The Japanese Grand Prix Formula 1

Previously on Formula 1... It is Lewis Hamilton, they are

side-by-side! Oh, my goodness! Race 15: Japan. This is Formula One!

What do you reckon?! I was winning! Here we are in Japan at the business

end of the season, and this has been the scene of some great championship

wins and some controversial ones, and I think this season started off

in quite a controversial way. Multi 21.

I did not like the way Vettel handle that situation, and it has gone all

the way through the season. I reckon we will miss the Aussie Grid. No

question he has brought something special to Formula One, in the end

he has had to give way to the fact that he has made better use of the

Pirelli tyres. In the summer, Ferrari were making all the

headlines. # The stars were bright, Fernando...

Alonso, in his racing capacity, it is hard to believe there is anyone

better than him, the car is clearly not as good as the Red Bull, but he

is able to drag it right up to the front.

# Ice, ice, baby... Can the Iceman win another world

title? If you had asked me last year... I am asking you now! He can

be world champion again. Lewis Hamilton's decision to leave the

be world champion again. Lewis team that gave him the opportunity

and former one, a lot of people thought he was crazy, your most won

the world championship, he was winning Grands Prix, but it looks

inspired all of a sudden. Changes...

There are people saying that this season is getting boring now, but we

have had five different winners. They'res everyone's a winner, baby,

that's the truth! RRA have had some issues and not

delivered, but the one consistent thing has been this young man from

Germany, this focused, this finger that upsets people, it has

consistently got the better of himself and the car.

# Nobody does it have as good as you...

He has dominated the last number of races, but when he had a chance to

be humble, he did not take the chance. Put yourself back to when

you are 26 years old, we were resilient, Teflon coated. He kissed

the Blarney Stone. I didn't, I stole it!

I promised that there is absolutely no more singing in this show, or

indeed ever again. Hello and welcome to Japan. This is Suzuka, glorious

conditions today, a little bit blustery, the son is beating down,

but we could see a champion crowned today. This is around 15 on the

calendar of 19, next time we will be off to India before the final

curtain in Brazil. In terms of the standings, it looks like this...

Is Vettel wins today, Fernando Alonso would have to be ninth or

worse in order for Vettel to take his fourth world title. The

constructors' championship cannot be decided today. But Red Bull are

indeed dominating there. Exciting times, we could see a

champion today, and we are at a proper race track with amazing fans.

It is an incredible race track, the drivers love coming here,

championships have been decided. 11 decided here. Ira member watching

the great battles between crosstown senna. -- Alain Prost and Ayrton

Senna. The fans are passionate about Formula One beyond the accession we

see in Italy, where the fans from little children to

great-grandparents are filling the grandstands. They are sitting here

long into the night watching the teams and mechanics work on the

cars, so the championship could be decided, and the paddock is almost

resigned to the fact that Vettel will win. The think he will win

here? -- do you think. It is a big will win. The think he will win

ask, because Fernando Alonso would have to finish ninth or lower, and

he does not often do that. He did get taken out on lap 1 lasted, so

anything could happen! We saw fascinating scenes in qualifying,

here is Lee McKenzie with the story. Q1 was fiery for some drivers,

Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber caught fire in the garage while Jean-Eric

Vergne came to a fiery hold after the brakes locked on, meaning the

session was red flagged. Fernando Alonso knew that he needed a good

qualifying to stay close to Vettel in the race and therefore in the

championship. He could only manage eight. Team-mate Felipe Massa starts

championship. He could only manage ahead of him. Lewis Hamilton knew it

would be difficult to beat the Red Bulls, and he was right. Despite

crossing the line last, he only put his Mercedes into third. In Q3,

Sebastian Vettel's KERS bailed, his Mercedes into third. In Q3,

lessening his chances for a fifth consecutive pole position at the

track. Mark Webber but in an impressive early bid, and it was

only he who managed to beat his own time. For the first time in Japan,

Vettel is outqualified by a team mate. Hamilton is third with an

impressive Romain Grosjean alongside. Massa and Rosberg are on

the third row, Hulkenberg out qualifies Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen

and Button round out the top drivers. Valtteri Bottas out

qualifies Maldonado for the ninth time. It was not a good day for the

Toro Rossos, Max Chilton was the fastest of the Marussia-cater in

charge. Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic have penalties for reprimands.

Pic must also take a drive-through penalty during the first few laps

after leaving the pit lane and a red light. It is a Red Bull lock-out at

the front with Mark Webber in pole position. The Japanese Grand Prix,

Lee McKenzie and Tom Clarkson are in the pit lane, Gary Anderson, David

Coulthard and Ben Edwards are your commentators.

17 years ago to the day, Damon Hill clinched the world championship year

at Suzuka. Today Sebastian Vettel could take his fourth title, but the

odds are against it happening just yet. The 25th running of the

Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka sees three quarters of the season

completed, with India, Abu Dhabi, the United States and Brazil still

to come. But there is no doubt that this track is very much a drivers

favourite. It is narrow, twisty, fast and punishing. A mistake here

often ends in contact with the barrier, as several drivers have

already discovered this weekend. But when it all comes together, it can

be one of the most fulfilling circuits in the world. Overtaking is

not easy. The DRS zone is on the start-finish the rate that leads and

not easy. The DRS zone is on the funnelling approach to turn one. A

movie has to be well considered and decisive. The start is tricky as

well. Last year, in separate incidents, Alonso went out, and Mark

Webber's chances were wrecked. He has another chance today, starting

from pole position. He has not been to lose as he aims for victory in

the twilight of his Formula One career. What a place it would be to

take that victory, Suzuka has been such a part of the Formula One

calendar for so long, so much history and such fantastic bands.

The support for all the different teams is huge, and we have been

watching those fans pouring in through the course of the morning

and filling up the grandstand seats all around us. Fernando Alonso start

a long way back on the grid, but we have seen him make his way forward

on many occasions this year. The qualified ninth in Belgium and

finished second, seventh in Singapore and finished second, so

the fact that his eighth on the grid Singapore and finished second, so

and is not a big deal. Romain Grosjean starts fourth, the third

time he has been on the second row consecutively here this year. Lewis

Hamilton is starting in third place on the grid, only the second time he

has qualified there in 2013. The last time you finished on the podium

was in Belgium, and he has not had any second-place finishes this year.

That is the man who has had so much success, Sebastian Vettel, an

astonishing season for him, but will he get beat in this time? He has led

142 laps consecutively since the Monza Grand Prix, has Sebastian

Vettel, and if Mark Webber gets in front of him in this first lap, that

sequence will come to an end. The opportunity to become the first

driver ever to get the Grand Slam at three consecutive events has already

gone. The Bernie Ecclestone hand puppets are obviously doing a

roaring trade in the sales booths that are just stand behind our

grandstand position here. Apparently £30 will buy you one of those! A

little bit of a profit margin on those, I think, David. Everybody is

on option, apart from Ricciardo in P16. Confirmation on who is on which

tyres, and we are just seeing that the only drivers who are starting on

the hard tyre with the orange writing on the side wall of Daniel

Ricciardo and Charles Pic, everybody writing on the side wall of Daniel

else is starting on the softer tyre. Well, that's tyre does have an

advantage in grip, and you will Well, that's tyre does have an

certainly feel that off the line. There is a long run to the first

corner, over 400 metres bid to turn one, but at that point they will be

flat, and Sterne two is a filter point. Last year there was contact

between Grosjean and Webber. We also saw a bit of contact between

Raikkonen and Alonso, so let's hope that everybody manages to get

through the first corner safely. It will be Mark Webber who leads them

away as we get ready for the start of the formation lap, the crews and

everybody else moving to the side of the grid as we get ready for them to

set off. Let's see what the practised art is like, first of all.

-- practised art. Not a very good one for Mark Webber, he was sacked

there for quite a long time. They do not have to go when the light goes

out. Historically, of course the guy at the back is not going to start

before the ones in front, because they are not If Vettel wins and

Alonso is ninth or lower, Vettel wins the championship, but if Vettel

is anywhere other than first, he cannot win today. Gary, let's focus

on the race ahead. What are we looking at in terms of strategy? The

two-stop strategy is the best. It is a little bit faster than three

stops. We are talking about eight a little bit faster than three

ten seconds, so if you do a two-stop, you will have to run the

medium compound that they qualified on, and most cars are doing that.

Ricciardo and Pic are not. They would have to go on the hard tyre

for the last stint. A three-stop strategy gives you more choice of

tyres. So we might see the softer tyre being used not just for this

first stint, most of them or on the softer tyre, but perhaps later - in

the middle or at the end? I think it would be better at the end, when you

can go racing. There is so much overtaking at the start, you cannot

do it because of traffic. You have been pointing out quite a big gap

that Lewis left. Yes, as he came out of the hairpin, giving himself a

lots of space to accelerate the heat into the tyres. Quite unusual to see

because the concertina effect means bigeye in the last position on the

grid has a lot of catching up to do but they are bunching up. Let's get

a word from our man in the pit lane. Any news? No, it is quiet in

the pit lane but very interesting to see Ricciardo's tactics. This is a

steep downhill route here. They have got a hold on to the brakes a little

bit. I think this is the steepest gradient of any races the drivers

have. It just so happens it runs down into the first corner and they

have. It just so happens it runs have a tail wind so I think they can

expect to see some pretty good start times. A quick reminder on the

line-up, Mark Webber on pole position, Vettel onside, Hamilton,

then Grosjean, Felipe Massa... We just saw Adrian Sutil doing his

then Grosjean, Felipe Massa... We rolling by point, that is why the

car was juddering. You can see the heat in the front brake. Of course

using that to get tyre temperature but he may well have overdone it.

Let's see what happens at the start of the Japanese grand prix. Grosjean

has made a brilliant getaway, leading into the first corner. There

is contact at the back. And the Mercedes has a problem, I think that

is Rosberg. It is Hamilton! Hamilton is in trouble, and it is hard to

pick up. They might need the safety car for the incident on the first

corner. That is Van Der Garde. Potential damage on Vettel's car. It

is Grosjean who is leading. We have a yellow flag but no sign of a

safety car at the moment. Another good start from Alonso, he always

cuts his way through the traffic. Hulkenberg is in seventh, which is

cuts his way through the traffic. where he started, and Perez has made

some ground up to eighth place. Good Sierras has also gained some

places. Jenson Button has held on to 10th place. At the moment, it looks

OK. Stale. We have seen a few times the Red Bull front wing damaged. It

has happened to Mark Webber in the past but what a start for Grosjean.

A dream start. He has been quick at this lap for the last couple of

years. He had a quick run base on Friday and this is a real

opportunity to win this grand prix. Friday and this is a real

I know there is a long way to go but he is definitely in the pound seat.

We have a puncture on the Mercedes with Hamilton and he is trying to

get the car park. We gather it was contact with Vettel's front wing

which has caused the puncture. Indeed, and we could see the damage

was done as he exited the second corner and that will make a long

afternoon, incredibly difficult to score points from there. Grosjean

crashed on the first lap here last year. Let's get down to the pits

because Tom is watching Hamilton 's pit stop. They have put the hard

tyres on and out he goes. The same thing happened here last year for

Mark Webber, he had to pit stop on lap one and effectively drove a

one-stop strategy from here. Lewis is on the prime, can he get to the

end of the race with one more pit stop? I think that would be a tall

order. Out at the front, it is Grosjean. Involved in lots of first

lap incidents last year but for the first time in his career he led a

grand prix at the end of the first lap. Maybe he has put behind him

those difficult start of last year. Rosberg had a good start, a bit of a

challenge from Kimi Raikkonen on Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen in

11. This is a replay of the start. In the initial getaway you can see

they are bunching up at the back of the field. You can see Grosjean just

launches up the inside, an amazing getaway for the Lotus. There was

contact here. Lewis Hamilton. They had already touched. We believe the

contact happened before they even got past the end of the pit lane.

This is where it all went wrong, then he got the wheel spin, and

Hamilton just nixed the front wing of Vettel. You can see how fragile

the Pirelli tyres are. He tries to squeeze between the gap, and the

contact has already happened. A racing incident, I think. A similar

thing happened between Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso last

year. This is right from the back of the grid, Adrian Sutil slotting

between them, and right onto the back of the Toro Rosso. As the

incident unfolds behind him, the contact, and then we can see Lewis

Hamilton already starting to struggle as he approaches turn

three. Here they are trying to work out what went wrong, at least they

are talking about it. It has been a hard weekend for Bianchi, started

behind his team-mate in qualifying, then hasn't made it to turn two. We

can hear Lewis Hamilton will be going to lap 19 on the first tyre.

It will be interesting whether they do go to lap 19 because they

normally have strategies, they would say target plus three, target -3,

the drivers can work out what lap that is, to have such a bold

statement they know that will more than likely get broadcast of the TV

channels, of which the various teams and strategists will be listening

to. They said DRS is enabled, because the LO is still out DRS is

now disabled. Grosjean has got the gap to one second service yellow has

helped him because it has not enabled DRS, now it will be next

time around. Mark Webber will have the opportunity but he might not be

close enough. He is certainly looking like he is dropping back a

close enough. He is certainly little bit. The car is heavy with

the also it is not an option to be sitting under the gearbox especially

on this first sector. Mark Webber's top speed in qualifying was faster

than Grosjean. Fernando Alonso drifts through, right underneath the

gearbox of his team-mate Felipe Massa. He is in the safe zone, six

would be plenty, especially as Vettel is only third at the moment.

That would certainly prolong the championship. Mark Webber has just

had a good first sector, but Grosjean not much difference between

them. We have lost two cars from this race already. At the lower end

of the field, Max Chilton is leading Pic, so he is holding on to 18th

place. Jenson Button chased by Kimi Raikkonen. Ahead of them there was a

lock-up, probably from good Sierras. RADIO: Lewis, it looks like we are

second down. Yes, the car is low the place. It is very tight into turn

one and Jenson Button knows exactly how to position the car. Lewis

Hamilton seems like he is sitting in the back of the garage. He is so

calm behind the wheel. They have always identified the downforce from

the dated to the tune of around one seconds so they are keeping their

man informed so he doesn't get demotivated. Kimi Raikkonen still

chasing Jenson Button. There is Sebastian Vettel, his lap times

looking OK. He is 1.5 seconds behind his team-mate Mark Webber. He has

some damage on the front wing, how much that is affecting him we don't

know yet. Let's see a replay on board with Vettel. This was the dust

we saw from the on-board shots. Not going smoothly at all this afternoon

for Vettel. Grosjean is doing an impressive job at the moment. RADIO:

RADIO: Drop back to save your tyres. impressive job at the moment. RADIO:

You are trying to look after your tyres and it can be beneficial to

hang back in the early stages. The fastest man is Grosjean. This is the

sort of class and quality that Lotus have been convinced they have with

this Frenchman. Here comes Kimi Raikkonen, he has the DRS open on

Jenson Button and he is able to overtake. Ricciardo, doing likewise.

The images we saw of Mark Webber going through the last chicane, he

The images we saw of Mark Webber was drifting like a rally car so he

is desperately trying to keep it within that one second. He did have

the DRS last lap around but it had a limited effect. Here, the DRS open,

the DRS last lap around but it had a and in the end nothing Jenson Button

could do as Kimi Raikkonen calmly adjusts his brake balance. It is

Kimi Raikkonen who claims that edge with the good race pace the Lotus

has had all season long but it is a long time since Kimi Raikkonen had

his one win of this year. That was long time since Kimi Raikkonen had

at the start of the championship in Australia. Alonso trying to get past

Felipe Massa into that fifth place. RADIO: We need to start looking

after the rear tyres. We know the teams, the big issue for them is the

thermal degradation and some blistering in some cases on the rear

tyre. Fernando Alonso is right in that position, you saw him spinning

the rear tyres desperately trying to find a way past his team-mate. The

DRS doesn't help him at all really to close up to the back of Felipe

Massa. Tom? It will be fascinating to see how far Grosjean goes on this

set of tyres because until now Lotus have been the best on degradation

but not this weekend. On the strength of Friday 's practice

times, they have fallen back into the group this weekend so can they

go longer than Red Bull? RADIO: Multifunction strategy A. I think

that means move over. The multifunction switch is a standard

switch that the teams apply to get as many systems on the steering

wheel as possible and if you go to as many systems on the steering

multifunction eh, that could be further gearbox for example. It can

be whatever parameter the teams require but when you put the word

strategy in front of it, that sounds like they could be telling him he

has to try to extend by a couple of laps. Or lead Alonso passed! But

Massa wants a seat in Formula One next year. He has been doing well.

We have a Mercedes into the pits, it is Hamilton, struggling with the

lack of downforce, but we gather that... He is retiring the car, by

the looks of it. A really poor day for Lewis Hamilton, who qualified so

well. It was a tiny touch, he could not go anywhere else at the start.

Presumably the rear tyre has damaged the floor, and we know how important

the rear of the car is, as we see Jenson Button coming into the pits

as well. They have not gone that far, nine laps, so a three-stop

strategy would be more likely if they are doing a pit stop after just

nine laps, so perhaps McLaren going for a three-stop strategy. We look

at the thermal camera with Jenson Button, 3.2 seconds stationery, not

the best we have seen. The preheated tyres go to work immediately.

Rosberg are still holding onto fourth at Massa Alonso. Any time

soon he will have a McLaren breathing down his neck. Let's take

a look at Rosberg a moment ago, a big mistake, and that is why the

Ferraris have got right on his tail. You was extremely wide through the

first part of turn one, but he manages to rejoin. You can see Lewis

Hamilton inspecting the damage to the floor. It is his first none

finish of the year, his first none finish with Mercedes, and it has

sadly come to an end with Lewis Hamilton. Romain Grosjean still

leads this Grand Prix in the Lotus, 1.1 seconds ahead of Mark Webber.

Vettel was third, then this group, Rosberg chased by the two Ferraris.

Alonso is close to the back of his team-mate, is he going to get the

opportunity to use DRS and KERS? As the sun begins to set at Suzuka, no

way through, Massa certainly not helping him. Massa used his KERS

over the start-finish line, making it difficult for his team-mate, so

maybe that multifunction strategy A has got nothing to do with the team

orders, which are allowed in Formula One today. Just to let you know that

Button has gone out on the hard compound, as we expected, the prime

tyre, and Valtteri Bottas is also back into the race after a stop. But

none of the frontrunners, the top end of the field, have made a pit

stop as yet. Riding on board Alonso here, giving us a fantastic view of

the Suzuka track. You can see just how narrow the race track is, and at

this stage of the Grand Prix, this is qualifying, how smoothly is with

his steering wheel input, desperately trying not to see a peak

of wheel spin or oversteer. We know that these tyres do not respond to

that at all. So the battle for fourth is close between Rosberg,

Massa, Alonso, with Hulkenberg not far behind in the Sauber. Perez is

still in the top ten, Raikkonen has got past Gutierrez on this last lap

as well. Engine 21. Engine 21 for Mark Webber, and other settings

change. Tom, what have you got? I wanted to update you as to why Lewis

Hamilton has retired, it is damage to the floor, but the data has shown

his rear brake temperatures were too high, so two reasons he has had to

put it in the garage. Very sad to Lewis Hamilton so early in this

Grand Prix, but in the background we Lewis Hamilton so early in this

saw Kimi Raikkonen, he is in ninth place, in fact up to eighth, because

Hulkenberg is in the pits. Let's what Sauber go to work, that is

another set of the hardest tyre going on. Paul di Resta followed him

in from 11th place. A chance for Di Resta to knock on the door of

getting some points after good qualifying yesterday. I think he is

playing the long game this afternoon, trying to keep it clean.

Historically, you do have people not finishing this Grand Prix. I would

like to see where he comes out, will it be behind Jenson Button, for

example? But we ride on board with Sebastian Vettel, that is how the

gap has changed between himself and Webber over the last few laps. So

Vettel has been catching Webber just a little bit, still Grosjean leads

with his 2.5 seconds advantage at a little bit, still Grosjean leads

the moment. Gary, looking at the pace of Romain Grosjean, he is

looking quite comfortable in the pace of Romain Grosjean, he is

lead, but as we have heard, Red Bull are managing this a bit, dropping

back on purpose to look after the tyres. Yes, they are looking at

going a bit further. Romain Grosjean has given Red Bull a bit of the Red

Bull treatment, you might say, so the cannot follow closely. Webber

has to look after his tyres and save some fuel. Weather has come into pit

lane, and the guys are getting ready. -- Webber. It has gone to lab

12 on that, so we are indeed to stop territory with the Red Bull. Just,

he will have to look after these. I am sure he has put on the harder

tyre. Four lap 11, 42 laps to go, 21 per set, you can do it but you have

to look after them. Massa rejoins. That is Hulkenberg going past, that

is Gutierrez, there is Raikkonen, and he has come out ahead of Jenson

Button, by the looks of things, who made an earlier stop. Just an button

-- Jenson Button has just done the fastest lap of the race, but coming

up short in front of getting out in front of the Lotus. Kimi Raikkonen

has found a little bit of space to work in, see if he can pick up some

more of the top ten. Good lap from Button. On board with Sebastian

Vettel, who is now in second place, Webber having made his pit stop and

come out in sixth position. The gap between Grosjean and Vettel is 4.4

seconds. I wonder if Grosjean is going to respond to the fact that

Mark Webber has made a pit stop. They would be in better shape with a

fresh set of tyres, they have burned off some fuel. He is heading in,

isn't he? Downshifting, yes. Vettel stays out to go further into this

race, so Grosjean does not want to be beaten by Mark Webber at this

first round of pit stops. Mark Webber is going quickly with the

fastest middle sector. It is going to be very tight between the two of

them. Great work by the crew once again, and he fires it up, down the

pit lane at this beat limit and then opens it up. Webber on the

right-hand side of your shot, it is drag race, and Grosjean retains an

edge over Webber, but Sebastian Vettel currently leads the race.

edge over Webber, but Sebastian Vettel has the advantage of knowing

how the car performs on these tyres. This was Rosberg a moment ago, and

he came out with errors coming into his McLaren pit. That is an unsafe

release, a slam dunk, he will be hearing from the stewards. No way he

should have been released there. Good reaction from Perez, it has to

be said. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg got past Massa on that pit stop, so

Massa and Hulkenberg have made a stop, Alonso is still out, but Nico

Hulkenberg has set a fastest lap and got ahead of Felipe Massa as a

result of the pit stops. Once got ahead of Felipe Massa as a

Sauber, tied with Toro Rosso in the got ahead of Felipe Massa as a

constructors' championship, in much better shape than the Toro Rosso

cars. Jean-Eric Vergne is down in 17th place, Ricciardo was having a

reasonable run of it, but he has not made a pit stop yet, and he is in

seventh position. Mark Webber has gone quickest of all the first

sector, trying to push into that zone, one second quicker than

Grosjean through that first sector, unsurprisingly. Let's watch out the

rest of times unfold. I do not know, we have spoken to the FIA, we have

spoken to the FIA. Indeed it is under investigation, the unsafe

release. And Alonso is in. Will he come out ahead of Hulkenberg and

Massa? That will be the big question. Those are the guys he is

racing against when he comes back out. We have still got Vettel

leading the Grand Prix, as now we see Grosjean in as well. Grosjean is

also in, so a big change around... Sorry, that is my mistake, Alonso.

Where dizzy, relative to Hulkenberg? That is Gutierrez just

in front of him, wall-to-wall with the McLarens! Perez gets that place

from Button, that is pole position, up into 11th place for Sergio

Perez. Vettel has to come in this lap, he is one second slower than

the last lap of Mark Webber, so he is not under pressure to Rosberg,

the last lap of Mark Webber, so he but they must give themselves in the

battle for the lead. I can tell you that Alonso has come out behind

Hulkenberg and Massa, losing out with that later pit stop, it has not

helped him at all. Hulkenberg is ahead of both of the Ferraris,

behind Rosberg's Mercedes, but it is likely that Rosberg will get a

penalty. That is how that lined up, David. Perez making use of the fresh

tyres, cutting to the inside. Jenson has to be defence of off the

chicane, fairly straightforward as in the end, team-mate. -- defensive.

We have seen them side by side a few times this year, but that was good

We have seen them side by side a few and clean. Vettel will drop back in

this round of stops. They have gone with it to see, maybe playing a

longer game, doing extra laps on this set of tyres, pressure rubber

later in the Grand Prix. It was a lovely stop, but it will lose

imposition. Indeed, he comes out just ahead of Ricciardo, so up ahead

of them is Grosjean, with a new fastest lap, and he has established

himself in the front once again. Vettel has made his pit stop, and

that was a lock-up from Sebastian Vettel just before we came in. Using

everything from the tyre just before they head into the pits, that is

what they need to avoid when they they head into the pits, that is

are doing multiple laps, but running down to the pit, the speed limit

line as well, really pushing to try down to the pit, the speed limit

to get absolutely the last bit of time out of those tyres. That must

to get absolutely the last bit of been a pretty sensational in-lap,

because he pitted so much later. He was a second slower on the previous

lap, so he found something. We have just seen Webber going through in

second place, Vettel in third position. Ricciardo is the only one

who has not been in yet, he started on the other tyre, and it will be

interesting to see how far he goes. He is right on the cusp, a

drive-through penalty for Nico Rosberg. They will deal with that

nice and early, a difficult afternoon for Mercedes. Ricciardo

nice and early, a difficult came out in that battle for

14th-15th between Pastor Maldonado and Paul di Resta. Raikkonen, by the

way, is down in tenth place behind Gutierrez, who is having a very good

race in the second Sauber. Grosjean and Webber did he undercut, they are

still ahead of you. But you are creeping up on them, OK? All working

according to plan, and Vettel is lighting up the timing screens

himself, not fastest on a whole lap but fastest middle and final

sectors. He can see them just up ahead, it is not far, and he will

have tyres in better shape later in the race, and that is obviously what

they are thinking about here. So there is Romain Grosjean, no

mistakes from him yet, Webber continues the chase, but as we know,

Rosberg has a drive-through penalty. This will mix things up, Ricciardo

currently in fourth, but he will drop down when he makes a pit stop.

currently in fourth, but he will The effect of all this will be to

move Hulkenberg up to fourth when things settle down. Tom, what is

happening there? I am just reflecting on how the entire pit

lane is in shadow now, and it reminded me of a comments that Nico

Rosberg said at the entire pit lane reminded me of a comments that Nico

is in shadow now, and it reminded me of a comments that Nico Rosberg said

after practice on Friday, which ended at this time. He just said how

difficult the driving conditions become at this time of day, less

than two hours from sunset, and the sun is really in your eyes in a

couple of points of the lap, and that makes it difficult to be

precise. And if you're racing wheel to wheel, he said you're going to be

slightly blinded at certain points, just something to bear in mind. It

is a good point, and because it is such a physical racetrack, even with

the cars going relatively... We need you to box this lap for a

drive-through, box they slap for a drive-through. He will not like that

message, but he will understand, nothing much the driver can do about

that. That is a team issue, as to when the car gets released. They

normally have a spotter, markers down the pit lane, where it

indicates that if another car has passed that point, you are not able

to release yours safely. Just look at the left-hand side, you can see

the boards against the people. You can see the McLaren in the

background, well past that point, unless they felt the McLaren was

able to come in in front of the Mercedes. It has not been a good day

for Mercedes, Hamilton already out, and we have lost jewel Bianchi and

Van der Garde. Rosberg has come back out in 12th place after his

penalty, well out of the run for a podium at this stage. So Grosjean

has a 1.9 second lead over Mark Webber, but Vettel has set the

fastest lap, now just 3.3 seconds behind his team-mate. Ricciardo

hanging on in in fourth place, but due a pit stop. He might get through

another four laps on those hard tyres. He is certainly going a lot

longer. Coming back to the point about the sun going down, the

drivers are wearing a smoked adviser, running they could take on

the visor to compensate. You are minus three to Webber, you can sit

there for a while. That is all about tyre management. The drivers do not

like this tyre management aspect of the Pirelli is, it does not allow

them to get up into the gearbox of the car in front and go racing. Car

He will be racing later on in the race. This is Hulkenberg, currently

in fifth place and just ahead of him on the road is Daniel Ricciardo with

a set of tyres that are much older than Hulkenberg's and he is

defending his line. Ricciardo will end up going 21 seconds or so down

behind Hulkenberg but I get what you are saying. They have very different

strategies. Also, they are tied on points, he will do nothing to help

Hulkenberg at this point. Felipe Massa is behind them, and where is

Alonso? Here's a couple of seconds behind, you can see him just coming

into shot. Coming down towards the hairpin, Felipe Massa getting

himself into position to pass the Sauber. Don't forget, the Sauber is

Ferrari engined. We have four Harare engined cars all in a line at the

moment. But the position is not what Enzo was dreaming of, I don't

suspect! Change next year, Toro Rosso will be going to the Renault

power unit but further now they still have the Ferrari engine, as we

get to the end of the V8 era in Formula one. Hulkenberg has a really

good run, but he is forced to the outside. The Toro Rosso having to go

very shallow on its line into turn two. He is sticking to his strategy

but compromising his lap time. We two. He is sticking to his strategy

could see a replay here of the Force India. How close was that as they

approach the corner. That was Maldonado getting a squeeze in. That

was all very tight indeed. Look how they really get together. Alonso

flying up to the back towards Felipe Massa just then, and Alonso's last

lap. They are being held up by Ricciardo and Hulkenberg is looking

for every opportunity here to get past the Toro Rosso but he hasn't

done it and that was a mistake from Hulkenberg as a result, which could

put him under threat from the Ferrari behind. They are losing time

now, it is allowing them to bunch up behind. Somebody has got to be brave

at some point. Allowing Gutierrez to catch the group as well. The DRS

will be activated on the X it again here. Now, Alonso will make the

fastest lap. He is getting past his team-mate, nothing Felipe Massa can

do. Alonso will now be filling the mirrors of Hulkenberg. In the end,

Felipe Massa just give did that to Alonso. He compromised his exit line

and Alonso saw that, got himself straight for the best traction and

used his KERS to get right into that DRS zone. You can see right now that

Gutierrez and Kimi Raikkonen have called the -- caught the group. This

is really... Ricciardo is struggling on these tyres now. He has done a

long way into this grand prix, so a good job in many respects but he has

been able to take the tyre this far. The Toro Rossos have been struggling

for pace this weekend. That was a tough place to try to overtake into

the Spoon. Hulkenberg coming up, Ricciardo goes defensive but

Hulkenberg has got the run. Absolutely flat, no problems.

Hulkenberg takes it, and now Felipe Massa is trying to get alongside his

team-mate. Alonso had to back out of it because it looks like he was

going to go down the outside. This is going to be straightforward for

Alonso, but for a moment once again we nearly saw the two Ferrari is

making contact with each other. It was very close in here at Suzuka a

moment ago. Let's take another look at this. This is Alonso and Felipe

Massa, and this wheel to wheel battling has allowed the leading

cars to open 22nd gap. This is brave stuff, on the shallow line. He might

have had to lift out slightly, certainly Ricciardo did. The team

manager with a round of applause for his man. The Mexican Gutierrez is

going down the inside. They made contact, surely? Nearly? Gutierrez

over to the left will have the inside line for the next corner.

Felipe Massa has got back in front. Great stuff. Felipe Massa saw what

was happening. Gutierrez, a nice tidy move, and now he is under

pressure from Kimi Raikkonen behind. He has got there in front before

they turn in. He is going to be passed by the McLaren, Perez. As he

goes into the chicane, watch Perez position his car for the best

traction. It looks like Gutierrez may well drop another place here.

Gutierrez goes defensive. It looks like the chain reaction of having

taken it so deep, that he was then going to lose another place but gets

away with it. This is a strong pace for Perez. Felipe Massa understeer

is a little bit wide here, onto the curb, and that is where he lost some

momentum. You have to brake early when you are dusting your tyres, and

this contact wheel to wheel as they come out of the hairpin. They have

the Ferrari power but different KERS systems. This is where Perez made

his name last year, so many overtakes and eventually getting it

wrong on that corner and spinning into the gravel. Let's remind you

that Grosjean is leading by two microseconds. RADIO: Multi three.

Some more engine change settings. Tom in the pit lane. Ricciardo has

made his pit stop from 10th place and gone back out on the prime tyre

which means he will have to make and gone back out on the prime tyre

another pit stop. They have to run both types of tyre. It is

disappointing for him because as the cars get lighter they take less out

of the tyres so the one-stop might have been so attractive but he will

have to stop again. He has come back out again in 16th place. What has

been going on here? This is Rosberg moving up, getting past Jenson

Button a moment ago. That strategy from Ricciardo has lost him sometime

relative to that battle with four others. Let's run you through the

top ten. Grosjean, whether, Bechtel... Of course with Mercedes

having lost one car from this race and the drive-through penalty for

Rosberg, with both Ferraris in the top ten, it means Ferrari can open

up a little bits per second place in the constructors championship.

Jenson Button is just outside the top ten.

Solid stuff here from the Sauber driver. His tyres are older than

Alonso behind in the Ferrari. Not looking like making much headway

now. There we are, as he tries to shut down a little bit. Jenson

Button is back into the pits once again, so again a relatively short

stint. He stopped at lap eight of course so it will be multiple

stopping this afternoon. We saw Ricciardo certainly doing plenty

more laps then that on his initial hard tyres but he was losing a lot

of performance. There is the race leader, Grosjean, and Mark Webber

not far behind him. Mark Webber has two think about how close to go. He

wants to look after his tyres but also wants to be in a position to

challenge. If you remember Grosjean hit Mark Webber here last year and

ended their chances of a podium finish. Mark Webber quietly bringing

himself into that fighting zone. Just to highlight how the drivers

have to tiptoe around in these tyres. There is a problem here, they

cannot get the wheel off. The disappointing stop the Jenson

Button. Yes, they are trying to do these stops in 2.5 seconds. In my

opinion there are too many people around the car but that's life. What

is it about bananas and Formula one at the moment? I have no idea.

Vettel is still hanging on to third place. Jenson Button didn't get a

long stint out of his second set of tyres. Ricciardo has been showing

the teams what they could do on the hard tyres. His lap times have

broken away and I think that is what Mark Webber has been waiting on. I

still think that Grosjean has got the pace to defend others 15 needs

to. Incomes Mark Webber from second place for his second pit stop. He

has done 14 laps on the set of tyres. Yes, this is heading for a

three stop race. Once the grip has gone you have got to get the pit

stop done. The degradation is not that big, it drops off that bit.

What about the other two doing to stop race? It looks like Mark Webber

has to do a three stop race but it may well be that Vettel and Grosjean

can get away with doing two. Yes, it is difficult to know. If it is

falling away from Mark Webber, I'm sure it's not doing much good for

Sebastian Vettel. Vettel has only done 11 laps, he had that later pit

stop. He might have a flat stop but he has just done a very fast sector.

He is clearly pushing on. He was closing that gap. They will be

watching intently to see what Mark can do on this lap with a new set of

prime tyres that has gone on. That is his last that this afternoon. Is

he going to get all the way to the end? It is tall order but maybe it

is achievable. A number of factors that could make it possible, it is a

tall order but the track is getting cooler as the sun goes down, the car

is getting lighter, the trap -- the track is getting more grippy and

there is a tailwind. The gap is 2.5 seconds between Vettel and Grosjean.

Massa and right in our sixth and seventh, Gutierrez still in eighth,

ninth for Perez, tents for Bottas. That brings him up a bit, but there

is a little bit of jostling further down the order, a few different

strategies going on which will not be resolved until the end of the

Grand Prix. See how the gap has closed between Grosjean and Vettel.

Mark Webber, we will need to see and finishes lap to understand what he

is delivering. If Vettel has turned up the wick, he could end up jumping

Webber through the pit stops. Another small lock-up into the

hairpin. Webber is 17 seconds behind Vettel. We are not racing Mark, we

are racing Grosjean. That is fairly clear, they are going for victory,

and Webber is not going to be in the same shape to challenge Grosjean for

the race win. Grosjean is being caught, but no sign of any mistakes

from him yet. Be has never been in quite this position before. He has

only led 12 laps prior to this, and he has been looking stronger every

weekend and is confidence growing since Raikkonen and he was going to

Ferrari. Grosjean has outqualified him in each of those races. We are

on target, Nico is timing us. Is race engineer keeping him calm,

keeping him steady, saying they are on target at the moment, so far, so

good. Let's just see a replay here of Adrian Sutil being passed by

Daniel Ricciardo around the outside. of Adrian Sutil being passed by

He goes off! Oh dear, I missed that. 180 mph, going around the outside,

but when he turns in, he is on the marbles. A few years ago, that

but when he turns in, he is on the run-off was not there. Rosberg is

battling with... Does he do a sneaky one up into Dunlop? He does indeed.

That was getting past Sutil. The fact that Ricciardo ended up going

over the white line and gained a place while doing it, I think he may

have to give that place up again and do it all over. He will indeed. Mark

Webber is 1.4 seconds than Sebastian Vettel on fresh tyres, he will be

hoping to keep his position there in second place and maybe challenge

Grosjean. Are the Lotus driver... Is he just going to sit tight and go

for two stops? Valtteri Bottas has come in, so has Adrian Sutil. They

will be sent on the way, Sutil is already on his way and Bottas, too,

as we look at the lap time comparisons. Do they stay out? Are

they going to respond to Mark Webber's pace? It looks like they

are staying out a little bit longer. Which one of them will be first in?

It is not going to be yet as they go across the line, but we do think

Webber is likely to have to make another stop. OK, Sebastian, put

pressure on Grosjean. Time to go for it, Rocky giving him the reins, 1.3

seconds was the gap as they went over the line. If you can get to

within one second, DRS is enabled. At McLaren we had a radio set up

that we could talk between the cars. We never raced it, because in free

practice, when we tried it, we could be sending little wind-up messages.

They deemed it was not safe to race! Ricciardo has just made a move again

on Pastor Maldonado, yes, he did. It does not look like he did give up

the place earlier, so whether that will be going to the stewards for a

bit of investigation. Grosjean, race leader, had a lock up a bit of a

moment ago. He is responding to the pressure behind. Massa has just been

in the pits, so he rejoins and is going to come back out in ninth

place, just ahead of Ricciardo. Ricciardo's strategy is working

quite well, because he is overtaking, but I wonder whether he

will be allowed to keep those places. We will find out later.

Vettel are still trying to close that gap that he has gained, four

tends in the first sector on Grosjean, and it looks as though

they have got a bit of traffic to deal with as well. That is Max

Chilton ahead of them in the one Marussia that is left in the race,

and incomes Grosjean! Vettel stays out, this is a big pressure point

for the Lotus team now. Mark Webber has been consistently quicker over

these last couple of laps, is it enough to jump? He has got traffic

ahead of him, Pic, but Webber might have done enough as

ahead of him, Pic, but Webber might past our commentary spot. Away goes

Grosjean. Webber has jumped in! He has, but will he have to stop again?

That is the big question. It will be difficult for Webber to get to the

end on his tyres, Grosjean has to do 23, and that should be achievable.

Now Mark has the lead position, he can back off and start saving

energy. A safety car would help him. Into the pits has come Nico

Hulkenberg, who had to deal with a safety car last time out in Korea,

but he did well, fending off Hamilton for so long. If you have

just joined us, Hamilton went out of the race early, there was slight

contact off the line between Hamilton and Vettel, puncturing his

tyre, and the flailing tyre did well, fending off Hamilton for so

long. If you have just joined us, well, fending off Hamilton for so

Hamilton went out of the race early, there was slight contact off the

line between Hamilton and Vettel, puncturing his tyre, and the

line between Hamilton and Vettel, flailing tyre gives came into the

pits! No surprise that Ricciardo's move at

130R is under investigation for gaining an advantage, and I think it

is going to be a hard one although he was aired, we have seen the

presidents with Romain Grosjean, when he made that amazing move on

Massa in Hungary. -- President. There will be a time penalty after

the race, perhaps a drive-through. Mark Webber is in second place,

Vettel leads but is due another pit stop at some point soon. And then

the big question mark is where the stop at some point soon. And then

challenge is going to be between Vettel and Grosjean. Webber is doing

just what he needs to do, lapping consistently, and who knows? Paps

something will happen to enable him to get to the end of the race on

something will happen to enable him this set of tyres and hold onto this

strong position. -- perhaps. In comes Fernando Alonso. A reasonably

quick stop but not the fastest of the day, 2.5. Deceptive, it was a

good stop. Hulkenberg is still ahead of him. Remember, these two have

been pretty close to one another throughout the Grand Prix so far.

Mark Webber, eight seconds ahead of Grosjean, he will have to push some

two open up a gap. He is having one extra stop this afternoon. Yes,

Alonso, let's just wait and see. Raikkonen still out on track, and of

course Raikkonen is due another pit stop as well as some point. Both of

them should be able to get to the end of the race at this stage.

Sergio Perez a moment ago, a problem with the right rear. Another McLaren

problem on the right rear, we saw Button have that earlier, the same

for Sergio Perez. It is unusual, different wheels, the wheel nut is

held inside the wheel, so unless it is an issue with the gun... It is a

drive-through penalty for Ricciardo. Well, we sort of expected

it once we saw him go through 130R so wide. That is a great shame,

because he has driven well to overtake a few cars, but he perhaps

should have given that up straightaway. He will lose his

chance of getting points but gain the chance to overtake a few more

cars once he has rejoined! Points are what matter to Toro Rosso,

because Sauber have got two cars in the points at the moment, Hulkenberg

and Gutierrez. Gutierrez has just rejoined, and he still got a good

chance. In comes Kimi Raikkonen. He will be going to the end of the race

on the hard compound tyre. And that was good, let's see where this

brings out. He will be quite close to Ricciardo, because Ricciardo is

due to be making a drive-through penalty. There he is on the

outside, just behind Raikkonen, who rejoins. Again on that battle with

Mark Webber and Romain Grosjean, I think he can hang in on the same

strategy, because he is not pulling away enough to get in another stop.

He was only three tenths quicker than Grosjean on the last lap.

Ricciardo will need to come in next time around. That will release the

me say these and put Rosberg up into eighth place. -- the Mercedes. We

me say these and put Rosberg up into had Rosberg, Button. Errors has lost

out, as we thought, on that slow pit stop. -- Perez. He has come back out

in 13th position, Jenson Button, his team-mate, is up in tenth place.

Both of them have lost out pretty much similarly at their pit stops.

It has given Button the edge between them, and between them is Jean-Eric

Vergne and Gutierrez at this stage. Just ahead of Ricciardo is Massa, so

Rosberg will be battling with him at some point. One of his three stops

was a drive-through, Massa is on two. Effectively, they are on the

same strategy here this afternoon. Flat out through 130R. Just looking

at the tyres that everyone is using, Rosberg on the medium compound, a

very different strategy. Massa is under investigation for speeding in

the pit lane. He is currently in sixth place, that would bring

Raikkonen up if he gets a penalty. Let's wait and see what happens, but

normally when they start investigating for speeding, they're

very quickly follows a penalty. Yes, it is a slam dunk, it will be a

drive-through. Daniel Ricciardo takes his drive-through penalty for

going out of bounds and rejoins the takes his drive-through penalty for

track, let's just see where he comes out, it is in 13th place with Paul

di Resta quite close. It was Di Resta he was trying to overtake

earlier when he went wide, of course. So Sebastian Vettel

continues to lead this race, and as he crosses the line, he has got

something like 11 seconds' advantage over his team-mate, Mark Webber, but

he is really going to be racing hard with Romain Grosjean, who has made

his top. Confirmation of the drive-through penalty for Felipe

Massa, and that is a shame for Ferrari, because they were looking

to score solid points in front of Mercedes, who've lost a car from the

Grand Prix, and that is going to drop Massa back out of the points

for the moment. It will be very difficult for him to get back into

the top ten, I think. Well, Webber trying to keep it all as smooth as

possible. We are riding on board here with Sebastian Vettel, 1:37.0

last time around. Tom in the pit lane. I am just wondering whether

Sebastian Vettel is trying to stay out on this had set of tyres so they

can put the medium on for the last section of the race. If we look at

practice on Friday, they were saying, the teams were saying that

practice on Friday, they were the medium tyre can last about 18

laps, so he only needs to do another and that would put him in the medium

window, which would give him 1.7 of a lap of an advantage over the guys

around him. It is quite possible, certainly Gary was telling us that

the ability to use the softer tyre at the end of the race may well

benefit teams and drivers. You could at the end of the race may well

be right, maybe that is what they are tried to do, put that little bit

steeper to put the softer tyre on at the end. Vettel has only done

one-stop. He is 19.9 seconds ahead of Grosjean, call it 20. If you can

get one second and a little bit of change, he can get is pit stop and

come out in front of Grosjean. It will be difficult to do - last time

around, Grosjean was a tenth and a half faster, consistent lap times

for Vettel, let's see what Grosjean is doing. We will see him over the

line in a moment or two. Hulkenberg is still in fourth place, 1:36.7 me

so Grosjean has pulled the time down. Look at TV rear tyres, he is

being urged. -- look after the rear tyres. Grosjean doing everything the

team has been asking of him, that is what they have been reporting back,

whether it is a single lap in qualifying for looking after the

tyres in the race. He has been unlucky not to have two podiums in a

row, he was heading for a podium in Singapore when he had an engine

problem with the air pressure with that valve system. He did get the

podium last time out but missed out on second place because Kimi

Raikkonen took advantage of a tiny error by Grosjean. We have not seen

any of those is still very much in this race,

fighting opportunity, still, perhaps, for

Felipe Massa opportunity, still, perhaps, for

before the end of the Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel

before the end of the Grand Prix. he has

before the end of the Grand Prix. pit stop. No doubt he's

on two pit stops, whereas Mark Webber

on two pit stops, whereas Mark three pit stops in

on two pit stops, whereas Mark the two Red Bulls,

on two pit stops, whereas Mark is giving them a race for their

on two pit stops, whereas Mark money. It is not over yet, keep

pushing, mate, we have got some chances to come yet. What does that

mean? I think it is a reflection of the fact they are expected to come

in again. If the gap is 11 seconds. Map you can see a slow motion

shot... As I was saying, he needs to get the gap bigger. Grosjean is now

down in sixth place but he is catching Fernando Alonso pretty

rapidly. Just looking at how the speed works

out, remember Mark Webber is on much fresher tyres, is tyres have done

out, remember Mark Webber is on much ten laps, as opposed to the 21 laps

that his team-mate's have done. Sure enough, he is closing the gap and

setting personal bests on each of the sectors. This is the part of the

race where everything is beginning to resolve itself and we are

wondering how much further Sebastian Vettel will go on this set of tyres.

He is pretty much on the limit we have been told about by various

teams. His pit stop has got to be within the next few laps. Ferrari

are looking to score ten points in the Constructors' Championship.

Lotus are looking to score 23 points, that would bring them back

into the territory of second overall and that will liven up the last part

of the championship because if we have Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus,

all trying to get third, that would be amazing. As Nicky louder has

stated, that is their goal now. Lewis Hamilton is talking to Ian

McKenzie. -- Lee McKenzie. How badly damaged was your car? Bad

enough, it was really unlucky and I just feel sorry for the guys because

they have worked so hard. Performance wise we deserved a lot

better. It looks like a good start, the gap was there but you looked

like getting squeezed by the Red Bulls. It was the best start I have

had all year so it was such a good feeling, so it is really

disappointing but that's life. It looks like Red Bull are preparing

for Sebastian Vettel's stop. He is in. This is a crucial moment of the

grand prix. Grosjean is passing now, there he is. Has Sebastian Vettel

got the pace in the car with the harder tyre, and he prefers the

harder tyres. Yes, that is a new set of tyres.

RADIO: That is Grosjean in front of you, go and get him! Go and get

him! He seems to have the art of getting the best out of these

Pirelli tyres, keeping them alive until the end of the lap. We have a

race on here, there is no doubt about it. Gutierrez gets past,

putting him in ninth place now and an opportunity to score him his

first-ever championship points. You are not allowed to make a double

move but Vergne makes his move and they get away with it. Vettel is

lighting up the screens with the fastest sector times in sectors two

and three and his next lap is likely to be even faster. This Lotus again

showing great race pace so far. Mark to be even faster. This Lotus again

Webber is still leading this grand to be even faster. This Lotus again

prix, but surely due to make another pit stop relatively soon. I think

they will have to make another pit stop. When they stopped for the

second stop, they had done 13 laps, Grosjean had done 16 and Sebastian

Vettel had done 22 so it looks like Vettel can look after his tyres.

They are either going to have to stop another time or they will be

limping for the last few laps. He is catching Grosjean and Grosjean will

not have much in his tyres left to respond. They want to try to get

first and second out of this race if they can but that will be tough

because Grosjean has driven so well in this race. Look how much closer

Vettel has got to him. Alonso is in fifth place so even if Vettel wins

the race today, Alonso is doing enough to make sure he doesn't win

the championship at the moment. Vettel is getting closer and closer

to Grosjean's car. The fresh tyres will give him so much confidence and

he only has to do 16 laps so he knows he can get away with that.

RADIO: You will come under pressure from Mark so make sure you have

enough tyres left. That's interesting. What about further down

the order, any changes? A major pat on the back for Hulkenberg. He has

been holding off Alonso three or four times. I don't think it is all

over by any means just yet. Rosberg has just been in for another pit

stop so that will drop him down slightly, but look how close now

Sebastian Vettel is to Grosjean. This is for the effective race lead,

although it is actually the second place because they are behind Mark

Webber who is some 14 seconds ahead of them. Is Mark Webber can open up

the gap a bit more, he could still make the pit stop. Grosjean holds

the middle ground, and now he will surely have the DRS zone available,

and Vettel needs to get past promptly, otherwise Mark Webber will

begin a chance. He dives past him as they come down by the pit stop.

There might be some damage to that car, you mentioned his front wing

took a little hit at the beginning of the race, but do we need any more

confirmation that the boy can race? Let's see what Mark Webber can do,

he was 15 seconds ahead last time around. Let's see a replay of that

wall. RADIO: Good job, Sebastian. Now it is all about keeping your

tyres. Grosjean has done absolutely nothing wrong but ultimately the

pace of the Red Bull, I think, as we have seen throughout recent grand

breeze, just too much for everybody. The Lotus is certainly able to match

them and control it at the beginning The Lotus is certainly able to match

of the race, but when it comes to it how much energy you have to put into

these tyres and how much energy you can leave on too much downforce and

the drivers can manage it better. Hulkenberg is still holding on to

fourth position, Alonso is fifth, Kimi Raikkonen has not made any

headway in getting past Fernando Alonso soaks two champions running

in fifth and sixth place. There is a big gap back to Jenson Button in

seventh place. Gutierrez is still there in eighth place, Felipe Massa

in ninth place, and Perez currently in the final points scoring position

but Nico Rosberg has made a pit stop and is going very quickly so Perez'

10th place will come under threat soon.

It seems to me that Mark Webber can try to hang out there and being

really bad shape with the tyres at the end, or he will have to take pit

stop. It looks like he is coming in. This will promote Sebastian Vettel

and presumably Grosjean, but of This will promote Sebastian Vettel

course Mark Webber will have some great tyres available to him and he

will go chasing after Grosjean. He will come out a few seconds after

Grosjean. He has put the softer tyres on so he can absolutely charge

now and go chasing after the top two. Vettel now leading this grand

prix, Grosjean in second place and Mark Webber in third and he is going

for it. A new set of options for Mark Webber but it might have been a

late call because he was already in the pit lane and the guys had not

even come out into the pit box, so it was a last-minute call and now he

is flat-out. Adrian Sutil battling away against Jenson Button, and

Button has made another pit stop so that has dropped him back down from

seventh place into 13th position. You have to question whether Jenson

has an issue with his car because we have not seen such a drop-off of

performance in previous grand prix. This is like a ten lap sprint for

victory, Mark Webber will have to do it the hard way if he wants to win

his last Japanese grand prix. He has a puncture. Maybe this was not

planned. He is on his way once again, it has not been a smooth race

for Perez. Did they touch? If he clipped his tyre, it deflates

immediately so not a planned stop. That will be a different story soon

with a narrower front wing. Nico Rosberg went to the outside, you are

not allowed to crowd the car off the circuit, which will be looked at. In

fairness, you are looking at the corner, not driving in looking at

your mirrors. Mark Webber is only 3.5 seconds behind Grosjean, and on

the softer tyres, absolutely flying at the moment. He has just gone

through the first sector about six tenths quicker than the guys ahead

of him. The question is not only can he catch Grosjean, but does he have

enough in the tank to go chasing after his team-mate, Vettel. This is

a replay, one of the Williams getting out over the curb. We saw

that earlier from Sebastian Vettel. Is that a little flat spot, or some

pick up on his front left? Or is it a blister? It is very difficult to

see clearly. Of course we still don't know how much damage was done

to his front wing. He is now just two points -- two points -- 2.6

seconds behind. If Vettel finishes were years, he would have a

92-championship lead. He is not likely to do that on this occasion,

so it looks as though he is heading for victory at the moment, but let's

not discount Mark Webber's charge. Again, he is gaining a lot. Tell

them to get out of the way. Vettel is keen to get the slower traffic

out of his way, Perez is at the head of Sebastian Vettel at the moment. I

think he has got as now all no? There he is, catching the McLaren.

Perez has got fresh tyres, getting well out of the way, lifting through

130R. He is having a difficult afternoon, but not wanting to spoil

the party up front. You could hear in Sebastian Vettel's voice that he

knows he is in a Grand Prix race until the end. A replay of

Grosjean, oh, a little wide but he got away with it. When you get on

top of that curve, the plank bottoms out, and it sucks the car onto the

grass. He been caught by the man he knocked out in the first corner last

year. Well, not completely, he did finish the race but way down the

field. Now it is going to be Webber's chance to try to get past

Romain Grosjean in these closing laps. Much pressure tyres, the

softer compound, more grip as well. Where is he going to set up to

passing? Look how much he has been gaining, 2.8 seconds. Alonso getting

past Hulkenberg for position, he has done it! Fernando Alonso finally

finds a way past Hulkenberg, and maybe Hulkenberg is running into

tyre trouble, doing this on a two-stop race, Raikkonen is not far

behind. Perhaps the Sauber is using its tyres a bit small, and

Hulkenberg is a bit stranded as we go back to Mark Webber and his

approach to Romain Grosjean. The climb up to where this figure of

eight track crosses, 130R flat out at every point during the Grand

Prix, Mark moving into position. Perfectly placed to pick up the DRS,

looking in control. You can see the grippy as God through the chicane,

you can line. -- the grip he has got. He is going to challenge for

second place, Mark Webber will have to go around the outside, because

Grosjean defends and holds it in tide. That was good stuff from

Romain Grosjean. You have to make a decision - are you going to squeeze

into the pit wall, are they going to be you and of space, or do you go to

the left? Mark was on the side of caution, and it will have to get

himself close off the chicane. Sebastian forced Grosjean to go

shallow on the entry to the corner. This is Rosberg and Massa. Yes, for

eighth place. Rosberg is going to get something back in that battle

every point counts, only one point separates them coming into the Grand

Prix. That is with damage to his front wing, of course, we saw parts

of the front wing endplate flying off after the contact with Perez.

Rosberg fighting back after what has been a difficult day, but determined

to score some points. Gutierrez is heading for his first-ever points

finish in seventh place at the moment, and Mark Webber is being

told to use the KERS on the exit of the chicane, used 25% KERS early. It

is so subtle, the instructions from the team. They want to help them

find his way past Romain Grosjean. Also in the points, but Jenson

Button is 0.3 behind him, so the final point is also proving to be

Button is 0.3 behind him, so the quite a close run thing. That is

something else to keep an eye on. The two friends, they train

together, they have the same management company. Webber is not

close enough on this lap. Good exit from the chicane by Grosjean. Mark

has to put pressure on him in Spoon and getting shallow into the

chicane. Even on the older tyres, he has good drive out of the chicane.

This all helps Vettel, because all the time Mark Webber cannot get past

Grosjean, it is less time for him to try to catch the base leader. Vettel

has a seven second advantage, and it is more and more likely that he is

safe out in front, and the real question is, can Mark Webber take

second place from Romain Grosjean? You can see Vettel's gap over the

last few laps really has opened up, he has been pushing very hard.

Yeah, looking comfortable out front. Grosjean is on much older tyres than

the Red Bulls, and that is the key thing. He made a relatively early

second stop. Contrasting tyres, Mark on the option, Grosjean on the

prime. He closes up towards the chicane and

the DRS zone. Just too far back at the moment. By

the time he gets the DRS open, he is too far back. Will he go late into

turn one? Not quite, this is impressive, as you said, there was a

gap in qualifying, and if any thing, the Lotus has struggled in

terms of straight-line speed, but right now they are doing enough to

stay in front of the Red Bull of Mark Webber. Alonso, by the way, is

still in fourth place, 44 seconds behind these two. Hulkenberg is

hanging on to fifth, but only just, Di Resta. Yes, just by a fraction.

Sutil is 12th, and by Terry Bottas is 13th, but for cyber, look at

this, a great move by Mark Webber, trying to get around the outside of

Romain Grosjean. A difficult place to try to achieve that. There is a

whole bunch of traffic ahead as they come out of Spoon, I count five cars

running ahead of them, so this is going to get a bit messy. Yes,

Romain Grosjean will be under pressure here in all sorts of ways,

with Mark Webber catching him and cars ahead. He is not close enough

to get the DRS this time, this is a good opportunity for Mark Webber to

get the DRS in operation, get a good exit out of the chicane. His DRS did

not open on the last lap, so let's see whether we can notice any this

time. It looks like it was working this lap. We still did not manage to

close the gap as much as he would have expected, and the more he sits

behind Grosjean, the harder it is to overtake him, and we are running out

of laps, we are onto lap 50 out of 53 in the Japanese Grand Prix, and

let's take a look at what has been happening. Nico Rosberg getting past

Gutierrez, no, he didn't, did he cut back on the exit? No, Gutierrez in

seventh, Rosberg and eight. Ricciardo going very

seventh, Rosberg and eight. following him. That is the traffic

that they are having to deal with. Grosjean will be on the radio to his

team ahead of time, and you get frustrated when you have got

traffic, you have got the dominant car of the season behind you. Not a

good place to be catching this bunch of cars, no doubt about it.

Maldonado is in that group, isn't he? Both Williams are in that

group, in fact, so let's see what happens as Romain Grosjean tries to

catch up to Pastor Maldonado. It is important to get past Gutierrez now,

critical on fuel. That means they need to turn down the engine

mixture, and once they do that you lose house power and performance.

Grosjean will get the RSS off Maldonado, so it will be difficult

for Webber to make headway on this lap. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas is

fighting with Jean-Eric Vergne, having their own private battle,

with Ricciardo joining in the background. Grosjean gets Pastor

Maldonado, and Mark Webber does likewise, yes, he squeezes down the

inside. So tight, particularly from that camera perspective. It has not

helped Mark Webber, and he is running out of laps to try to take

second place. We see the battle from Raikkonen and Hulkenberg, down to

the chicane. Hulkenberg locks up, this might give Raikkonen the chance

to get better position. We know the Sauber has great traction. It does,

it is quick out of the chicane, but does it maintain the speed down the

start-finish straight? Hulkenberg in fifth place, Kimi Raikkonen cannot

do it, he has run out of straight-line speed. It does not

sound like he is on the limiter, but he is not fast enough, the amount of

drag on that car. Downforce is a wonderful thing, but you do not get

it for nothing. You do get dragged. So Ricciardo and... Wheel to wheel

with Webber and Grosjean at Spoon! So Ricciardo and... Wheel to wheel

Having another chance to get second place, but it does not come off,

Grosjean driving perfectly here today. He has led so much of the

Grand Prix and desperately wants to hold onto at least second place from

Mark Webber, can he do it? He is delivering on the kind of promise

that he is shown on several occasions, but it is tidier! He just

covers the inside, but he is going to be slow out of the corner. And

Grosjean will get DRS. But Mark Webber has a great run going, as he

got enough momentum to overtake the Lotus? Yes, he has, he has a lot

more speed, he has got to the inside. They just brushed past each

other, and Mark Webber is into second place. Red Bull are heading

for a 1-2 here today, but they have been made to work extremely hard for

it, thanks to the exploits of Romain Grosjean, who is driving so well and

not putting a foot wrong. Ultimately, the Red Bull is simply a

faster car, but for a while he had that second place and was holding

onto it. As I was saying earlier, he goes to the inside, Romain squeezes

towards the pit wall that gives him enough room, and in the end the pace

of the Red Bull on fresh tyres is enough room, and in the end the pace

just too much. Well, the other Lotus is up in the points as well, of

course, Kimi Raikkonen currently in is up in the points as well, of

fifth place, having got past Hulkenberg. Let's see how that move

was executed. Around the outside into the chicane! I have never seen

that before! And other great move by Kimi Raikkonen, and we saw that as

honesty made in Korea last time out. Gutierrez is defence of an Rosberg,

we have heard Rosberg may be having to save fuel in these closing laps,

so whether Gutierrez will be able to hold on to seventh, it would be its

first ever points in Formula One if he stays seventh. He could still be

eighth and get his first points. He is already top rookie this year

because of the others thought that he has achieved, moving ahead of

Terry Bottas in the recent races, but to score points, of course,

would be a major achievement in his first season of Formula One in a car

that at the beginning of the season was pretty difficult to drive.

Coming back on that Raikkonen move, what makes it so brave is that

around the outside you are at the mercy of the auto on the shallow

line, so he does not lock up and TiVo new. He made the commitment, he

stuck with it and he got the rewards. -- T-bone. Hanging back in

Spoon to get some clear edge to get a drive off Spoon, important to use

Spoon to get some clear edge to get your KERS, the extra 80 horsepower

as you climb up the hill towards 130R. Well, we are getting towards

the end of this Grand Prix, though, and it looks like Sebastian Vettel

is going to add to his winning tally and it looks like Sebastian Vettel

once more this year, is remarkable record at Suzuka. Raikkonen is

catching Alonso, by the way, so we will keep an eye on that on the last

lap, because Alonso was fourth in Brighton in fifth, and Raikkonen was

a lot quicker on the last lap. Rosberg has not got what it takes to

get past Gutierrez on the straight, will he do it on the next part? But

here comes Sebastian Vettel, and once again Suzuka is his circuit. He

is going to come through to take the chequered flag. It is going to be as

dirty fifth career win, Sebastian Vettel wins in Japan! -- 35th. It is

is ninth win of the season and is fourth in five years around this

track, what a record he has. Mark Webber finishes in second place,

watch out for Alonso in the Ferrari, with Raikkonen, they are a bit

further back at the moment. Sutil finished 14th. There, I do not think

Raikkonen is quite close enough. He is not going to be able to

challenge. Unless he cut the final chicane, he is too far back. This

means the world championship battle continues into the next round at

least, into the Indian Grand Prix, because Alonso has done enough year,

bringing the car home in fourth place. Vettel has not wrapped up the

championship yet. Kimi Raikkonen finishes in fifth position, six goes

to Nico Hulkenberg. We are just waiting for Esteban Gutierrez to

come through to see whether he waiting for Esteban Gutierrez to

managed to beat Nico Rosberg, and I think he is ahead, so let's see,

here we are - Esteban Gutierrez, a Mexican, is going to score his first

ever points in Formula One, he has done it, finishing in seventh place.

Any congratulations to him, and Sauber have got two cars in the top

seven and further extend their lead over Toro Rosso in the constructors'

championship. Rosberg pulls off, he was low on fuel, he finished in

eighth place. Button comes in ninth, and looks like Felipe Massa will

come home in tenth place, yes, he has just crossed the line and the

Ferrari takes the final point. Rosberg has pulled over and... It

was fuel, they said it would be tight on fuel. What a drive, Seb,

great job, you managed that fantastically well, brilliant drive.

Also under, awesome. Ichiban, ichiban, yes, voice, unbelievable!

We stayed there, patient, great job. Thanks a lot for bringing the car

back, you are the best team in the world. Thank you very much, guys, I

love you. Yes! Ichiban! Yes, number one first for Sebastian

Vettel, and Grosjean also having to get a lift back so presumably out of

fuel. Patients I suppose was one of the key things. This was the last

lap, I believe, Jenson Button trying to get past Felipe Massa. They were

fighting for position, I hadn't realised it was as close as that.

There was contact as they came through the last chicane. They

managed to survive without taking each other off. Jenson Button

classified as ninth place, Felipe Massa in 10th place. This was the

two Williams. No love lost! Yes, and Maldonado sneaking through, he got

16th place ahead of Bottas. No points available but it seemed to

matter a lot to Maldonado. Grosjean drove the race of his life today.

Had to settle for third in the end but there are thousands of Lotus

fans here who will have loved that drive.

Nothing has changed in terms of the Constructors' Championship. Up

front, Sebastian Vettel has taken Constructors' Championship. Up

another giant stride of course towards his fourth world

championship title but he hasn't wrapped it up on this occasion. He

doesn't mind, he has taken another win on what must be his favourite

track, with his record of four victories in four years. You can see

just how popular he is here in Japan and he has a massive following in

this part of the world. Yes, he is revered here, it has to be said, and

Mark Webber, we were happy for him getting that pole position, I guess

the dream was that he could get a victory at this race track in his

last year but Sebastian was just too strong. Yes, he has taken nine

victories this year, and in his dominant year 2011 he took 11

victories. It is hard to see him being beaten. He would probably have

an advantage in overall performance in the car, he seems to have an

advantage in the team. You can see Mark Webber coming through to get

his second place. RADIO: That is a very good drive, Mark. Unfortunately

we lost too much time by Grosjean at the end. In fact it is only his

second podium here in Japan for Mark Webber. Let's see Grosjean. RADIO:

Brilliant drive. That is nice to hear, isn't it? They probably

thought it was always going to be a long shot to beat Red Bull. Is

anyone going to bring upgrades to their cars that can stop the pace of

the Red Bull? It is only the second time this year we have seen a Red

Bull 1-2. It was a straightforward run to the flag and Sebastian Vettel

certainly earned his victory, but Mark Webber backing him up with

another second place, and that is his third deck and place finish of

the season. -- third second-place finish.

With third place trophy and surely the driver of the day has to be

Grosjean, because he led so much of the grand prix and headed off Mark

Webber for a good period of time. In the end he had to succumb but he

kept going to score solid points for Lotus. To confirm the race result

today, it was a 1-24 Red Bull with Sebastian Vettel taking the full 25

and Grosjean in third place. Good DRS taking his first-ever

points in Formula One. In terms of both championships, it looks like

Red Bull will be double champions next time out in India.

Let's hear from the main drivers in the race today.

Congratulations, such a strong result for you. How are you feeling?

Fantastic, obviously a very rewarding win today. A horrible

start to be honest. I spoke to the team before the race, we had a

strategy meeting, I spoke to my engineers in particular about the

strategy and I think we learned a lot in 2011 when we were keen on

staying in front, pitted early and run into trouble later in the race,

so obviously after the poor start we found ourselves sitting in third. We

tried to go longer, taking into found ourselves sitting in third. We

account we stayed out longer in the second stint, so when I came out for

the final stint I had fresh tyres and unbelievable traction when I

managed to get past Grosjean and after that the only threat was Mark,

who got stuck behind Grosjean. We could manage the gap until the end

of the race. How do you manage and control your thoughts of

championships now? I am not really thinking about that. Obviously it is

the big target. We set that at the start of the season when we realised

we had a strong package. It is very strange because the season is very

long still. You have the chance to wrap it up but I think the best

chance is not to think about it so, to be honest, next week I am fairly

happy to get back. We are at home, I will get the chance to relax a

little bit before we go out to India. Mark, how do you feel, was it

a missed opportunity or the best you could do under the circumstances?

The best I could do under the circumstances. Probably high risk to

put pressure on Grosjean for the circumstances. Probably high risk to

win. It forced the hand of Lotus to do what they had to do to try to

beat me on that, Sebastian meanwhile was doing a slightly different

strategy which he committed too out of laps! How do you feel after

that? out of laps! How do you feel after

beginning. Yes, that start came out of nowhere. I was going for it. For

sure I was stressed on the grid from last year but today was perfect. The

performance was not good enough on prime today but never mind, we never

thought we could challenge the Red Bull so finishing so close to them,

I was the harm in the sun which, so pretty good. Mathematically the

battle is still open, is your mind pretty good. Mathematically the

still there? I don't think so. I would need to win nearly all four

races so we struggle a little bit at the moment to do so, so it is a

matter of time but it is true that we keep doing our best on Sundays.

When it is mathematically impossible, we will congratulate

him. At the moment we are still waiting. Jenson, that looks like a

tough day at the office today. Yes, the start was pretty awful really.

We were trying to do a long stint on the option at the beginning so I

took some front end out but it was definitely the wrong thing to do, I

had so much understeer, locking up at the front and lost pace because

of it. The third stint was strong on the prime and the last stint on the

option was very good so I enjoyed it in the end. Felipe Massa forced me

option was very good so I enjoyed it over the curb and I ended up getting

him on the straight. A good end to the race but a dreadful beginning.

It seemed as if there weren't enough laps for Mark Webber today. We all

thought this could be his opportunity to convert to victory

but it went wrong of the start line, not just him but Sebastian Vettel as

well. In the end he ran out of time. Today Grosjean was incredible, his

race craft was superb, his head was focused, this is a great driver.

Yes, but even more incredible was Vettel keeping it together. His

front wing endplate was damaged but he was able to push when he needed

to. In the end, Grosjean's car was not as quick as the Red Bull and

Sebastian wins again. Yes and tactically they did it perfectly,

didn't they? They never seem to put a foot wrong. They have had KERS

issues. Maybe that is what compromised their ability to tune

everything ahead of the start. An amazing start from Grosjean, he was

hot right out of the box. Great experience for him. Previous to this

grand prix, he had only led 12 laps in his career. Samba is also looked

good today, and also mentioning good -- Gutierrez, he also looked

incredible. Yes, the last few races he has shown he is worthy of his

seat in Formula One. Hulkenberg looks like he will be the team

leader for the next season. Ferrari off the pace this weekend? Better

than they were in qualifying. They just don't have the out right pace

and they are now focusing fully on next year's car. The championship is

over as far as Alonso is concerned agencies about controlling the

damage. The three wave battle, there is a lot at stake for those teams.

It looks like the Drivers' Championship will be confirmed next

time out and that will be India in a fortnight, where we will be live and

we will see you there.