FORMULA ONE

• Japanese GP back at Suzuka Circuit

  
  

  Suzuka City, Japan (Sports Network) - Series: Formula One. Date: Sunday, October 4. Race: Japanese Grand Prix. Site: Suzuka Circuit. Track: 5.807 km (3.608 miles), 17-turn road course. Start Time: 1:00 a.m. (et). Laps: 53. Miles: 191.224. Defending Winner: Fernando Alonso. Television: SpeedChannel.

  The Japanese Grand Prix returns to Suzuka Circuit this year after Fuji Speedway hosted the Formula One event in 2007 and '08.

  With three races remaining this season, Jenson Button holds a 15-point lead over his Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello. Button finished fifth, while Barrichello came in sixth in last Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

  Sebastian Vettel kept his slim title hopes alive with a fourth-place run at Singapore.

  Vettel was in contention to win early in the race, but was slapped with a pass-through penalty for speeding off of pit road. The Red Bull Racing driver is now 25 points behind Button.

  Mark Webber was eliminated from the title hunt after finishing 17th. Webber's brakes failed in his Red Bull car, causing him to spin and slam into the wall midway through the event.

  Lewis Hamilton put on a dominating performance at Singapore. Hamilton, the 2008 F1 world champion, started on the pole and relinquished the lead only once when he pitted for the second time during the 61-lap race. The Briton recorded his second victory of the season.

  Hamilton won the Japanese GP at Fuji during his sensational rookie season with McLaren in 2007, but finished a disappointing 12th after starting on the pole in last year's event. He collided with Ferrari's Felipe Massa on the second lap. Hamilton will run at Suzuka for the first time this weekend.

  "It feels like I've been waiting my whole life to race at Suzuka," Hamilton said.

  "As you can imagine, I'll be really excited when practice starts there on Friday morning. Ever since I was a kid, I've raced Suzuka on computer games, and while it kind of gives you an idea of how the circuit goes, nothing can beat the real thing." Fernando Alonso won last year's Japanese GP. Alonso also won the race in 2006, the same year he won his second straight F1 championship.

  "I'm really excited to be returning to this amazing track, which is one of my favorites," Alonso said. "I have some great memories from Suzuka, as I won the race there in 2006, which was a very important result for the championship." According to several reports, Ferrari is expected to announce later this week in Japan that Alonso has signed a five-year contract with the Italian team. Alonso will replace Kimi Raikkonen in 2010, with Raikkonen reportedly moving over to McLaren to team with Hamilton.

  Alonso is under contract with Renault until 2010 but has the option of leaving the French team after this year. Raikkonen's contract with Ferrari also expires next year.

  09/29 18:21:25 ET