The 22-year-old German finished his impeccable drive from pole position in one hour, 28 minutes, 20.44 seconds to secure his third victory of the season, taking the checkered flag ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli and McLaren-Mercedes pilot Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen hung on for fourth, ahead of Germany's Nico Rosberg for Williams. BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeldt of Germany finished sixth.

F-1 leader Jenson Button of Britain crossed the line in eighth place, one spot behind his Brawn GP teammate, Rubens Barrichello.

Suzuka leaves championship open

Sunday's list of top finishers, however, did nothing to resolve this year's title ambitions. Button needed a five-point advantage over Brazilian Barrichello to win the championship ahead of time, but saw his lead trimmed once again.

In the overall standings with two races remaining - in Brazil and Abu Dhabi - Button has 85 points to Barrichello's 71 and Vettel's 69.

Brawn, meanwhile, now needs just one more point to take the constructors championship ahead of Red Bull.

Only 19 cars started the race in Suzuka, after the German Toyota pilot Timo Glock crashed in qualifying, leaving him with a leg injury and unable to drive.

Hamilton, who started third, had no problems overtaking Trulli down the stretch and came close to catching Vettel in the first corner. "I knew that the start would be tough and it was closer than I thought it would be," Vettel said after the race.

"I saw a Silver Arrow to the left of me, but I stayed in the middle and then had the advantage as we went around the corner," Vettel said. "After that, I just kept my head down and went as fast as I could."

The young German managed to hold Hamilton off and then began putting some tarmac between them - a gap he maintained to the end. At one stage during the 53-lap, 307-kilometer race, Vettel was out in front by as much as 11 seconds - something close to an eon in Formula One racing.


gb/dpa/AP/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer