Hamilton wins, Alonso crashes in Japan

MT. FUJI, JAPAN – Lewis Hamilton won a rain soaked Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, Japan Sunday, to score his fourth victory of the season in his McLaren-Mercedes. The heavy rain played havoc with the drivers, which caused numerous incidents.

Another rookie, Heikki Kovalainen finished second in his Renault, 8.3 seconds behind the leader. He fought hard to the flag with his countryman Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) just 1.1 seconds behind in third.

Hamilton’s win in treacherous conditions brings the young Briton one step closer to becoming the first ever rookie to win the Formula One World Championship, on a day that double World Champion Fernando Alonso crashed out of the race. Hamilton now leads his teammate Alonso by 12 points, while Raikkonen is 17 points behind with only two races remaining.

It the first career podium for Kovalainen and the first time ever that two Finns (he and Raikkonen) have finished on the podium.

David Coulthard finished fourth in the Red Bull-Renault, Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault was fifth, Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari was sixth, Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber was seventh and Vitantonio Liuzzi finished in the final points paying position in his Toro Rosso.

"It has been a roller-coaster year for me, and it was like that again this weekend," said Kovalainen. "We took a risk with the setup yesterday, hoping for better conditions and when we got up this morning and saw the rain falling, we didn’t expect to have a fantastic afternoon. But it just goes to show that no matter how bad you think the situation is, you never give up. The strategy worked perfectly today, and the team deserves at least one podium today! Everybody has asked me about the last few laps with Kimi, but my mirrors had steamed up completely and I couldn’t see him. I was watching the pit-board though, and every lap the gap was coming down, so I knew he would try something. He got past me into turn 6 on the final lap, but I wanted P2 so much that I went back round the outside on the way down to turn 10. The car was aquaplaning all over the place, but I kept my foot in and got back ahead, hoping I wouldn’t lose the car. It is a fantastic feeling to score my first podium. Now, we need to try and maintain the momentum in Shanghai."

At the end of lap 19 the Safety Car pulled off and the race went green with Hamilton leading Alonso. Further back Heidfeld touches Button and spins causing a backup, that resulted in Wurz and Massa colliding. Wurz was done for the day while Massa was assessed a drive-through penalty.

At lap 20 the order was Hamilton and Alonso, followed by Vettel, Webber, Button, Fisichella, Kovalainen, Kubica, Coulthard and Sutil in tenth.

On lap 22 Sato pitted with flames erupting from the car but they went out when he left the pits.

On lap 23 Button pitted for a new nose that he lost in his first lap incident.

On lap 27 Alonso made his first stop from second place, rejoining in seventh.

On lap 28 leader Hamilton pits rejoining ahead of Alonso who slid off a corner while pushing on his out lap but continues.

Sebastian Vettel then took over the lead in the Toro Rosso, and at lap 30 the order was Vettel leading Mark Webber, both yet to stop, followed by Hamilton, Kovalainen, Kubica, Fisichella, Coulthard, Alonso, Heidfeld and Raikkonen in tenth place.

By lap 37 the order was Kovalainen leading Fisichella by 7 seconds, followed right behind by David Coulthard – all three yet to make their first stops. Hamilton was in fourth followed by Webber, Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso, Liuzzi and Rosberg in tenth place.

On lap 43 Alonso, pushing hard to catch Hamilton, aquaplaned off the track, the car nosing into the barrier on the side of the track and the car spinning to rest in the middle of the track, bringing out the Safety Car, the McLaren driver walking away from the car unhurt.

On lap 48 the Safety Car pulled in and the race resumed with Hamilton edging away from Kovalainen, followed by Massa, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Kubica, and Liuzzi in tenth.

By lap 60 Hamilton pulled away from Kovalainen by 11.8 seconds who was chased by Raikkonen 1.3 seconds further back. In the final laps Raikkonen continued to close in on Kovalainen but ran out of time to make a pass.

On the final lap Massa passed Kubica in the final corner, the only bright spot in the Brazilian’s weekend.

Quotes

Press Conference