Fernando Alonso took victory in appalling conditions to secure his fifth win of the season to put him in prime position to snatch a third World Championship. Alonso won the inaugural Korean Grand Prix in dramatic circumstances as he inherited the lead from Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages thanks to another mechanical failure on the Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton finished in second to keep his title hopes alive while Felipe Massa secured his first podium since the controversial German Grand Prix with third. It wasn’t just Vettel who suffered in the title battle; Mark Webber surrendered his lead in the championship by crashing at Turn 14, taking out Nico Rosberg as his Red Bull swung back across the track. As for Jenson Button, his title hopes are almost certainly over after a dismal weekend, finishing in twelfth after a poorly timed pit stop. And so remarkably the title race is turned on its head again and with just two races left Ferrari and Alonso now have the upper hand.
Heavy rain in the build up to the race ensured the start was delayed by well over an hour. As the safety car led the cars round to examine the conditions there seemed to be a difference of opinion amongst the drivers over the team radios. Hamilton was desperate for the race to commence, saying via the radio it was dry enough to start whilst there were several others who opposed it, particularly Vettel, Webber, Alonso and Kubica. The race finally got under way on lap 17 and both Mercedes drivers were looking racy from the off; Schumacher and Rosberg immediately disposing of Kubica and Hamilton respectively. Three laps later Webber lost control of his Red Bull and crashed into the wall (an accident which seemed to happen in slow motion) before harpooning the unfortunate Nico Rosberg who may well have been in the hunt for victory. They were both out of the race and the safety car was deployed once more. Webber’s championship chances have taken an almighty hammer blow. Fourteen points clear to eleven points behind; such is the closeness of this title battle. Webber will take heart from the fact he won in Brazil and took second in Abu Dhabi last season; a repeat of those results in the final two races of this campaign could still land him the title.
The race was restarted on lap 23 with Alonso now up to second behind Vettel with Hamilton in third and Massa in the second Ferrari. Schumacher was soon up to fifth disposing of the struggling Button who was inexplicably three seconds off the pace. He pitted for intermediates and rejoined the track a lowly 16th. The race took a further dramatic twist following Sebastian Buemi’s collision with Virgin driver Timo Glock. For Glock it was bitterly disappointing; he was running an impressive 13th and with cars going off all over the place the coveted 11th place, which would have taken them above Lotus into 10th in the Constructor’s Championship, was desperately close. However it was not to be and the incident brought out yet another appearance from the safety car. Vettel and Alonso stayed out, while Hamilton and the cars behind him pitted for intermediates. This was a further blow for Button as the cars ahead were able to change to intermediates without the risk of losing several places. The two leaders pitted a lap later and Alonso lost second place to Hamilton, due to a problem changing his front right wheel. At the restart Alonso instantly re-passed Hamilton, who appeared to be struggling on his intermediates, to take back second place. Hamilton’s excursion which allowed Alonso back past may have cost him the win he so desperately craved. However we now had a three way battle for the lead to set up a tense finale. However it was not to be; as the leading three crossed the line to start lap 46 Vettel appeared to slow down considerably and Alonso dived past at turn one to take the lead. The RB6 came to a halt following a spectacularly engine failure to rob the young German of yet another win and the chance to take the lead in the Championship for the first time. He is now 25 points behind Alonso.
From then on Alonso looked after his tyres expertly as Hamilton struggled to keep up with the double World Champion. He settled for second place on a day when both Red Bull drivers failed to finish. Massa finished a quiet third to bag more points for Ferrari while in what was certainly his most competitive weekend of the season; Michael Schumacher finished fourth in his Mercedes to match his best result of the season. Robert Kubica snatched fifth place from Rubens Barrichello as the race neared its finale and Force India’s Tonio Liuzzi was able to follow him through to finish a superb sixth, which would have certainly eased the pressure surrounding the Italian. Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber was one of many cars hit by the Adrian Sutil battering ram but was still able to claim eighth ahead of Nick Heidfeld who has performed admirably upon his return to Grand Prix racing. The final point when to the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg, however the chances of him remaining with the team next season are open for debate.
In my race preview I concluded by saying this race may be the last time one of the five title contenders is still in the championship hunt. In my view, we are now down to four. Button’s twelfth place finish has left his title prospects in tatters. He is 42 points behind with just 50 to play for; the 2009 World Champion will almost certainly not be retaining it this year. He was also a victim of Sutil’s accident prone Force India. After a race lasting two and three quarter hours the Championship picture has significantly changed. Mclaren will almost certainly have to back Hamilton now, who has improved up to third with 210 points, 21 off Alonso. For Red Bull, an agonising decision must surely lie ahead. Webber is just 11 points off the lead and two victories would seal the Championship. Vettel is a further 14 points back and taking wins in the last two races may not be enough, even if Red Bull finished one and two in both races (a result which surprisingly occurred less than it should have). Although there is a significant investment in Vettel – undoubtedly the future of the team – Webber is in a much better Championship position. Who would want to be in Christian Horner’s shoes now? But undeniably the man to beat is Alonso. He secured his first ever wet weather victory this weekend and with four wins in the last seven races, he seems in unstoppable form. The final two races are not ‘Red Bull tracks’ like in Hungary or Japan and if Alonso were able to steal a win at either it would surely wrap up another crown. What a Grand Prix Korea produced for us and what a final two races we have in store.
Korean GP - Classified Results
1. Alonso (Ferrari) 2h48:20.810
2. Hamilton (McLaren) + 14.999
3. Massa (Ferrari) + 30.868
4. Schumacher (Mercedes) + 39.688
5. Kubica (Renault) + 47.734
6. Liuzzi (Force India) + 53.571
7. Barrichello (Williams) + 1:09.257
8. Kobayashi (Sauber) + 1:17.889
9. Heidfeld (Sauber) + 1:20.107
10. Hulkenberg (Williams) + 1:20.851
11. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) + 1:24.146
12. Button (McLaren) + 1:29.939
13. Kovalainen (Lotus) + 1 lap
14. Senna (Hispania) + 2 laps
15. Yamamoto (Hispania) + 2 laps
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