Lap by lap coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix (Part 5)
With just 20 laps remaining in the race, the drivers were now at the peak of frustration as most of them had realized their cars capability up until now and were struggling to score some good times.
Timo Glock must have been frustrated in the cockpit of his Virgin Racing entry as he was still stuck behind Yamamoto and they were a massive 56.4 seconds behind Trulli, who was in 15th place. Hamilton scored his best time of the race at a 1m35.492s
and was beginning to close on Alonso again.
Yamamoto finally pitted and Timo Glock could finally take his 16th place. Button's pace was relatively poor at this stage on well-worn rubber as the Red Bulls were rapidly closing in on his lead. Hamilton closed to 3.3s off Alonso's Ferrari. Alonso
was asked to push by his team, but was not happy with the traffic this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Hamilton scored the fastest lap yet again and was now just 2.9 seconds behind Alonso. Vettel was now in the dirty air from Button as a train began to form behind the leader. Kobayashi wasn't able to continue extending the advantage
as the teams awaited his pit stop. He remained in sixth, but only 9.4 seconds ahead of Rosberg and Schumacher.
By the end of the 37th lap, Button fell into a sizable gap behind Hamilton when he pitted so it seemed that the McLarens might as well try packing up the field for now. Hamilton had Alonso's Ferrari in his sights now as the mouth-watering potential
for a scrap between the pair began to build.
Heikki Kovalainen pitted in the 38th lap from 14th position and the lead of the new teams battle. He rejoined in the same position, but now his team-mate Jarno Trulli was on his tail. Kamui Kobayashi began to lose pace in sixth position and really
needed to come into the pits now.
Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher closed the gap down to under nine seconds behind Kobayashi as Kobayashi posted another slow lap with 1m37.485s. Sauber needed to react quickly.
Webber was just 1.4 seconds behind Vetted as the Red Bulls packed up behind the leader Button. The McLaren mechanics were finally out to stop Button in the 39th lap. Red Bull must have been screaming with joy at that moment. Button pitted for
his soft tyres and resumed the race in fifth place. The Red Bulls were leading the race yet again with Fernando Alonso in 3rd place.
Kobayashi was the one to pit following Jenson as he pitted from sixth position, but his chances of any points were blown. Hamilton fell 4.2 seconds behind Alonso after a very poor lap as he missed a gearshift at the hairpin. Kobayashi rejoined the pack in
12th position after a 3.7 seconds stop.
Hamilton told his team by the end of the 40th lap that he has lost the third gear in the McLaren. Lewis was in fourth at the time, with Button 8.5s behind him and on fresh tyres. Schumacher was attacking his team-mate Rosberg again as they battled
for the sixth place. The gap between the pair was less than 0.5 seconds and the interaction between them were at its peak now.
Vettel led by two seconds from his team-mate Webber, Alonso a further 2.1 seconds behind in third. Hamilton was pressing on with that gearbox problem as his team-mate Button closed on him rapidly.
Schumacher and Rosberg were side-by-side coming over the line for the last time round in the 42nd lap. Rosberg was able to maintain his track position into Turn 1 and kept sixth position. Hamilton struggled to get out of the hairpin particularly
where that gearbox issue first became a problem.
Kamui Kobayashi was still in 12th but was now caught up to the back of Jaime Alguersuari. Adrian Sutil was 10th and 1.1 seconds ahead of these two. With Jenson Button just 2.2 seconds behind Hamilton, Jenson was likely to make swift work of his team-mate
in the ailing McLaren. Behind the five championship contenders, Rosberg and Schumacher continued to run line astern in sixth and seventh during the 45th lap.
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