Japanese GP: Lewis Hamilton defeats Nico Rosberg in shortened race

Lewis Hamilton extended his narrow Formula 1 world championship lead by defeating Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to victory in a Japanese Grand Prix shortened by an accident for Jules Bianchi.
Having lost out to Rosberg in an all-silver battle for pole in the dry on Saturday, Hamilton turned the tables in the wet Suzuka weather of Sunday with a brilliant round-the-outside passing move on his bitter F1 title rival.
Rosberg led for the first 28 laps of a race that began behind the safety car, thanks to appalling conditions.
When the race got going properly after nine laps behind the safety car - interrupted by a red flag following the first two because of rain - the German held a small advantage over his British team-mate as the two Mercedes streaked clear in the spray.
Rosberg looked comfortable on extreme wet weather tyres, but complained of oversteer after switching to intermediate tyres when circuit conditions improved.
He held Hamilton off until lap 29 when, having suffered a twitch accelerating onto the start-finish straight at the end of the previous lap, he lost enough momentum to allow Hamilton to attack.
Rosberg went defensive, but Hamilton (assisted by extra speed from the Drag Reduction System) swept around the outside of his team-mate to take the lead through Turn 1.
Once released from following Rosberg's gearbox, Hamilton pulled away to take his third consecutive grand prix victory in a race that was red-flagged for a second time under the safety car, after Jules Bianchi's Marussia went off at Turn 7 where marshals were craning away Adrian Sutil's Sauber following an earlier crash.
Bianchi was taken to the circuit medical centre. His Marussia reportedly struck the crane at the crash site.
Red Bull deliberately compromised its dry qualifying pace by setting the RB10 up for the wet, and its drivers used this to good effect to finish third and fourth.
Ferrari-bound reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel completed the podium, despite a trip through the gravel at the Esses, while team-mate Daniel Ricciardo overcame Jenson Button's McLaren to finish fourth.
Button held third spot for most of the first half of the race, after being the first driver to pit for inters, but he lost time to a steering wheel change at his second stop, which dropped him behind Vettel, before Ricciardo further demoted the Brit with a firm pass on the inside of the hairpin on lap 43 - a lap before the result was taken.
Williams pair Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa started third and fourth, but both struggled badly in wet conditions and trailed home sixth and seventh.
Nico Hulkenberg's Force India stopped at the end of the pitlane as the race was red-flagged for the final time, but he finished eighth on countback, while Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne charged from the back of the grid to claim two points for ninth.
Hulkenberg's Force India team-mate Sergio Perez rounded out the points scorers in 10th.
Ferrari took zero points from the race. Kimi Raikkonen finished 12th, while Fernando Alonso retired with a mechanical problem under the safety car before the race began properly.
Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado was handed a 20-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane, the Venezuelan finishing in 16th position.
RESULTS - 44 LAPS (RED FLAG):

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1h51m43.021s	-
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1h51m52.201s	9.180s
3	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull/Renault	1h52m12.143s	29.122s
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault	1h52m21.839s	38.818s
5	Jenson Button	McLaren/Mercedes	1h52m50.571s	1m07.550s
6	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	1h53m36.794s	1m53.773s
7	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	1h53m38.147s	1m55.126s
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes	1h53m38.969s	1m55.948s
9	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso/Renault	1h53m50.659s	2m07.638s
10	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes	1h51m22.646s	1 Lap
11	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso/Renault	1h51m48.409s	1 Lap
12	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1h51m49.838s	1 Lap
13	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber/Ferrari	1h52m14.678s	1 Lap
14	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren/Mercedes	1h52m22.070s	1 Lap
15	Romain Grosjean	Lotus/Renault	1h52m22.780s	1 Lap
16	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus/Renault	1h52m42.898s	1 Lap
17	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham/Renault	1h52m50.427s	1 Lap
18	Max Chilton	Marussia/Ferrari	1h53m36.282s	1 Lap
19	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham/Renault	1h53m59.121s	1 Lap
20	Jules Bianchi	Marussia/Ferrari	1h48m14.109s	Spun off
21	Adrian Sutil	Sauber/Ferrari	1h46m17.524s	Spun off
-	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	6m19.243s	Retirement

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP:

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	266
2	Nico Rosberg	256
3	Daniel Ricciardo	193
4	Sebastian Vettel	139
5	Fernando Alonso	133
6	Valtteri Bottas	130
7	Jenson Button	82
8	Nico Hulkenberg	76
9	Felipe Massa	71
10	Sergio Perez	46
11	Kimi Raikkonen	45
12	Kevin Magnussen	39
13	Jean-Eric Vergne	21
14	Romain Grosjean	8
15	Daniil Kvyat	8
16	Jules Bianchi	2
17	Adrian Sutil	0
18	Marcus Ericsson	0
19	Pastor Maldonado	0
20	Esteban Gutierrez	0
21	Max Chilton	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi	0

TEAMS' CHAMPIONSHIP:

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Mercedes	522
2	Red Bull/Renault	332
3	Williams/Mercedes	201
4	Ferrari	178
5	Force India/Mercedes	122
6	McLaren/Mercedes	121
7	Toro Rosso/Renault	29
8	Lotus/Renault	8
9	Marussia/Ferrari	2
10	Sauber/Ferrari	0
11	Caterham/Renault	0

Japanese GP: Nico Rosberg beats Lewis Hamilton to Suzuka F1 pole

Nico Rosberg beat Formula 1 title rival and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The German had set the pace in Q2 and on the first runs in the top 10 shootout, and consolidated his place in top spot by shaving just over a tenth off his time on his second run.
After Rosberg crossed the line for the final time, Hamilton completed his lap but a lock-up at the hairpin cost him and he ended up two tenths slower.
This mean that both of Rosberg's flying laps in Q3 were good enough for what could prove to be a vital pole position in the world championship race.
Williams pairing Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa locked out the second row, with Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso fifth.
Red Bull had a difficult session. Daniel Ricciardo ended up sixth after flirting with elimination in Q1 and Sebastian Vettel was ninth, both drivers carrying wet set-ups in anticipation of a rain-hit race.
Kevin Magnussen won the intra-McLaren battle by beating Jenson Button to seventh place, with the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen in 10th.
Jean-Eric Vergne was the fastest of those to be eliminated in Q2 in 11th place, falling two tenths short of relegating Vettel with his final lap.
This put Vergne ahead of Force India driver Sergio Perez, who complained of a power problem during Q2, with Vergne's Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat 13th after failing to improve on his second run.
Because of breaking into his sixth power unit, Vergne is set to be hit with a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race.
Nico Hulkenberg was 13th fastest ahead of the Saubers of Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez.
Pastor Maldonado was bumped out of Q2 contention in the dying seconds of the first segment of qualifying by Sutil.
The Venezuelan, who will drop to the back of the grid thanks to using his sixth V6 engine of the season shaded Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean by less than a tenth.
Because Maldonado is only able to serve five of his 10-place grid drop, the remaining positions will be rolled over to next weekend's Russian GP.
Caterham driver Marcus Ericsson's strong weekend continued, as he ended qualifying 19th ahead of Marussia's Jules Bianchi.
Home hero Kamui Kobayashi, whose Friday afternoon session was ruined by a crash, was 21st ahead of Max Chilton.

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1m32.506s	-
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1m32.703s	0.197s
3	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	1m33.128s	0.622s
4	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	1m33.527s	1.021s
5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1m33.740s	1.234s
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault	1m34.075s	1.569s
7	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren/Mercedes	1m34.242s	1.736s
8	Jenson Button	McLaren/Mercedes	1m34.317s	1.811s
9	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull/Renault	1m34.432s	1.926s
10	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1m34.542s	2.036s
11	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso/Renault	1m34.984s	-
12	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes	1m35.089s	-
13	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso/Renault	1m35.092s	-
14	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes	1m35.099s	-
15	Adrian Sutil	Sauber/Ferrari	1m35.364s	-
16	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber/Ferrari	1m35.681s	-
17	Romain Grosjean	Lotus/Renault	1m35.984s	-
18	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham/Renault	1m36.813s	-
19	Jules Bianchi	Marussia/Ferrari	1m36.943s	-
20	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham/Renault	1m37.015s	-
21	Max Chilton	Marussia/Ferrari	1m37.481s	-
22	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus/Renault	1m35.917s	-

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: New challenge impossible to resist

Sebastian Vettel sent shockwaves through the Formula One paddock on Saturday morning in Suzuka when he confirmed he will leave Red Bull at the end of 2014.

While the German admits leaving the team with which he won four consecutive world championship crowns with was an extremely tough decision, he says the appeal of a new challenge and a new home proved too strong to resist - even if he cannot yet reveal where he is headed for 2015...

Q: Sebastian, there have long been rumours you could leave Red Bull for Ferrari - and now your departure at least is confirmed, which sent shockwaves through the paddock. No one throws away an association of 15 years so easily, so there must be a good reason for you to move on…
Sebastian Vettel: Probably because the attraction of doing something new was bigger than [it was] to stay.

Q: Fleeing the nest after 15 years with Red Bull is a major step. What does that mean for you?
SV: It means exactly that: a major step! It was my home and in fact you only move out of home once in your life - that is big. We had a fantastic time in those 15 years but sometimes it is also time to open a new chapter.

Q: How hard was it for you to go for the ‘new'?
SV: It felt very hard, because I am not leaving due to any issues. It clearly is a decision for something new, and not against the existing. But then you have to follow your inner voice. And that is not automatically the easier decision - but I hope it is the right one, and that wherever it takes me I will be happy with it.

Q: How long has this inner voice been speaking to you?
SV: It is not the first time that the opportunity for a change has come up. Right now it felt like the right time. The time that I had with Red Bull is something very, very special - hopefully this lasts until the end of the season.

Q: Would it have made any difference if Red Bull had a more competitive car?
SV: That is probably the way people look at it - but not the way I see it. I am not leaving because I don't like the situation. I am not running away from anything. As I just said: it felt like the right time. There was that hunger to do something new.

Q: Can we expect an announcement from Ferrari? Right now there is only the Red Bull press release stating your departure and Christian Horner saying that you will join Ferrari…
SV: I am sure that very soon there will be something to say - but not right now.

Q: Have you signed a contract with Ferrari?
SV: As I just said, I have nothing to announce right now, but it will not take too long.

Q: Could anything stand in your way of moving to Ferrari then, if you haven't signed a contract?
SV: I didn't say that. I just said that I cannot announce anything right now. What I can say is that I will definitely stay in Formula One and not go skiing or mountain biking.

Q: Are you aware that staying with Red Bull would very likely give you a better chance of winning races next year - and that Ferrari are more likely to be a long-term project?
SV: At the end of the day it doesn't really matter - as I said that it was the craving for something new; a new challenge! I am leaving in peace. Of course it hurts on one hand - but on the other it feels right as it means a new challenge.

Q: With the shock of your Red Bull departure, your Suzuka qualifying performance almost drops out of focus. Can you still say a word on it?
SV: Of course I am not really happy. We lacked some running in the morning and then it didn't seem that I was able to go with the track. I struggled more than I had expected in corners that I usually love. With rain on the way it should still turn into a good race - if there isn't then it will get tough for us. My ideal for the race would be that it rains enough tomorrow so that we can still race - but not enough that we might as well be swimming!

Vettel to leave Red Bull after 2014; Kvyat to be promoted

Sebastian Vettel will leave Red Bull at the end of the 2014 season, the team has confirmed.

The German joined the Milton Keynes-based squad ahead of the 2009 season and the combination has been the dominant force in Formula One ever since, with Vettel claiming four consecutive world championship crowns, 38 Grand Prix victories, and 44 poles over the past six seasons.

Red Bull also confirmed that Daniil Kvyat, who has impressed for sister team Toro Rosso during his rookie season this year, will be promoted to the main team alongside Daniel Ricciardo in 2015.

"Sebastian Vettel has advised us that he will be leaving Infiniti Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2014 season," a statement from Red Bull read.

“We want to warmly thank Sebastian for the incredible role he has played at Infiniti Red Bull Racing for the last six years.

"As we wish Sebastian well in the next stage of his career, we also look to the future with excitement, as the vacancy makes way for the next generation of Red Bull racers.

"The Red Bull Junior Programme has developed some proven talents in recent times, including Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, who has excelled in the RB10 and become a three-time Formula One race winner in his first season with the team.

"We're pleased to announce that Daniel will be joined in the team for 2015 by another rising star from the Junior Programme, Daniil Kvyat."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: "I think [Vettel] reached a stage in his career where he fancied a new challenge, so that's his prerogative and like in any relationship, if someone's heart is not in it, then it's time to move on.

"It's the end of a cycle of course, but it's also the start of a new cycle: Daniel [Ricciardo] is doing a great job this year and has got three wins already – he shows the new strength we have coming through and we're excited about the prospect of Kvyat lining up with him. They're the next generation."

Vettel is expected to announce his future plans shortly.

His departure has massive significance in terms of the driver market. The 27-year-old has been widely tipped to move to Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso strongly linked with a switch back to McLaren, alongside either Jenson Button or Kevin Magnussen.

Kvyat's promotion meanwhile means a seat will open up at Toro Rosso next year. Rookie Max Verstappen is already confirmed with the team for 2015.

Japanese GP: Lewis Hamilton leads crash-strewn Suzuka practice

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in a crash-strewn second Formula 1 free practice session ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The Mercedes driver outpaced team-mate and 2014 F1 title rival Nico Rosberg by 0.240 seconds when both went for quick runs on the faster medium-compound Pirellis shortly after the halfway mark of the 90-minute session.
Best of the rest was Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who was 1.201s slower than Hamilton, with McLaren driver and 2011 Japanese GP winner Jenson Button fourth quickest.
Sebastian Vettel was the fastest of the two Red Bulls, just under 1.4s slower than Hamilton, although team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was down in 10th after his session came to a premature end.
The Australian had set the pace early on before a crash at the final right-hand kink led to him hitting the wall head-on.
His Red Bull suffered significant front-left damage and was initially dragged up the hill towards the chicane by the recovery crew.
But after it was left near the chicane, the red flags were deployed to allow it to be cleared up properly, with the delay lasting eight minutes.
Ahead of Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen was the faster of the Ferrari drivers, less than a tenth quicker than Fernando Alonso in seventh pace.
Kevin Magnussen, who had a wide moment at Spoon Curve and tore up some artificial grass, and Daniil Kvyat separated the Ferraris from Ricciardo.
Another driver who hit trouble during the session, Jean-Eric Vergne, was 11th fastest.
The Frenchman had sat out the morning session to allow Max Verstappen to make his F1 weekend debut, with the Dutchman suffering an engine failure in the closing minutes of practice one.
Vergne was slightly late joining second practice and then stopped on track before he could set a time.
He was able to return to action later in the session and ended up classified ahead of Nico Hulkenberg's Force India in 11th.
But the Frenchman had a second problem with four minutes remaining, coming to a halt on the run out of Spoon Curve and triggering a second red flag that brought practice to an early conclusion.
Romain Grosjean was 13th in the stronger of the two Lotus-Renaults ahead of the second Williams of Felipe Massa, the Brazilian unable to set a competitive fast lap to join Bottas near the front as red flag timings and understeer hampered him.

Sauber had a difficult session, with Adrian Sutil 17th fastest and Esteban Gutierrez just behind him despite crashing.
This happened four minutes after the restart following the red flag, when Gutierrez lost it entering Spoon Curve while on what was set to be his fastest lap of the session.
Kamui Kobayashi ended the session slowest of those who completed a flying lap after crashing on his fourth lap of the session.
The rear-end of his Caterham stepped out at Turn 4, and in attempting to correct, the car spun the other way and he backed into the barrier.
Spots of rain late in the session meant that several drivers had brief moments in the closing stages, with Raikkonen and Hulkenberg both having minor offs and Rosberg suffering a big lock up at the hairpin while on a long run.

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1m35.078s	-	28
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1m35.318s	0.240s	27
3	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	1m36.279s	1.201s	24
4	Jenson Button	McLaren/Mercedes	1m36.409s	1.331s	28
5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull/Renault	1m36.436s	1.358s	24
6	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1m36.529s	1.451s	19
7	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1m36.637s	1.559s	26
8	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren/Mercedes	1m36.714s	1.636s	31
9	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso/Renault	1m36.943s	1.865s	27
10	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault	1m37.186s	2.108s	3
11	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso/Renault	1m37.219s	2.141s	19
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes	1m37.504s	2.426s	16
13	Romain Grosjean	Lotus/Renault	1m37.563s	2.485s	31
14	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	1m37.700s	2.622s	18
15	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes	1m37.786s	2.708s	8
16	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus/Renault	1m37.798s	2.720s	27
17	Adrian Sutil	Sauber/Ferrari	1m38.010s	2.932s	25
18	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber/Ferrari	1m38.365s	3.287s	9
19	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham/Renault	1m39.069s	3.991s	22
20	Jules Bianchi	Marussia/Ferrari	1m39.306s	4.228s	20
21	Max Chilton	Marussia/Ferrari	1m39.333s	4.255s	24
22	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham/Renault	1m42.760s	7.682s	3