Renault's Fernando Alonso stormed to his second win in a row at a wild Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, while McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton plunged from first to last and failed to score. Hamilton finished in 12th after starting on pole, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa battling to eighth - later promoted to seventh - to close the gap on the Briton to five points with two races left. The Formula One title rivals both received drive-through penalties, Hamilton for cutting across Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and causing mayhem behind him in a mad dash to the first corner. Massa, who survived several scrapes during the race, was similarly penalized after the Brazilian collided with Hamilton on lap two, spinning the McLaren and leaving the Briton at the back of the field. “I made a mistake at the first corner and I paid for it,” Hamilton told reporters. “Then Felipe hit me off. I left room on the apex of turn 11 but he hit me pretty hard.” Hamilton, who won in Japan last year before the title slipped from his grasp as Raikkonen made up a 17-point deficit over the final two races, denied his championship hopes had suffered serious damage. “I don't think it makes any difference,” said the 23-year-old. “I'm already getting over it. We're going to make sure we win the last two races - not at any cost, but we plan on winning.” BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica finished second to boost the Pole's outside chances of the championship, while Raikkonen's third place ended his title defence. Massa picked up what could be a crucial extra point after stewards penalized Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais for a tangle with the Brazilian as the Toro Rosso emerged from the pits on lap 51. “He just hit me coming out of the box (pits),” said Massa. “It was completely wrong. It could have been better in terms of points but we can't leave here saying it was a disaster.” Hamilton has 84 points with Massa on 79. Kubica has 72 with races in China and Brazil remaining. “We were a bit surprised that Lewis was given a penalty in respect of the first corner incident,” said McLaren team boss Ron Dennis. “We've all seen similar first corner incidents that triggered no such penalty. Drivers miss braking points, they run wide - these things happen. Alonso, meanwhile, was ecstatic. “This is completely unexpected,” said the Spaniard, a surprise winner in Singapore two weeks ago for a Renault team who began the season struggling to score points. “I can't believe it. Anything is possible now in the last two races,” added the double world champion after capturing his 21st victory from fourth on the grid. Raikkonen, who started alongside Hamilton on the front row, earned Ferrari six points, lifting it back above McLaren in the constructors' race. Ferrari has 142 to McLaren's 135. McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen suffered a blown engine as the team failed to score a point for only the second time this year. Renault's Brazilian rookie Nelson Piquet finished fourth with Toyota's Jarno Trulli taking fifth at the Japanese team's home circuit. Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, a winner in Italy last month, was promoted to sixth while Australian Mark Webber moved up to eighth for Red Bull. Japan's only Formula One driver Kazuki Nakajima was 15th and the last finisher in his home debut for Williams. – Reuters __
