F1 News
Date: 7/October/2012
Sebastian Vettel vaulted to within four points of Fernando Alonso and the 2012 F1 title lead after becoming the first back-to-back winner of the season at Suzuka on Sunday.
While reigning Champion Vettel steered his Red Bull from pole to victory, Alonso saw most of his 29-point advantage over the German effectively disappear at turn one, when light contact from the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen caused the Ferrari star to spin into retirement.
Vettel stated that his car had been ‘like a dream’ to drive this weekend: “You come across these kinds of races or weekends very, very rarely. Unbelievable. We had a very good start, stayed out of the trouble at turn one, and after that I had a very, very good race car.
“We didn’t have major upgrades for this race. The balance was there and it was just working. I said to the guys, ‘when you have a dream about how your race car should be, that’s exactly what you’re wishing for’.
“I tried to stay in the moment and until the end it was fantastic because I had a car where I could control the race and I could push as hard as I wanted to and still take care of the tyres.”
While just four points now separate Alonso and Vettel - who have both won three races this season - next best Raikkonen (sixth at Suzuka) is 37 points behind. The title is thus shaping up to be an Alonso-Vettel duel over the final five rounds.
But after so many title twists and turns this season, Vettel remains cautious: “I’m very careful about this. Obviously, in terms of the championship, this race was a big step but we have seen how quickly things can change.
“There are many races to go. I know I finished in front of everyone today, but you don't know what happens next weekend.
“It seems that everyone is more on the limit this year. Every weekend can be different and instead of having a bad weekend and still finishing fourth or fifth, you might only be tenth.
“That is why I say I want to be very careful because it’s still a long way ahead and there’s a lot that can happen. We have a very tough remainder of the season, a very new calendar for all of us, with a lot of back-to-back races.
“Next week Korea, then India and Abu Dhabi, and then obviously America and Sao Paulo to finish. There's still a long way to go. We have to focus on every single race and try to do our best and then see whether it's good enough.”
Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber was another Lotus turn one casualty, after Raikkonen’s team-mate and serial first lap offender Romain Grosjean ploughed into the back of the Australian.
Second on the grid Webber re-joined at the back of the field, leaving Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa to provide Vettel’s closest opposition.
The Brazilian secured his first podium since 2010, but was over 20-seconds from Vettel, while local star Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) became the first Japanese driver to stand on an F1 rostrum since 1990 after just holding off the McLaren of Jenson Button.
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