Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Sebastian Vettel kept his cool to win the Japanese Grand Prix and stay in the hunt for his first Formula One world title.

Red Bull driver Vettel avoided trouble to grab pole position in a crash-filled qualifying session and led yesterday’s race from the start, holding his nerve after another smash brought out the safety car and cut his 10-second lead with five laps to go.

“When the safety car came out the gap was gone,” Vettel, 22, told reporters at Suzuka. “During the safety-car phase, it was all about not picking up any debris or damaging your car. You just try to cool the car, cool the engine, cool the brakes and make sure you warm it up before you start going again.”

Vettel’s third victory of the season means he’ll go into the last two races 16 points behind championship leader Jenson Button, who could have sealed his first drivers’ title in Japan had he finished five points ahead of Rubens Barrichello, his Brawn GP teammate.

Barrichello and Button finished in seventh and eighth, leaving Brawn needing half a point from the last two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi to become the first rookie team to win the constructors’ title since the championship began in 1958.

“The next two races at Interlagos and Abu Dhabi should suit the characteristics of our car much better,” said Ross Brawn, who led a management buyout of Honda Motor Co.’s team after the carmaker quit in December citing slumping sales.

Mountain Inroads

Red Bull had faced a “mountain” to overhaul Brawn after Mark Webber crashed during practice two days ago and was ruled out of qualifying, team principal Christian Horner said before the race. Vettel responded by dominating the weekend, closing the team’s gap on Brawn to 35.5 points with two races to come in Brazil on Oct. 18 and Abu Dhabi on Nov. 1.

Vettel’s Red Bull car was “staggeringly fast,” Button said after claiming one championship point. Barrichello is the only other driver who can win the drivers’ championship and heads into his home Grand Prix in Brazil leading Vettel by two points and trailing Button by 14.

“I will fight until the end, until the last breath,” Vettel told reporters. “It was obviously a good day for us, two more races like this and it’s looking better.”

After qualifying was interrupted by four crashes, Vettel steered clear of danger yesterday by cruising to an early lead. The only time he came under pressure was after Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari crashed on the 45th lap, causing the safety car to be deployed as the track was cleared. Vettel’s lead disappeared as the other cars bunched behind him.

Longtime Lonely

“Obviously that’s not what you’re hoping for when you’re in the lead by 10 seconds,” Vettel said. “Apart from the start, I didn’t have any wheel-to-wheel racing all day.”

The qualifying carnage was still being felt by many of the drivers yesterday after Button, Barrichello, Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Renault’s Fernando Alonso were demoted five grid positions for ignoring yellow flag warnings after Sebastien Buemi crashed. The Toro Rosso driver also dropped five places for impeding other cars following the incident.

“We keep putting ourselves in tricky positions and then getting out of them in the race,” Button said.

The incident-packed weekend came as Formula One -- which is reeling after Renault last month admitted to conspiring for Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash to help teammate Fernando Alonso win last year’s Singapore Grand Prix -- returned to Suzuka for the first time since 2006.

‘Back to the Future’

“This is racing as it should be,” series Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ecclestone said in an interview. “We’ve put all the nonsense behind us and now it’s back to the future for Formula One.”

Toyota’s Timo Glock, whose crash in qualifying ruled him out of the race with a gashed leg, said officials may need to look at the design of crash barriers at the figure-of-eight circuit after he came face to face with tires.

“The tire wall came so far into the cockpit, it’s something we really need to think about,” Glock said. “The circuit is really quick, one mistake and you’re gone.”

The drivers had less time than normal to practice on the remodeled circuit after heavy rain washed out much of the first practice session. Then came the qualifying crashes.

“Finding the limit there and getting to the maximum and stepping over the limit is such a fine line,” McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who finished third, told reporters. “The moment you just push a little bit over the edge or you turn in a meter or a foot later you can have the over-steer moment, and there’s not a lot of room to correct it at that high speed.”

None of which seemed to bother Vettel.

“I was able to enjoy clear air for the entire race and dictate my own pace,” he said. “It’s an amazing circuit, it’s built by God’s hands.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 4, 2009 11:30 EDT