Vettel has kept his championship hopes alive. Just. 16 points behind Button with 2 races to go, how that late race crash in Melbourne must be bugging his mind now.
That accident cost him a certain podium, and added to spins in Malaysia, a crash in Monaco and an off in Turkey, Vettel could have 10 points further up the table, which of course would leave him just 6 behind Button.
As it is, Vettel is only in his 2nd full season, he is not a seasoned veteran and mistakes are going to happen.
At Suzuka however, the German showed the world what he can do. He can start a race and just storm away from everybody, like he did at Silverstone. Yes the Red Bull car is perfect for these circuits, but Vettel was going so fast at Suzuka the team wondered if they had had a fuel rig failure!
The only man who could have matched Vettel was Webber, and after a practice crash necessitated a chassis change, his weekend was over as he started from the pitlane and made four pit stops. His speed was evident though, as he set the fastest lap on the race. Luck, again,was not on the aussie's side.
Behind the flying German, Jarno Trulli drove superbly to out race Lewis Hamilton and score Toyota's second second place in a row. A timely reminder from the Italian that he can still produce the goods, but will it be enough to secure a drive for 2010?
Hamilton did what he could in a car that is never going to like the fast corners of which Suzuka is made, so 3rd place was a good result for the reigning world champion, who perhaps this season more than any other of his short career, has shown people just how brilliant a driver he is.
Next across the line, Kimi Raikkonen, who in the second half of the race, matched Vettel lap after lap, where that pace was in the first half, nobody knows, Raikkonen is an enigma and his time at Ferrari is coming to and end, will he be remembered as a Ferrari great with Schumacher, Villenueve, Ascari and Lauda? Unlikely.
Rosberg picked up 5th place despite setting his a personal fastest sector time when the Safety car came out, Rosberg says he could not see the SC info on his steering wheel because of another sign on the wheel, strange, but apparantly true. Heidfeld drove well to pick up good points, while the Brawn's again did poorly in the race, its been such a wierd season so there are no surprises anymore, but race after race Button has problems, which nobody seems to want to take advantage of. But there we go. Rubens and Jensen rounded out the top 8 which left the Englishman with a 14 point lead with 2 rounds to go.
Why you may ask, have I spoke little of the actual race action? Because there was no race action. Even a safety car with 8 laps to go bunching the field up did nothing. The regulations are still far far from succesful at promoting overtaking. Much more work needs to be done.
Button overtook Kubica on lap 3, and Kovalainen barged Sutil of the road. That was it.
Next up,Brazil, interlagos, seen of the world championship decider for the past 4 seasons, and generally produces good close racing and a better chance of overtaking. Lets hope so. And lets hope Button can get his act together and show us that he deserves this championship.
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
17. WEBBER Red Bull +1 lap
R. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +8 laps
R. BUEMI Toro Rosso +27 laps
DNS.GLOCK Toyota
Fastest lap: WEBBER 1m32.569s (lap 52)
Drivers Championship Standings
1. Jenson Button Brawn GP 85
2. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP 71
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 69
4. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 51.5
5. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 45
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 43
7. Nico Rosberg Williams 34.5
8. Jarno Trulli Toyota 30.5
9. Fernando Alonso Renault 26
10. Timo Glock Toyota 24
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 22
12. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes 22
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