Button Wins in Japan, Vettel Takes 2nd World Title

SUZUKA, Japan-  Taking advantage of a safety car period, when Felipe Massa lost parts of his Ferrari onto the track, Jenson Button took the lead and held Fernando Alonso off by over a second, to win the Japanese Grand Prix Sunday at Suzuka. But needing only one point to clinch his second world title, Sebastian Vettel took third, to become the youngest two time world title holder.

"This was a hard race” stated Button  “The last five or six laps were extremely tough, I had to really look after the tires and try to save a bit of fuel to get the car home, but it was an amazing victory. Sebastian [Vettel] came across at me on the start - he kept coming and didn't stop, so I got on the grass and had to back out of the throttle, otherwise there would've been an almighty shunt into Turn One. He said he didn't see me until he saw me backing out, so that lost me a place. But fighting back was so, so satisfying: the performance has been in the car all weekend. It's such an emotional victory for me: there's so much history at this circuit, and the crowd here has been amazing, this is second only to a home victory for me. I want to thank every single person here in Japan who's supported us - hopefully we've planted a happy memory in their minds, because a lot of Japan has been through difficult times this year. We did our best and we put on a fantastic show.”

Newly crowned world champion Vettel knew that it would take patience to get to this level.

"A lot of people have been quite confident about the title, but one of the important things was that we didn't allow ourselves to drift away with the thought too much.” He said. “Instead we concentrated on every single step and everything we have done this year and everything we have achieved - then wow. I want to thank all the guys and girls in the factory in Milton Keynes, as it's not just us here pushing very hard, it's them as well - from the post office to the design office to the engineering office here at the track, their effort is just incredible. It's hard to imagine you know, we have two cars and two drivers only and we carry that weight on our shoulders every time we go on track.”

Vettel began the race in a little bit of controversy, as he blocked Button going down the straightaway on the first lap. Button protested the move, but after minutes of discussion, the race officials ruled it a fair move. Vettel started to increase the gap after the start and lead as far as five seconds by the ninth lap. However, Button started to find his rhythm, and cut the time down to just under two and a half seconds on lap 17.

But on lap 24, Massa and Lewis Hamilton were fighting toe to toe when both of them approached the final chicane of the circuit. The two men touched, and the Brazilian received the worst of it, having a piece of his Ferrari fly onto the track. Although Massa the incident did not affect Massa, the piece of debris stayed on the track, and officials decided it was too dangerous, and needed to deploy a safety car that lasted for four laps.

“I don't really know what happened with Felipe” claimed Hamilton. “The car's mirrors vibrate at high-speed, so I couldn't see him pulling alongside me. I want to apologize for our cars' touching, but fortunately nothing happened to either of us. There was no bad intention towards Felipe; I've got the utmost respect for him, he's a fantastic driver and he was extremely quick today. Finally, big congratulations to Sebastian for winning the title. We all knew it was going to happen, but his season has really been flawless. It's a fantastic achievement for him."

Of the entire field, Only Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Buemi did not finish the race, encountering a misplaced front right tire that came off as soon as the Swiss returned to the race. But for the best of the rest, Mark Webber had a very quiet fourth place, while Hamilton finished a disappointing fifth after starting the race in second. Michael Schumacher got his small glory by leading the race for two laps before he pitted for tires, took sixth, while Massa was seventh. Sergio Perez, Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg finished in the last three point positions.

For Vettel himself, being the youngest double world champion is something that the German will have to take time to reflect, even with still four races left in the season.

“I never imagined I would win one Championship and so to win this second one is amazing.” He said. “I have a lot of good memories from Formula One, from watching it when I was young, to now and I feel fortunate and blessed to experience today. There were so many excited people when we did the drivers' parade today and that was my last thought when I put my helmet on. For drivers, it doesn't get much better than this, a sunny day and all the fans excited to see what you do - I think that's what life is about. And so, to wrap up the Championship here is difficult to put into words - it's more than fantastic."