A year after blasting Romain Grosjean as a “first-lap nutcase”, Red Bull’s Mark Webber doffed his cap to the Frenchman for almost denying him second place at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Webber, who began on pole, finished behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who won his fifth race in a row and will be odds-on to clinch his fourth successive Formula One title in India in two weeks’ time.

But a lightning start from Grosjean from fourth on the grid left the Red Bulls for dead as his Lotus was first into turn one.

He then made life very difficult for Webber at the end, killing off the Australian’s chances of a first win of 2013 before he embarks on a new career in sportscars with Porsche.

Webber said Grosjean was a very different driver to last year in Japan, when he also started from pole but was hit by the Frenchman just after the green light, prompting his angry tirade.

“It’s very clear that Romain has a very different mental approach to the job this year,” said Webber.

“He’s driven some quite strong races, putting together the whole weekend, which is a sign of a driver starting to get a bit more relaxed and confident. A lot less mistakes, not just in races but in practice too.”

Grosjean now has four podium finishes this season, including back-to-back third places in South Korea and Japan.

He was notorious in 2012 for first-corner smashes, one resulting in a ban from the Italian Grand Prix after his airborne car only just missed Fernando Alonso’s head.

“In the end he’s doing a very good job this year,” added Webber. “It starts and stops with him. Hope he doesn’t improve too much more before the end of the year.”