Sebastian Vettel boosted his hopes of a third straight world championship title with a commanding drive from pole to win the Japanese Grand Prix Sunday.

Felipe Massa of Brazil finished a distant second in his Ferrari with Kamui Kobayashi sending the home crowd at Suzuka into a frenzy by taking third place.

Red Bull's Vettel made a clean start to avoid the first corner chaos which saw championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari spin out of the race after being clipped by Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus.

His second straight victory has seen him close to within four points of Spaniard Alonso in the standings with five rounds remaining.

Massa, under pressure for his place at Ferrari, took advantage of the crash and the ensuing safety car to move through the field with a superb drive, while Kobayashi became the first Japanese driver since 1990 to claim a podium in their home grand prix.

He was pushed all the way by Jenson Button, whose McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton finished fifth to move to within 42 points of Alonso.

Germany's Vettel had dominated practice and qualifying, with his teammate Mark Webber also starting on the front row to underline the pace of the Red Bull car.

Webber was tagged from behind by Romain Grosjean of Lotus in the first corner incident to end his victory hopes, but he worked his way through the field to finish ninth.