Relief for Vettel as he escapes grid penalty

SEBASTIAN VETTEL will not be sent down the grid at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix after Ferrari confirmed that his gearbox survived the post-race collision with Lance Stroll in Malaysia. The news keeps the world title fight alive, as 30-year-old Vettel tries to reel in Lewis Hamilton’s 34-point lead over the last five races. The diagnosis comes as a relief to Vettel as he could have suffered a five-place grid penalty for changing a gearbox short of its six-race cycle.