Lap 54 and what is going on with Alonso…he’s on the radio saying “I
give up, I give up”. Warning to his team or is he trying to wind Button
up?
Lap 53 no change at the front and it looks like Red Bull have the
constructors title in the bag. Two laps to go and Button is being told to
push hard while his team-mate, no doubt exhausted from having to drive such
a defensive race, is radio-ing in asking how many laps to go. Wonderful race
2nd-4th.
Lap 52 Alonso told to push hard for the final five laps. Webber is
desperate to take second off Hamilton but in honesty 2nd-4th could go so
many ways as the end of the race draws closer.
Lap 50 some good racing going on further pack in the pack, Buemi’s just
made a very clean move on Paul di Resta to take 9th while Barrichell has
overtaken Senna for 13th.
Lap 49 speak too soon! Hamilton’s got the KERS and reclaims second
place. Button biding his time to make the move on Webber but Alonso has
caught him now and is right behind.
Lap 48 Rosberg holding on to his lead ahead of Alguersuari. There is
nothing now between second and fourth. Webber’s made the move and is ahead
of Hamilton!
Lap 46 Vettel told to stop abusing his tyres and that behind Hamilton
there are some very fast cars that could threaten his lead. Webber continues
to bite at Hamilton’s heels but the McLaren driver is defending wonderfully.
That battle has allowed Button to catch the Red Bull.
1-5 Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Button, Alonso
Lap 45 Alonso continues to make head way on catching Button he’s shaved
a 5.5 second gap to 3 and what final 10 laps we are in for.
Lap 44 Button told his tyres will take him to the end of the race and
that he needs to make the move on Webber.
Lap 42 Rosberg warned of Alguersuari threat. The Toro Rosso driver has
10 laps fewer on his tyres and is by far the faster car down a straight. As
things stand Red Bull will clinch the constructors title today.
Lap 41 four-way fight for second place is on the cards. Alonso has
found some incredible speed and he’s closing in on Button’s tail and shaving
several tenths of a second off the fastest lap time every lap.
Lap 40 Hamilton told to save all KERS for turn two in order to defend
his position. Webber ready to pounce.
Lap 39 Button told all is well and that he is catching the car in front
(Webber). Wonderful drive today from Alguersuari he’s back in 8th at the
moment but vital points on the horizon for him. Alonso is now the fastest
driver on the track 1:40:91
Lap 38 Alonso remains ahead of Massa, he’ll be hugely relieved with
that. So Vettel now back in front with Hamilton and Webber behind, Button up
to fourth and Alonso fifth.
Lap 37 another miserable day for Kobayashi is seems he is back in 17th,
such a shame for him. Alonso set for the pits, can he get out before Massa
catches up?
Lap 36 Alonso the only oe of the front runners still to pit. Button
came out of the pits in 6th and is now chasing Webber. Vettel remains the
fastest man out there, he’s just registered a 1:40.97
1-5 Alonso, Vettel, Alguersuari, Hamilton, Webber
Lap 34 great battle between Webber and Hamiltno. The Australian
overtook but it lasted a matter of seconds and Hamilton is in front. They’re
racing side by side, wonderful stuff. Elsewhere, Vettel and Button have
pitted.
Lap 33 Webber makes the move on Hamilton and is denied but I don’t
think it will be long before the Australian is in front. Vettel storming
away at the front and Hamilton is called into the pits, Red Bull see this
and call Webber in. Both on new primes.
Lap 32 Maldonado has retired, that’s three cars out now. Lewis Hamilton
looks like he is having problems with his super softs, could be in the pits
very soon.
Schumacher on his race ending: “I was suddenly 180 degrees in the
wrong direction, my wing down and a Renault wing also. We have had some
great racing together this year the first two were maybe my cao and this one
his. But that’s racing.”
Petrov: “I hit Michael and I apologise it was absolutely my fault.
That’s racing. I tried to focus on Alonso and then went to break.”
Lap 30 Vettel leads by 1.2 seconds with 25 laps to go. In no way has
the world champion got this win in the bag though. Of the front runners Mark
Webber is in the best position tyre-wise.
Lap 28 Rosberg has pitted for the second time and that shuold
essentially be him done for stops, he’s emerged 14th.
Lap 26 tussle between the Ferraris continues and Alonso’s frustration
is starting to show. If you’re just joining us then to brig you up to speed
we have two drivers out, Schumacher and Petrov, both retiring from the same
incident. Vettel took the lead from Hamilton on lap 1 but there’s everything
to race for between the front four. Nico Rosberg is having a wonderful race
to now. Very little of note has happened besides that.
Lap 25 Ricciardo now under investigation for unsafe exit from the pit
lane. Hamilton matching Vettel for pace at the front and there’s just four
seconds between the front five. Kobayashi called in for a new front wing as
he’s picked up damage from that aforementioned collision.
Lap 23 Schumacher and Petrov incident to be investigated after the race
and from what I can see the Renault driver will likely be handed a grid
penalty at the India Grand Prix in a fortnight.
Lap 22 Maldonado handed a drive through penalty and he’s seeing that
out immediately. More contact on the track and it’s at the back Kobayashi
and Senna coming off worse though doesn’t look like a race-ending incident.
Lap 21 safety car is off the track and Vettel wasted no time in trying
to re-establish his lead which before the pause was closing in on five
seconds. Solid driving from Webber who’s held off Button. Maldonado has hit
a bollard and is under investigation.
1-5 Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Button, Rosberg
Lap 19 Webber warned that button has been told to attack from the
re-start. The Australian currently occupying third place. Poised for a
fantastic re-start. Schumacher’s doing well to cover his fury as he walks
from his car. Fairly sure he will have some choice words for Petrov, that’s
the third time they have been involved in an incident this season.
Lap 18 disappointing for Schumacher as he was entirely innocent in that
collision. Button told Webber is the next target when he race resumes. So
much debris from that incident and there are Marshalls running all over the
track. The temperature looks to be improving and the sun is trying to creep
through the clouds. Vettel, Hamilton and Button all now on super softs.
Ferraris, Webber and Rosberg no the soft.
Lap 17 confirmed then Michael Schumacher is out of the race and Petrov
is too. Broken rear wing for the Mercedes and broken steering for Renault.
Lap 16 pit stops have not worked well for Ferrari Massa back in 8th and
Alonso in 11th. Vettel has pitted and he is following the McLaren strategy
and there’s been some contact the safety car is out. Schumacher’s race looks
like it’s over, he’s collided with Petrov. Alonso lucky he got through it.
Lap 15 Hamitlon pits from second place, Webber and Alonso have also
stopped.
1-5 Vettel, Hamilton, Alguersuari, Webber, Sutil
Lap 13 Button pits as does Rosberg and they’re coming out the pit lane
side by side. The Mercedes edges ahead of the McLaren but he messes up as
they rejoin the track. Button looked to have got ahead of Rosberg but
somehow the Mercedes powers ahead. Wonderful pit break.
Lap 12 Massa also looks to be in need of a new front wing. Expecting
pits to start soon. Alonso makes a move on Massa, no orders from his team to
let the No 1 through, the Brazilian defending his position fantastically.
Lap 11 great pace from Rosberg he’s doing well to keep on the tail of
the front pack. Vettel now 3.4 seconds ahead of Hamilton and he looks to be
gaining half a second every lap. Button needs to get ahead of the Ferraris
soon to have a hope of catching the front.
Lap 10 there’s a Virgin Racing front wing on the track. Vettel is the
fastest man out there at the moment, he’s just clocked a 1:4472. Button
starting to find pace now and he is tight on the back of Alonso. McLaren on
the radio to Jenson: “pace is good we can have the cars in front.”
1-5 Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Massa, Alonso
Lap 8 great fight for third place going on between Webber, Massa and
Alonso. Hamilton told he’ll get a new front wing when he comes in, the
Briton is also complaining about a slight vibration with the car. Also seems
both Ferraris are struggling with their KERS systems this afternoon.
Lap 7: all calm in the McLaren garage apparently, Whitmarsh unconcerned
that his drivers have dropped positions. Petrov looking like he’ll be the
first driver in for fresh tyres he’s losing pace and Schumacher is ready to
pounce. Hamilton struggling to hold on to Vettel at the front and he will
now need to be aware of how close Mark Webber is getting.
Lap 5: Michael Schumacher is working his way up the pack. He started in
12th and is up to ninth. Paul Di Resta having prblems with the front
graining of his tyres. No change at the front while at the back it’s Trulli,
Glock, Ricciardo, D’Ambrosio, Liuzzi
Lap 4: the rain is falling in Korea this will spice things up for sure.
Fantastic driving from Massa in the early stages would be great to see him
go the distance as in recent weeks he’s faded out two thirds of the way
through the race though I think in fairness he’d put a lot of that down to a
certain Mr Hamilton.
Lap 2: Button messed up on the third corner it seems he took it too
wide and suffered as a result. DRS has been enabled.
Lap 1: Buemi was involved in that early contact but his car appears to
has survived but Liuzzi came off worse and he is in the pits already. Jenson
Button is back in sixth but feelnig the pressure from Nico Rosberg behind
him.
First corner: Hamilton retains his lead round the corner but Vetttel is
quick to chellenge and takes the lead. Fantastic start from Felipe Massa and
it was a disappointing start from Button. Contact at the back of the pack,
will confirm drivers as soon as I can.
1-5 Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Massa, Alonso
Telegraph Sport F1 correspondent Tom Cary: “Rosberg says he
wants to stay at Merc rather than join Red Bull/Ferrari: “Michael not
getting any younger. Set up perfectly for me here.”
6:59 time for some predictions. While it’s great to see some confidence
return to Lewis Hamilton I’m not convinced he will win today. I’m backing
Jenson Button to clinch back-to-back victories with Vettel and Webber
behind. What do you think?
6:55 No huge surprises from yesterday’s qualifying session except
perhaps that Michael Schumacher failed to make it to the third session. The
veteran driver complained about a vibration problem during his final run and
as a result is starting from 12th today. In his favour however, much like
the Red Bulls, he has two sets of option tyres. Tyre wear is going to be
hugely important today, drivers get about 10 laps on the options and 15 plus
on the prime. They have 55 laps to complete and it seems will now have to
incorporate the high expectation of rain.
6:45 Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you may be joining me from
in the world and for the first blog this season I get to write a non-Red
Bull driver name as the man starting on pole position this morning. After a
nightmare few weeks it seems Lewis Hamilton’s luck is finally changing and
the McLaren No 1 leads the pack out after a fantastic drive throughout
qualifying yesterday. It’s the team’s first pole in over a year but he’ll
need to be quick off the mark as the recently crowned 2011 world champion
Sebastian Vettel is next to him, second on the grid.
Crucially for Red Bull however is that they used “super-softs” in
the first section of qualifying to keep a fresh set of soft tyres back for
the race, a move which Vettel said he thought would prove to be a big
advantage.
Vettel: We saved all our prime tyres which will be crucial tomorrow.
It’s not a long way down to the first corner and turn three is a little bit
exposed. It’s a long race, lots of things can happen. Tyre wear is crucial –
and Jenson did a good race last race – so that will be important tomorrow.
We have to see.”
How they start:
1st row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
2nd row
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)
3rd row
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
4th row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Lotus-Renault)
5th row
Paul di Resta (SCO/Force India-Mercedes)
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes)
6th row
Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)
7th row
Sebastien Buemi (SWI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber-Ferrari)
8th row
Bruno Senna (BRA/Lotus-Renault)
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Cosworth)
9th row
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Williams-Cosworth)
10th row
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Team Lotus)
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Team Lotus)
11th row
Timo Glock (GER/Virgin-Cosworth)
Jerome d’Ambrosio (BEL/Virgin-Cosworth)
12th row
Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/Hispania-Cosworth)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Hispania-Cosworth)