Massa closes in on Hamilton as Alonso wins Japanese GP

Oct 12, 2008, 14:01 GMT

The combo shows British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes (foreground) crashes with Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Ferrari after the start of the Grand Prix of Japan at the Fuji Speedway racing circuit near Gotemba in Japan on 12 October 2008. EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA

Fuji, Japan - Felipe Massa cut Lewis Hamilton's lead in the Formula One drivers' standings to just five points with two races remaining by finishing seventh Sunday in an action-packed Japanese Grand Prix won by Renault's Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard took his second race win in succession, completing the 67 laps of 4.563 kilometres for a race distance of 305.416 kilometres at the Fuji international Speedway in a time of 1 hour 30 minutes 21.842 seconds.

Robert Kubica of BMW-Sauber came in second with defending champion Kimi Raikkonen taking third in a Ferrari.

Nelson Piquet Jr completed Renault's great day by taking fourth, followed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

The Toro Rossos of Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel finished in sixth and seventh, respectively, but Bourdais was later hit with a 25-second time penalty that dropped him four places to 10th after he was deemed to have caused a collision with Ferrari's Massa late on in the race.

This moved Massa up to seventh with Mark Webber of Red Bull completing the points placings.

Championship leader Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes finished out of the points down in 11th after incurring a drive-through penalty and also spinning following a clash with Massa, his nearest rival for the drivers' title.

Massa received a drive-through penalty of his own for the incident with Hamilton but still managed to earn two points from the race to cut the deficit to the McLaren driver to five points with just two races remaining.

Hamilton has 84 points ahead of next Sunday's Chinese GP in Shanghai, followed by Massa on 79 with Poland's Kubica seven points further back in third.

'I think it's a good boost for the last two races because we are still in the fight,' said Kubica.

Hamilton had a poor start from pole position, allowing second- placed Raikkonen to pass him before pushing the Ferraris of the Finn and Massa wide on turn one.

'I had nowhere to go and lost many places,' said Raikkonen afterwards.

The chaotic start also saw David Coulthard and Kazuki Nakajima collide, ending the Scot's interest in the race, and when the dust settled Kubica found himself leading Alonso while Hamilton trailed in sixth.

'I was not really able to pull away, Fernando was keeping the gap,' said Kubica.

Meanwhile, Hamilton's race got worse on lap two as Massa clipped him as the McLaren driver looked to have passed the Ferrari at the hairpin, causing the Briton's car to spin.

McLaren immediately opted for a one-stop strategy as Hamilton returned to the pits for new tyres and fuel, returning in last place.

While Raikkonen managed to make his way up to fourth place, passing Trulli on lap nine, McLaren's situation deteriorated further.

With 51 laps remaining, Heikki Kovalainen retired due to engine problems and Hamilton received notice of a drive-through penalty from race stewards for forcing the Ferraris wide going into the opening corner.

Massa too was given his drive-through penalty for the collision with Hamilton, while Singapore GP winner Alonso returned from his pitstop ahead of Kubica to take over the race lead with Raikkonen now running third.

'In the second stint we managed to get some free air and the car handled really well,' said Alonso. 'Part of the victory was in the second stint.'

Alonso pitted for the second and final time with 24 laps remaining but came out behind Bourdais, while Kubica pitted three laps later, briefly promoting Raikkonen to the position of race leader.

Raikkonen made his final stop with 19 laps to go, returning just behind Kubica while Massa continued his slow movement up the field to find himself in the points in eighth place.

Massa then clipped Bourdais as the Frenchman exited the pits to stall his progress while Kubica initially struggled to hold off Raikkonen who himself saw Piquet Jr in the second Renault looming in his mirrors.

'Once the tyres grained out I was able to pull away,' said Kubica.

Massa kept his nerve in the final stages, managing to snatch eighth spot from Red Bull's Mark Webber, who was on a one-stop strategy, with three laps to go.

Bourdais' penalty followed to improve Massa's position still further and set up a thrilling climax to the season.