Sebastian Vettel kept his world championship title hopes alive with a dominant victory in the Japanese grand prix.
Starting from pole, Vettel held off McLaren's Lewis Hamilton coming out of the first corner and he never looked like relinquishing his lead from that point.
A late safety car bunched the field up after Jaime Alguersuari had a big crash at 130R, but Vettel was unchallenged from the restart. Toyota's Timo Glock took second ahead of Hamilton.
Title rivals and Brawn team mates Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button were seventh and eight respectively, a result which saw the Brazilian cut the Briton's title lead to 14 points with two races remaining. Vettel's win, his third of the season, saw him close to within 16 points of Button.
A disastrous race for Mark Webber saw him finish last, despite setting the fastest lap of the race. His non score means Brawn need to score half a point to claim the constructors title.
Provisional race results:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h28:20.4432. Trulli Toyota +4.8773. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +6.4724. Raikkonen Ferrari +7.9405. Rosberg Williams-Toyota +8.7936. Heidfeld BMW Sauber +9.5097. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes +10.6418. Button Brawn-Mercedes +11.4749. Kubica BMW Sauber +11.77710. Alonso Renault +13.06511. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes +13.73512. Fisichella Ferrari +14.59613. Sutil Force India-Mercedes +14.95914. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +15.73415. Nakajima Williams-Toyota +17.97316. Grosjean Renault +1 lap17. Webber Red Bull-Renault +2 laps
Not classified/retirements
Alguersuari Toro Rosso-FerrariBuemi Toro Rosso-FerrariGlock Toyota
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