2009 F1 : Vettel roars back with Japanese GP win

2009 Japanese Grand Prix winner : Sebastian Vettel - Redbull racing team
Photo : AP via DW-WORLD

SUZUKA Circuit, Japan : October 5, 2009 - Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix to roar back into the Formula One title reckoning on Sunday while Jenson Button had his overall advantage trimmed to 14 points with two races to go.

The Red Bull driver's third victory of the season left the 22-year-old German 16 points adrift of Brawn's Button, who crawled agonisingly closer to the crown with a hard-fought eighth place.

"Finally we made it, I was screaming on the radio ... it's good to be back on first position also on Sunday," said Vettel. "It's a shame that there's only two races to go, but that's life. We're here to fight. Two more races like this and its looking better. Our task now is pretty straightforward, we have to push ourself to the maximum and try to win."

Button's closest rival, Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello, crossed the line in seventh on a sunny afternoon at Suzuka.

"I was struggling big time so it was a difficult afternoon driving the car and the only way I made one more point on Jenson here was the fact I qualified in front of him and that's what I have to be happy with," said Barrichello. "I've got to win (the next race in Brazil), win big time."

Italian Jarno Trulli was second for Toyota in the team's home race, equalling its best result, while McLaren's reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton scored yet another podium ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Germany's Nico Rosberg was fifth for Williams, subject to a stewards' investigation into a possible infringement while behind the safety car. If punished, the sanction could hand Brawn GP the constructors' championship.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was sixth.

"He (Rosberg) gained four seconds on myself (behind the safety car). We'll see what happens, I got one point, maybe two," said Button.

Rosberg pleaded his innocence.

"I didn't gain an advantage," he told the BBC. "We already analysed it. It should be fine. As far as I'm concerned, I definitely did what I should do."

As things stood at the chequered flag, Brawn GP was left a tantalising half-point away from becoming the first team to secure the constructors' title in a debut season. The team was renamed after Honda left at the end of last season and sold out to the management team. Brawn now has 155 points to Red Bull's 120.5, with a maximum of 36 still to be won.

Button would have clinched the drivers' title had he scored five points more than Barrichello but that had looked highly unlikely since Saturday, when both were handed five-place grid penalties.

His chances receded even further when he ended the first lap in 11th place, but he passed BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica and was then gifted two more places when McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Force India's Adrian Sutil collided just ahead of him.

Vettel had led comfortably from pole position but his advantage evaporated when the safety car was deployed late in the race, after Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari crashed, and stayed out until four laps from the finish.

The Spaniard was unhurt in the accident.

Race Result : Formula 1 - 2009 Japanese Grand Prix

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time	Pts
1	15	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	1:28:20.443	10
2	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+4.8 secs	8
3	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	+6.4 secs	6
4	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+7.9 secs	5
5	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	+8.7 secs	4
6	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+9.5 secs	3
7	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	+10.6 secs	2
8	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	+11.4 secs	1
9	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+11.7 secs	-
10	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+13.0 secs	-
11	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	+13.7 secs	-
12	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	+14.5 secs	-
13	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	+14.9 secs	-
14	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	+15.7 secs	-
15	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	+17.9 secs	-
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	+1 Lap	-
17	14	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	+2 Laps	-
Ret	11	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	Accident	-
Ret	12	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	Clutch	-

Driver Championship Standings :

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Jenson Button	British	Brawn-Mercedes	85
2	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Brawn-Mercedes	71
3	Sebastian Vettel	German	RBR-Renault	69
4	Mark Webber	Australian	RBR-Renault	51.5
5	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	45
6	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	43
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams-Toyota	34.5
8	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	30.5
9	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	26
10	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	24
11	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	22
12	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren-Mercedes	22
13	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	15
14	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	9
15	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Ferrari	8
16	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	5
17	Sebastien Buemi	Swiss	STR-Ferrari	3
18	Sebastien Bourdais	French	STR-Ferrari	2
19	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams-Toyota	0
20	Nelsinho Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	0
21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	Force India-Mercedes	0
22	Luca Badoer	Italian	Ferrari	0
23	Romain Grosjean	French	Renault	0
24	Jaime Alguersuari	Spanish	STR-Ferrari	0

Constructor Championship Standings :

Pos	Team	Points
1	Brawn-Mercedes	156
2	RBR-Renault	120.5
3	Ferrari	67
4	McLaren-Mercedes	65
5	Toyota	54.5
6	Williams-Toyota	34.5
7	Renault	26
8	BMW Sauber	24
9	Force India-Mercedes	13
10	STR-Ferrari	5

[Source : Supersport, F1 Official]