- Lewis Hamilton's lead in the standings is up to seven points as the drivers of Formula One stay in Asia for the Japanese Grand Prix on October 12.

Hamilton finished third behind Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg last time out in the Singapore Grand Prix, while rival Felipe Massa had all kinds of trouble and wound up in 13th place. Hamilton now has an 84-77 advantage on Massa in the drivers championship

Timo Glock, Sebastian Vettel, Nick Heidfeld, David Coulthard, and Kazuki Nakajima rounded out the Top 8 in Singapore. Heikki Kovalainen had to settle for a 10th-place result, while Robert Kubica was 11th, and Kimi Raikkonen was well back in 15th place.

Kubica is now 20 points back of Hamilton in third place in the drivers championship, with Raikkonen and Heidfeld making up the rest of the current Top 5. Kovalainen sits in sixth place, 33 points back of teammate Hamilton, while Alonso occupies seventh spot.

Poor results for Massa and Raikkonen in Singapore knocked Ferrari into second place in the constructors championship; they are now one point behind McLaren-Mercedes (Hamilton and Kovalainen). BMW Sauber (Kubica and Heidfeld) are 15 points back of first place.

Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix last season, beating second-place Kovalainen across the finish line by eight seconds. Raikkonen, Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella, Massa, Kubica, and Adrian Sutil also picked up points for the drivers championship in that race.

After competing in Japan the drivers of Formula One will move over to the mainland for the Chinese Grand Prix on October 19. The circuit's season then concludes with the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 2.