But he goes into this weekend’s race able to win the championship. Trackside’s Keith Collantine explains how.

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Disastrous start

Lewis Hamilton’s Japanese Grand Prix was ruined on the first lap.

The instant the starting lights went out he lost the advantage of his pole position as Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen charged ahead on the run to the first corner.

But it was what Hamilton did next that destroyed his chances of scoring more valuable points towards his championship haul.

Hamilton risked everything on a lunge down the inside of Raikkonen at the first turn. But he ran wide, taking the Ferrari driver with him, which allowed Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso through into the lead.

Hamiton took up third place but, having damaged his tyres in the first-corner chaos, ran wide at the next bend, emerging seventh behind title rival Felipe Massa.

Penalty controversy

Massa ran wide at turn 10 on the second lap and Hamilton pounced, neatly moving past the Ferrari driver.

But he reckoned without Massa’s next move. With two wheels on the grass, Massa lunged into the side of Hamilton’s car, pitching him into a spin which left him last.

The stewards took a dim view of the action in the opening laps. Massa was handed a drive-through penalty (forcing him to come into the pits) for crashing into Hamilton.

Massa later denied he had hit Hamilton deliberately: “For sure not. I had two wheels on the gravel. I could not stop the car and I was on the gravel because he pushed me into the gravel.”

Hamilton received the same penalty for the first-corner incident – to the surprise of many. The stewards claimed he “forced another driver off the track” – but video replay evidence suggested his team mate Heikki Kovalainen had been at least partly responsible, and many occasions where other drivers have pushed rivals off the track have gone unpunished by stewards.

Afterwards Hamilton said: “We both got the same penalty, but I didn't hit anyone and he did. I guess that's just the name of the game.”

This left the pair outside the points but Massa later recovered to seventh thanks in part to another controversial penalty decision.

He tangled with Sebastien Bourdais as the French driver emerged from the pits on lap 52. Bourdais was given a 25-second penalty after the race had finished, promoting Massa from eighth to seventh, gaining two points instead of one. But a furious Bourdais criticised the decision afterwards.

He said: ”I don't know what I was supposed to do basically. I could have unrolled the red carpet and given him the corner. That is the only thing I could have done.”

How Hamilton can be champion in China

There are now only three drivers capable of winning the championship. There are a maximum of 20 points to be won in the following races. Here are the points standings for the top three:

1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 84
2. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 79
3. Robert Kubica (BMW) 72

Points are awarded to the top eight finishers in the order 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Therefore:

• If Hamilton WINS and Massa finishes FIFTH or lower, Hamilton will be champion.
• If Hamilton finishes SECOND and Massa is SEVENTH or lower, Hamilton will be champion.
• If Hamilton finishes THIRD and Massa is NINTH or lower and Kubica does not win, Hamilton will be champion.

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View our EXCLUSIVE Japanese GP slide show