JAPANESE GP: ASCARI WINS AS HAKKINEN AND BRABHAM SURVIVEAlberto Ascari has won an extraordinary Japanese Grand Prix, but it was Mika Hakkinen and Jack Brabham who stole the headlines.
Ascari's victory - which came after both Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel crashed out from the lead - is his third of the season, finishing over 23 seconds clear of the rest of the field.
Lewis Hamilton took second place after Juan Manuel Fangio had to pit late on with a throttle problem, the Argentine making it home in third.
But despite an imperious drive by Ascari to conclude a strong final few races of the season, it was Mika Hakkinen who impressed the most on the Suzuka circuit. The Finn converted his eighth on the grid to a superb fourth place finish to gain more than the points he needed to ensure his survival, and will compete in the top division once again next season.
Further down the field, Jack Brabham finished eighth to put himself in the other safe spot at the tail end of the Driver's Championship, pushing his teammate Niki Lauda into the relegation places.
The race started with Schumacher and Vettel on the front row of the grid, and despite a lot of pressure from the Red Bull, they maintained their positions for the opening few laps.
Meanwhile, further back, Denny Hulme outbraked himself for the hairpin on lap one, hitting the back of his teammate Raikkonen, who in turn hit Lauda, sending the Austrian into the wall and out of the race. Lauda would now have to hope that the drivers behind him in the championship didn't score enough points to overcome his slender advantage over them.
For the rest of the field, the opening exchanges became as much about keeping it on the island as about gaining positions, a feat several cars were unable to manage on the slippery-but-drying circuit. Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Mike Hawthorn and Ayrton Senna were just some of the drivers who lost control of their cars - mainly at the "S" curves - demoting them to the back of the field.
But whilst those drivers were able to continue racing, the same could not be said for Michael Schumacher when he lost control of his championship-winning Ferrari going into turn one. The German - who had already wrapped up the Driver's Championship - became the race's second retirement as his car reversed into the tyre barrier at speed.
Schumacher's retirement gave Sebastian Vettel the lead, but he became the second German to retire at turn one when he did a carbon copy of Schumacher's crash just three laps later.
Denny Hulme, meanwhile, had retired with a suspension failure, confirming his relegation.
Hamilton was now leading the race, but had both Fangio and Ascari less than a second behind him, and the three of them engaged in a classic battle for supremacy in the final race of the season.
Perhaps the biggest story of the race, however, was unfolding just behind them, as Mika Hakkinen had made the most of a good start and the retirements around him to move his Mercedes up to fourth place. Hakkinen needed to finish at least sixth to survive relegation, and looked like he had every chance of doing just that as he was able to keep the fast Alain Prost's Renault behind him.
Hamilton was the first car to pit, on lap 12, and looked to make his fresher tyres work to keep himself ahead of his main rivals. But with the car much heavier with fuel, his lap times suffered, and when Ascari and Fangio came in for their stops two laps later, they both came out ahead of the McLaren.
By this stage, Damon Hill had got past Hakkinen and into fourth, with Fernando Alonso, who was once again driving a superb recovery from a poor grid position, yet to stop and up into sixth place.
Ascari was able to build a five-second lead over Fangio, and, despite a wobble with three laps to go, kept his lead in tact for the remainder of the race. Fangio was looking good for second until a throttle issue forced him to pit on the penultimate lap, bringing Hamilton up to second.
Meanwhile, Hakkinen continued to keep up the pace, and brought his Mercedes home in fourth to guarantee his survival. Jack Brabham, who had a quiet race, was also safe thanks to his eighth, but Nino Farina, despite his tenth, was relegated.
In the Constructor's Championship, Benetton didn't score the 16 points they required to give them a chance of safety, and the Brabham team will be joining them through the trap door to Division 2 next season, falling just 3.5 points short of Cooper.
FULL RACE RESULTJapan - Suzuka
(26 Laps)
Pos Driver Time/Speed
1st alberto ascari 41m 21.282s
ferrari-ferrari
2nd lewis hamilton +23.794s
mclaren-mercedes
3rd juan-manuel fangio +32.082s
mercedes-AMG
4th mika hakkinen +37.397s
mercedes-AMG
5th fernando alonso +41.780s
renault-renault
6th damon hill +47.787s
williams-renault
7th graham hill +48.272s
lotus-cosworth
8th jack brabham +53.043s
brabham-ford
9th nelson piquet +59.450s
williams-renault
10th nino farina +1m 00.322s
benetton-renault
11th mike hawthorn +1m 05.960s
BRM-BRM
12th emerson fittipaldi +1m 12.165s
red bull-renault
13th kimi raikkonen +1m 15.093s
cooper-cosworth
14th ayrton senna +1m 15.587s
mclaren-mercedes
15th jody scheckter -1 Lap
benetton-renault
16th alain prost Brakes
renault-renault
17th jackie stewart Didn't Finish
BRM-BRM
18th jim clark Loose Wheel
lotus-cosworth
19th sebastien vettel Didn't Finish
red bull-renault
20th denny hulme Suspension
cooper-cosworth
21st michael schumacher Didn't Finish
ferrari-ferrari
22nd niki lauda Didn't Finish
brabham-ford
DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS1) Michael SCHUMACHER (Ferrari) 241
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2) Juan Manuel FANGIO (Mercedes) 212
3) Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull) 167
4) Alberto ASCARI (Ferrari) 154.5
5) Alain PROST (Renault) 139.5
6) Ayrton SENNA (McLaren) 130
7) Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren) 119
8) Damon HILL (Williams) 78
9) Graham HILL (Lotus) 74
10) Fernando ALONSO (Renault) 61
11) Jim CLARK (Lotus) 50
12) Nelson PIQUET (Williams) 44
13) Jackie STEWART (BRM) 39
14) Emerson FITTIPALDI (Red Bull) 27
15) Kimi RAIKKONEN (Cooper) 26
16) Mika HAKKINEN (Mercedes) 21
17) Jack BRABHAM (Brabham) 19
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18) Nino FARINA (Benetton) 17
19) Niki LAUDA (Brabham) 15.5
20) Mike HAWTHORN (BRM) 14
21) Denny HULME (Cooper) 12
22) Jody SCHECKTER (Benetton) 6
CONSTRUCTOR'S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS1) FERRARI 395.5
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2) MCLAREN 249
3) MERCEDES 233
4) RENAULT 200.5
5) RED BULL 194
6) LOTUS 124
7) WILLIAMS 122
8) BRM 53
9) COOPER 38
----
10) BRABHAM 34.5
11) BENETTON 23
Schumacher fends off Vettel going into the first corner.
Lauda's early retirement gave him slim hope of survival.
Several cars had trouble negotiating the "S" bends at the start of the race.
Mike Hawthorn's survival hopes took a dent when he spun at the Degner curves.
Schumacher's season did not end how he wanted it to - in the barrier at turn one.
Denny Hulme became the first driver to be relegated when he suffered a suspension failure.
Prost nurses his Renault back to the pits with wing damage - promoting Nino Farina into the points.
Vettel follows in Schumacher's tyre tracks, throwing away his opportunity for his second win of the season.
Hamilton, Fangio and Ascari - all battling for the lead - try to negotiate their way past the lapped Scheckter.
Lewis Hamilton's earlier stop proved to be the wrong strategy.
Ascari and Fangio make their stops on the same lap, with the Ferrari coming out in the lead of the race.
Damon Hill made his way up to fourth before his pit stop, with Hakkinen (behind) and Brabham (background) successfully driving their survival races.
Jackie Stewart becomes the third driver to crash at turn one, his eighth retirement of the season - more than any other driver.
Hamilton loses his patience in trying to lap Jody Scheckter, and bumps him out the way - Scheckter received a 20-second penalty for ignoring blue flags, but finished last anyway, confirming his relegation.
Prost's eventful race - and season - concludes with a brake failure.
Ascari has a moment coming out of Spoon, but it wasn't enough to cost him the lead.
Ascari takes his third victory of the season, and finishes fourth in the Driver's Championship.
Hakkinen - who was in the relegation places for the whole season - finishes a superb fourth to avoid the drop.
A bittersweet day for Jack Brabham as his eighth place finish gives him survival but isn't enough to keep his team from being relegated.