Japanese Grand Prix Winners and Results Table

The Japanese grand prix at Suzuka (Sunday 10th October 2010) was an eventful race with seven cars that did not finish the race. Below is the full results table from today’s race. The formula 1 drivers table has also been updated with it looking more like a three horse race, that said there are 75 points still available and anything can happen.

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	53	1:30:27.323	1	25
2	6	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	53	+0.9 secs	2	18
3	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	+2.7 secs	4	15
4	1	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+13.5 secs	5	12
5	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+39.5 secs	8	10
6	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	53	+59.9 secs	10	8
7	23	Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	53	+64.0 secs	14	6
8	22	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	53	+69.6 secs	11	4
9	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	53	+70.8 secs	7	2
10	16	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	53	+72.8 secs	18	1
11	17	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	16
12	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	52	+1 Lap	20
13	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	19
14	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	22
15	21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	23
16	20	Sakon Yamamoto	HRT-Cosworth	50	+3 Laps	24
17	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	47	+6 Laps	6
Ret	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	44	Oil leak	15
Ret	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	2	Mechanical	3
Ret	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	0	Accident	9
Ret	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	0	Accident	12
Ret	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	0	Accident	13
Ret	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	0	Accident	17
DNS	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	0	Accident	21

AT&T Williams Edge to Top Ten Safety after Suzuka Grand Prix

The AT&T Williams team achieved another points scoring race result in today’s Japanese Grand Prix following Rubens Barrichello’s determined drive to ninth place. Meanwhile, team mate Nico Hulkenberg was unable to capitalise on his competitive showing in qualifying when a collision off the start line put him out of contention from the outset. Rubens’ two points further strengthen the team’s efforts to secure sixth place in the Constructors’ championship with just three races of the season remaining, this is important as it will ensure finacial rewards needed to develop next years car.
Rubens Barrichello, who mananged to score points commented “My car was skating all over the track this afternoon. I don’t know why and, to make matters worse, I had quite a lot of vibration. We managed to salvage some points today, but I really thought we were going to finish higher up”.
Nico Hulkenberg, who DNF said “I had a bad start and I didn’t get off the line at all. I then saw Petrov coming up behind me. He touched my front right wheel and that was it. You never want to finish a race that early, but today it happened and it was unfortunate for us both. The team are doing a really good job developing the car and that showed in our qualifying performance so it was a shame to finish that early”.

Sam Michael, Technical Director was optimistic about the poor afternoon “It was good to get a couple of points with Rubens for the Constructors’. However, our race pace was disappointing, particularly compared to our qualifying performance when we were comfortably in the top ten. The team will work extra hard in order to understand and improve our position ahead of the remaining races. Unfortunately, we had a poor start on Nico’s car and then he was run into by another car before Turn One”.

BMW Sauber Best Finish at Japanese Grand Prix

Kamui Kobayashi: 7th
C29.04 / Ferrari 056
“I tried my best and I am very happy. It was a great race for our team, and I’m very pleased for the Japanese fans who have watched an exciting race. It is the second time we have got both cars in the points, and for me it was really something to come back here and race for the first time after seven years in front of my home crowd. Nevertheless it was a very tough race today. Qualifying and the race in the space of only a few hours made it quite a busy and unusual Sunday. After the start I saw the accidents in front of me, and I was really lucky not to be hit. Later it was not too easy to overtake and I had some contact. The car was damaged, but it was not too severe and I was able to finish the race. I really want to thank the team for the great job and the fans for their fantastic support.”
 
Nick Heidfeld: 8th 
C29.03 / Ferrari 056
“I’m quite happy – it is the best result for the team this season. In the end I could have finished one place higher, but I was on a different tyre strategy to Kamui and he was obviously faster with his fresh option tyres. I started on the option tyres. Obviously I was meant to push really hard in the early laps, but then the safety car came out and later I got stuck behind Rubens (Barrichello). The team did a very good job by calling me in early for the change to the prime tyres. Compared to Singapore, we made good progress in race performance. For qualifying, I think, there is more to come. I’m looking forward to the three remaining races.”
 
Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO Sauber Motorsport:
“It was a fantastic performance by the whole team, which proves we are going in the right direction. Nick showed he has learned quickly. In only his second race in the C29 he gave a great performance. Kamui was simply incredible in his home race. The way he overtook several competitors was absolutely spectacular. Congratulations to the whole team.”
 
James Key, Technical Director:
“I’m delighted with the race and the result we achieved. We just missed out in qualifying, but our race performance more than makes up for that. Both drivers got a clean start and were able to avoid the problems in turn one. We decided for a split strategy with Kamui on the prime tyre and Nick on the option, and both strategies worked in the way we hoped they would. Kamui did a great job to hang on with the prime. He drove superbly to control his race, but overtook as well on a track where overtaking is very difficult. On the option tyres at the end he was absolutely spectacular. Nick also did a fantastic job. He drove exactly the race he needed to. The pace was good, and it’s a great result in just his second race after coming back. The team on the pit wall did a great job as well as did the mechanics. It was a great performance from the whole team.”

Force India Optimistic after Double DNF at Suzuka Grand Prix

An exceptional Japanese Grand Prix weekend was brought to a frustrating close today for the Force India F1 Team as it recorded its first double DNF of the 2010 season. Following yesterday’s qualifying washout the grid was formed by a one hour session this morning, with Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi putting their VJM03s in 15th and 17th positions respectively as they struggled with the tyre temperatures on a cooler and slicker than expected track.

The pair however made fantastic starts in the day’s later race – each gaining at least five positions off the line – however Tonio’s race was shortlived as he was hit by Felipe Massa going into the first corner. The impact knocked him into the wall and into instant retirement. Adrian Sutil was up to eleventh when the safety car was deployed as a result of the debris and maintained a top ten position until his pit stop on lap 18. The German had regained tenth and was chasing Rubens Barrichello for ninth when an oil leak called a halt to his race on lap 45.