Suzuka 2009 – Vettel wins Japanese Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel convincingly won the Japanese Grand Prix to keep his slim title hopes alive but championship leader Jenson Button stayed in control.

Cool Button pounced on an early tangle up ahead to finish in eighth, although a late safety car denied his Brawn team being crowned constructors’ champions.
Seventh place for Rubens Barrichello, just ahead of Brawn team mate Jenson Button, leaves the championship points table as Button 85, Barrichello 71, Vettel 69 with two races remaining.

Ahead of the duelling Brazilian and the Englishman, Kimi Raikkonen brought his Ferrari home fourth after a fighting drive, while Nico Rosberg made some amends for his Singapore error by taking fifth for Williams. Nick Heidfeld was sixth for BMW Sauber.

Hamilton lost time with a slow exit from the pits and then was hobbled by a KERS problem in the closing stages, but managed to fend off Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari for third.

Meanwhile, Button again played a perfect game of damage limitation after the points leader recovered well from his grid penalty and a poor start to finish eighth behind Barrichello.

Japanese Grand Prix result (53 laps)

1. VETTEL – Red Bull
2. TRULLI – Toyota +4.8s
3. HAMILTON – McLareen +6.4s
4. RAIKKONEN – Ferrari +7.9s
5. ROSBERG – Williams +8.7s
6. HEIDFELD – BMW +9.5s
7. BARRICHELLO – Brawn +10.6s
8. BUTTON – Brawn +11.4s
9. KUBICA – BMW +11.7s
10. ALONSO – Renault +13.0s
11. KOVALAINEN – McLaren +13.7s
12. FISICHELLA – Ferrari +14.5s
13. SUTIL – Force India +14.9s
14. LIUZZI – Force India +15.7s
15. NAKAJIMA – Williams +17.9s
16. GROSJEAN – Renault +1 lap