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Button wins, Vettel rules

Suzuka, Japan - Germany's Sebastian Vettel, 24, became Formula One's youngest back-to-back world champion on Sunday when he finished third in the Japanese Grand Prix behind Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.

Vettel, who has dominated the season and needed just one point to clinch the championship, joins Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher as one of only nine drivers to successfully defend the world title.

Button’s victory, which came after he passed Vettel in the second round of pit stops on lap 21, was his third of the season and the 12th of his career.

The McLaren driver finished 1.1 seconds ahead of Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, with Vettel’s third place easily enough to secure his second straight world title.

AMONGST F1 GIANTS


But the day belonged to Vettel, who follows Alberto Ascari (1952-53), Fangio (1954-57), Jack Brabham (1959-60), Alain Prost (1985-86), Senna (1990-91), Schumacher (1994-95 and 2000-04), Mika Hakkinen (1998-99) and Fernando Alonso (2005-06) in winning consecutive drivers' crowns.

Australian Mark Webber was fourth for Red Bull, eight seconds adrift of Button, while Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren had another controversial race, clashing again with Felipe Massa of Ferrari en route to finishing fifth.

Schumacher was sixth for Mercedes, briefly leading the race after the final round of pit stops, while Massa was seventh.

Mexican Sergio Perez came through from 17th on the grid to take eighth for Sauber with a two-stop strategy, while German Nico Rosberg drove his Mercedes from second-last on the grid to finish 10th.

With four races remaining, Vettel has 324 points, with Button’s victory keeping the Briton in second place for the season with 210.
Alonso retains third on 202, while Webber stays fourth with 194. Hamilton rounds out the top five on 178 points.

Provisional result from the Japanese F1 GP at Suzuka

1 Jenson Button McLaren 1hr30mins53.427s
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +01.160
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +02.006
4 Mark Webber Red Bull +08.071
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +24.268
6 Michael Schumacher Mercedes +27.120
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari +28.240
8 Sergio Perez Sauber +39.377
9 Vitaly Petrov Renault +42.607
10 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +44.322
11 Adrian Sutil Force India +54.447
12 Paul Di Resta Force India +02.326
13 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber +1min03.705
14 Pastor Maldonado Williams +1min04.194
15 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso +1min06.623
16 Bruno Senna Renault +1min12.628
17 Rubens Barrichello Williams +1min14.191
18 Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus +1min27.824
19 Jarno Trulli Team Lotus +1min36.140
20 Timo Glock Virgin - Cosworth 2 laps
21 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin - Cosworth 2 laps
22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT - Cosworth 2 laps
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT - Cosworth 3 laps
Retired: Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 42 laps

Provisional F1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the 2011 Japanese GP at Suzuka
Sunday


Drivers’ points
1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 324
2 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 210
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 202
4 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 194
5 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 178
6 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 90
7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes GP 63
8 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes GP 60
9 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 36
10 Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 34
11 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 28
12 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 27
13 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 20
14 Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso 16
15 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 13
16 Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 13
17 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams 4
18 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Renault 2
19 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1
20 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) Sauber 0
21 Jarno Trulli (Italy) Team Lotus 0
22 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Team Lotus 0
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) HRT 0
24 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Virgin 0
25 Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin 0
26 Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 0
27 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) HRT 0
28 Karun Chandhok (India) Team Lotus

Constructors’ points
1 Red Bull - Renault 518
2 McLaren - Mercedes 388
3 Ferrari 292
4 Mercedes 123
5 Renault 72
6 Force India - Mercedes 48
7 Sauber - Ferrari 40
8 Toro Rosso - Ferrari 29
9 Williams - Cosworth 5
10 Lotus - Renault 0
11 HRT - Cosworth 0
12 Virgin - Cosworth 0
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