page_title: 2007 Japanese Grand Prix
section_title: Race
hierarchical_section_title: 2007 Japanese Grand Prix / Report / Race
caption_attribution_description: 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, friday, Toyota
context_page_description: The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 2007 at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Shizuoka. The 67-lap race was the fifteenth round of the 2007 Formula One season. It was held at the recently revised track in very heavy rain and misty conditions. For the previous 20 years, the Japanese Grand Prix had been held at Suzuka Circuit, but at this race it returned to Fuji for the first time since 1977. The race was won by McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, who also took pole position and the fastest lap of the race. Heikki Kovalainen achieved his first podium, by finishing second for the Renault team, whilst Kimi Räikkönen finished in third for Ferrari. Adrian Sutil scored Spyker's first and only point by finishing 9th and being promoted to 8th after the race.
  As a consequence of the race, Hamilton extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to twelve points over McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso. Alonso had only been two points behind Hamilton in the standings before he crashed during the race. Räikkönen's third-place finish ensured he remained in mathematical contention to clinch the drivers' title in the remaining two rounds.
context_section_description: Due to torrential rainfall, the race was started behind the safety car, which led the field for the first 19 laps. The Ferraris of Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa were forced to pit during the first few laps after starting on standard wet tyres, as opposed to "extreme wet" tyres, which were better-suited to the treacherously wet conditions. Ferrari boss Jean Todt later stated that the team were not informed about the requirements prior to the race, although all other teams were. During the initial safety car period, the FIA instructed the lapped driver Vitantonio Liuzzi to pass the field and catch up to the back of the queue as quickly as he safely could, as a way of gauging whether the track was ready for the race to begin in earnest.
  The Ferraris dropped back to 20th and 21st positions respectively following the pit stops, and Massa pitted again on lap 15. When the safety car finally left the circuit, the two McLarens began the race proper at the head of the field, in front of the quick-starting Sebastian Vettel. The Toro Rosso driver had taken third place from Nick Heidfeld, after the latter and Jenson Button's Honda collided. Mark Webber reached fourth place during the first racing lap as a result of the collision, despite still suffering from the after-effects of food poisoning, having earlier vomited into his helmet during the first safety car period. A first-corner spin caused Alexander Wurz to collide heavily with Felipe Massa's Ferrari. Wurz's car sustained heavy damage and he retired on the spot.
  Later in the race, Fernando Alonso crashed out. The reigning world champion blamed aquaplaning for the accident, which once again brought out the safety car. It was the first time that a McLaren car had failed to finish during the 2007 season. During this safety car period on lap 45, third-placed Sebastian Vettel crashed into the rear of second-placed Webber in the wet conditions, Webber retiring immediately and Vettel returning to the pits to retire. Vettel had earlier became the youngest ever driver to lead a lap of a Formula One race (aged 20 years and 89 days) – his record was subsequently broken by Max Verstappen (aged 18 years and 228 days) at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. This collision put Heikki Kovalainen's Renault in second place, which he managed to hold until the end of the race, despite repeated overtaking attempts by Kimi Räikkönen.  It was Kovalainen's first podium finish. Räikkönen would eventually finish third, ahead of David Coulthard in fourth for Red Bull Racing.  This was the first time that two Finnish drivers had both finished on the podium.
  On the final lap, Felipe Massa prevailed in his battle with BMW driver Robert Kubica. The Pole had previously served a drive through penalty for colliding with Hamilton. Massa finished sixth, and Kubica seventh, behind Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault. Vitantonio Liuzzi finished in eighth, scoring the first 2007 championship points for Toro Rosso. However, these points were later removed when Liuzzi was penalised for overtaking Adrian Sutil under waved yellow flags. This promoted Sutil to eighth, giving him and the Spyker team their first and only F1 points.
caption: Jarno Trulli was the last car to actually finish, and classified thirteenth for the Toyota team.
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