Hamilton lead cut as chaos reigns

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 11:13:00 2008

Felipe Massa reduced the deficit on Lewis Hamilton in the World Championship title race to five points as the Briton failed to score in an incident-strewn Japanese Grand Prix.

Renault's Fernando Alonso made it two wins out of two with a fantastic drive as both Hamilton and Massa suffered drive-through penalties for mistakes early in the race - the second of which saw them collide.

BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica took second and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen also finished on the podium before Massa was promoted to seventh, earning two points, after Sebastien Bourdais was issued a post-race 25-second penalty for a coming together with the Brazilian.

Kubica is seven points behind Massa in the standings and a revitalised contender for the drivers' crown with two races to run.

Hamilton was penalised for forcing Raikkonen - who had started the better of the front-row drivers - off the tarmac at the first corner as David Coulthard flew into a tyre barrier and Kazuki Nakajima also came to a halt.

Hamilton and McLaren's other competitor Heikki Kovalainen also left the track and the former rejoined behind his team-mate, with Kubica and Alonso leading the race.

Massa was behind Hamilton and looked to attack on the second lap but was overeager in cutting a wide left-hander: he made up enough ground to clip Hamilton's back wheel and spin him out on the track, leaving him stranded until the entire field had passed safely - and earning Massa that later penalty.

Alonso, who took victory in the last round in Singapore, was relentless after assuming first place following the first round of pit-stops and never looked in danger of relinquishing the net lead.

His team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr - who inadvertently facilitated the Spaniard's victory in the night race when his smash brought out the safety car - drove brilliantly at Fuji to take fourth place at the end, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli, Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber of Red Bull also taking points after Bourdais's penalty.

Kovalainen retired after 15 laps with engine failure while Massa and Hamilton, 13th and 14th after serving their punishments, looked to make up places. However Hamilton, who had been forced to pit on the second lap for a new set of tyres, was less successful than Massa.

With 17 laps of the 67-lap race remaining Bourdais emerged from the pits alongside Massa and they touched wheels; the Frenchman, holding the inside of the track, continued on as Massa spun out. He was able to continue with little trouble, but race stewards saw fit to penalise multiple ChampCar champion Bourdais later, pushing him down to 10th.

As Hamilton struggled to make headway, eventually finishing 12th, Raikkonen bore down on second-placed Kubica. The Pole defended with zeal - even forcing Raikkonen off the track at one point - inside his faltering BMW as the Finn found another of his sporadic moments of form to attack repeatedly.

The challenge died off in the final laps and Piquet, by then quicker than the Ferrari, could have snatched a podium finish had he not made a small error that cost him vital late seconds.

Alonso was visibly ecstatic as he recorded a second straight win late in a season where he has competed in a largely uncompetitive car.