As it happened: Japan 2013 - The race

• 06:46

  Hello fact fans, how have you been? It's almost time for the Japanese Grand Prix, and I'm here to guide you through every single lap.

• 06:47

  It's a little bit early in the UK, and I've not been well, so excuse any nonsensical babbling. Let's get started!

• 06:48

  Circuit Data

  Suzuka Circuit
  Local timezone	+09:00 GMT
  First race	1987
  Number of laps	53
  Circuit length	5.807km
  Race distance	307.471km
  Start offset	0.300km

• 06:48

  Mark Webber made us all sit up and take notice yesterday by snatching pole position from his teammate. For a change, it was Vettel with the KERS issue on Saturday.

• 06:49

  Of course, Webber doesn't necessarily have the best race-starting procedure in history, but he's determined NOT to help Vettel in the championship in any way possible. So it could be interesting.

• 06:49

  Three drivers have penalties - both Charles Pic and Jules Bianchi have ten place grid drops due to picking up their third reprimands. Adrian Sutil got a five place drop for a gearbox change, putting him dead last.

• 06:50

  Pic also got into trouble during qualifying, but because he already had a grid drop, the stewards have given him a drive through - before the race has even begun! He needs to serve it within the first five laps.

• 06:51

  Starting grid

  1	M Webber	Red Bull
  2	S Vettel	Red Bull
  3	L Hamilton	Mercedes
  4	R Grosjean	Lotus
  5	F Massa	Ferrari
  6	N Rosberg	Mercedes
  7	N Hülkenberg	Sauber
  8	F Alonso	Ferrari
  9	K Räikkönen	Lotus
  10	J Button	McLaren

• 06:53

  Tweet from @GvanderGarde: It's another nice day here at #SuzukaGP, and it's race day!!! Big push today and try to maximise ourself! The Japanese fans are amazing!

• 06:56

  Lest we forget, Sebastian Vettel could wrap up the title here. He needs a win and for Alonso to finish lower than eighth. Fernando hasn't done himself any favours with that less than stellar qualifying position.

• 06:58

  Pirelli have brought the hard and medium compounds this weekend - orange and white sidewalls respectively.

• 06:59

  

  25°C

  Track	37°C
  Humidity	34%
  Wind speed	5mps

• 07:00

  All drivers are starting on the medium hard tyre except for Daniel Ricciardo in 16th and Charles Pic in 20th.

• 07:00

  The formation lap begins, with Mark Webber leading the pack away from the grid and round the really rather excellent Suzuka track.

• 07:03

  Webber pulls to a halt as the pack lines up behind him. The Caterhams round the final corner and line up in their slots.

• 07:03

  Race started.

• 07:04 Lap 1

  Sebastian Vettel's brakes were smoking heavily on the grid, and it's a bad start for the Red Bull, but he retains second place behind his teammate.

• 07:04 Lap 1

  Yellow flags after an incident at the first corner.

• 07:04 Lap 1

  Giedo van der Garde and Jules Bianchi are off into the gravel after a first corner crash.

• 07:05 Lap 1

  Lewis Hamilton was third briefly but is dropping back rapidly through the field.

• 07:06 Lap 2

  Charles Pic does his drive through.

• 07:06 Lap 2

  There's a right rear puncture for Lewis Hamilton as he crawls his way back round the field to the pit lane. He makes it for an early and unscheduled stop.

• 07:07 Lap 3

  So Romain Grosjean is actually in the lead right now. Both Red Bull drivers got bad starts, bogged down and overtaken by the Lotus - who went all the way round the outside of Vettel and kept his foot in. Hamilton also got past them both but lost out again with the puncture.

• 07:07 Lap 3

  It's Grosjean, Webber, Vettel, Rosberg and then Massa and Alonso.

• 07:08 Lap 3

  Incident involving Giedo van der Garde and Jules Bianchi will be investigated after the race - causing a collision.

• 07:09 Lap 4

  DRS enabled... and immediately disabled.

• 07:10 Lap 4

  On closer inspection, Sebastian Vettel's front wing punctured Lewis Hamilton's rear tyre at the start.

• 07:11 Lap 5

  Inter-Team Battle

  Lotus
  R Grosjean	1st
  K Räikkönen	11th

• 07:13 Lap 6

  Nico Hülkenberg has managed to retain his seventh place off the grid at the moment, whilst teammate Esteban Gutiérrez has surged forward five places to move ninth, and into the points.

• 07:13 Lap 7

  Team radio to Sebastian Vettel: "It's worth dropping back to save your tyres."

• 07:15 Lap 8

  Fernando Alonso has caught up to his teammate, half a second behind at the moment, and ready to get past.

• 07:15 Lap 8

  Team radio to Webber, who is also told to drop back: "If you can't pass Grosjean, drop back two seconds, we'll make it up nearer the pit stop."

• 07:16 Lap 8

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver
  1	3	R Grosjean
  2	-1	M Webber
  3	-1	S Vettel
  4	2	N Rosberg
  5	0	F Massa
  6	2	F Alonso
  7	0	N Hülkenberg
  8	3	S Pérez
  9	5	E Gutiérrez
  10	-1	K Räikkönen

• 07:17 Lap 9

  Lewis Hamilton comes in to the pit lane again, and he's pushed back into the garage. Race over.

• 07:19 Lap 10

  Alonso tries to close up down the home straight, but his DRS isn't a match for Massa's KERS, and the pair hold station for now.

• 07:20 Lap 10

  Meanwhile, Jenson Button and Esteban Gutiérrez have both come in for their first stops of the day.

• 07:20 Lap 11

  Nico Hülkenberg pits from seventh, as Di Resta comes in from eleventh.

• 07:22 Lap 12

  The Red Bull mechanics scramble, as Mark Webber comes in for his stop, followed by Massa and Räikkönen. The latter two put on the harder compounds, I can't tell what Webber put on as he had a bit of thermocam action.

• 07:23 Lap 13

  At the moment, Grosjean leads Vettel and Rosberg, with neither having stopped. For those who have come in once, we've got Webber, Hülkenberg and Massa.

• 07:24 Lap 13

  Race leader Grosjean comes in from the front, as Vettel takes the lead. Now things feel a bit more familiar!

• 07:24 Lap 13

  Grosjean exits the pit as Webber races down the home straight, but it's not even close as Romain comes out way ahead of the Red Bull.

• 07:25 Lap 13

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	R Grosjean
  Team	Lotus
  Pit lane	23.282s
  Stopped	2.6s

• 07:25 Lap 13

  Incident involving Nico Rosberg under investigation - unsafe release.

• 07:26 Lap 14

  Sergio Pérez was coming in to the pit lane, and seemed to turn in a bit early, but the Mercedes of Rosberg was released side by side with the McLaren anyway.

• 07:26 Lap 14

  Fernando Alonso has taken his first stop of the day, and returned to the track behind Massa again.

• 07:27 Lap 15

  Sebastian Vettel finally pits, hard tyres on the Red Bull, and he returns to the track third - Grosjean and Webber ahead.

• 07:28 Lap 15

  Replays show Pérez making the most of some momentum after his pit stop, and getting past his teammate for 11th place.

• 07:28 Lap 15

  Drive through penalty for Nico Rosberg - unsafe release.

• 07:29 Lap 16

  Tweet from @Lotus_F1Team: As Seb locks up, @RGrosjean sets ANOTHER fastest lap. Pressure? What pressure?!

• 07:30 Lap 16

  All the drivers have stopped once, except Daniel Ricciardo who is running up in fourth. He started on the harder tyres so has a longer first stint compared to those around him.

• 07:31 Lap 17

  Rosberg comes in for his drive through penalty.

• 07:32 Lap 18

  Team radio to Vettel: "You are minus three to Webber, so you can just sit there for a while." Just what you want to hear.

• 07:33 Lap 19

  Driver Analysis

  Driver	N Hülkenberg
  Team	Sauber
  Position	5
  Started	7
  Stops	1
  Last lap	1:38.900
  Best lap	1:38.109

• 07:35 Lap 20

  Ricciardo on old tyres is leading a train of four cars at the moment, fending off intense pressure from Hülkenberg behind.

• 07:36 Lap 20

  Fernando Alonso has finally got past Massa, moving up to sixth and chasing Hülkenberg.

• 07:36 Lap 20

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	GRO	1:37.619
  2nd	WEB	+2.395
  3rd	VET	+5.520
  4th	RIC	+25.590

• 07:37 Lap 21

  The Ricciardo train is up to five drivers now, as he's really holding everyone up. Hülkenberg finally makes a move and then two Ferraris close up to take the pass.

• 07:39 Lap 22

  Massa kicks up some dust as he pulls alongside Gutiérrez, the pair running wide through a few corners. Massa is off track again for yet more dust, before finally making the place stick.

• 07:39 Lap 22

  Daniel Ricciardo pits finally, having dropped from fourth all the way down to tenth. Vergne follows his teammate into the pit lane for a double stop strategy at Toro Rosso.

• 07:41 Lap 23

  Rosberg overtakes Jenson Button, who is firmly stuck just outside the points.

• 07:42 Lap 24

  Meanwhile, the first blue flags of the afternoon are waved to Charles Pic.

• 07:42 Lap 24

  Tweet from @MyCaterhamF1: Giedo's back & reports that he was squeezed between BIA & CHI into T1 & had nowhere to go, losing his front wing in contact with BIA and off

• 07:43 Lap 24

  

  Meanwhile, Jules watches on from inside the garage, via @Marussia_F1Team.

• 07:44 Lap 24

  Mark Webber is closing in on Grosjean, the gap less than a second to the race leader now.

• 07:44 Lap 25

  Jenson Button has come in for a pit stop, and it was delayed after the right rear tyre wouldn't come off. Nico Rosberg also comes in for a much cleaner stop.

• 07:45 Lap 25

  Somehow, Jean-Éric Vergne sets the fastest lap of the race so far - 1:37.134. From 17th!

• 07:45 Lap 26

  Webber gives up the chase on Grosjean and comes in to the pit lane for a good, clean stop.

• 07:46 Lap 26

  There's a brilliant replay of slow-mo Webber rounding a corner, as in the background Seb locks up - a stream of smoke coming off the flat-spotted tyres.

• 07:48 Lap 26

  Vettel is closing up on Grosjean now, having been released by Webber - who in turn has come out in third, and is on the pace immediately again.

• 07:49 Lap 28

  Replays show Adrian Sutil being passed by a flying Daniel Ricciardo, who made the move on track but couldn't slow down and ran massively wide. He kept the place... for now.

• 07:50 Lap 29

  Tweet from @F1onNBCSports: Grosjean is bidding to become the first French winner of a grand prix since Olivier Panis in 1996

• 07:51 Lap 29

  Massa reports to the pit wall that his rears are starting to go away. And he dives straight into the pit lane.

• 07:51 Lap 29

  A massive lockup for Grosjean, as he tries to soak up the pressure from behind.

• 07:51 Lap 30

  Grosjean pits.

• 07:52 Lap 30

  Incident involving Paul di Resta and Daniel Ricciardo under investigation - leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

• 07:52 Lap 30

  Grosjean returns to the track behind Webber, so he's lost the lead for now... unless Webber has to stop again.

• 07:53 Lap 31

  We've got replays of Nico Hülkenberg locking up out on track, and then even more so going back into the pit lane.

• 07:54 Lap 31

  Alonso pits from fourth place.

• 07:54 Lap 31

  Gutiérrez and Pérez both come in from the midfield for their second stops of the afternoon.

• 07:55 Lap 32

  Sergio Pérez had a problem on the right rear tyre during his pit stop, a delay for the McLaren driver.

• 07:55 Lap 32

  Drive through penalty for Daniel Ricciardo - leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

• 07:56 Lap 33

  One to Watch

  N Hülkenberg	vs.	F Alonso
  4th	+2.0s	5th

• 07:57 Lap 33

  Tweet from @OfficialSF1Team: #Hulk stays ahead of ALO after pit stop. we are on fire!!! YES.

• 07:57 Lap 33

  The way this weekend has been going, Sauber may want to avoid that turn of phrase!

• 07:57 Lap 33

  Incident involving Felipe Massa under investigation - speeding in the pit lane. It's a drive through penalty for the Ferrari.

• 07:58 Lap 34

  Daniel Ricciardo comes in for his drive through penalty, that's not helped his afternoon at all. He's rejoined in 13th place, behind Pérez and ahead of Di Resta.

• 08:00 Lap 35

  Recent Lap Times

  M Webber
  Lap 31	1:36.283
  Lap 32	1:36.223
  Lap 33	1:36.095
  Lap 34	1:36.061
  Lap 35	1:36.175

• 08:01 Lap 35

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	1	S Vettel	1
  2	-1	M Webber	2
  3	1	R Grosjean	2
  4	3	N Hülkenberg	2
  5	3	F Alonso	2

• 08:01 Lap 36

  Felipe Massa takes his drive through penalty, and rejoins the track in 11th - just outside the points but he still has time to work his way back into the top ten.

• 08:03 Lap 36

  K Räikkönen sets the fastest lap so far, 1:35.516. He's currently running sixth, with Fernando Alonso ahead of him.

• 08:05 Lap 38

  Interview with Lewis Hamilton: "Really unlucky, I just feel bad for my guys. They worked so hard this whole time we've been away. As a team, performance-wise, I think we deserved a lot better. I had probably the best start I've had all year, it was such a good feeling, the car felt really good. Really disappointing, but that's life."

• 08:05 Lap 38

  Vettel finally comes in for his pit stop but didn't make enough of a gap to get past Romain Grosjean. The order remains Webber, Grosjean and Vettel, but the championship leader will be on a charge now, his team radio says: "Go get him."

• 08:06 Lap 39

  Gutiérrez sweeps past Jean-Éric Vergne and he's up to ninth now. He could be on to score his first points of his F1 career here.

• 08:08 Lap 40

  The gap between Vettel and Grosjean is shrinking rapidly.

• 08:09 Lap 40

  Rosberg pits for the fourth time of the afternoon (one was a drive through).

• 08:10 Lap 41

  Vettel pulls alongside but can't make it stick the first time. Down the home straight he makes the move again and it's an easy pass for second.

• 08:11 Lap 42

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	WEB	1:36.390
  2nd	VET	+14.597
  3rd	GRO	+16.581

• 08:12 Lap 42

  Vettel starts hunting down his teammate, then. Webber is going to have to stop again, so wants as much gap as possible, but he'll then be on fresher tyres than Vettel. Swings and roundabouts.

• 08:12 Lap 43

  There he goes, Webber pits from the lead of the race, handing P1 to Vettel.

• 08:13 Lap 43

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	M Webber
  Team	Red Bull
  Pit lane	23.094s
  Stopped	2.7s

• 08:14 Lap 43

  It wasn't the slickest stop we've seen at Red Bull, but was apparently a last minute call, so for a scrabbling stop, it was pretty good! Webber comes out behind Grosjean and the hunt is on again.

• 08:14 Lap 43

  Max Chilton is doing a really good job against Charles Pic. There are just the two backmarkers left in the race, but Chilton is ahead by about five seconds.

• 08:15 Lap 44

  Replays show Nico Rosberg attempted to pass Sergio Pérez and punctured the rear tyre on the McLaren. Impromptu pit stop for the McLaren team.

• 08:16 Lap 44

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	VET	1:35.334
  2nd	GRO	+4.670
  3rd	WEB	+7.500
  4th	HUL	+37.990

• 08:16 Lap 45

  Pastor Maldonado had a bit of an off, kicking up some dust which looked good on the replay.

• 08:17 Lap 45

  Close ups of Sebastian Vettel's tyres show a blister on the front left, the driver having a good old look around the corner. How does he do that?

• 08:18 Lap 46

  If Vettel goes ahead and wins, he's not secured the championship yet, as Alonso is currently fifth. The Ferrari driver is stuck behind Nico Hülkenberg - for the second race in a row!

• 08:19 Lap 46

  Alonso finally gets the jump on the Sauber he was following, and overtakes Hülkenberg for fourth place.

• 08:20 Lap 47

  Webber has moved in on Grosjean, about half a second between the two now.

• 08:22 Lap 48

  Adrian Sutil has done a good job from last on the grid to move up to twelfth. Ahead of him, Di Resta and Button are vying for the final points position. Di Resta has it at the moment.

• 08:23 Lap 49

  Five laps to go, and Webber is faffing about behind Grosjean here. Even down the home straight, he can't even pull alongside.

• 08:23 Lap 49

  We didn't see it, but Button has overtaken Paul di Resta for that tenth place and final point.

• 08:24 Lap 50

  Webber pulls up to Grosjean but can't find any opening past. The pair are catching up to some traffic now.

• 08:25 Lap 50

  On that last lap where Webber couldn't get past on the home straight, the Red Bull's DRS didn't open. Unlike Webber to have some bad luck.

• 08:25 Lap 50

  Charles Pic has passed Max Chilton with just four laps to go. Disappointing for the Marussia crew.

• 08:26 Lap 51

  Rosberg radio informs him they are critical on fuel.

• 08:27 Lap 51

  It's Kimi Räikkönen stuck behind Nico Hülkenberg now, as the Lotus hasn't enough straight-line speed to capitalise.

• 08:27 Lap 52

  Two laps to go and Webber FINALLY sweeps past the Lotus on the home straight. He made hard work of that!

• 08:28 Lap 52

  Into the final chicane, Kimi somehow squeezes by Hülkenberg to take fifth.

• 08:30

  Sebastian Vettel wins the Japanese Grand Prix!

• 08:32

  Esteban Gutiérrez crosses the line seventh to pick up his first points in Formula One!

• 08:33

  Race Winner

  Driver	S Vettel
  Team	Red Bull
  Race time	1:26:49.301
  Race distance	307.471km
  Average speed	212.484km/h

• 08:34

  Button passed Massa on the line to sneak into ninth place. Meanwhile, Maldonado muscled past Bottas and pushed his teammate off track. All for 16th place.

• 08:35

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	1	S Vettel	2
  2	-1	M Webber	3
  3	1	R Grosjean	2
  4	4	F Alonso	2
  5	4	K Räikkönen	2
  6	1	N Hülkenberg	2
  7	7	E Gutiérrez	2
  8	-2	N Rosberg	4
  9	1	J Button	3
  10	-5	F Massa	3

• 08:35

  Vettel climbs from the car, and sticks up that winning finger to the camera.

• 08:36

  Tweet from @clubforce: We gave all we can and Paul and Adrian brought the car home in P11 and P14. Second stint really hurt us but not much we could do.

• 08:37

  Conversation a little stilted in the green room. Webber gives the camera a friendly wave, but mostly ignores the others.

• 08:39

  The drivers head on to the podium to the cheers from the crowd below, and then it's the national anthems.

• 08:40

  The constructor's representative is Rémi Taffin of Renault. He wanted to wear his yellow Renault top, but they've made him put on a Red Bull shirt instead.

• 08:42

  Final gap analysis. There's a further eleven seconds to Alonso in fourth.

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	VET	1:37.410
  2nd	WEB	+2.759
  3rd	GRO	+4.679

• 08:43

  Trophies and champagne, Webber takes a moment on the top step for a swig, and then jumps off. Grosjean gives a reasonably happy thumbs up, but he must be disappointed not to have got more.

• 08:44

  Eddie Jordan arrives for the quotes, but Webber has disappeared!

• 08:45

  Podium quotes - Sebastian Vettel: "I would like to say thank you. Every time we come here, the appreciation, the respect we get from drivers is incredible. I'm blown away by this race. I had a poor start, right between Romain and Lewis, and I clipped the front wing, I think Lewis had a puncture after that. But after that, we were patient enough, looked after the tyres and had incredible pace towards the end. I'm so overwhelmed, every time we come here. Thank you again for the support."

• 08:47

  Podium quotes - Mark Webber: "It's an amazing circuit. The race today was pretty good. Obviously I would like one more step on the podium, but there were different strategies going on. Seb went longer in the first stint. In general, pretty happy with second, but you always want a bit more. We got the best out of what I could today. Both of us had very, very poor starts which put us on the back foot a bit. After that it was trying to pace the car, make sure the tyres survive... in the end we went three stop... that put us back where we were."

• 08:50

  Podium quotes - Romain Grosjean: "I'm much better than last year. What a start, terrific. From the past I don't have the best memories here. Today was a good race, the car was fantastic. On option tyres to start we did manage to pull away, then I think the Red Bull catch us a little bit, but generally we had to work with it, we are the only one to be able to follow those guys. Almost catch the bull, I said to my engineers today. But it's a home race for my engineer, I think he's very happy. Always good to come here, always very proud of the fans. Being on the podium at such a difficult track, it's good."

• 08:51

  Championship Standings

  Pos	Driver	Pts
  1	S Vettel	297
  2	F Alonso	207
  3	K Räikkönen	177
  4	L Hamilton	161
  5	M Webber	148

• 08:52

  Championship Standings

  Pos	Driver	Pts
  1	Red Bull	445
  2	Ferrari	297
  3	Mercedes	287
  4	Lotus	264
  5	McLaren	83

• 08:54

  Retirements

  Driver	Reason	Lap
  J Bianchi	Accident	1
  G van der Garde	Accident	1
  L Hamilton	Floor damage	8

• 08:56

  Sebastian Vettel took another victory in Japan, adding to his 2013 tally, but it wasn't an easy win by any stretch. Mark Webber missed out on strategy and because of Romain Grosjean, who in turn put in a great performance to remain in contention with the Red Bull pair to the end.

• 08:57

  Further back, Sauber had another great finish, with BOTH drivers getting into the points. Force India at least got to the end of the race, but neither driver could get into the top ten.

• 08:58

  It's unfortunate (for us, not for him) that Vettel took out one of his main race competitors at the start, although Rosberg's eighth shows the Mercedes is still lacking something.

• 08:59

  Fernando Alonso's fourth place keeps the championship alive for another fortnight, but the title is up for grabs again in India, as Vettel pulls ahead to a ninety point lead.

• 09:03

  The Indian Grand Prix is in two week's time, it could be the championship decider, and it's the last Indian race until 2015. So, I'll be back then, and I hope that you will join me!