Lewis Hamilton will take a five-point lead into the penultimate race of the Formula One world championship, after finishing outside the points in the Japanese Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso secured his second successive victory with a fine performance at Fuji.

The Renault driver, starting fourth on the grid, followed up his victory in Singapore with another win but a disastrous start for Hamilton meant the McLaren driver could only manage 12th. Hamilton's title rival Felipe Massa cut the gap at the top of the driver standings to five points after initially finishing eighth, before later being promoted to seventh after stewards penalised Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais.

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