This year, up until now, Fernando Alonso scored three wins in 14 races and apart from a single retirement in Belgium, he always finished with points. That’s the reason why, despite his Ferrari not being the fastest car on the grid, the two-time Formula 1 world champion was leading the 2012 driver’s championship.
At the Japanese Grand Prix that took place on Sunday morning at the Suzuka circuit, the Spaniard didn’t even make it past the first corner, retiring for the second time this season.
Right after the red lights went out signaling the start of the race, his Ferrari came in contact with Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus and spun at turn one.
The second Lotus was also involved in an accident at the first corner, with Romain Grosjean rear-ending Mark Webber. Even though they both continued, they fell behind and Grosjean received a 10-second stop/go penalty while Webber finished in ninth place.
His teammate at Red Bull Racing, though, couldn’t be happier: Sebastian Vettel started from pole position and won the race. Thus, he got 25 points more than Alonso, who got none, and now the two drivers are separated by just four points in the drivers’ championship standings.
Local fans, however, were delighted with Kamui Kobayashi who climbed at the podium in his home race. Kobayashi finished third behind Felipe Massa. The Scuderia’s Brazilian driver also scored his best result of this season, which, so far, had been quite disappointing.
McLaren bagged 22 points since Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finished behind Kobayashi in fourth and fifth place respectively and with five GPs remaining until the end of the season, stayed within striking distance of Red Bull Racing in the constructors’ championship.
