Zoom A great day for the Renault team in Japan

Renault: After a fortuitous Singapore victory, Fernando Alonso emerged an unlikely back-to-back winner with a thoroughly deserved win at Fuji Speedway, aided only by the wild antics of the championship contenders. "We are now the third strongest team," the Spaniard proclaimed. Nelson Piquet finished fourth with a strong drive.

BMW Sauber: Dark horse Robert Kubica breathed life into his own title charge, now just 12 points from the championship lead with two races to go, but unable to match Alonso's pace in Japan. "We have been struggling a little bit recently so this is a real boost," said the Pole, who inherited an early lead after the first lap incidents. Nick Heidfeld improved his 16th grid spot to tenth at the chequered flag.

Ferrari: Felipe Massa had arguably the most incident-packed race of his career; a penalty for tipping championship challenger Lewis Hamilton into a spin, prodigious pace to fight back to eighth place, a tough fight against the pit straight wall with Mark Webber, and then an extra point after a stewards' investigation for his collision with Sebastien Bourdais. "Definitely not a disaster given that my closest rival failed to score points," said the Brazilian, whose deficit decreased from seven to five points with two races to go. Kimi Raikkonen finished third, after a tough fight with Kubica while carrying light damage from a McLaren scrape.

Toyota: Jarno Trulli finished fifth for circuit-owners Toyota, failing to keep Piquet behind him. "The lower temperatures didn't help us," said the slightly disappointed Italian. Timo Glock had a short afternoon; damaging his car on David Coulthard's crash debris and then losing it over a kerb.

Toro Rosso Ferrari: Sebastien Bourdais finished a notable sixth, but a post-race stewards investigation added 25 seconds to his time for his clash with Massa. "There was nowhere else I could go," said the angry Frenchman, demoted out of the points. Sebastian Vettel followed Bourdais home after a bad first lap.

Red Bull Renault: A point-less run to ninth for Mark Webber following an appalling start off the line. He ultimately defended hard against Massa's advances but lost the final championship point - before winning it back amid the post-race Bourdais penalty reshuffle. David Coulthard was not injured in a heavy crash, triggered by a broken suspension picked up in the tussle of the opening lap.