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The grid for the
fifty three lap Japanese Grand Prix would see both AT&T Williams drivers
start from within the top ten with Rubens Barrichello seventh and Nico
Hulkenberg ninth. With their championship rivals Force India seeing their
drivers down the order in fifteenth and seventeenth there was a very good
chance of seeing Williams move ahead in the constructors championship.
 As
the cars left the pit lane to take their grid places the big surprise was to
see the Virgin car of Di Grassi crash heavily at the 130R corner. Di
Grassi's race is over before the start as his wrecked car was removed and
the debris cleared. Vettel would be starting the race from pole with
team-mate Webber second. Kubica was third followed by Alonso, Button,
Rosberg, Rubens, Hamilton, Nico, and Schumacher in tenth. Rubens was in his
car with his eyes closed focusing on the race ahead. The only one in the top
ten to start the race on the harder tyre was Button. Vettel would lead the
field around on their formation lap. He would take up his spot on pole and
the grid would form up and the red lights would go out and the field would
get away.
It would be Vettel leading from Kubica, Webber, and Button. Petrov would
have a major accident crashing into the wall after making contact with
Nico's car. Petrov had cut back in onto Nico's car seeing the Renault make s
harp turn to the left and into the barrier. The Safety Car would be
deployed. Also involved in the mess at the start was Massa who would make
contact with a Force India, driving into the side of the Force India car. As
a result of the accidents Nico, Petrov, Massa, and Liuzzi were all out of
the race. Lap two and Rosberg, Trulli, Glock and Senna would all come into
the pits. On lap three Kubica would slow and pull off the track to retire.
This would see Webber back into second with Alonso third. Kubica's right
rear wheel had come off explaining his retirement.
Button was now fourth from Hamilton, Rubens, Schumacher, Heidfeld, Sutil,
and Alguersuari in tenth. The Safety car was still out as the championship
rivals occupied the top five. It was show that Kubica's right rear left the
car at the hairpin while under the Safety Car. Lap seven and the Safety Car
would come in with Vettel leading the restart. Lap seven and Vettel was
fastest with a 1m:38.001 with Webber right behind. Schumacher would pass
Rubens for sixth as Vettel started to open up a lead over Webber, 1.1
seconds after lap eight. Rubens had started to drop away from Schumacher,
1.5 seconds. Lap nine and a1m:37.045 from Vettel with his lead now 1.6
seconds. But Webber would respond with a fastest lap on lap ten, 1m:36.926.
Hamilton was right behind fourth placed Button while Rubens was now 3.2
seconds behind Schumacher.
Lap twelve and Vettel's lead was now 2.0 seconds over Webber. Alonso was 3.5
seconds behind Webber. Rosberg, who had made an early pit stop while the
Safety Car was deployed, was down in thirteenth. Eighth placed Heidfeld was
dropping away from Rubens. Kobayashi was to pass Alguersuari for tenth while
ninth placed Sutil was closing in onto Heidfeld. Lap fifteen and Rubens was
now 5.1 seconds behind Schumacher. But Kobayashi was able to close in onto
Sutil while Sutil for some reason would drop away from Heidfeld. Kobayashi
would pass Sutil for ninth while Heidfeld and Sutil would pit.
The accident involving Nico and Petrov was under investigation by the
stewards.
Nico would say that he had a bad start and said that Petrov just crashed
into him ... "it was unfortunate for us both". Rubens would pit on lap
twenty one taking on the harder tyre. Lap twenty one and Vettel was leading
by 2.3 seconds over Webber while on lap twenty two Alguersuari would pit.
Alonso was still third with Button and Hamilton following. Schumacher was in
sixth followed by Kobayashi and Buemi. Rosberg was tenth as Hamilton pitted
on lap twenty three. Rubens was now in eleventh as the Ferrari team readied
themselves for Alonso. Schumacher would pit from fifth on lap twenty four.
Schumacher would come back out behind team-mate Rosberg. Lap twenty five and
Vettel and Alonso would pit with Vettel returning in third and Alonso fourth.
 Hamilton
would pass Kobayashi on the main straight as Webber would pit on lap twenty
six. A 1m:35.675 from Hamilton on lap twenty five. Button was now leading
from Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Kobayashi, Buemi, Rosberg,
Schumacher, and in tenth Heidfeld. Rosberg and Schumacher were fighting over
eighth while Schumacher was told on the team radio by his engineer that
there are no team orders, but that Rosberg will be sensible if he tries to
pass. Rubens was now in eleventh as on lap twenty nine Buemi would pit from
seventh. Lap twenty eight had seen a fastest lap from Alonso, 1m:35.452. As
a result of Buemi's pit stop Rubens would move up to tenth.
Lap thirty and Alonso continued to push setting another fastest lap with a
1m:35.214. Webber was now starting to catch Vettel with Webber 1.3 seconds
behind his team-mate. Leader Button had yet to pit but he did start on the
harder tyre while Vettel would respond to Webber's quicker times. Rubens was
3.5 seconds behind Heidfeld so his chances of moving up from tenth was not
looking very promising. Added to that Sutil was behind the Williams with the
gap on lap thirty three 1.7 seconds. Sixth placed Kobayashi had yet to pit
so Rubens may pick up ninth while on lap thirty five Hamilton would set a
new fastest lap, 1m:35.182. At the front Button was leading by 1.5 seconds
from Vettel and Webber. Webber was 1.9 seconds behind Vettel. Lap thirty
seven and Kovalainen would pit from fourteenth.
Button would pit from the lead on lap thirty nine joined shortly after by
Kobayashi who pitted from sixth. Kobayashi would come back out in eleventh
seeing Rubens move up to ninth. But the Force India of Sutil would move up
to tenth. Lap thirty nine and a 1m:34.715 from Vettel showing that while he
was running behind Button he was coasting. Hamilton would come on the radio
saying that he had lost third gear. Lap forty and Button would set a new
fastest lap with a 1m:34.205 and would start to close in onto fourth placed
Hamilton. Vettel was now leading by 2.3 seconds from Webber and Alonso.
Rosberg and Schumacher were now running in sixth and seventh. Button would
close in onto Hamilton and eventually pass Hamilton on lap forty five. Rubens was
starting to close in onto eighth placed Heidfeld with the gap 1.1 seconds.
Sutil would spin at 130R with smoke coming from his engine. He would
continue to take the pit lane to retire. Kobayashi had passed Alguersuari
and with Sutil's retirement the Sauber was now tenth. Rubens was now 0.8
seconds behind Heidfeld while Kobayashi was 2.7 seconds behind Rubens. At
the front Vettel was leading by 2.2 seconds from Webber, with Alonso a
similar distance back in third. Fourth placed Button was 12.0 seconds behind
Alonso. After a quick pit stop, after making contact with Kobayashi,
Alguersuari would now be in twelfth. Kobayashi was now just 0.4 seconds
behind Rubens while Rosberg would have a failure with the left rear of hius car
crashing into the barrier. Kobayashi had been able to pass Rubens at the
hairpin and then would close in onto team-mate Heidfeld's car. Going into
the hairpin Kobayashi would pass Heidfeld in an easy move.
Rubens was still ninth with Kobayashi and Heidfeld seventh and eighth. After
lap fifty the order was Vettel from Webber, Alonso, Button, Hamilton,
Schumacher, Kobayashi, Heidfeld, Rubens and Buemi in tenth. Rubens was just
0.5 seconds behind Heidfeld with just two laps remaining. Lap fifty one and
a 1m:33.653 from Vettel. Vettel would start his final lap and would complete
this to take victory in the 2010 Japanese Grand prix. A dominate performance
from the Red Bull team.
For the AT&T Williams team the race would see a ninth from Rubens to secure
just two points. This would still see the Williams team behind Force India
in a race that offered a very good chance for the Williams team to move
ahead of Force India. Nico's accident may have been contributed by his poor
start but Petrov's move that saw him cut across the Williams front was not
anything that Nico could have done anything about. As to why Rubens was not
able to show his qualifying pace would come down to problems with his car, overall it was a
race that was an opportunity lost for the Williams team. |
