| 13.00 | Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix. The 67-lap race gets underway shortly. |
| 13.02 | Lewis Hamilton starts from the pole position after a great lap in qualifying yesterday. The championship leader claimed the top position with a best lap of 1:18.404s, two-tenths clear of his nearest rival. |
| 13.04 | Kimi Raikkonen is pretty much out of the championship chase, but starts second in his Ferrari and will be doing all he can to help team-mate Felipe Massa who starts fifth in the second F2008. Massa proved fast in qualifying but his final run was not so great so the Brazilian will be looking for a fast start to make up lost ground. |
| 13.06 | Heikki Kovalainen will also be playing the championship game as he looks to mix it with the front-runners. The Finn has not had the best of seasons and will be playing a supporting role this afternoon. |
| 13.08 | Fernando Alonso is not a championship contender despite his win last time out in Singapore. The Renault driver has just one aim and that is to try and secure Renault fourth position in the constructors’ championship ahead of Toyota. |
| 13.10 | With Massa fifth, Kubica is next up in sixth position. BMW Sauber is clearly looking towards the 2008 season but the pole remains a championship contender even if the F1.08 package is no longer a serious threat for race wins in normal conditions. |
| 13.12 | This is the home race for the Toyota team. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock did a good job in qualifying and lines-up seventh and eighth ahead of the Toro Rosso duo of Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais. |
| 13.14 | David Coulthard starts 11th in the leading Red Bull Renault and is free to choose whatever fuel tactics he likes having qualified outside of the top ten. The retiring Scot starts ahead of Nelson Piquet in the second Renault and team-mate Mark Webber. |
| 13.16 | Williams have had a so-so weekend as Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg start the race from 14th and 15th position. Safety car aside neither are likely to be contenders but as Singapore proved nothing can be counted out. |
| 13.18 | Nick Heidfeld had another poor run in qualifying in the second BMW Sauber. The German veteran starts 16th but Heidfeld often makes up position from this far back on the grid so points are not out of the question. |
| 13.20 | Towards the back, Honda and Force India face a tough day as neither team is showing well at this circuit. |
| 13.22 | It is overcast, chilly, but dry this afternoon at Fuji Speedway. |
| 13.24 | Strategy may well play a part in this race. It is rumoured that Raikkonen is starting light in a bid to try and challenge Hamilton. The reality probably is that there is little between the front-runners and it will be those in the lower top ten and outside of the top ten that will be running a long first stint in the hope of making up ground. |
| 13.26 | There’s a large crowd on hand, many wearing Toyota hats at the circuit owned by the Japanese car giant. |
| 13.28 | The drivers are all in the cars as the countdown continues for the 67-lap Japanese Grand Prix. |
| 13.29 | The engines are firing up and the grid is being cleared. |
| 13.30 | The parade lap is underway with Hamilton leading the field off the dummy grid ahead of Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Alonso, Massa, Kubica, Trulli, Glock, Vettel and Bourdais. |
| 13.32 | Hamilton lines up on the pole with the rest of the field taking up position. Massa, fifth, is on the soft tyre. |
| Lap 1 | The Japanese Grand Prix is underway! |
| Lap 1 | A mess of a start from Hamilton as Coulthard crashes hard at the first turn. |
| Lap 1 | Hamilton pushed Raikkonen wide at the first turn and both lost out. |
| Lap 2 | Kubica leads Alonso, Kovalainen, Trulli, Massa, Hamilton... |
| Lap 2 | Nakajima pits his Williams. Hamilton challenging Massa and makes the pass. Massa makes contact with Hamilton and the McLaren racer spins. |
| Lap 2 | So Massa hits Hamilton and the championship leader is at the back of the field as he pits. |
| Lap 3 | A routine stop for Hamilton and he now has it all to do. A scrappy start to his race. |
| Lap 3 | Kubica still leads Alonso Kovalainen, Trulli, Raikkonen, Bourdais, Massa, Glock, Piquet and Vettel. Massa certainly made heavy contact with Hamilton. |
| Lap 4 | Hamilton now runs 18th 52 seconds behind the race leader. Massa runs seventh but may get a penalty. |
| Lap 5 | Coulthard is out of the race and it seems his suspension failed at the start. Glock pits. |
| Lap 7 | Kubica leads Alonso, Kovalainen, Trulli, Raikkonen, Bourdais, Massa, Piquet, Vettel, Sutil, Heidfeld, Webber, Button, Barrichello, Fisichella, Rosberg, Hamilton and Nakajima. Glock pits again. |
| Lap 9 | Kubica has a two second lead over Alonso. |
| Lap 9 | Raikkonen passes Trulli for fourth position. |
| Lap 9 | Sutil pulls off with a right rear tyre failure. |
| Lap 10 | Massa is now closing in on Bourdais for sixth. |
| Lap 10 | Despite being in clear air towards the back, Hamilton is not making much progress at the moment. |
| Lap 12 | So in summary so far Hamilton made a poor start and then out braked himself into turn one pushing Raikkonen and himself wide. Massa later ran into the McLaren driver putting him to the back as Kubica says thanks and leads the race. |
| Lap 13 | Massa still runs seventh but may have a penalty to serve as he ran across the grass and then made contact with Hamilton. |
| Lap 14 | Raikkonen, fourth, is closing on Kovalainen. McLaren need the Finn to push on and challenge Alonso and Kubica. |
| Lap 14 | Fisichella, 13th, is doing a nice job holding off Rosberg at the moment. Glock is out of the race with a suspension problem. |
| Lap 15 | Rosberg passes Fisichella into turn one. |
| Lap 16 | Hamilton, 16th, has now caught Button but he is now over a minute behind the race leader. |
| Lap 17 | Kovalainen is slowing in the McLaren. |
| Lap 18 | Kubica and Raikkonen both pit. Massa has been given a drive through penalty as has Hamilton! |
| Lap 18 | Hamilton pits and is taking his penalty for pushing Raikkonen wide at the start. |
| Lap 19 | Alonso pits the Renault. |
| Lap 19 | Massa pits his Ferrari. He has yet to take his penalty. |
| Lap 19 | Kovalainen is out of the race with what seems to be an engine failure. |
| Lap 20 | Massa takes his drive through penalty. The championship leaders have done everything to make this a pointless race for them. |
| Lap 21 | Trulli leads and laps Hamilton. |
| Lap 21 | The first round of stops saw Alonso get the jump on Kubica. That may be the race winning move as they run fifth and sixth. |
| Lap 22 | Trulli pits in the lead. |
| Lap 22 | Bourdais now leads Piquet, Vettel who have yet to stop. Alonso is fourth and has stopped ahead of Kubica and Raikkonen. Fisichella retires so an awful day for Force India. |
| Lap 24 | Vettel pits from third position. |
| Lap 25 | Looking back, it is amazing that Hamilton got a penalty. Actuially not a amazing given the track record of the race stewards. Now it seems an error when a driver runs wide is worthy of a drive through penalty. |
| Lap 26 | Bourdais makes his first stop. |
| Lap 27 | So Piquet now leads and has not stopped. Alonso is the real leader in second ahead of Kubica and Raikkonen. Massa runs 13th with Hamilton 12 seconds back in 14th. |
| Lap 28 | Massa is stuck behind Button and is losing ground. |
| Lap 29 | Piquet pits from the lead after a long first stint. An impressive run so far from the Brazilian. |
| Lap 29 | Piquet exits just ahead of Bourdais. |
| Lap 30 | Massa finally passes Button for 12th position. |
| Lap 30 | Things are looking good for Alonso as he now leads Kubica by seven seconds with Raikkonen another five seconds back in third. |
| Lap 31 | Webber runs fourth but has yet to stop. Trulli is fifth while Piquet has made his long first stint really work in sixth ahead of Bourdais and Vettel. |
| Lap 32 | Hamilton, 14th, is now closing in on Jenson Button. |
| Lap 33 | Kubica runs in second and continues to drop away from Alonso. |
| Lap 35 | An easy pass for Hamilton as he moves ahead of Button and into 13th. Webber pits from fourth. |
| Lap 35 | Webber is on a one stop strategy as he takes the soft tyre for the final stint. |
| Lap 36 | Alonso gets the lead up to ten seconds over Kubica. |
| Lap 38 | Nakajima pits but he is not really a contender following his lap one problems. |
| Lap 39 | Both Button and Barrichello make stops, the latter on a one stop strategy. |
| Lap 40 | Correction, Button is also on a one stop strategy in his Honda. |
| Lap 40 | Alonso continues to pull away from Kubica at the front. |
| Lap 41 | Nick Heidfeld pits from eighth position. |
| Lap 42 | Hamilton pits as Massa passes Webber for position on the main straight. |
| Lap 43 | Rosberg pits from eighth position. |
| Lap 44 | Alonso pits from the lead as Hamilton passes Barrichello. |
| Lap 44 | Kubica now leads but will pit soon and hand the position back to Alonso. |
| Lap 45 | Raikkonen remains four seconds behind Kubica. |
| Lap 45 | Massa now runs in eighth as Raikkonen starts to close the gap on Kubica. |
| Lap 47 | Kubica pits from the lead. |
| Lap 47 | Kubica exits behind Vettel. |
| Lap 47 | The main battle is between Raikkonen, third effectively, and Kubica. |
| Lap 49 | Raikkonen pits his Ferrari. |
| Lap 49 | Raikkonen exits right behind Kubica having slashed the advantage by four seconds. |
| Lap 50 | Trulli leads Piquet, Bourdais, Alonso, Vettel, Kubica, Raikkonen and Massa. Hamilton is 12th. |
| Lap 51 | Trulli and Bourdais pit. |
| Lap 51 | Bourdais and Massa get together. The Ferrari driver just turned in on Bourdais who was just out of the pits. Another error from Massa. Both continue. |
| Lap 52 | Vettel pits as Raikkonen lines up Kubica in a battle for position. |
| Lap 53 | Piquet pits his Renault for the second time. |
| Lap 53 | Raikkonen has a look at passing Kubica into turn one but cannot get the move completed. |
| Lap 54 | Kubica defends and pushes Raikkonen wide as the Finn has another stab at passing the BMW Sauber. Massa pits. |
| Lap 55 | Alonso leads Kubica by 11 seconds. |
| Lap 55 | Massa is under investigation again for turning in on Bourdais. This late in the race any penalty will be a time penalty. |
| Lap 56 | Piquet is having a great race as he runs fourth and is closing on the battling Raikkonen and Kubica. |
| Lap 57 | Piquet is now right with Raikkonen who in turn is right with Kubica. |
| Lap 58 | Kubica, Raikkonen and Piquet run together in the battle for second. |
| Lap 59 | Massa runs in tenth behind Heidfeld and Webber. Hamilton runs 12th but neither really deserve any points today. |
| Lap 60 | Kubica now has a small advantage over Raikkonen and seems safe for now in second. |
| Lap 60 | Massa passes Heidfeld with ease on the main straight. |
| Lap 63 | Piquet has dropped away after running off track. He remains fourth in the second Renault. Trulli runs fifth for Toyota but they will loses a lot of ground to Renault today in the battle for fourth overall. |
| Lap 65 | Massa passes Webber on the main straight and now runs in eighth position. |
| Lap 67 | Fernando Alonso wins the Japanese Grand Prix. A great run from the Renault star. |
| Lap 67 | Kubica finishes second a second ahead of Raikkonen. Piquet takes fourth position after bt far his best race to date while Jarno Trulli finishes fifth for Toyota. |
| Lap 67 | A good race for Bourdais in sixth in the leading Toro Rosso ahead of Vettel. Massa is eighth but will probablt lose that position with a post race time penalty to Mark Webber. |
| Lap 67 | Should the result remain unchanged, Hamilton leads Massa by six points heading to China next weekend. |
