 Webber qualified 13th at the Japanese Grand Prix . After some first corner incidents he was stranded in last place ; from there he progressed up the order , at one point in time sitting in fourth . Following his pit stop he emerged in 10th , with Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg yet to pit , from where he continued to push , regained 8th once the two drivers in 8th and 9th both went in for their final pit stops . With two laps to go , Webber 's tyres were close to bald – being compared to slicks . Losing almost 3 seconds a lap to the chasing Ferrari of Felipe Massa , who was on fresh tyres , he defended his point vigorously . Pressured by the Ferrari , he was out @-@ powered by the superior engine of Massa and although great attempts at saving his place were shown , he finished in a hard @-@ fought 9th position , on a one stop strategy which was then upgraded to 8th position after a post @-@ race penalty to Sébastien Bourdais . 
