock pits.

Lap 6: Glock pits again and retires.

Lap 8: Raikkonen passes Trulli.

Lap 9: Sutil pulls off with a punctured right rear tyre. Webber passes Heidfeld. Barrichello passes Button.

Lap 10: Fisichella and Rosberg overtake Button.

Lap 12: Kubica leads by 1.5 seconds. Kovalainen posts the fastest lap: 1:19.258. Raikkonen trails him by 1.5 seconds.

Fernando Alonso exits the pits in the lead © XPB

Lap 15: Rosberg passes Fisichella.

Lap 16: Raikkonen posts the fastest lap: 1:19.193.

Lap 17: Kubica and Raikkonen pit. Hamilton and Massa are awarded drive-through penalties, Hamilton for forcing Raikkonen off the track, Massa for causing a collision. Hamilton comes in straight away. Kovalainen pulls off the track to retire with a smoking engine.

Lap 18: New leader Alonso pits and rejoins just ahead of Kubica. Massa pits for fuel.

Lap 19: Trulli leads from Bourdais and Piquet. Massa serves his drive-through.

Lap 21: Trulli pits. Bourdais leads. Fisichella pits to retire.

Lap 22: Vettel pits.

Lap 23: Bourdais pits. Piquet leads. Rosberg passes Barrichello at Turn One but the Brazilian regains his position immediately.

Lap 28: Piquet pits. He rejoins just ahead of Bourdais.

Lap 29: Alonso leads Kubica by 7.2 seconds. Raikkonen is 4.6 seconds behind the Pole. Massa overtakes Button.

Lap 34: Webber pits from fourth. Hamilton passes Button. He lies 13th, 7.5 seconds behind Massa.

Lap 36: Nakajima pits.

Lap 37: Button pits.

Lap 38: Barrichello pits.

Felipe Massa spins in the first turn after tangling with Sebastien Bourdais© XPB

Lap 40: Alonso leads Kubica by 12.6 seconds. Raikkonen is another 5.1 seconds back in third. Heidfeld pits, as does Hamilton. Massa passes Webber.

Lap 41: Alonso posts a 1:19.101, the fastest lap so far.

Lap 42: Rosberg pits. Hamilton passes Barrichello.

Lap 43: Alonso pits. Kubica leads.

Lap 45: Raikkonen laps in 1:19.076.

Lap 46: Kubica pits. Raikkonen leads.

Lap 48: Raikkonen pits and rejoins just behind Kubica. Massa laps in 1:19.014.

Lap 49: Trulli leads by 0.7 seconds from Piquet. Massa laps in 1:18.963.

Lap 50: Trulli and Bourdais pit. Massa posts a 1:18.893. Bourdais rejoins just behind the Brazilian, the cars touch and Massa spins.

Lap 51: Vettel pits.

Lap 52: Piquet pits. Alonso leads. Raikkonen is right behind Kubica in the fight for second.

Lap 53: Massa pits.

Lap 54: Kubica and Raikkonen go wheel to wheel. The Pole defends successfully.

Robert Kubica, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen on the podium © LAT

Lap 55: Massa laps in 1:18.426.

Lap 56: Alonso leads by 13.2 seconds. Kubica and Raikkonen are next, with Piquet close behind. Trulli, Bourdais, Vettel and Webber complete the top eight. Massa is 10th, Hamilton a lapped 12th.

Lap 60: Massa passes Heidfeld before Turn One.

Lap 65: Massa overtakes Webber at Turn One for eighth place.

Lap 67: Alonso scores his second straight Formula One win, 5.2 seconds ahead of Kubica. Raikkonen is third from Piquet, Trulli, Bourdais, Vettel and Massa.