The Japanese Grand Prix - Highlights Formula 1

Previously on F1: wow, fabulous stuff. What entertainment.

close! Fantastic stuff. That blows this championship wide open.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

Good afternoon and welcome to the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix.

This is the place to be ahead of the race. But this week of all

weeks, most of the talk has not been about what has been happening

on the track. We have a story that no one has. We

have a relationship that no one has. Not winning is frustrating.

# Is it getting better? # Do I feel the same?

# Will it make it easier on me now? Hit it is all over for Lewis

Hamilton. He will not be here as world champion. Lewis Hamilton is

in trouble! This is the end of the world championship dream. It is

heartbreak for Hamilton. I am a team player. I am not a liar. I

couldn't tell you how sorry I am. We gave it our best shot. We would

like to have had the fastest car. Of course I get the penalty. Maybe

it is because I am black. That is what Ali G says. I will always have

McLaren. It is my home. I am so appreciative of the opportunity

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

they have given me and the success I am so grateful for this

opportunity. I really appreciate it. It has been quite a journey for

both him and us. As they say, you don't get to experience the Highers

unless you feel the lows. Heaven knows, there have been plenty of

those for Lewis Hamilton says he has been at McLaren, a six-year

partnership that now has just six races to run. He will hope to do

the business somehow here in Suzuka. We will see where he qualified in a

few moments. Alongside me, David Coulthard. You know how it feels as

a driver to leave McLaren, one of the biggest teams. What will

Lewis's emotions have been? making the decision, I am sure the

emotions were running high. But once the decision is made, drivers

move on. You get over incidents and accidents quickly. He will be

concentrating on doing the best he can, and then off to Mercedes.

has created a domino effect. Sergio Perez will take Lewis's sit at

McLaren. He said he went to McLaren to put himself up against the best.

He will be happy with how he has performed. He must feel he is

getting a easier team-mate coming in than Lewis Hamilton. It remains

to be seen how Sergio Perez deals with the bright lights at the front

of the grid. All of this has led to Michael Schumacher announcing his

retirement, and at that he did so at a track where he has won on six

occasions, a reminder of the power he once possessed. He has blown all

the records away. He probably picked Japan as the place to

announce it because he knew it was so far away from anything else in

Europe that we get the peace to get on and drive the car. The men at

the front are ready for this, as are the rest of the drivers as they

David, the guys arrive here under the hot Japanese sun, knowing that

today a very special three and a half miles of tarmac of its them.

It is a classic Grand Prix track that challenges the drivers to the

limits. As the sun shines here and the wind blows, the crowd are

expecting a classic. It is a really nice atmosphere down here on the

grid. Going back 24 hours, yesterday was about covering the

challenge of those three and a half miles quicker than anyone else, and

here is who managed it. Qualify got off to a heated start,

with Senna being held up. Jean-Eric Vergne will start 21st. From the

star, Michael Schumacher knew he would drop from where he qualified

after his grid penalty for crashing in Singapore. Mercedes really

struggled, and both Schumacher And Rosberg went out in due to.

Ferrari knew it would be tough at this circuit, but perhaps not this

tough. Championship leader Fernando Alonso qualified 7th, with his

team-mate Felipe Massa not even making it into Q3. McLaren have

been looking but all we can, but a bad set up Joyce from Lewis

Hamilton ruined his crisis. Despite Jenson Button's best efforts, a

penalty for a gearbox change means he will start from eight. Local

hero canary Kobayashi gave the crowd plenty to cheer with a great

lap. He qualified in fourth. But Red Bull really impressed.

Sebastian Vettel put in a stunning lap to take pole. Mark Webber had

to settle for second. So, Red Bull take their first front-row lock out

of the season. Jenson Button's penalty means Kobayashi gets the

highest starting position for a Japanese driver at his home race.

Raikkonen stars 7th. Lewis Hamilton has a lot of what to do from the

ninth. Paul di Resta is 11th. His team-mate starts from 15th. Heikki

Kovalainen is 17th. And Michael Schumacher is at the back of the

grid. A far this is how the championship

David, I arrived at work this morning, and he was professionally

watching Sebastian's lap on the BBC Sport website on your laptop. What

did you make of it? It was a beautiful up. -- A beautiful lap.

But he was in fifth gear until he got to turn four. We can see them

gearing up the car for him. He brings fond memories. He won the

title 12 months ago. It was a great victory. He seems to be in harmony

with this track. Four pole positions. And the men directly

behind him at is Kamui Kobayashi, the home favourite. You can't see

him, but he will be dearly hoping that after a strong performance in

qualifying, the race does not go the same way as the last time.

made a bad start then and was a victim of the accident that

happened behind him. This must be his time. He has driven well in

qualifying, in front of a home crowd. He here we go. We are

getting close now. Time to hear Her Sebastian, great qualifying lap

yesterday. In scenes that You and Suzuka fit each other like a glove.

Thanks for the complement! I think it is a very nice circuit. It is

something special in the calendar. Going around here with a Formula

One car does feel different to everywhere else. On top of that, if

you have a great car and the chance to put it on pole, it is even

better. Great day yesterday, but today is the race. For any concerns

going into the race? Change of conditions? It is quite windy now.

It has been quite windy all weekend. We had similar conditions on Friday

afternoon. We will see. Mark Webber, it looks almost like a

clear view ahead. Glance to the left, and you have your team-mate

alongside you. How much of winning this race comes down to the first

lap? It is important to get a good start. That is my plan. Then it is

a long Grand Prix after that. We have a strategy. We have plenty of

tyres. We have the tyre situation to look at. But let's not get ahead

of ourselves. We will focus on the start.

Last time you had such a great qualifying, it did not work out.

Obviously, you will be hoping for something better in front of the

home crowd at. This time, I hope to make it. You made a big impact on

your debut here. Do you have your sides lined up on the hairpin in

the first lap? For we are confident for the race. Hopefully, we will

surprise here. Here we go. The man at the front

knows that today, he can start to really close the gap on the

championship leader. However, alongside him, he has got his team-

mate who would love to pick up a victory here. And behind him, a man

being cheered on by every person in the grandstands, the home favourite,

canary Kobayashi. The Buddhists set for a special race. Let's see how

propositions, Sebastian Vettel could match of the greatest number

of victories this afternoon as well as becoming the first back-to-back

winner of the season. They are away on the formation lap. The softer

tyres are being used this weekend. Quite a big step change between the

two different types of tyre available. There have been some

issues with these tyres. Gary, you can tell us more about what to

watch out for with those tyres during this race. Yes, the inside

front shoulder of the track has been blistering a bit. It is a bit

critical. There will be more grip. The rear tyres have also been

blistering around the centre line. You have to try and stay within

that problem. If it does start to blister, you have to let it cool

down a bit. It will be down to drive a tactics in this race.

many stops can we expect to see? would imagine two. Everybody will

be heading for that. An early stop around lap 10. Most people will do

two stops, unless that blistering really becomes a problem. So here,

they are presumably even thinking about tyres at this stage? They

will indeed. There are a number of procedures drivers have to go

through. The pace is much slower than you would run a normal lap, so

they try and break and accelerate and radiate the heat from the disc.

The drivers also have to do a synchronisation of the gearshift

are so that it presents the next gear that you want. But they have

to do a synchronisation, so they need to accelerate or the way to

seventh gear. You can see Jenson Button. He has an affinity with

Japan, of course. Japanese girlfriend. Spends a lot of time

out here. Sebastian Vettel also wearing a crash helmet dedicated to

Japan this weekend. He always likes to use different cash -- crash

helmet designs. Cancel the get something out of this race?

Remember how both cars were up on the grid, and then when Kobayashi

came to the line, it was all smoking and he got affected by the

accident at the first corner. This time, Kobayashi is moving into

place and there is no smoke coming off the cars. Behind him is Sergio

It was his aggression that got everybody into trouble at spa, so

Grosjean then had to serve a one- race ban. Of course he returned

last time out in Singapore. He starts in fourth place for this

Japanese Grand Prix. Keep an eye on Grosjean, Peres and Alonso, Alonso

starting in sixth place or a bit further back. All set to go then.

Away we go. Vettel lights it up and gets away. Kobayashi is ahead of

Webber. Grow grow going side by side. Somebody's off already. Is

that Alonso? They come through, we have got damage down there at the

first corner. Rosberg as well and Webber's out at the first corner,

Rosberg is out. Let's try and catch through who's come through there.

Button's got through, Massa is through. Where is Alonso? I think

he went off at the first corner. Raikkonen is there, Peres is there

as well. Real drama immediately. Kobayashi is in second place and

Button making a very good get-away. Hulkenberg is chasing down Lewis

Hamilton by the way, they are fighting for seventh place.

safety car is out. Neutralising this race. Ferrari, as we see,

Rosberg getting out of his Mercedes. Fernando's luck seems to have run

out. 29 points the gap between Vettel and Alonso before this race.

If Vettel wins today, the gap could be down to four points. What a

drama this is for the Championship leader. He was taken out of an

accident at Spa, but let's wait to see what happened at the start of

this race. You can see the left tyre, the rear is missing, whether

that was as a result of contact or whether because he went wide, as

you can see through turn one. It was difficult to see. Grosjean and

Webber appear to be moving. Whatever it was that Webber got

involved in, Health and Safety back on the track and possibly driving

back to the pits. The cars behind the safety car and obviously going

nice and slowly at the moment. Grosjean quite a long way down the

field. He's down in 11th place. Maybe he got mixed up in all that.

Is that a Williams with no front wing? It's Senna, right down at the

back with no front wing, so a lot of cars there, separate incidents

going on there in the first corner. The run on to the first bend is

tricky on a downhill start, very fast. First part to turn one, then

it tightens up on you, so how do you deal with that? Historically,,

I mean you may remember the incident with Senna many years ago,

you enter flat out turn one and it's turn two that you really break

the car down for, so you try and get off the start line, you have

cars running and we get this incident. As we wait to see ary

play of what happened -- - a replay of what happened. Senna is out.

They may use this opportunity to go on different tyres. Gary, are they

putting different tyres on? Yes, they've got to chang their strategy

and do something different -- change their strategy. Web SWEB

going to go on to the hard tyre now -- Webber. It's going to be a tough

race for Mark from here. Webber who qualified second - second car in by

the way. It's not been a good day so far for Mark Webber. His team-

mate leads this race. Then Kobayashi, Button. Massa started in

tenth, Raikkonen fifth, Peres sixth, then Maldonado and Ricciardo.

Ben fit there for Maldonado. -- big benefit. We seem Timo Glock as well

in 11th. Difficult to imagine he'll stay there, Ben, but none less,

that's cause for great hope in Marussia. 12th last time out.

Trying to listen into the explanation there. It sounded to me

like they were saying it's not taken a hard one which I exit to

mean it wasn't a hard knock, there was just rubber on it, so a

precautionary change to the front wing which Mark will struggle to

catch the back of the pack before the safety car comes in, so that

might prove costly. The race gets under way once again and Vettel has

disappeared. Kobayashi's been caught napping there. Button all

over the back as they came through chicane but Vettel demonstrated why

he's double world champion. Battle behind. Peres is on the face grass

on to the extra tarmac there! A lot mortar Macthan there used to be.

had a go. In this case, Raikkonen held his ground and Pires had to

take to the tarmac in the run-off there. Lost a couple of places.

sees his team-mate, Kobayashi, running into second place. Rosberg

popped out. Alonso is running absolutely fine at this point.

There's some contact. He got a left rear puncture. The tyre was off in

the gravel so it was contact with the Lotus and the run town the

first corner. Now again, is that Grosjean? Kimi I think. So Kimi and

Alonso coming together and then Alonso at this point incredibly

lucky as he came across a pack. You can see the contact with Webber

gets pushed. That was Rosberg on the inside of Webber which was why

he had the incident. On board with Grosjean. Incorrectly he was

crediting him with the contact. Then he goes and does it again!

Romain, Romain, what are you doing?! So many first corner

understand dents. He just rear ended the back end of Mark Webber.

From on board, Alonso. It wasn't a brilliant get-away, and he has

Raikkonen on his left. Indeed. He get the contact in the left rear

tyre and at that point he hangs on to it, but in front of the pack and

that tyre and then he stalls the engine. So he maybe could have got

back to the pits if he kept the engine running. A replay of the

Perez Raikkonen incident and Raikkonen saying, no way, Jose, you

ain't coming over the side of me. We have seen lots already. No surp

raise they'll be looking into incidents involving Webber and

Grosjean. Vettel leads. What is going to happen for Grosjean this

time? He was taken a one-race ban for causing that incident in Spa,

he's now caused that incident with Webber so there'll be some nervous

people down at the Lotus garage. Small piece missing, Kimi, it's not

an important part, we are happy. Reassuring for Raikkonen. The

leaders coming around to complete another lap. Vettel five laps

completed. On to lap six. Gap to Kobayashi is three seconds. Button

is one second behind Kobayashi. Behind him is Massa, then Raikkonen,

Hamilton, looking at Hamilton now with Perez chasing him with

Hulkenberg behind. The teams have data being beamed back to the

gardge which will tep them the front tyre Thame -- back to the

garage which will tell them the front tyre pressures. Also the tyre

temperatures. Kobayashi is in 11th lace at the carer ham at the moment.

Caterham last last time out. Has he completed this?! I think he has.

Hamilton must have seen him coming and Perez has come through. Once a

car's committed to that type of overtake, you have to be compliant

as Hamilton tries to come back and the run-down to Spoon -- on the

run-down to Spoon. He saw Perez coming there. Great stuff from

Perez and lue-sm getting set in for a long afternoon -- Lewis Hamilton.

The new McLaren driver for next year. Hulkenberg is not far behind.

Bouncing over the kerbs. Lewis Hamilton wasn't happy with his car

after qualifying. The different qualifying set-up. We are seeing

that this is ten seconds stopping penalty for causing a penalty.

He'll be coming to serve his penalty. Hamilton paying the price

of a different set-up in qualifying. Struggled and still struggling

today. Behind them, Maldonado's running in ninth position in the

Williams, then Ricciardo and Rosso also running well as we take

another look at this. Lewis Hamilton coming. -- Lewis Hamilton

saw him coming. In tend, that was a good pass. Perez, brave, commit and

it paid off. Vettel leads, the gap to second place. Kobayashi, the

Japanese driver. Button followed by Massa and Raikkonen. No change

there. Perez ahead of Hamilton with Hulkenberg chasing. It's very clear

that Hamilton is still struggling somewhat. Maldonado. Ferrari have

had that problem. Schumacher has moved up one more in 14th place now.

So just outside the top ten, it's interesting. We have got Kovalainen,

then Vergne, Schumacher, Glock has dropped to 15th. That confirms why

in such a technology-driven sport, people off ask why do they have

someone hanging a board over the pit wall. You lose the radio

occasionally so it remains the only way often to contact your driver

and invite him in to change some tyres some times is to hang out a

plastic board with an arrow. This is the second, Thursday and fourth.

Massa holding on in there well. radio that he has to make a pit

stob. -- pit stop. Romain will be relieved. He knows

that with the incidents Health and Safety had on the first lap of the

Grand Prix, he's having been banned from one race going to feel, am I

out with the stewards again. We see his car in the pits but he'll be

thinking, OK, I'm getting my penalty now, so hopefully after the

race that'll be it. A very good point. He'd much rather serve ten

seconds here than miss the next race in Korea in a weeks' time.

Away goes the Lotus of Grosjean. His team-mate, Raikkonen, with

Perez catching. You can see the difference in times the over the

last couple of laps on screen, meaning that Perez is catching the

Lotus rapidly at the moment. We concentrate on Hamilton v

Hulkenberg now. This is for seventh position and Hamilton definitely

struggling at this point. Running about six tenths of a second slower

than his team-mate, Button, which highlights the differences in the

cars. Webber is on the harder compounds of tyre now, down in 21st

place. We have lost Alonso and Rosberg from this race and that has

the loss of Alonso in particular massive implications in terms of

this year's World Championship. His big rival, Sebastian Vettel,

closest rival at this point anyway, is leading the Japanese Grand Prix

and looking to get a maximum points haul here. Hulkenberg still tucked

in behind Lewis Hamilton. Seven, eight. Maldonado in ninth.

Ricciardo and Rosso. Vergne, di Resta in 13th. Schumacher 14th,

Glock glock, de la Rosa. Petrov who has been struggling, Webber who has

been in for a pit stop. It's often difficult to explain to the public

why we can see the brilliance of McLaren in Singapore, fantastic

pole position, Lewis Hamilton leading the race, and in one race

later, here he is being hunted down by a Force India, much smaller team

and budget and it just shows that the tracks are living things. Just

because your car works on one particular piece of tarmac in one

country, take it somewhere else and it just doesn't want to go. No

doubting Lewis Hamilton's talent. Listening to the radio message

there, it was the fact that the radios are encrypted so the other

teams can't listen but the FIA can give that feed to the breasters,

but it almost sounds like he was getting emotional. His voice was

like "it's not fair, I can't get close!". He was talking about

dropping back on purpose to try and protect the tyres. He's saying

whenever he gets close he's losing balance and again, it's like going

through the clouds in an aircraft. You experience turbulence. That's

what happened here, the dirty air which has been used to generate

downforce on Lewis Hamilton's McClaren delivered to Hulkenberg in

a very excited state and he just doesn't get the efficiency over his

car. So he's quicker but he's not able to carry that momentum and do

the pass, it's a very short one down the start and it's been

shortened this year over last year for some reason of which I can't

tell you. Maybe Gary has a word on that. But thauf got an even shorter

-- they've got an even shorter this cars should go out. Top of a second

faster because of the fuel difference. It is looking pretty

good. Perez has done the fastest first section times, so they are

hanging in pretty well. Let's take another look at the start. There

was a slight edge between Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. Just

a tiny touch. Jimmy made contact. - - Kimi made contact. Watch the top

left of the screen. Kimi goes onto the grass as likely, back on as a

reaction and clips of the right front part of his swing on the left

rear of Alonso, and pops the tyre of the side wall. You lose pressure

and temperature, and then the Paris not seated as well on the wheel, so

disappointing for Ferrari. But that is what happens across a Grand Prix

season. You can't expect not to get involved in incidents and accidents.

Looking at the Mark Webber replay, what happened here? Not too much

resistance from Petrov. Straightforward move, but he is way

back in 18th place. You were talking about an interesting rumour.

Nico Hulkenberg has also been connected with Ferrari by some in

terms of replacing Felipe Massa, but Ferrari are still not

announcing what they are deciding to do. They are not, and at the

risk of appearing nationalist, I prefer the rumour that Paul di

Resta is going to Ferrari. But we will have to see. Ferrari are not

under any rush to make a decision. They have said they want to

concentrate on winning the championship, and then worry about

who will join Fernando Alonso. briefly saw Kovalainen, still

running in 11th place. Michael Schumacher was not far behind. That

is an interesting group just outside the top ten. Let's listen

up with Perez. What are you learning from the way that car is

responding and how much throttle he is using? He seems a lot more fluid

in his driving now. Unsurprisingly, he is burning off York as we are on

lap 13. You are doing a great job with tyres. We are target plus five,

apparently. We were listening to Perez earlier, and he was a little

more hesitant then with his throttle action. So inevitably, as

you burn more fuel, the car gets lighter and more responsive and you

just learn what the feedback is you are getting from the car. You might

be over-aggressive on your steering, your brakes and throttle to begin

with, and you start to smooth that out. Any time soon, he will be

attending a pass on Raikkonen for fifth place. Perez has closed this

gap. Coming up towards the DRS zone, where the reduction in drag will

help of. Jenson Button has come into the pits from third position.

He was running behind Kamui Kobayashi. Lap 14 is just about

perfect for a two stop race here. Blink and you miss it. Believe it

or not, they just changed four wheels and tyres. The pit stops are

incredibly quick now. Very impressive. Kenny has put the hard

tyres on. He came out into traffic immediately, and McLaren were able

to get Button out into a bit of clear air. So that pit stop did not

work for Raikkonen. Perez will probably not have to do anything

other than stay out and run a clean lap. Perez has gone fastest of all

in the first sector, so he is responding to the fact that

Raikkonen has had to pit. It will be a straightforward pass during

the pit stops for Perez. He has found himself caught behind a Jean-

Eric Vergne and Heikki Kovalainen. But of course, they will all have

to cycle through these pit stops. Perez is on your pit stop window.

You would think Perez will go deeper into this race. Let's watch

Raikkonen here. This was where he spun in a qualifying yesterday. He

is using fresher tyres, so a lot more pace, but the Toro Rosso has

great speed. Kamui Kobayashi has come in from

second place. We will keep an eye on Button, who will be out

comfortably in front. You can see the McLaren as Kobayashi gets back

on to speed once again. The Japanese driver stays in front.

Good work by Sauber. Kimi Raikkonen is going for it down the inside in

to turn one, and he is through. Jean-Eric Vergne could not compete.

By the DRS gave him that speed across the start-finish line.

will probably give him another 15 kilometres an hour plus, depending

on how efficient the system is. He is getting right up behind the

Lotus. That is Heikki Kovalainen. The such a difficult corner. It

seems never-ending. It is up over a hill. Let's see if there will be a

chance towards the hairpin. Career she has pulled off some great moves.

You can see how much more grip at there was for Kimi Raikkonen, but

he still couldn't take advantage of his way up through the field.

is a battle of the fines, but Kovalainen knows if he tries to

stop Kimi Raikkonen too much, he would end up losing time in his own

race. He is running in a great position right now. Perez has done

his stop, so we expect him to come out comfortably in front of

Raikkonen. Is it going to be comfortable? No. In fact, he has

lost time. The Sauber has lost time to Kimi Raikkonen. That was a bit

of a shame for Perez, and a bit of a surprise. Michael Schumacher has

not been into the pits yet either. He had started the race on the

heart of the compound tyres. We are on board with Kobayashi here. He

has already been into the pits. But his Daniel Ricciardo head of him it,

in the other Toro Rosso. He is running in sixth place. This plays

into the hands of Button, who is running behind probably a she. I

will be interested to see if Perez either had a mistake on his in lap,

because the maths don't add up. He was faster. When we stopped talking

about him, he had gone purple, which means he was fastest on the

racetrack, but he has clearly lost time. He was on the gearbox of

Raikkonen, and he has dropped a couple of places. Great little

battle shaping up here. Jenson Button is certainly closing up.

Either way, Lewis Hamilton is now heading towards the pits. Another

stop coming up for McLaren. Here comes Kamui Qureshi, try to get

past Daniel Ricciardo. He can't get out of the slipstream. Daniel

Ricciardo, doing everything right, keeping that Sauber behind him as

Button continues to chase. It is important for Kobayashi to try and

get past. He has got the support of the fans who are watching from the

side. Senna comes in. But stop by Williams. Meanwhile, this is

affecting Kobayashi's opportunity here. Button has been allowed to

get right up behind the Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo Racing for

position. He will have a go down the inside. Nice manoeuvre from

Kobayashi. Just a little close on the exit. Jenson Button will be

trying to get past. Gary, we have seen a lot of pit-stops over the

last couple of laps. But the majority have gone out on the

harder tyre, but Williams have made a different choice? Williams have

gone for Maldonado on the soft and get past. The Red Bull of Sebastian

Vettel has just been in the pits while this has been going on. Mata

has also been into the pits. And the Ferrari rejoins in front of

Kobayashi. So Mata has gained tremendously. Felipe Massa will

effectively be in second place. They shows you how much Daniel

Ricciardo's lack of pace cost Kobayashi and Button. That does not

sound good. More gearbox woes, perhaps, for McLaren. Can we hear

It certainly sounded OK. But it is not OK from a position in point of

view, because he has lost out to Massa. What a time for Felipe Massa

to be delivering, and the driver of his season so far. He has not had a

podium in two years. Let's see what happened when Hamilton came in.

Problem with the front right. They and then the car rejoins. As you

were saying, we were talking about Felipe Massa's future. He had a

disappointing qualifying yesterday, but he is benefiting from the

incident on the first lap. You are still in the lead. That gives us an

opportunity to run through the order after the first round of pit

stops. Sebastian Vettel is indeed still in the lead, by 10 seconds.

But a big change in second place, Felipe Massa. Kobayashi third,

Button 4th. Kimi Raikkonen his fifth. Hamilton is sixth, and then

you have got Sergio Perez in seventh place, so he is behind

Hamilton once again. Hulkenberg is eight, Maldonado is ninth. Round

the outside, Perez! He has lost it. This time, it's definitely didn't

work. That will be terminal. You are not allowed to receive outside

assistance. He has got the car still running, but they will not

push him back on the track. It is frustrating when you know you have

still got the engine, but you are beached in the gravel, and you are

with an engine that cannot rejoin the race. It just carried too much

momentum out into the dust and dirt. For maybe a bit of inexperience in

this case. This is one of the older tracks, and there are a number of

tracks with gravel. Maybe he didn't expect Hamilton to go defensive,

which he is entitled to do. tyre. That car seems to be coming

alive. We spoke with the McLaren engineers this morning and they

felt comfortable that their car was working well on the prime tyre and

it seems to be the case now that the Lotus is struggling a lutle.

Hamilton getting into the position where he loves to be to go racing -

- little. He loves to be out front racing and leading. He's a great

race driver, so this will give him an opportunity to show these skills.

Perez' car is being craned out of the way. Both of them back off

through there. They two past the green light now and it's race on

for the rest of the lap. Massa's just set fastest lap of the race as

he chases Vettel. We have already heard that Vettel is being askeded

to manage his tyres. You've get to think that Vettel's in control here.

You could see Vettel as he entered Spoon corner. He went through the

kerb, not the ideal place. He open up the gap slightly. Lewis still

struggling with the front of this car getting it into position. The

corners turn in a long way ahead of the apex of the turn. Vettel has a

very comfortable advantage. There he is, 9.5 seconds. Again, Massa

was slightly quicker on the last lap by about two tenths of a second.

Apparently, Perez has come on to the radio to the team and just said

sorry, so he's admitted that it was his mistake. He just seemed to get

a bit caught out, David. It's about experience. Ferrari said they

weren't interested in Perez because they didn't feel he was experienced

enough, but he is going to be in McClaren next year so better not

make too many mistakes -- McLaren. It's the most difficult word isn't

it, or is it the hardest word, can't quite remember the lir licks,

but sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say, my fault --

lyrics. TEAM RADIO: (Inaudible)

Doesn't sound happy does he? mentioned gears again. There is an

intermittent issue with the gear box. Oversteer in the last part of

Spoon there, so unetling Jenson's concentration. Rosberg, we talked

about him being out of this race. He's talking to Nico.

Sorry to talk to you after the race is still going on, what happened?

It's horrible to go out on the first corner, I had a good start

but I spun round Webber and he was sideways and cause ago traffic jam

because no-one knew where to two. Rosso didn't see me and destroyed

the back tyre. Is a ten second penalty enough for Grosjean or is

repeating the offence too much? don't know.

Rosberg thought he was hit by Rosso but the stewards decided it was

Senna because he's got the penalty. Difficult to see what is going on

behind you when you are driving but the stewards have all the

information there available. Disappointing end to what's been a

disappointing weekend all round former say Indonesia. Some light at

the end of the tunnel. Schumacher running in 129 place, after 23rd

place. Senna is serving his penalty now. Third time he's been in the

pits. He had to have the front wing changed. That was fairly good

evidence that he ran into somebody because they had the replace the

wing. Pit lane time that on the limiter of course would have cost

him about 16 seconds in total track time. Never a nice one to do. Grow

grow had a much harsher penalty. Added ten seconds. TEAM RADIO:

Front tyres have gone off. When we were looking at how this race would

play out, Gary, there was concern about tyres? Yes. On the inside

shoulder, it's very hard around here. Because you are generating

all that heat on the inside shoulder, the tyre was blustering.

Surprised that he noticed the front tyres because normally the tyres

grain a little bit. Not sure about that comment yet. He doesn't have

the front grip he wants. He's not been out there since his pit stop.

The tone of his voice was quite clearly disappointment. Resigning

himself to the fact that the issues he's got with car balance, lack of

front grip and qualifying. Now he finds himself in the same situation.

He was on the back of Raikkonen's geer box. The Hunter is now

becoming the hunted as he has Hulkenberg chasing him. TEAM RADIO:

Another 15 laps. Another 15 laps required for Massa. That would take

him up to 37, 38, before the final set of tyres. Bianchi, the reserve

driver for Force India. Tested also for Ferrari. Might be in the mix

for next year I guess. Hulkenberg not able to get any closer to

Hamilton over the next couple of laps. He can get win half a second,

but just cannot then make a move from there.

Down the main straight he comes trying to pick up the DRS. Past the

packed grand stands. The Japanese support for Formula One is

tremendous. The way they queue to try and get a glimpse of their

heroes. TEAM RADIO: Plan B and it's target minus one.

Jenson Button on Plan B. He's in fourth and has Kobayashi and Massa

ahead. Interesting that he hasn't been able to go. Interesting that

you call it plan AA because Plan B never serves as a benefit, never

sounds lake it's an upgrade over your initial A plan. A* perhaps

next time out! Yes. Waiting for Webber to come in. Webber still to

make his second slot because he was out of see Jens. Schumacher still

in 12th place. Vergne is 13th. Kovalainen is in 14th position. As

we are looking on board the Toro Rosso here of Vergne I think it is.

It's Ricciardo. Yes, coming up behind Webb ever. Ninth and tenth

at the moment. Webber's done a few good laps. I wonder if he has to

come in this lap. He's been caught by Toro Rosso. It's all about where

the window will be, if he comes in where will he drop out if in

traffic. He's running slower now than the optimal place. It's --

pace. It's a question of optimal damage now. Big slide there. He's

got to be coming in, surely. Yes, he is. Abs hautely no grip on the

rear tyres -- absolutely. Gary, Health and Safety coming to you in

the pit lane, do you think he's on plan A or B or Z by now?! They're

all out here now, just watch this pit stop. Comes in, quite

comfortable stopping in the right place. No problem whatsoever and

gone. Might not be 2.5 seconds, but it's neat and tidy.

Schumacher's managed to make a move on di Resta at turn one and two.

Tried to hold on as long as he could but in the end he was out

wide on the dust and allowed makele to slot in at turn two. That pass

started from the DRS into the apex of turn one. Good recovery from

different qualifying for Schumacher. Here you see he's got DRS. Doesn't

quite manage to get it to stick through turn one but forces di

Resta a little wide. He's a car width wider than he'd like to be

and that means when he goes to turn in, he doesn't have the grip

available. The racing instincts of Schumacher, he might be six races,

five more after this, away from retirement, but he's still mixing

it with the kids. He's up to 11th place now. Started in 23rd position

as a result of the ten place penalty he had from Singapore when

he crashed into the back of Vergne. There is Vettel now. His advantage

is being fairly even -- has been Sarahly even. 10.6 seconds over

Massa. The scrum is around Perez as he explains what happened when he

went off. But we gathered from what he said on the radio that he was

admitting his own mistake. One Sauber out, the other still in it

this third position. Let's just listen. TEAM RADIO: Pace is good,

Kobayashi for the taking. That's what they need to try to do, get

past Kobayashi. The gap has come down a second or so between

Kobayashi and Button. The gap fairly consistent. You can see that

it's been just over ten seconds for several laps now. A very

comfortable lead there for Vettel. He'll have theen gin turned down at

this stage just to save a little bit of fuel and just save some

valuable laps on that engine if it's necessary later in the Grand

Prix. Let's hear now from Perez. Sergio, such a shame, tell us what

happened? I was going to overtake him again there. It was late, there

was no time for me to go to the side, so when I went to the outside,

I got to the ridge and spun. There was nothing I could do. I went into

the gravel. How was your race going? Kimi ran you wide, lots of

excitement going on on track. Do you think you would have finished

in a good position? Who knows. I think today was a very good

position. I could have given my team a -- I couldn't give my team a

good position. It's my mistake and that's it. Perez out but his team-

mate Kobayashi is in. But Kobayashi is coming under pressure from

Button now. Button's been closing the gap. It's down to 2.7 seconds

now between Kobayashi in third and Button in fourth. Vettel though

comfortably leading. He has the gap up to over 11 seconds. The Red Bull

looks totally in control of this race. We are over half distance in

what is a much quicker race than the Singapore event which went to

the full two hours. No way this race is going to go the two hours.

Just listening on board as he came out of the hairpin, short shifting

unto second gear just to protect the tyres. No need to use all of

the RPM. So comfortably controlling this race out front.

Yes, got some traffic to deal with, but that shouldn't be too much of a

problem for him. He's got Petrov I think in the Caterham. The other

Caterham was just outside the top ten. In 15th position now behind

Bruno Senna and Vergne. There's Kobayashi, there is Button. It was

2.7 seconds, the gap, the last time they came across the finish line.

Let's monitor that and see if he's managed to close it in any more.

The sector indicators showing that that gap is constantly changing and

around the 2.5 second mark as he tries to get closer to the Sauber.

Just looking at the first two sectors, looks as though he's only

taken a couple of tenths out. The rate at which he's catching

Kobayashi is decreasing which could be a number of things, could be

Kobayashi responding to the wake-up call. He could of course have

turned his engine into another engine mode which will give it more

power and before you use a little more fuel. What an opportunity this

is for Kobayashi. We are into the second half of the race. He's

running in third place. A podium finish for Kobayashi wouldn't only

be his best ever result in Formula One, it would be only the Thursday

time that a Japanese driver has finished on the podium. It has

happened here at Suzuka in the past, but Jenson, you wouldn't want

Jenson closing don on you in that position. Jenson won here last year,

he loves this Suzuka circuit. just taken another three tenths of

a second. Within the next few laps, he's going to be under the gear box

of the Sauber. They are getting ready for him. So Kobayashi

presumably, yes, straight into the pits from third place. Crucial stop

then for the Sauber team. Remember how fast McLaren have already been

today in the pits. It could be that their guys around the wheels could

win or lose this third place for Kobayashi and for button. Oh, the

front jack man only just got out of the way in time. You would say that

was perfection. He was just pulling the front jack away from the front

wing as he was released and Hamilton has been in for another

set of the prime tyres as well. Interesting I think, Kobayashi went

with the prime once more. Look at this! Hamilton and Raikkonen almost

coming together. It was absolutely side by side and Hamilton's managed

to get in front of Kimi who stopped a lap before. Remember, Hamilton

was running behind rake ruck -- Raikkonen and now thanks to a good

pit stop, he's managed to get in front. Great reaction from the

McLaren crew. They've brought Hamilton in, just that one lap

later and they've played their ace card. You will see Hamilton gets

released out on to the street and brave stuff from the combined world

champions and in the end, Raikkonen goes OK, I give in.

Pretty sensible in these situations. That's why he's finished every lap

so far this year. Almost as if Hamilton went "boo" as he went

alongside him because he swerved so much to get out of the way. Flat

out into the first corner. This is an example of great racing.

Vettel and Massa on this lap. Button and Kobayashi have both been

into the pits. Button is now way ahead of Kobayashi. So Kobayashi,

through all of that pit stop, still has to make his second pit stop. We

will have to wait and see when Jenson Button comes in, whether he

will be able to hold on to that third place or not. There is Felipe

Massa, doing a decent job at the moment. Solid job. You wonder what

Alonso would have been able to do. We are sticking to plan B. We are

now looking at target plus two. Looks as though they are going a

little deeper into the race. They will use these laps now to try and

jump past Kobayashi. For a bit of traffic to deal with. There are

some lovely slo-mo replays of cars jumping over curves. Gary, what are

your thoughts on Button going deeper? Will he be able to jump

Kobayashi when he makes his pit stop? We were talking earlier about

strategy A and strategy B. Strategy A of would be the heart tyre, the

soft tyre and then this of tyre again. But plan B would be soft,

hard, hard. I would not be surprised to see them put on the

soft tyre. A meanwhile, Kobayashi knows he is under pressure and he

is going very quickly. He has just set a very good first sector time,

faster than anyone else in the first sector. Not the fastest lap

in the race. That still belongs to Sebastian Vettel. The Japanese

driver will not give up his third place without a huge fight, and he

has the support of thousands of fans at Suzuka to help him do it.

We are hearing on our radios that Kimi has been told to save some of

his KERS. Presumably, that is to allow him to have another go at

Hamilton. This is the battle between Di Resta, Kovalainen and

Grosjean. Grosjean has had a very incident-packed race already.

Maldonado, by the way, has been back in the pits. Karthikeyan is

out of the race now. Perez out at this corner, when he made a mistake

trying to make a move on Lewis Hamilton. Otherwise, it is just

Karthikeyan who is out of the race. Charles Pic is still running. So we

have not lost too many, despite various incidents at the start. Can

Grosjean do anything here? Looks like he is struggling with the

front tyre. You can see he had to lift there. Grosjean is being

pretty careful on his approach. This is the Maldonado stop. Senna,

excuse me. Of course, he had a bad drive through penalty. Coming back

to Grosjean, he is being quite timid in his approach to passing

the Caterham. You wonder where he is in his head and right now. He

has been involved in a lot of incidents. Sometimes you have to

say you can't be that unlucky. we go, the battle for third is on.

Jenson Button is coming in this time, and Kobayashi is trying to go

as fast as possible to defend his third place. We know how fast

McLaren can be on their pit stops. They had a horrible time with pit

stops in the early part of the year, but more recently, they have been

the pace-setters. Kobayashi makes the run down. It is a bit slow!

They just had a bit of a hiccup. That might not be enough. You have

got to say well done to Kamui Kobayashi. Some quick laps have

enabled him to stay in front of the McLaren. Quite a big gap in the end.

The even with that hiccup, I don't think he had enough to clear

Kobayashi. Before Jenson poured into his pit box, we had Kobayashi

in front of our commentary box, which is row five or six on the

grid. Good work from the Sauber boys. Let's watch this replay of

the stop. There was an issue with the right rear gun. You are right,

Kobayashi had done enough. Even if they pulled off one of them

magically quick stops, like the two and a half second one earlier,

Kobayashi would still have held on to third. But can he continue to do

so for the remainder of the race? We still have some time to go. It

depends on the behaviour of those cars on the set of tyres they have

chosen. Meanwhile, Hamilton is going quickly. He has just set a

fastest lap. He is now running in fifth place. This is a good

recovery for him, bearing in mind that he started in ninth place. In

comes Felipe Massa for his final stop, from second place. We had

earlier that they wanted him to get to lap 37, and that is exactly what

he has managed to do. Kobayashi was just in the back of the shot, so he

has managed to get in front of the Sauber, but it looks as if

Kobayashi has won a bit of time. The fans showed their appreciation

of something. Grosjean took a while to get past the Caterham. That was

for 14th place. Kimi Raikkonen is running in sixth place. Michael

Schumacher has just come into the pits and is on his way again. Mata

has a bit of traffic ahead of him. That is Pedro de la Rosa.

Schumacher is going on to the soft tyres. Different strategy chosen by

him. Gary, do you think about softer tyre on the Mercedes will

work for him? He is doing something different. He has 16 laps to do,

and he wants to try something different. It should be quicker. I

am surprised button did not do that. Sebastian Vettel is in with a

comfortable advantage over Felipe Massa. As long as that goes

smoothly, he should be safe. Massa is not even at the chicane yet.

That is the margin of advantage that Sebastian Vettel enjoys. It is

a huge lead, absolutely dominant so far in this race from pole position.

Derek, we had seen Sebastian Vettel in a dominant position before, and

it went all wrong because he had an alternator failure. Is that

something to worry about? We should not worry about it, but a few

people will be worried about it. They have gone back to the old

specification which failed in Valencia. Today has certainly seen

its fair share of dramas, and one of the biggest was that we lost the

championship leader Fernando Alonso at the start of this race. He is

talking to Lee McKenzie. Bad luck. Tell us what happened at

the start? Kimi touched me a bit on the rear. I had a puncture, so I

could not continue. It was a shame, because when you cannot be even the

first corner, it is always sad. But that is the way it is. I need to

concentrate for next week. retirements, and neither has been

your fault. That must be difficult. Yeah, we need to keep working well

and not doing mistakes. There is nothing we can do. We are leaders

of the championship. We need to avoid mistakes. Meanwhile, Bruno

Senna is having a go at getting past Grosjean, but he did not get

caught out by Grosjean being fair, but hard in his defence. Unlike

Sergio Perez earlier, when he tried to get past Hamilton. There was

nothing Lewis did that you would not have expected. He knew he was a

bit vulnerable down the inside. He is in a quicker car-tyre

combination now than Grosjean, so he will eventually get there, but

Grosjean is making him work for it. I think Perez was just caught out

by an experienced driver prison in his car well to defend the

racetrack. Closing on sector one. Kobayashi just been told that

Button is quicker than him. Button is setting the fastest its first

sector of anyone. You definitely don't want to be caught, but if you

are going to be slower anywhere, sector one is the place to be

slower, because there is nowhere to be overtaken in that first sector.

The first opportunity to passes down into the hairpin, turn 11.

Senna is closer than he has been. This could be awkward. Oh, goes

round the outside! Brae stuff for Bruno Senna. That could have been

an uncomfortable moment. Grosjean has had several of those in his

short career. That is one of the fastest corners on the racetrack.

Not quite like Alonso when he did it on Michael Schumacher a few

years ago, but it is still brave to do this. Grosjean takes his choice,

goes to the left. Senna leaves a space just to be safe as he runs

through, but the pass was complete. Sebastian Vettel has got this

comfortably under control at the moment. Ballack was half a second

faster than Kobayashi. Come on, mate, there is a podium here.

is an opportunity here for Jenson Button. Petrov ran wide in the

Caterham, but he got it back together. That was the fast corner

we have been talking about. Gobby ashy still holding on to third, but

Button is catching. Hulkenberg in seventh place, then Maldonado in

eight. Webber in 9th at an Daniel Ricciardo in tenth place. The young

Australian, who sadly missed out on tenth place in Singapore in the

final lap, could end up losing tent to Schumacher in the closing stages

of this race as well. But the fastest lap still belongs to

Sebastian Vettel on that 1:36.6 he did a few laps ago. Jenson Button

is bearing down on Kamui Kobayashi. This is the biggest race of

Kobayashi's career. He is on for a podium finish on home turf, but he

is being chased by a world champion and the guy who won here last year.

Jenson said himself this weekend that it is a long shot for him to

be in the hunt. Hamilton is in a better position. You wonder, if

McLaren were playing purely for the driver's championship, you can

almost imagine that they should give d'instruction. We hope they

don't. We want to see good wheel- to-wheel action. But that is one of

the difficulties that the management of any team has when you

have two number-one drivers. Do you let them race, based on the way the

weekend has played out, or do you make a decision on which would be

the best for the run to the there. They'll let Button chase

down Kobayashi first. But that might change on the nebgts lap.

Button is that much closer still as they continue around on this lap --

next lap. As we have seen, Kovalainen just getting out of the

way, by the way. Button adjusting his visor there. His hand was up

within he was going along Dunlop Curve. Normally if you were taking

off the plastic on front of your visor, it would be a

straightforward action. That's twice within the space of a few

corners. His hand's up at his helmet, so is there another issue

there? Vettel set a new fast sector on this. Raid raid exhaust tip too

hoo -- too high. Adjustments being made for Webber to try to protect

what is a naunth place at the moment. -- ninth place at the

moment. Gary would be better qualified to

understand how it works. It puts extra temperatures into the

exhausts and the driver can play with that during the Grand Prix.

Mark's getting instructions. You are just going to have to put

probably a bit more or less in to bring the exhaust temperatures down.

Webber holding on to ninth. He was involved in the first corner

incident. He got hit basically, that's why he was involved. He was

hit by Grosjean. Nothing Webber could do about that. Webber has

been penalised and is in 15th. Don't worry about saving tyres any

more because we are running out of laps. A clear message that the

McLaren team are putting everything into the podium result, unsurp

raising. -- unsurprising. If that is everything he's got, is it going

to be enough? The Sauber has been so good on its tyres throughout the

year. Generally, it's been Perez who'll be joining Button next year

who has shown that and as ended up with three podium finishes.

Kobayashi, despite being near him, he's only had a fourth place,

that's been his best lult of the soon so far but no podium fun Nishs

-- result of that. It's still to be played out of this race. Across the

line they go and the gap up to 1.8 seconds. It does lack as though

maybe there isn't a huge amount that Jenson Button can do here. Is

that podium going to be just out of reach? Hamilton still running in

fifth place. Raikkonen is sixth. Hulkenberg seventh. Quick point

about Rosberg by the way going out of this race earlier on that, is

his first non-finish of the whole year, so sad that his record of

managing to get to the end of every race, in fact every lap of every

race even, he's always on the lead lap, which leaves Raikkonen as the

only one like that. This is the battle for tenth. Schumacher trying

to get past Ricciardo. Will he cut behind in this first sector. Look

at this climb up through Dunlop. TEAM RADIO: Pushing hard. They are

nowhere near OK,. Keep looking after the car, don't worry about

the fastest lap which he's got at the moment, so it looks like

Sebastian Vettel could be on for the hat trick, as they term it

sometimes, the poll, the win and the fastest lap. But Schumacher

getting very close to the back of Daniel Ricciardo now. That final

point on offer here. Vettel still able to lock a wheel if necessary.

The car will be changing constantly during the race, no need for him to

be exploring the limits with the lead, but try telling a racing

driver not to race and you can see just a little lock up avoiding the

kerb on the inside. Adrian looking reasonably calm but I guess inside

the nerves, butterflies and uncertainty as to whether the

reliability will hold. The gap still 1.8 seconds between Kobayashi.

There he is. Stabilised over the last couple of laps. Five laps to

go in this race, Button may not have quite what he needs. If that

is the case, McLaren might swap them. Let's go back with Schumacher

again. Struggling a bit more straight line

speed. Was he hitting the limiter? Sounded like he was. Just buzzing

into the limiter slightly. That is a compromise you have to make when

you choose your gears on the Friday night. The other thing being the

tail wind. It's a little higher, so of course less wind resistance

manes you get a slaigtly higher top speed. That's affecting the use of

the DRS -- slightly. The for report Rosso able to pull out the gap on

that first sector. Turn 11 is the scene of lots of

opportunities on this track. Concertina effect. What a great

story this would be for both of the drivers. Michael coming from 23rd

on the grid or for Ricciardo, big, big result for Toro Rosso. It would

be huge result. He's scored on teleoccasions so far this year,

Daniel Ricciardo. It's always been down at the lower end of the top

ten. His team-mate Vergne has got it a couple of times. His position

13th. Gary, is Kobayashi doing enough here? Do you think he's got

enough to keep Button behind him in the remaining laps? Yes, I think so.

It's a situation where if he doesn't make a mistake, he'll be OK.

Needs to keep enough of a gap for Button not to get into the DRS.

That would be the big drama. As long as he doesn't make a mistake,

I think he'd have it. Other battles to keep an aye on. Webber going

quickly at this stage but he's five second on the behind Maldonado. He

is in ninth place and we have heard he's had to change engine settings

a little anyway. Maldonado looking to score points. Don't forget, it

would be the third time this year that Maldonado would have scored

any points if he manages to do it, he might have won in Spain and got

points in China, but it's a long, long time since Maldonado has

managed to score any points at all and he's kept himself out of

trouble today and he's running in a fairly lonely, I say lonely, he's

only a second or so behind Hulkenberg. A key little battle

going on. John Button going on there keeping an eye on Jenson.

Jenson maybe closing the gap a fraction. 1.3 at the sector point

across the line. It's 1.2 across the line. Almost within DRS range

now as they come down across start finish line.

I have a feeling that the gap is closing so slowly that he won't

have enough momentum once he gets on to the back of Kobayashi. He's

running out of laps clearly. The Sauber is good at preserving tyres

and McLaren seem out of form a little this weekend. Will it be too

little too late? TEAM RADIO: We almost have DRS. That's the key

isn't it. Almost have DRS which means once you get into the one

second gap, the DRS is enabled but it's not easy. No - I almost won

the lottery once. That's what it's all about! Button very fast in the

first sector. How much did he take out? Nearly three tenths in the

first sector alone. That is where the McLaren has its advantage, not

so much elsewhere on this part of the track as we are just seeing

another car pushed away in that pit lane. Sadly, being pushed out of

this race. Glock still being pushed in the other Marussia. Still most

of the cars running. Back on board with Button. How's that gap

looking? Shadows Lengthening now as we are approaching 4.30 local time.

Crucially Kobayashi is not using all his cars until he reaches the

last line, saving some in case he needs to defend against Button

being in the DRS zone so clever boy, doing everything he can in sight of

his first podium. Two laps to go, or less than, now for Kobayashi,

fighting for a drive in Formula One, as well as for his best ever finish.

Health and Safety not confirmed to be in Formula One next year as yet,

but a performance lake this could be enough to tip the BA lance. Who

knows. But he's pushing for it -- balance. Vettel lead this is race

by nearly 20 seconds. An absolutely outstanding performance by

Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber unable to go with him because he

was hit by Grosjean grow in the first corner. Mark Webber will get

something out of it. Still running in ninth position. A couple of

points will go his way. Kobayashi shouldn't have too much of a

concern at this point. Vettel's had it all his own Way and Massa

heading for a podium. TEAM RADIO: Be careful, you have a lot to do on

this one, be careful. They are telling him to be careful because

Vettel is going faster and faster, just setting the fastest first

sector and second sector. He's determined to go away with the

fastest lap here today. Just done a 35.7 which in contrast to Massa in

second place at 37.1. This is a constant battle the Red Bull team

have with Sebastien, he loves the records and statistics. Even though

he has a 20 second lead and should be stroking it home, he wants that

fastest lap. On the last lap with Button and he'sshirely running out

of time to snatch this place away from Kobayashi in the Sauber. So

far, Kobayashi's driven beautifully. But can he hold it all together on

the final lap and take what will only be the third podium for a

Japanese driver in Grand Prix racing. Last time out was in 2040

as Grosjean's car gets pushed away in pit lane joining the list of

retirement. But it's not all sorted yet because Button's getting closer

and closer on this final lap. They're also pretty close to Massa

who's not far ahead of them. Cab Kobayashi in pushing as hard as he

can to hold on to his third as closed up a bit to Massa, but look

at Button now. He's right with him. He's taken half a second out of

Kobayashi in that sector alone. nervous time for the Sauber team

there. Can Button get close enough through Spoon to get a run on him

down town the final chicane? Meanwhile, Vettel will come through

to take his third win of 2012. He's the first back-to-back winner of

the season. He won in Singapore and now he wins in Suzuka and what a

performance, his third win in four races here! Another big store is

that Massa is going to score his first podium position in virtually

two years. He's brought it home for Ferrari as he fights for his career

and for his drive. It's Kobayashi who takes third. His first ever

podium and the crowd in front of us here on the grandstand going crazy.

Kamui Kobayashi has done it, only the third time a Japanese driver's

achieved a podium fun Nish in Formula One history. What a story,

what a drive by this young Japanese driver.

He told us he's been surrounded by fans all weekend, he hasn't been

able to eat meals because the demand is there. Fairytales do

happen in Japan. TEAM RADIO: Great job, Seb, well done. Great job,

well done. Oh, yes, baby, yes, baby, yes, baby. Amazing. Thank you for

that. Thank you. Unbelievable. There he is, Sebastian Vettel

celebrating. He loves this track. What a record he has now. Just

incredible. Third win in four races. Didn't win last year because he was

fighting for the title and it hurt that he tnt win hefplt finished

this third. -- he didn't win, he finished third. He's been under a

lot of scrutiny in his performances, but today in a motor race, anything

can happen and he tkhifr add good podium result. -- delivered a good

podium result. He has delivered today. Smiles at Red Bull. Shame

for Mark Webber, but he got hit at the first corner. Quickly running

through the top ten, it's Vettel, Massa, Kobayashi, Button was only

half a second behind in fourth, Hamilton was fifth, McLaren didn't

swap them on the last lap, too close behind I guess, Raikkonen

still scoring points, now the only driver to have finished every lap

of every Grand Prix this year, Raikkonen. Hulkenberg in seventh,

Maldonado gets points at last. Only the third time. Nine Grand Prixs

since he's done so. Webber in ninth and Ricciardo held on to tenth. He

fended off Schumacher at the end car was pushed away. Perez spun out.

their way round. Let's listen to this. Good job, good job. Fantastic.

Thank you, guys. Quite restrained, really, for Kamui Kobayashi.

wonder if that tells us a bit about where he will be next year. We

don't think he will be at Sauber. He will be delighted with the

result, but maybe he is reflecting on the fact that he will not get to

continue to share that Jenny next year. Here is a man who knows how

to celebrate. Let's look at this man, 26-year-old Kamui Kobayashi,

who didn't actually do much in his racing career in Japan in his early

days. Most of his racing was done in Europe. Look at the reaction of.

This is great. They recognise that Kamui Kobayashi is a character.

When you interview him, he just speaks from the heart. He is well-

liked by his peers. Listen to this. They are chanting for their hero.

Let's watch as the drivers come out on the podium. And winning for Red

Bull racing, Sebastian Vettel! Sebastian Vettel has been much

taken to heart here in Japan with his success in recent years. Red

Bull seemed to be back. There is talk about what they come up with

for now. They may have some special tweaks for the car. We will find

out next time in Korea. The first podium in two years for Felipe

Massa. And what a time to do it, as the driver market is to be decided.

He has got a bit carried away and forgotten the procedure. Wait for

the other cup to be handed over before you start spraying your

champagne. This is the one they all want to see. Kamui Kobayashi

finishes third in Japan. Only the third Japanese driver ever to

achieve that on. Sebastian Vettel has not only become the first

driver to take back-to-back victories this year, he is now

bearing down on a possible third title in a row, something only ever

achieved by Schumacher in the past. The next five races are going to be

points for Vettel. This was the moment he crossed the line in Japan.

He inherited a win after Lewis Hamilton's troubles two weeks ago

in Singapore, but here, he knows that all weekend, he has been the

chat to any driver at this race, but we will try and join the

impromptu autograph session and have a chat. Was your shirt

race means in a moment. Thanks for that! Talk us through that race. It

looked easy on the outside. How was it in the cockpit? Incredible.

Yesterday was amazing. It is hard to describe to you guys. David

knows exactly what I mean with what I am going to say. The car just

felt amazing. Every lap, it just seemed to get quicker. We know it

is important take care of your tyres etc. It was just getting

better, and allowed me to really look after them. The speed was

there until the end. It gets quicker every time you go up that

hill. It looked like the team were tried to control your enthusiasm at

the end, when you went, purple, purple, purple. Is there no sense

of just wanting two-stroke it home? Well, I obviously was not trying to

do something stupid. As I said, it does not happen too often that you

have a car like that, so you also want to enjoy it. I was not sure if

it was good enough or fast enough. It is not a number-one target. The

number one target is to finish the race at that stage and just drive

it home and get the points. So the lap I did was quicker than the laps

before, but it was not comparable to qualifying. It just showed that

the balance was there. I was able to go quick when I wanted to.

know the PR answer is that there are a lot of races to go and make

things can happen between now and the end of the season, but to see

the development that car has gone through, how much confidence does

that give you? It was a bit of a surprise for us as well to see that

the pace was so strong. I know we didn't have any major upgrades, so

we are obviously pushing all the time. The guys in Milton Keynes are

working so hard. We are about to build a new reception. The priority

was to improve the car, so I don't mind if the reception is not

finished until the end of the year. Priorities. But on a circuit like

this, you really need the car coming together, and then you are

able to make a big difference. Then you are able to look after the

tyres. And you create a difference. We will let the fans have another

piece of you, but if I could have a �15 so I can get another shirt from

your win bonus? For Sebastian Vettel, the man who is now just

four point away from Fernando Alonso and is also ruining my shirt.

What does it mean for the David, Sebastian has disappeared

with his fans. They are turning their attention to Korea already.

We will turn our attention back to the start of that race. It could be

the one that turns this championship around? Very

unfortunate racing incident for Fernando Alonso. Not as good for

Mark Webber. Kobayashi gets a great start. Then you see the Ferrari of

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen coming together. Here, we get a

really good idea of how minimal the contract was, but how big it could

be. It was just a kiss on the rear tyre. It touches against Fernando

Alonso. The problem was Romain Grosjean having yet another start

incident, this time with Mark Webber. This is difficult to

explain. Again, it is another error of judgment. The cars go off the

line with 150 kilos of fuel on board. He makes it through term one

fine, but then he rams the back of Mark Webber. It is never nice to

beat up on the young drivers, but there have been too many incidents.

Mark Webber worked hard to recover and finished ninth in the race.

Romain Grosjean has only been back for One Grand Prix after being

banned after the incident earlier. But his punishment here was just a

ten-second stop-go penalty. Let's hear from him.

Tell us what happened at the start? I was trying to be very careful at

the start. But it was a quick corner in turn one, so I was trying

to avoid contact. But I did not see the speed of Mark Webber in front,

so I touched him. In some ways, was the stop-go penalty a bit of a

relief? That means the stewards had dealt with the situation, instead

of a ban after the race, like happened before. Yes. It was not an

easy situation after the ban, trying to be careful.

He looks almost in tears, doesn't he? This must be a low point for

Romain Grosjean. He served his ban, came back and then one race later,

he is getting involved again. He is reflected at this time. It is one

of the challenges. He has had this difficult race, and then he has to

face the media. He has to look inside her. At that moment, his

instincts are not giving him the right messages. After the incident,

he seemed quite reserved behind the wheel as the Grand Prix carried on.

Clearly, he was in a reflective mood it at that point, but he

almost needs to be in that mood as he goes off the start line to avoid

those first-lap incidents. There have been too many of them. What

did the rest of the grid think? This was Mark Webber's opinion.

A Romain Grosjean hit you and synched to cause more problems at

the start of the race. What are your feelings on that? Yeah, I

don't know what the issue is. We are starting an hour and a half

Grand Prix. We all go into the first part of the lap, and then I

get creamed in the right rear. I was hoping for his sake that

somebody else hit him, but they said it was all his own doing.

Maybe we should have two separate stars, one for him, one for us.

almost getting to that point. In this situation, do the drivers have

a chat with Romain Grosjean, or do they ramp up the pressure, because

it is costing them.? This is a big- money sport. This is not a cuddly

sport in terms of people putting their arms around anyone. He has to

sort this out on his own, otherwise, he will be marginalised by the

drivers. Lewis, not the day you had hoped

for. Sum up your race? In it was OK. It was not too bad. I pushed as

hard as I could throughout the whole race. It just wasn't the

weekend for me, but I still got some points. Very strange things

were happening in the car throughout the race. I was under

steering like I was in qualifying. Then the car started turning all of

a sudden, so I have to find out what that was. Into terms of the

championship, do you think you should have been allowed to get

past Jenson? A couple of points could be crucial. No. It would not

have made much difference. Sebastian has done a great job

today. Jenson drove really well all weekend. So we got some good points

together. Fifth place for Lewis. He almost feel happy about that after

having such a tough qualifying yesterday. He is very calm in his

own mind. It was nice to hear in that interview that he was adamant

that the team did the right thing by not changing the running order,

given that he has more points in the world championship. He is

showing that he is comfortable in that he did all he could. He is

still talking about issues with the car. A couple of weeks ago, he was

cost a victory that could have made a difference. How unnerving is that

for a driver? Clearly, it was very unnerving. He said he could fill a

third when the car started to turn. There will be some analysis in the

week between now and the Korean Grand Prix. I let's talk about the

man he had a battle with. There was a nice battle out on track. 1-0 to

Sergio. The door was wide open as he came into turn 11. That was a

particularly nice pass. Lewis was quite kind to him, leaving the door

open as he came down at the inside. That contrasts with what happened

later. What was Sergio thinking? probably thought to Lewis was going

to do the same thing. It is naive in some respects that Lewis would

be passed price on the same corner. Sergio was caught out. Give us an

insight into the mind of Sergio Perez at this point. How much did

he want to get past Lewis Hamilton because of what it means for the

bigger picture? He would be thinking, I have passed him once, I

will do the same thing again. But you are dealing with someone that

has won a world championship. He is unlikely to be caught out twice.

For is that the first thing to tell Sergio for next time? That was a

reaction to Lewis pulling to the left hand side. I don't think

Sergio imagined he would go round the outside. Me a while, Lewis

Hamilton's team-mate was involved in an exciting chase towards the

end, trying to catch up with Kamui Kobayashi, but that again was not

without problems. He had troubles with his gearbox. Something must

have happened during the day -- Grand Prix that made him unsettled.

These are seamless gearboxes, but if you have a slight delay, that

would be enough to prompt a question of the engineers. I know

you are good mates with Jenson Button, but were you happy? To deny

the Kamui Kobayashi would have been painful. Racing is racing. But as I

said in a commentary, it is a great story with Kamui Kobayashi being on

the podium. It would have been a great story for Jenson Button as

well. He was not far behind Kamui How close were you to getting past

Kamui Kobayashi, another lap away? I think he controlled that set of

tyres pretty well. The second set he didn't and he destroyed them

after just a few laps. So that's why I was automobile to get close.

I think he controlled a bit better. The last lap is when they started

to go. I got close, but the only way I could get DRS was to brake

for the chicane. Every time I locked up and ran wide. Not a bad

result considering where we started. I was third after turn two, but our

first pit stop we got a little bit wrong. It's very difficult. Massa

was able to jump us, but it was always going to be difficult to

beat Massa because he started the race with new tyres. He started

tenth but he ablg chully didn't get into three -- actually. Not bad,

fourth place, some more points but I don't think we had the pace today.

You sounded unsettled at one point talking about the gear box. Was

there a problem with the car? kept going into neutral and missing

gears. Yes, it was after the stops for about three laps each time. I

kept changing down and there's no gears, you know, it was in neutral,

so it was tricky but then the guys said there are no problems so I

guess it was just sinking in the gears after the pit stops.

A really mixed day for frarrifplt it's always a horrible thing to say,

but in the cold light of Grand Prix results and what they mean for the

Championship, the wrong man had a Championship for Ferrari. They'll

be frustrated how Alonso's race finished? Alonso's been around long

enough to understand in the course of the racing season you will have

one reliability issue and one incident during the course of the

year, he's had two accidents on the first lap, no fault of his own.

That's racing. He's still leading in the Championship. It's a five

sprint race now. The fact that the gap has closed up so much. How much

do you put that down to the fact that in the past four races he's

been taken out at the start and how much due to the fact that Ferrari

are being taken out? At no point do I think they've had the fastest

package but they've been consistent, reliability's been on their side

and they've maximised their opportunities. They knead to

continue to develop the car in the remaining races, the top teams will.

This is a divofplt of battle between the clan and the Ferrari.

Red Bull had the dominant car -- development. Interesting that

Alonso turns his attention to Korea. He's experienced enough to know

there's still a way to go, fave races still to be fought over.

Felipe Massa fought for his future in Formula One and who knows, maybe

he managed to catch it. He finished on the podium, his first in almost

two years. Congratulations. Sum up how you are

feeling? Very happy. It was a great race, a fantastic start, fantastic

base. Starting times to start. It was even more trusting, you know.

Very happy, I mean. Even motivational after almost two years

without going to the podium, so a place that was more than I expected

in my whole clear, Dr Dr Whole career, you know. Two years not

going to podium is very difficult. It will be very important for my

head, pi brain and for me from now on and also my future as Elle.

as well. Explain how difficult it's been. We saw you on the podium so

often and then to have 35 races without one. How much did you

struggle with that behind-the- scenes? Fpblgt a lot, a lot. For

sure you think about so many things, you know, things that are not going

well and you are unhappy. It's not nice, it's not easy. Even if we are

doing one of the best sports, you know, I think we are doing it for a

reason, for victory, for Championships and podium and

everything. Even if you are in the most important team. If you don't

have the result you are not happy so I was not happy for sure. But I

think this will be very important for me. Important for your career

at Ferrari? Yes, definitely also. That's the tell-tale point isn't

it? He's fighting for his future and you can only base a drive's

future on the results you get and if he picks up podiums, they'll

keep him, simple as that? Yes, two years he was very open this saying

how disapointed he's been in himself and how it preys on you. It

will be interesting to see how he performs the next few races. When

he was struggling, a season or so ago, he was saying everything's

fine, I'm confident and calm. Now Health and Safety got the podium,

Health and Safety revealed it was really tough? Yes, it tells you

don't listen to a word they are saying during the difficult times

but what else could he say, you know, he's answering questions not

only to us but the national TV companies out there, so they just

want to try to keep their focus. It's hard to know how Force India

will feel. They told us after Singapore they came here not

confident of Q3 or picking up any points yet they have Nico

Hulkenberg finishing seventh which is great? Disappointment for Paul

di Resta. They've managed to maintain the place so they are

happy with the result. The teams at the back we are talking about them

never scoring points. In the midfield, this Mercedes, Sauber,

Williams und ya force bat -- Williams and Force India, it's a

battle? And we have four races to see who will be the Championships

and very few regulations changing into next year so we can expect

more of the same next year. Hard lines for Paul who had an issue

with the clutch at the start. How much was his race affected by what

happened at the start of the Grand Prix?

A difficult day out this it looked today, Paul? Yes, I was on the back

foot. Unfortunately, the car broke after the parade lap, the clutch

broke, so kind of expected when we were going round towards the grid

and then obviously at the race start when you lose that many

places and you are back on your way through, but just struggled a bit

from there. Once you are out of sync, you never get the balance

tuned to where we need to be. I don't think the speed was

horrendously off, it's just your position and I suppose after the

stops you need to be in free air and we never done that today.

close were you to the contact at the start? I was behind it. Going

into turn one, there could have been many cars behind me. When you

are in that position, you can see what's happening. I was maybe a bit

hesitant. Better to keep the car in one piece though.

The clutch was the problem at the start? Yes, that's what the team

told me. Definitely broke on the launch procedure. As we said, we

had warning before it went for the race start. Issues for Paul's car.

Talking about all things technical, the Gaz-pad. You have unlocked

something special don't you? Yes, we brought a new rear wing assembly

to this place and when the wing was opened, it lets air through a hole

and down the end to the beam wing and the middle section you can do

what you want with it, it's open for any design work. That lets the

air come out. It stalls the diffuser so you get a straighter

speed. A few races left and the team are still pushing on. Briefly,

do you think the McLaren strategy could have cost Button a podium?

Button should have put on the soft tyre for me. Far ahead of Hamilton

enough not to worry. He could have got closer to Kobayashi. So if it

was a wrong decision, it could have For most of the race, the team are

only cheering on one drive, Kamui Kobayashi. This is the moment he

crossed the line to finish third here in Japan.

We are here with the man of the moment. Kamui Kobayashi, the party

is continuing here in Japan. Lovely scenes of you and it's amazing the

grandstands stay full late into the night and a Hans for you to share

your special day with the fans? it's a great feeling. After the

race, it's just a matter of waiting. It's amazing. You seem to enjoy the

podium ceremony, you were leaning up against the barrier drinking the

champagne, so making the most of it? I enjoy it, my job is almost

done, you know, so I could relax. It wasn't though during the race

exyou had to fight until the checkered flag. Can you no you

reflect and tell us how concerned were you about Jenson Button

closing down on you? Very tough, he was very quick. My tyres a little

bit older than his. Holding him to checkered flag is a fantastic

feeling. Your first podium. Plans for

tonight. Will you be able to leave the track? I won't leave. I try to

organise things to come back here tomorrow. You enjoy it, Kamui.

Savour every moment, your first podium here in Japan. Well done.

Congratulations. Obviously it's tough when you have had a great day

and you have to do commitments, but the important thing for him to

focus on isn't just on this race but also what it means for his

future? That's why he's soaking up this moment. Seems to be a period

of reflection that maybe he doesn't have a future here with the Sauber

team but he is an asset to Formula One. No gap between this race and

when we head to South Korea. Join us for the action. We'll be live

for the Korean Grand Prix. Qualifying gets going from 5 on

Saturday morning, another early start on Sunday too, 6am for that.

After this result, it's well worth tuning in. Sebastian Vettel is

doing what he did a couple of years ago, honing in on the Championship

at just the right time, the gap between him and Fernando Alonso is

just four points with five races left to go. It would take quite a

result here to overshadow that particular statistic, but it has.