Alonso wins Japan F1 Grand Prix 2008

Fernando Alonso won the Japanese Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton’s lead atop the Formula One world cham

pionship was cut to five points following a collision with nearest challenger Felipe Massa.

Renault’s Alonso, the 2005 and 2006 champion, finished ahead of Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari at the Fuji Speedway track. Alonso’s 21st Grand Prix victory followed up his win in Singapore two weeks ago.

“Back-to-back victories, it is hard to believe,” Alonso said at a televised news conference. “I made a decent start and when the others went off I was able to go through behind Robert. Then I had a really great second stint that won me the race.”

Hamilton, who started the 67-lap race from pole position, was out of the points in 12th after falling to last place on the second lap when Ferrari’s Massa tipped his McLaren into a spin as Hamilton tried to make a passing move. With two races remaining in China and Brazil, Hamilton has 84 points to Massa’s 79.

Both drivers were given penalties for different incidents, though Massa recovered to take eighth place. He was later promoted to seventh when Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais was given a 25-second time penalty by stewards for causing a collision with Massa late in the race.

Hamilton earlier tried to recover a slow start by braking late into the first corner to try and prevent Raikkonen taking the lead. The maneuver earned Hamilton a penalty for forcing another car off the track, and demoted him to sixth behind Massa.

Chicane Collision

England’s Hamilton tried to overtake Massa going into a chicane on the second lap and the two cars collided, forcing Hamilton into a spin. The McLaren driver had to wait for the entire field to pass before he could rejoin the race. Massa was given his own penalty over the incident.

The early chaos left Kubica in the lead, though Alonso took it following his first pit stop. The Spaniard stayed out of trouble the rest of the way after being told over the team radio that he had to “sprint like hell” to win the race.

He took the checkered flag 5.2 seconds ahead of Kubica, whose second place lifted him to 72 points and kept alive the Polish driver’s championship chances.

New Champion

In holding off defending champion Raikkonen, Kubica ensured that there will be a new winner this year as the Finn can’t finish first in the standings even if he wins the final races. Raikkonen’s third place lifted him to 63 points.

Nelson Piquet was fourth today in the second Renault ahead of Jarno Trulli of Toyota. Bourdais dropped to 10th from sixth after his penalty, behind Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel, Massa, Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld in the other BMW-Sauber.

Ferrari has a seven-point cushion over McLaren in the constructors’ championship after Hamilton’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen was forced out of the race on lap 17 because of mechanical failure.

The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai is scheduled Oct. 19 before the Nov. 2 season-ending race in Sao Paulo.