2013 Japanese Grand Prix report: a race for the record books

By William Herrera October 14,2013

The recently concluded Japanese Grand Prix was, from the beginning, very promising. The prospects were: the possibility of Sebastian Vettel winning his fourth World Drivers Championship in a row, Mark Webber winning the race from pole, Fernando Alonso gaining ground in the championship standings, or Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton keeping abreast with the points leaders to stay in the running for the drivers championship. Or someone other than the usual suspects winning in Japan.

 

Unfortunately, as with life, not all things pan out as one would like. Webber again didn’t start well and got gobbled up by the fast running Romain Grosjean in his Lotus. Grosjean led the pack out of the first corner. Hamilton had a good start and looked to have jumped Vettel before turn 1, but then ran into the front wing of the Red Bull and suffered a right rear puncture in the process. The Mercedes then had to crawl back to the pits, a run which eventually ruined the car, and ended Hamilton’s 2013 championship aspirations.

 

Raikkonen, starting from ninth, had to work his way up the grid. At the checkered flag he could only manage fifth spot. He now sits third on the standings with 177 points, 127 behind the defending champion. With only 100 points up for grabs in the next four races, he too can focus on next year, and his impending move to Ferrari. Fernando Alonso who started from eighth position, tried desperately to overcome the lead of the front runners, but he eventually finished in fourth. This gives him a sliver of a chance to win his third World Drivers Championship, if Vettel fails to score in the remaining four races. But that scenario is highly unlikely, since all Vettel needs is four points in any of the remaining races and he will join the greats with four Drivers Championship titles.

 

With his 12 points in Japan, Fernando Alonso now becomes the all-time leader in points scored at 1571 points, ahead of the great Michael Schumacher at 1566. We need to point out that back when Michael got his 91 wins in Formula One, the scoring was different, as the winner was only awarded 10 points compared to 25 points today.

 

Sebastian Vettel also made the record books, notching his fifth consecutive win of the year, starting in Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea and now Japan. His 11th win for 2013 is also ranked at second place for the most wins in a season. In terms of total wins, Vettel now has 35 wins to his credit, two ahead of current rival Fernando Alonso. This ranks him at fourth in all-time wins, behind Senna, Prost, and Schumacher.

 

For the much-coveted Constructors championship, Red Bull leads Ferrari by 148 points; with 172 points left in the season, Ferrari needs to get their act together if they want to lay claim to their 17th Constructors’ trophy. Ferrari by far is the most successful team in Formula 1.

 

The next race is at the Buddh International Circuit in India on October 27.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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