Today’s Japanese Grand Prix was a story of two winners that almost ended in tears before the first corner. Sebastian Vettel had put his Red Bull on pole position ahead of Jenson Button’s McLaren. When the lights went out to start the race Button very nearly got past Vettel into the first turn. Perhaps he might have too had Vettel not squeezed Button onto the grass. The stewards looked at the incident and deemed it a fair move.
From that point on Vettel looked as though he would claim his second drivers’ world championship with a race win. However, a Safety Car period and a conservative approach conspired to push the 24-year-old back to third following sterling drives from Button and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). Of course, third place was more than enough for Vettel to etch his name into the record books as the sport’s youngest ever dual-champion. And, in truth, the race win was just reward for Button who has been snapping at the heels of the Red Bulls for a few races now.
Seeing a Ferrari on the podium added some welcome colour, too. We expect the final four races will become something of a travelling carnival now. While there’s still likely to be a tight scrap for second place in the drivers’ title race—between Button (210pts), Alonso (202), Webber (194) and Hamilton (178)—it won’t quite have the same intensity as chasing the main prize.
For the Australians, Mark Webber drove a reasonable race, with good pace in the middle stages, to finish in fourth place. Two places better than his P6 starting position. While Daniel Ricciardo once again finished ahead of his more experienced HRT teammate, although that still amounted to second last.
Words from the first three drivers after the break. You may need to indulge Vettel, too, who had quite a lot to say about his second world crown.
[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]
