Lewis Hamilton took another step towards his first Formula 1 title after he finished first on a wet and treacherous track at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. His main adversary and at the same time teammate Fernando Alonso crashed his McLaren-Mercedes out.

The Englishman, who took his fourth win of the season in a stylish manner, was followed by Heikki Kovalainen, who held off fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen for second place after a wheel to wheel duel that probably earned Formula 1 some more fans and made the whole Finland very proud of its drivers.

The 22 year-old Britton suffered an impact with Poland’s BMW driver Robert Kubica, but he managed to keep his cool and win the race in the end showing that the top spot he is on in the pilots rankings has nothing to do with luck or hazard.

Hamilton admitted after the race that he was "very fortunate" to finish after the collision with Kubica.

"I couldn't see him in the mirror and my visor was fogged up. I couldn't see or hear him. It was a risk he didn't have to take," said Hamilton about the Pole’s dare-devil attempt to overtake him in the 34th lap.

Hamilton will enter the penultimate race of his sensational debut season with 107 points. If he manages to finish ahead of Spain’s Alonso on the Shanghai speedway on Sunday the title is his. The last Grand Prix of the season will be held in Brazil.

Alonso, the raining Formula 1 champion, accumulated 95 points so far and even he admitted he needs a miracle to win his third title this year. Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen has 90 and a win earns 10 points.

"I was thinking of races of Senna and Prost and that I am on my way to achieve something like them," said Hamilton. "It was a very very eventful race. I was thinking so many times we should stop."

"It was the longest race of my life," said Hamilton, as the 67 laps race for 305.721 kilometers exceeded the full allowed time of two hours because of the adverse conditions. Hamilton's official time was 2:00:34.579 hours.

Ferrari said they weren’t announced by FIA to use the so-called "heavy wets" (tires) and had to use intermediates, which could not deal with the water on the track. Consequently, Ferrari’s drivers Raikkonen and Massa lost their third and fourth positions on the starting grid after they had to change tires.

"The FIA forgot to tell us, it cost us a lot," said Raikkonen. "It was quite difficult, but at least we got something out of it."
Alonso also collided with Vettel before apparently losing control in the 42nd lap and crashing into a wall. He said he aquaplaned and the wall was very close to the track in the segment of the speedway.

Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia and Vettel were very close to accomplish team-best second and third-place finishes, but a odd collision during the second safety car phase damaged both cars beyond repair.

David Coulthard of Red Bull, Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault, Felipe Massa, Kubica and Vitantonio Liuzzi also finished in the points.

Results of Japanese Formula One Grand Prix:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren-Mercedes, 2 hours 34.579 seconds (average speed 151.978kph)
2. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, Renault, 8.377 seconds behind
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 9.478
4. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 20.297
5. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Renault, 38.864
6. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 49.042
7. Robert Kubica (Polen) BMW-Sauber, 49,285
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italy, Toro Rosso, 55.622
9. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Spyker, 1:00.129
10. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Honda, 1:28.342
11. Jenson Button, Britain, Honda, one lap behind
12. Sakon Yamamoto, Japan, Spyker, one lap
13. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, one lap
14. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW-Sauber, two laps
15. Takuma Sato, Japan, Super Aguri, two laps