Youngest Ever Back to Back Champion

Jenson Button managed to win the Suzuka grand prix but Sebastian Vettel was still crowned the youngest ever back to back World F1 Champion. There was slight drama at the start as Button started quicker than Vettel, but the German pushed Button as close as he could to the grass and caused Button to release the throttle and allow Hamilton to take second. Button was unhappy with Vettel's manoeuvre but the stewards took no further action. It took six laps before Alonso overtook his team mate Massa into fourth in what looked like a yield rather than a pass.

Button regained second on the eighth lap in a similar overtake to Alonso's, but before any conspiracy could emerge, it was revealed Hamilton had suffered a right rear puncture and pitted immediately causing him to fall to ninth. Vettel pitted on lap ten with Button and Alonso pitting a lap later, it worked for Vettel as he remained in the lead.

The only retirement came on lap twelve when Buemi was forced off the track after a poor pit stop allowed the front right tyre to come off. The second lot of pits came on lap twenty with Vettel again pitting a lap before Button. But this time it didn't work and Button emerged ahead of the Red Bull.

The pack was forced to come together on lap 23 when the Safety Car had to be deployed; for the umpteenth time this season, Hamilton and Massa came together resulting in part of Massa's front wing to fly off and land in the middle of the track. The Safety Car came in on lap 28.

Hamilton was able to overtake Massa on lap 38 at the same time Alonso had managed to overtake Vettel into third, Schumacher was leading the race at this point and become the oldest race leader for thirty odd years. Vettel wanted to respond and showed signs of annoyance at lapped drivers. But the team principle told Vettel to calm down and take the winning third place, Webber was also told not to try any overtaking in fourth place. Schumacher pitted on lap 41, allowing Button to regain the lead and despite a late push from Alonso, the McLaren won the race. Race result:

1.Button (McLaren), 2.Alonso (Ferrari), 3.Vettel (Red Bull), 4.Webber (Red Bull), 5.Hamilton (McLaren), 6.Schumacher (Mercedes), 7.Massa (Ferrari), 8.Perez (Sauber), 9.Petrov (Renault), 10.Rosberg (Mercedes), 11.Sutil (Force India), 12.Di Resta (Force India), 13.Kobayashi (Sauber), 14.Maldonado (Williams), 15.Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 16.Senna (Renault), 17.Barrichello (Williams), 18.Kovalainen (Lotus), 19.Trulli (Lotus), 20.Glock (Virgin), 21.D'Ambrosio (Virgin), 22.Ricciardo (Hispania), 23.Liuzzi (Hispania) DNF: Buemi (Toro Rosso)