Drivers’ championship
| Position | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | 194 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | 190 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | 157 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | 152 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | 135 |
| 6 | Jenson Button | 131 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | 93 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | 82 |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | 69 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | 65 |
| 11 | Kamui Kobayashi | 50 |
| 12 | Paul di Resta | 44 |
| 13 | Michael Schumacher | 43 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | 37 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | 33 |
| 16 | Bruno Senna | 25 |
| 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 8 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | 7 |
| 19 | Timo Glock | 0 |
| 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | 0 |
| 21 | Vitaly Petrov | 0 |
| 22 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | 0 |
| 23 | Charles Pic | 0 |
| 24 | Narain Karthikeyan | 0 |
| 25 | Pedro de la Rosa | 0 |
2012 Japanese Grand Prix
- Kobayashi edges Vettel for top Japanese GP driver
- Rate the race result: 2012 Japanese Grand Prix
- Grosjean: ‘The team’s not happy and I’m not happy’
- No apology needed from Raikkonen – Alonso
- F1 fans’ videos from the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
7th October 2012, 8:40
This championship has majorly swung Vettel’s way!
JCost (@jcost)
7th October 2012, 8:47
Yes it did.
Let’s see how RBR and Ferrari perfomr in Korea
smokinjoe (@smokinjoe)
7th October 2012, 9:08
Its a mini championship from now on …i guess its not all over for alonso ,race pace of ferrari is as good as bulls…
Eggry (@eggry)
7th October 2012, 9:17
I think Alonso needs help from Mclaren either…
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
7th October 2012, 9:20
@smokinjoe – The only problem is though that Red Bull are much quicker in qualifying…Vettel could have a big lead over Alonso by the time he’s in the right position to chase him down.
smokinjoe (@smokinjoe)
7th October 2012, 9:33
I agree mate and worrying thing is that red bull getting another update for korea. ferrari need find some speed for alonso otherwise its all over, they just cant rely on race pace need to find some qualifying pace
davidnotcoulthard
7th October 2012, 11:18
Unless there are problems with RB’s wind tunnel, that is, though I hope there aren’t at all.
Tete
7th October 2012, 9:22
Of course. What do uou expect when a driver scores the maximun points and one doesn’t score even one?? Also if vettel has a dnf in the next races than the wdc will shift towards alonso’ hands.
Eggry (@eggry)
7th October 2012, 8:41
Jesus, the championship is almost over…
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th October 2012, 8:43
Wow, people like jumping to conclusions very quickly. Isn’t that what we said after the European GP?
Suzuka is generally a bit of a Vettel/Red Bull track. Wait till Korea.
JCost (@jcost)
7th October 2012, 8:48
Well said.
I’m expecting a competive McLaren in Korea and I don’t think Ferrari will be sensibly behind.
Jesus
7th October 2012, 8:58
@eggry
Yes, the championship is over.
ka (@ka12)
7th October 2012, 9:07
not that bad, he is still leading the driver championship.
Antonio Nartea (@tony031r)
7th October 2012, 9:17
Vettel does have the upper hand now but nothing is over. Red Bull have the best car for Suzuka. It’s been like this for some years now. And still, regardless of that, look at Massa’s pace. If he managed to easily end up in second here, maybe that car is not that far behind after all. The championship might be over for Hamilton and Raikkonen, by the looks of it, but between Vettel and Alonso there’s all to play for.
But, yes, by the current looks of it it might appear like Alonso is slowly turning into some kind of less-error-prone / unluckier Will Power of Formula One. Coming close, but not close enough and so on.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th October 2012, 9:42
Yes, its 75% of it gone now (15 from 20 races, is it).
TX2012
7th October 2012, 15:21
I am inclined to agree, given the pace that Red Bull (or should I say Vettel) has been gathering, and the seemingly loss of progress being made at Ferrari I hardly think that Alsonso will get in front of Vettel during the races quickly enough to stop him from taking a proper lead in the championship.
Make a statement like ‘lets not go to quick, he’s still 4 points ahead’ doesn’t change the reality that Ferrari is lagging and probably won’t improve in time. Unfortunatly I must say, because i’d hate to see Vettel win the championship again…2 times in a row is enough. We don’t need another dominant German.
yr
7th October 2012, 8:42
Disapointing…with the pace of the red bull. This championship is most likely over. Hope I’m proven wrong. With the way alonso has driven this year and the exciting start with the first half of the season, we are now heading into a probable anti climax.
brny666
7th October 2012, 8:47
Indeed. I know its not over yet but looking back at the year so far it seems to me that Alonso’s lead in the championship had more to do with Macca and RB failing rather than Ferrari being top dog. I’m not trying to take anything away from him but its true. And this is the 3rd year in a row that Ferrari failed to provide him with a WDC car.
Tete
7th October 2012, 9:28
I don’t agree! Almost all of them have the same number of dnf yet alonso is still in front of them. Alonso hasn’t made mistAkes while the others have. And last but not least the ferrari at some race was between the 4-7 fastest car while the mclaren and the redbull have been the fastest and second fastest car in this season. So yes with you comment you are taking away what a driver alonso is, that e doesn’t need the fastest or even second fastest car to win championships and last but not least that he is probably the best driver out there. Alonso was hit from behind in spa and in this race, his team made bad strategic decision in some races and his car seems to be really bad in qualifying. Instead red bull and mclaren are the best.
JCost (@jcost)
7th October 2012, 8:50
Red Bull was dominant at Valencia before Vettel’s alternantor failed. It’s an ups and downs season. Ferrari will suit better some circuits than Red Bull and McLaren is still there.
yr
7th October 2012, 9:11
With redbulls new ddrs its going to be tough for either ferrari or mc laren to fight for pole I rate. Red bull has also gone very well at korea in the last two year, so it isn’t looking much better. I was very dissapointed that hamilton didn’t have pace to pull of a win either. The way I saw it is that with the present pace of the ferrari, the only way we would have a tight championship battle until the end was if alonso kept his good points lead up until the final 3 races. But its never over until its over..and altough I dislike any championship contender having a dnf, maybe a dnf by vettel would change everything again with alonso and hamilton 1 and 2 with which ever one of them taking the win.
peter548
7th October 2012, 9:32
wow.. the anti-vettel is strong with this one..
yr
7th October 2012, 9:49
Not anti for vettel..its just that the bulls have the car. I don’t want to see them win the next 5 races and dominate the last quater of the championship. And in all honesty I don’t want to see him win 3 wdc’s in a row. I supported him for the champ in 09..didn’t mind him winning 2010..got abit over the domination in 2011.
geekracer2000 (@geekracer2000)
7th October 2012, 9:17
Wait a minute. That logic doesn’t apply when anyone else but Alonso is leading the championship.
Suddenly we like when one driver is leading the championship by over 40 points, and wraps it up with 10 races to go?
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
7th October 2012, 10:01
@geekracer2000 – No, just people don’t want Vettel to win!
I hadn’t heard of Red Bull having a DDRS until this weekend, maybe they have actually had one for a while and were just very good at disguising it?
smokinjoe (@smokinjoe)
7th October 2012, 10:34
no I guess red bulls have used the +DDRS in singapore and happy with the performance so they used it here
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
7th October 2012, 10:47
@smokinjoe no it wasn’t. The ddrs was introduced here in Japan
aka_robyn (@)
7th October 2012, 18:11
I heard (from people watching Sky, I think?) that Adrian Newey said this was not the first time they used it, but I guess he wasn’t willing to reveal much more than that
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th October 2012, 18:21
Newey said something along those lines. The original report in Auto Motor und Sport said they’d tested it at Singapore during practice.
smokinjoe (@smokinjoe)
8th October 2012, 3:16
@raymondu999….DDRS was first used in singapore but every one get noticed here in suzuka
http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2012/878/1012.html
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
7th October 2012, 18:34
What’s probable about it? It’s no more probable than Alonso winning it, given that he’s been the most consistent driver out there.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th October 2012, 8:42
OK. As an Alonso fan this championship has become very nerve-wracking.
That being said, I still believe Fernando will win it… hopefully.
Eggry (@eggry)
7th October 2012, 8:53
I hope you’re right. Maybe my faith on Alonso is not strong enough.
John H (@john-h)
7th October 2012, 8:54
Sadly, I think it’s over for Alonso, what with the dodgy wind tunnel and a very fast red bull. Ok, Suzuka is a ‘red bull’ track, but we saw at Singapore what it can do on the slow speed circuits now.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th October 2012, 9:00
Mclaren and Williams were quickest in Singapore actually. In terms of race pace, even today, Ferrari is just as good as Red Bull. Massa was on average only 3 tenths slower than Vettel, imagine what Alonso could’ve done if it wasn’t for the first lap drama.
I find your lack of faith in Alonso’s driving ability desturbing. :P
Broom (@)
7th October 2012, 9:20
I think its more to do with having no faith in Ferrari against the Red-Bulls. Even McLarens were nowhere and even though Felipe was 2nd, he was 20s of Vettel.
Of course if Alonso managed to survive the first lap then the gap he may have finished 2nd, the gap would have been 22 points and there would have been some breathing space.
The only thing we can cling onto is that Ferrari are now using the new windtunnel and with 6 races left, have time to improve. I think in Korea Vettel will be leading the WDC however. It requires more faith than Ferrari have show they are worthy of in the last 3 years against the Adrain Newey Super Team.
yr
7th October 2012, 9:22
I have tons of faith in alonso..but just not in ferrari at the moment. With these wind tunnel probs, lack of quali pace and not many developments coming thru or working it looks extremely tuff. Red bull has ddrs and great quali pace along with solid race pace..even if ferrari performs well on race day its asking to much from luck to pull out a win considering alonsos average quali pace is 5th. And we must remember that abu dhabi seems to be a track that ferrari may struggle at, so that’s already 1 out of 5 races down on pace for alonso if the pace of cars stay the way they are. Just hope some miracle is performed by alonso and hamilton to extend the gap for the former and reduce the gap to the bulls for the latter.
peter548
7th October 2012, 9:36
TBH, it was Alonso letting himself down today (can’t blame the team or car).. squeezing Rai like that was exactly the same thing Gro did to Ham few races back..
John H (@john-h)
7th October 2012, 9:58
In the Grosjean case, Hamilton was alongside for the whole of the start sequence and he just had total ignorance that another car maybe alongside. We have seen today how reckless is at starts.
In terms of Alonso, I think it was just unfortunate, nothing more because Kimi was only a fraction overlapping the Ferrari when Alonso moved to the left.
Actually today I think the stewards got all the decisions correct.
John H (@john-h)
7th October 2012, 9:54
@Kingshark I actually think Alonso is the best driver in F1 at the moment. Is that enough for you, or do you need more?
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
7th October 2012, 10:08
@kingshark
True, he was even matching his pace for quite some time in the second stint. But the averages only tell half the story: during the second stint Vettel was conserving his tyres.
The last stint gives a better indication of the true pace of that Red Bull, and Vettel was far quicker than Massa when he put his foot down.
Ferrari have good race pace, but relative to Red Bull they are probably half a second behind.
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
7th October 2012, 10:56
@Kingshark Vettel was cruising. Add to that his fastest lap which was something like 7 tenths quicker than his race pace, which he called out on command. That Red Bull today was much more than .3s quicker.
Todfod (@todfod)
7th October 2012, 9:48
@kingshark . I wish I shared that optimism, but it seems obvious that Ferrari have screwed up their car development at the most crucial time. 4 points against a Red Bull stands for nothing.. only a miracle can win Fernando the WDC now
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
7th October 2012, 18:37
@kingshark I said that earlier this week…starting to doubt myself now though unfortunately.
DaveW (@dmw)
7th October 2012, 8:51
Looks like mclaren took the wrong sauber driver.
Traverse Mark Senior (@)
7th October 2012, 9:07
It’s funny how the driver they’ve signed embarrassingly spins out of the race trying to overtake Hamilton, whilst Kobayashi manages a superb podium.
Broom (@)
7th October 2012, 9:26
It was a hilarious move by Perez. I think Lewis might have been having a bit of a chuckle too.
Traverse Mark Senior (@)
7th October 2012, 9:38
I think Perez felt invincible after the first move on Hamilton and thought, what the hell let me go for it. Definitely over enthusiastic…and hilarious.
John H (@john-h)
7th October 2012, 10:03
We did say yesterday this would be the acid test for Perez, starting on the same compound as the rest of the field for a change. It started well with the move on Hamilton, but if you look at the weekend as a whole he was outqualified and then outraced by a team-mate who may not even have a race seat next year, let alone in a McLaren.
This is just one race however and I do think McLaren have signed the right driver.
peter548
7th October 2012, 10:16
God I hope Kobayashi finds a seat next season!!
smokinjoe (@smokinjoe)
7th October 2012, 10:40
Well perez has 3 podium this year and he is definately best among the rest and he is just 22 yo so mclaren can groom him into a future champ
peter548
7th October 2012, 9:19
I always considered Kobayashi to better then Perez.. I’d love to see him in a faster car.. although Sauber are doing very well indeed!
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th October 2012, 9:28
Most future world champions start off as hit or miss driver. Do I need to remind everyone the countless mistakes Alonso made in 2003-04 and Vettel made in 2007-08 ?
Tete
7th October 2012, 9:32
Alonso was the test driver in 2003-2004 wasn’t him?
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th October 2012, 9:37
Nope, he was a Renault driver and teammates with Trulli.
David-A (@david-a)
7th October 2012, 9:40
No, Alonso was a Renault race driver in 2003 and 2004.
DT (@dt)
7th October 2012, 8:52
Alonso can kiss goobye to the championship win. This is at about Japan but more about Ferrari’s development pace. A fair amount of Alonso’s lead (no disrespect) is due to other’s misfortune. He can’t rely on that anymore and it doesn’t look like Ferrari has an answer to the speed of the redbull and potentially Mclaren.
This is much for Vettel to lose now, as Hamilton is far off to challenge. Time will tell
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th October 2012, 9:01
Did you even notice Massa’s performance and pace? Alonso could’ve challenged Vettel today. As I said before, Red Bull is only quicker than Ferrari in qualifying, not in the race.
DT (@dt)
7th October 2012, 9:14
kingshark Massa had pace but no where near the redbull. Get real and look at the stats. The last time Alonso won a race was in Germany and can’t even remember the last time Alonso was on the front row. Those stats tells you where the ferrari is on pace!
ka (@ka12)
7th October 2012, 9:33
@DT: Good said
peter548
7th October 2012, 9:23
The problem like I’ve mentioned previosly is also that Alonso is not good enough in qualifying (be it driver or car).. which means the risks are higher of him being involved in a midfield squabble on lap one.. this cost him twice this year already..
Broom (@)
7th October 2012, 9:30
Not sure how you can come to that conclusion given that he reguarly outqualfies his team-mates by a considerable margin.
peter548
7th October 2012, 9:44
I meant relative to the Mclarens and RBR, to be absolutely risk free of the Kamikaze drivers this season, he’d either have to qualify 1st (webber qualified second this weekend and still got smashed into) or outside the Top 10…
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th October 2012, 9:31
As a driver, Alonso is quite a bit better/faster than Massa, don’t you think? Massa was, on average, only 3 tenths slower than Vettel.
Uh, Alonso started on the front row in Germany, and he was quickest in qualifying but unlucky in Monza.
It’s the car IMO. Alonso was great in qualifying back in 2005-06, it’s just a matter of Ferrari not being as quick as Red Bull over a single lap.
Pamphlet (@pamphlet)
7th October 2012, 10:05
Get real. Massa has been the better of the two for the last 3 races.
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
7th October 2012, 11:00
And Massa has been quicker than Alonso all weekend. He was quicker than Alonso by, on average through the weekend, 3 tenths, until he met Mr. Dud Tyres in Q2. The only lap where he has been slower than Alonso the entire weekend.
Tete
7th October 2012, 9:35
Yes and you forgot that alonso lead the 40 point he had 2-3 races ago were lost because of misfortunes in which by not fault of his own he was hit from behind by te lotuses