© Jim Armstrong
Vettel, who also won the previous race in Singapore, is moving within
sight of a third straight title -- something only previously achieved
by Juan-Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher -- with five races left.
"It was an important step today," Vettel said. "There is still a long
way to go. I don't know what happened behind me today but Alonso was
very unlucky. We never know what is going to happen in the next race so
it was important to take points today."
Alonso's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa was second, 20.6 seconds
behind Vettel for his first podium since Korea in 2010, putting in a
performance that should boost his chances of retaining his place in the
team.
"It's a huge relief to be back on the podium," Massa said. "It was a
great race and shows we are here to fight for the victory and the
podium."
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi delighted home fans by taking third place --
holding off a strong late challenge from McLaren's Jenson Button -- for
his first-ever F1 podium, becoming the first Japanese driver on a
podium here since 1990.
"It was a very tough race," Kobayashi said. "I got off to a good
start but really had to fight and it took everything I had to hold off
Jenson. To get a podium here in Japan in front of these great fans is
fantastic."
The race got off to a tumultuous start with a series of collisions in
the first corner sequence. Alonso made contact with the Lotus of Kimi
Raikkonen and appeared to sustain a puncture, fishtailing off the track
and the car stalled, leaving a disconsolate Alonso to trudge back on the
short walk to the pits.
Despite the setback, Alonso remained positive about the position he's in.
"Clearly, this result has practically wiped out the advantage I had
before," Alonso said. "But if I'd been told at the start of the season
that we would have been in this situation five races from the end, I'd
have happily signed for it."
Also on the first bend, Lotus' Romain Grosjean rammed into the Red
Bull of Mark Webber, forcing the Australian to the back of the field
after starting from second. Grosjean was given a drive-through penalty
for causing the collision, and given he was suspended for a race for
doing the same in Belgium, the Frenchman may well receive further
punishment.
Webber, who started from the front row, wasn't pleased with Grosjean's move.
"I haven't seen what happened at the start, but it's been confirmed
that it was Grosjean who hit me," Webber said. "We're trying to fight
for results each weekend and it doesn't help so, yeah, it's frustrating
as a few of the big guys suffered out there today."
Also at the first corner, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg came together with Williams' Bruno Senna, ending the German's race.
Vettel avoided all the trouble behind him at the first turn, and quickly established a comfortable lead.
Massa overtook Kobayashi after the first set of pit stops and managed
to close the gap slightly but Vettel maintained a strong lead to the
chequered flag.
Vettel blocked Alonso during the final moments of qualifying on Saturday when the Ferrari driver was arriving at a chicane. Race officials reviewed the incident and reprimanded Vettel but allowed him to maintain pole position. That decision may have been a factor in Alonso's aggressive start.
Sauber driver Sergio Perez's day came to an end when he spun off the
track on the 19th lap trying to pass Lewis Hamilton at the hairpin turn.
Perez will replace Hamilton next season at McLaren as the Briton moves
to Mercedes.
With the winner decided early on, the focus for many of the fans
became third place where Kobayashi was battling it out with Button, who
won here last year.
Kobayashi, who started third on the grid, prevailed by half a second
to become the first Japanese since Aguri Suzuki in 1990 to celebrate on
the podium in front of home fans.
Hamilton finished fifth, 20 seconds behind Button, and in front of a
chain of cars fighting out the lower points positions. Raikkonen took
sixth ahead of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, with Pastor Maldonado of
Williams eighth and Webber recovering for ninth. Toro Rosso's Daniel
Ricciardo held off Michael Schumacher of Mercedes to take the last
point.
In the drivers' championship, Alonso and Vettel look like fighting it
out for the title. Raikkonen is 33 points behind Vettel in third and
five points in front of Hamilton. Webber and Button are 59 and 63 points
off the lead, respectively.
Red Bull extended its lead in the constructors' championship to 42
points ahead of McLaren, with Ferrari a further 20 points behind.