The Tail End
Pic brought his Caterham through to P18 after firstly starting P21 on the grid, and secondly serving his drive-through penalty at the end of the first lap. It left him a big gap to make up, some 20 seconds to Chilton, but over the race he was able to push on the hard tyres and used them to catch the Marussia late in the race. Teammate Van der Garde's race was short lived, as he got squeezed in between both Marussia's at turn one and lost his wing against Bianchi, sending him straight on and into the wall. Marussia couldn't capture the win at the back over Caterham that qualifying has promised; Chilton held his position for much of the race and was happy with the car, but struggled more on the hard tyres at the end, including running wide and off on the marbles, which left him unable to fight Pic a few laps from the end. But crucially it was still another finish, leaving him yet to retire this year. Bianchi was destined not to finish it seemed, as Van der Garde punted him in turn one, spinning him off into the gravel and retirement. After a disappointing weekend it was a fitting end it seemed and a shame for him on his Japanese debut.