Sebastian Vettel has one hand on his fourth consecutive title after beating team-mate Mark Webber to take his fifth win in a row.
The Red Bull driver dropped back to fourth immediately after the start, but contact with Lewis Hamilton ahead left the Briton with a puncture and put Vettel up to third.
Hamilton retired a few laps later after the team discovered aero damage to the rear of his car.
Vettel then set about hunting down Webber and Romain Grosjean who jumped into the lead by turn one and looked set to take his first win.
Grosjean eventually dropped back during the stops and finished third ahead of Fernando Alonso, therefore keeping the Spaniard’s very slim title chances alive.
It was a good day for Sauber as both cars finished in the points, Nico Hulkenberg just ahead of team-mate Esteban Gutierrez to take away 14 points.
Nico Rosberg was eighth after taking a drive-through for a dangerous release during his first stop.
Jenson Button and Felipe Massa rounded off the top ten.
Race Result – 2013 Japanese Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 25 | |
| 02. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +7.1 | 18 |
| 03. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +9.9 | 15 |
| 04. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +45.6 | 12 |
| 05. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +47.3 | 10 |
| 06. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | +51.6 | 8 |
| 07. | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | +71.6 | 6 |
| 08. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +72.0 | 4 |
| 09. | J. Button | McLaren | +80.8 | 2 |
| 10. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +89.2 | 1 |
| 11. | P. di Resta | Force India | +98.5 | |
| 12. | J-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | +1 lap | |
| 13. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +1 lap | |
| 14. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1 lap | |
| 15. | S. Perez | McLaren | +1 lap | |
| 16. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +1 lap | |
| 17. | V. Bottas | Williams | +1 lap | |
| 18. | C. Pic | Caterham | +1 lap | |
| 19. | M. Chilton | Marussia | +1 lap | |
| 20. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | Retired | |
| 21. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | Retired | |
| 22. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | Retired |
Discussion about this post