Hamilton accuses Massa

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Lewis Hamilton has accused title rival Felipe Massa of deliberately running into him in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The two men collided as Hamilton tried to pass Massa's Ferrari on the second lap. The Brazilian was handed a drive-through penalty for the incident.

"I took the corner normally and Felipe came back very aggressively and hit me," said Hamilton, whose championship lead was cut by two points to five.

"I think that was pretty much as deliberate as can be."

Massa denied deliberately running into the McLaren, which was tipped into a spin. Hamilton had to wait for the entire field to pass before resuming his race.

"In my opinion it was a racing incident and we both paid a penalty," Massa said.

"For me, he braked too late and pushed me out of the track. I couldn't stop the car as I was in the gravel and I was in the gravel because he pushed me."

And he said he would not be goaded into criticising Hamilton.

"I have a good relationship with Lewis and I will not do anything to destroy it. Definitely not," Massa said.

"I'm not the kind of guy who brings problems on the track to the outside, and I will not change my approach."

Hamilton and Massa's hopes were both hit in the incident-packed race. The McLaren driver, his car damaged in the collision with Massa, failed to score points by finishing 12th, but Massa was only able to score two points for seventh place.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica has now joined them in the title fight - with a maximum of 20 points available, the Pole is 12 points behind Hamilton after finishing second behind Renault's Fernando Alonso at Fuji.

Hamilton can win the championship in China on Sunday if he scores six more points than Massa.

The incident between Hamilton and Massa happened on the second lap, when the Englishman was trying to make up ground he lost in an incident at the first corner, which dropped him to sixth

Hamilton dived down the inside into the first, right-handed part of the Turn 10/11 chicane and Massa ran wide. The Ferrari driver had his car fully over the kerbs as he went through the left-handed part and collided with Hamilton's McLaren as he rejoined the track.

"I went up the inside because Felipe braked late and gave me the advantage," Hamilton said.

The 23-year-old was was angry that he received the same penalty as Massa for a different incident at the first corner of the race.

He left his braking too late, locked up his front tyres and slide off the track, taking Raikkonen with him.

Hamilton damaged his front tyres enough in the incident that he would have to have come into the pits anyway, regardless of the subsequent incident with Massa.

He admitted he had made a mistake - but said he did not believe it merited a penalty.

"We (he and Massa) both got the same penalty but I didn't hit anybody - he did. That's just the name of the game, I guess," he said.

"My personal disappointment is the start and the way I'm treated.

"Everyone went wide [at the start] but for some reason I got a penalty for that. I can't understand that

But it doesn't really matter if I agree with it, I can't change it and I just need to keep it together.

"I don't think it makes any difference [to the title race]. We'll move on next week and make sure we win the last two races.

"We plan on winning; not at any cost, but we plan on winning.

"You can wish you did something differently but I made a mistake and I paid for it," said the Englishman, whose lead has been cut to five points.

"It's damage limitation. Forget this race ever happened and move on."

Massa fought his way back to finish in eighth but was later promoted to seventh, after Sebastian Bourdais was penalised for colliding with the Ferrari while racing for position.

The Frenchman's Toro Rosso was on the inside of Turn One having just left the pits. The two cars touched in the centre of the corner as Massa tried to pass on the outside and the Ferrari spun.

Bourdais, demoted from sixth to 10th, was mystified as to why he had been given a penalty.

"What was I supposed to do?" he asked. "Roll out the red carpet?"

Japanese Grand Prix Photos

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Pole-sitter Hamilton is jumped by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen



David Coulthard's Red Bull crashes into the barrier with suspension damage



Hamilton tries to pass title rival Felipe Massa on the second lap but the two tangle, Hamilton spins and has to go back to the pits




Hamilton and Massa serve drive-through penalties - Hamilton for cutting off Raikkonen and Massa for his collision with the Englishman





Lap 17 and Fernando Alonso moves to the front as race leader Robert Kubica pits. Alonso's Renault team tell him to "sprint like hell"






Massa and Sebastian Bourdais collide at the first corner - an incident that later lands Bourdais a penalty but hands Massa an extra point




After a superb second stint, Alonso takes the chequered flag in Fuji to notch up his second win in a row



Alonso, who won in Japan in 2006, gets his lips on the trophy again as he celebrates his 21st Grand Prix win in Fuji

I paid for mistake, says Hamilton

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Lewis Hamilton admits errors at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix cost him vital points in the title race.

Hamilton ran wide as he attacked the first corner, falling back to sixth, and then spun on the second lap when he was hit by main rival Felipe Massa.

"You can wish you did something differently but I made a mistake and I paid for it," said the Englishman, whose lead has been cut to six points.

"I lost one point today but I guess it's damage limitation."

The result also put a third driver into the title picture - BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica is 12 points behind Hamilton with a maximum of 20 available after finishing second to Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton had set himself up for a tilt at a second successive victory in Fuji by taking pole position but his ambitions were immediately undone by a dreadful start.

A hesitant getaway saw the McLaren driver caught by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and a risky attempt to claw back his position backfired at the first corner when he ran wide.

After finding himself down in sixth after the opening lap, Hamilton tried to pass Massa's Ferrari but the title rivals made contact as Massa clipped the McLaren's rear wheel and Hamilton was forced back to the pits after spinning

Both drivers were handed drive-through penalties - Hamilton for forcing Raikkonen wide in an attempt to regain his position on lap one and Massa for the incident on the following lap.

Massa fought his way back through to field to finish in eighth, to cut Hamilton's championship lead by a single point, as the Englishman finished in 12th.

Hamilton, who has been on the wrong end of the stewards' decisions this season, hinted he was disappointed to receive yet another penalty but insisted his world championship attempt remains on track.

"We (he and Massa) both got the same penalty but I didn't hit anybody - he did. That's just the name of the game, I guess.

"I don't think it makes any difference [to the title race]. We'll move on next week and make sure we win the last two races.

"We plan on winning; not at any cost, but we plan on winning.

"You've just got to keep your head up and keep going."

Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen said he had seen nothing worth penalising in the incident at the first corner.

"Obviously Kimi got a good start and I think my start was very good as well, Lewis's wasn't quite as good," Kovalainen said.

"Kimi initially jumped Lewis and then I think Lewis was trying to fight back.

"They both went a bit deep and I also went a bit deep. I don't know... I thought it was just a normal first corner."

Alonso wins as title duo collide

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Renault's Fernando Alonso took a superb victory in the Japanese Grand Prix as title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa collided in a dramatic race.

Hamilton made a poor start, ran off the road at the first corner and was tipped into a spin by Massa on lap two.

Both were given penalties for different incidents but Massa recovered to take eighth and cut Hamilton's lead to six points with two races left.

Hamilton, his car damaged by Massa, was 12th and out of the points.

The Englishman is still in a strong position but will have to cut out the mistakes that have characterised his season if he is not to lose the championship for the second year in a row.

"What can I say? it was a bad day, I'll move on to next week [in China]," Hamilton said.

"I went wide at turn one, it was a mistake, and then Felipe hit me off, I went on the inside and he broke left and hit me pretty hard.

I lost one point, which I guess is damage limitation."

Massa is not Hamilton's only title rival. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica is 12 points off the lead and cannot be ruled out.

"Twelve points behind the leader with two races to go - anything can happen," Kubica said.

Hamilton's problems began at the very start of the race as he got off the line slowly from pole position in his McLaren and then went too far in trying to make amends at the first corner.

He left his braking too late trying to prevent Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen taking the lead and, with smoke pouring from his locked tyres, took both of them off the track.

The move would earn Hamilton a penalty for forcing another car off the track, but it also demoted him to sixth place, right behind Massa.

The Englishman tried to pass the Ferrari into the Turn 10/11 chicane on the second lap and the two cars ended up colliding.

Massa left his braking too late trying to fend Hamilton off into the initial right-hand part of the corner.

That put him off line on the outside and, trying to retain the place, he dived over the kerbs through the left-handed part and tipped Hamilton into a spin as he rejoined the track.

Hamilton had to sit and wait for the entire field to pass before he could rejoin the race, and he immediately called into the pits for new tyres to replace the ones he had badly flat-spotted at the first corner.

Massa was given his own penalty for causing that collision, and, once they had taken their drive-throughs, the two title rivals ended up at the back of the field - with Massa a few seconds ahead.

The chaos among the drivers of the leading teams left Kubica in the lead but he lost it to Alonso when the Spaniard made his first pit stop a lap later than the Pole.

Alonso said he asked the team to get him out in front of Kubica but doing so meant he had four laps' less fuel than the BMW for the middle stint of the race.

The team lost no time in telling Alonso that he had to "sprint like hell" to win the race.

The double world champion did exactly that, pulling out a lead of more than 12 seconds in his 25-lap second stint.

That put him completely out of Kubica's reach, and the BMW driver was left to fend off Raikkonen.

It was one of the Spaniard's greatest races and secured him and Renault an unexpected second win in a row.

"We were second when we stopped for the first time and I wanted to exit the pits in front of Robert," Alonso said.

"So they had to put less fuel in. I had to open the gap and the car was perfect and I was able to.

"It's difficult to believe as the Singapore win was completely unexpected.

"We had special conditions there with the safety car but today we had nothing and we won again at a circuit which is not good for our [car's] characteristics.

"I cannot believe it right now and back-to-back wins is a great feeling. It is completely amazing."

Raikkonen drove a race that has become typical of him this season - he was anonymous until the final pit stops and then came alive.

The world champion rejoined from his final stop just behind Kubica but, although he pressured the BMW hard for the next few laps, the Pole was able to fend him off and eventually build a small cushion for the last few laps.

Nelson Piquet finished fourth for Renault, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli, the Toro Rossos of Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel and Massa taking the remaining points positions.

Massa, the fastest man on the track in the closing stages of the race, lost ground with a spin while trying to pass Bourdais but recovered to grab eighth from Red Bull's Mark Webber on the penultimate lap.

Provisional result of Japanese Grand Prix:

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one hour 30 minutes 21.892 seconds
2 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 5.2 seconds behind
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari at 6.4secs
4 Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault at 20.5secs
5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 23.7secs
6 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari at 34.0secs
7 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari at 39.2secs
8 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari at 46.1secs
9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault at 50.8secs
10 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 54.1secs
11 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota at 1:02
12 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes at 1:18.9secs
13. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda one lap behind
14. Jenson Button (GB) Honda at one lap
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota at 1 lap
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 22 laps
R Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 16 laps
R Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 8 laps
R Timo Glock (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 6 laps
R David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 0 laps

Hamilton beats Raikkonen to pole position at Fuji

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Lewis Hamilton boosted his chances of extending his world championship lead at Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix by taking pole position in Fuji.

The McLaren driver produced a late flying lap of one minute 18.404 seconds to claim his sixth pole of the season.

But Ferrari rival Felipe Massa, who trails Hamilton by seven points in the title race, endured a disastrous qualifying finishing back in fifth.

Kimi Raikkonen was second for Ferrari ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Also starting ahead of Massa on the grid is Fernando Alonso, a surprise winner for Renault last time out in Singapore, as he continued his run of good form to qualify in fourth.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica posted the sixth fastest time ahead of Toyota duo Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. The Toro Rossos of Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais completed the top 10.

"I'm very happy," said Hamilton, who is three races away from a maiden world title. "The team have done a phenomenal job.

"It was pretty straightforward. The last lap I put all the sectors together and I was able to bring it home.

"We will push forward with the strategy on Sunday. It's going to be a tough race because Kimi is right there but we will take as many points as we can."

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis described Hamilton's 12th career pole as the "best of his life" adding it came at a "critical time".

With both the drivers' and constructors' titles at stake, the Woking-based team is determined to adopt a cautious approach to the title run-in especially after the calamitous close to the 2007 season.

After claiming victory at last year's Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton held a 12-point lead in the title race only to surrender the title to Raikkonen, who at that stage was 17 points adrift.

When asked if he would allow Hamilton to race for victory in Fuji, Dennis said: "We don't want to pass over any victories that might come our way, but who knows?"

Massa's hopes of victory in Japan took a knock after he failed to find his true pace over his final hot lap at the Fuji Speedway.

With the track drying out well after a damp final practice, Massa had topped the standings in the second qualifying session and looked strong going into the decisive third spell.

But his Ferrari lost performance when it counted and the Brazilian suggested a heavier fuel load could be to blame.

"The car was great to start with but in Q3 I just did not have the grip," said Massa, who is also vying for a maiden world title.

"It may have been down to the fuel load, but we shall have to see. It won't be easy in the race, but we will do our best."

Raikkonen can still mathematically defend his world championship crown but, despite sharing the front row with Hamilton, he stressed he is focused on picking up points for Ferrari.

"I think it a small chance but I try to win races," he said. "We want to win the championship as a team and we will see what we can do.

"If we can win it would be nice but if not we will try to get maximum points."

Toyota delivered in front of their home fans at a track the company bought eight years ago with Trulli seventh ahead of Glock, who topped the timesheets in the first session of qualifying.

But Honda failed to deliver on home turf as both Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button failed to get beyond the opening spell when BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was also surprisingly eliminated.

Renault's Nelson Piquet starts in 12th after aborting his qualifying attempt during the second session. Renault claimed the Brazilian had been blocked by Hamilton but their complaints went no further.

Results from qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.404

2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:18.644

3. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.821

4. Fernando Alonso (Spn) Renault 1:18.852

5. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:18.874

6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:18.979

7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:19.026

8. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:19.118

9. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:19.638

10. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.167

11. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:18.187

12. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault 1:18.274

13. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:18.354

14. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:18.594

15. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:18.672

16. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:18.835

17. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:18.882

18. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:19.100

19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:19.163

20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:19.910