OYAMA, Japan -- Lewis Hamilton won a wet-and-wild Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, giving him a 12-point lead in the drivers standings over McLaren teammate and defending champion Fernando Alonso, who crashed out of the race.
F1 standings after 15 races
By crashing out of the Japanese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso (pictured) lost ground in the overall standings to teammate Lewis Hamilton.
| Driver | Team | Points |
| 1. Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 107 |
| 2. Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 95 |
| 3. Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 90 |
| 4. Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 80 |
| 5. Nick Heidfeld | BMW-Sauber | 56 |
| 6. Robert Kubica | BMW-Sauber | 35 |
| 7. Heikki Kovalainen | Renault | 30 |
| 8. Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 21 |
| 9. Nico Rosberg | Williams | 15 |
| 10. Alexander Wurz | Williams | 13 |
Heikki Kovalainen of Renault was second, and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished third in a rainy race that had spins, bumps and crashes throughout its 67 laps.
Hamilton could become the first rookie to win the world title if he finishes with at least an 11-point lead over Alonso next week in China.
Alonso still can win the title but will need a lot of luck in the final two races.
His luck deserted him at the Fuji Speedway when he spun and hit the wall hard on the 42nd lap. His car stopped in the middle of the track, surrounded by debris. Helped out of the car, the Spaniard stayed behind a fence for a few laps to contemplate what happened before leaving.
Alonso said there was too much water on the track to control his car.
"When I was braking for turn five, I just aquaplaned the car and spun," he said. "Unfortunately, the walls at that corner are very close to the track so I hit the barrier heavily, and that was it."
That led the way to Hamilton's fourth victory of the season, tying him with Alonso and Raikkonen for the most wins this year.
"I think for me one of the most, if not the most, difficult races I had to do," Hamilton said. "It is a big boost in terms of confidence and my drive to be world champion."
"There are two races to go. I need to knuckle down, and I won't be going partying. The key for me is to focus on the next race and take it as it comes."
AP Photo
Fernando Alonso, front, spins on the 42nd lap of the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. While the crash didn't eliminate him from title contention, he will have a difficult time winning his third straight Formula One title.
Alonso, however, hasn't given up hopes of a third straight title.
"I'm not throwing in the towel," he said. "But unless there is a retirement from Hamilton, we have to be realistic and see that it's very hard to recover six points per race."
There was a steady drizzle at the start of the race on a track that's been wet since Saturday. The race started behind the safety car to eliminate the danger of an accident on the first turn.
The cars were spraying rooster tails of water far behind them while turning laps nearly a minute slower than in Friday's dry conditions.
The first incident happened on the second lap when Ferrari's Felipe Massa slid out and then headed into the pits to change tires. His teammate Raikkonen soon followed after the team started on intermediate tires, but was told by the sports governing body FIA that they must be on extreme wets like all the other teams.
"Someone forgot to tell our team," Raikkonen said.
After 18 laps, the skies cleared somewhat. After 25 laps, Hamilton and Alonso were 2.7 seconds apart and more than 10 seconds ahead of rookie Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso.
Hamilton was bumped by Robert Kubica, and both spun briefly.
"I didn't see him. He was on the inside," Hamilton said. "I was very fortunate to still finish. I felt a vibration and thought something wrong with the car. I had it the rest of the race."
A little later, Alonso and Vettel had an identical incident.
"I think the car was damaged quite a bit by that, but I was able to continue," Alonso said.
All the pit stops were cleared with 25 laps to go as Hamilton regained the lead. And just as he took control, Alonso's race was over as he spun and hit the wall hard.
Over the final lap, Kovalainen and Raikkonen battled for position, with the Finnish Ferrari driver overtaking his compatriot twice before Kovalainen regained the second spot and finished on the podium for the first time.
"Everybody has asked me about the last few laps with Kimi but my mirrors had steamed up completely and I couldn't see him," Kovalainen said. "He got past me into turn five on the final lap, but I wanted [second] so much that I went back round the outside on the way down to turn 10."
Behind them, David Coulthard of Red Bull was fourth, with Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella fifth. Massa finished sixth, with Kubica seventh.
Raikkonen now has 90 points for the season and still has a mathematical chance to take the title.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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