F1 Japanese GP Suzuka 2011: Button 1st place, but Vettel win this season again

"Thank you so much, every single one," 

Sebastian Vettel, congratulated by both Jenson Button and previous young season winner of 2006. 

"To win the championship here is fantastic. So many things you want to say in this moment but it's hard to remember all of them," he added. "There are so many people, it's hard to name them all to thank them." A safety car incident triggered by another coming together between McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa, as well as a contact between Red Bull's Mark Webber and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher, bunched up the field for three laps while marshals retrieved debris. Button kept his lead and took the chequered flag for what he considers a second home race, thanks to his Japanese girlfriend and long-standing passion for the country, just 1.1 seconds over Alonso. 

"It was a great race, the start was very good -- maybe too good and I ended up on the grass," 

"It's always a very special place to race, Suzuka. This is one of the most perfect places to race and the crowd are very special. It's one of our most special victories, it means a lot to me,"

Button and Alonso both overtook Hamilton’s McLaren before he could reach the pits for new rubber on lap eight. After exiting the pitlane, Hamilton was running fourth – with Massa now on his tail. The pair later collided and the safety car was deployed to allow debris to be cleared from the track at Turn 7.