I’m very pleased. I’m very happy it was a fantastic race, I wasn’t sure
about the start as I was on the dirty side but I had a good launch. It
wasn’t over because it was a long way and I could hear Mark coming and I
used my KERS to defend so I was able to stay ahead. It was close, Mark was
always on my toes and I had something left in the tyres. Fortunately by the
end I had a cushion on the cars behind,. We were all worried about the tyres
but I am really happy and I have to thank the boys on this one. They have
been flat out every night and working very hard on the car. Hopefully we can
carry this momentum.”
Fernando Alonso:
We have to be happy with our performance it was good day for the team and
we’re moving in the right direction but we need to be as competitive as Red
Bull so I think it’ll be a beautiful last four races.”
8:30 Well there we go then, Vettel takes the fourth win of his season.
It’s a one-two for Red Bull and Alonso completes the podium while
relinquishing his place at the top of the world standings. Massa finishes
fourth with Raikkonen behind him. Hamilton has managed to snatch the final
point and it was close for him as the astro turf stuck to his car really
slowed him up on the final few laps.
Final lap Vettel ignoring his team’s instructions as he sets to fastest
lap…well he will only have himself to blame if it all goes wrong. It seems
he will take the win and in doing so he will go top of the driver standings.
Lap 54 Hamilton has some “astro turf” attached to his car.
That will cause some outrage from the McLaren team I would imagine as just a
few laps ago three cars pulled that off the side of the track and it was
spread across the drivers pathway. The safety car was on stand by but
stewards opted against it claiming it was not in the way. So a bad day is
getting worse for Hamilton. Vettel warned “he will not know when it’s
too late” if he does not protect his tyres now.
Lap 53 Hamilton still having trouble getting by these Toro Rossos, they
are making life very difficult for him and in doing so they switch places.
And there’s a problem for Hamilton!
Lap 52 Red Bull very nervous on the radio and are warning Vettel at the
start of every lap about his tyres. He leads by nine seconds but there are
three more laps to go. If you’re wondering how Di Resta is getting on it’s
not been a great day for him. He is currently 11th but has struggled to make
any threat on the points places today.
Lap 51 Alonso has sliced over a second off Webber’s lead and the
Australian is in for a nerve wrecking four laps here. Besides the front
three, Massa, Raikkonen, Hulk, Grosjean, Ric, Vergne and Hamilton are set to
score points today.
Lap 50 slow motion shots really showing the wear and tear to Vettel’s
front right now and I can understand why his team are so nervous. Five laps
to go and Hamilton needs to climb if he wants to take more than a point.
Lap 49 Vettel’s lead is increasing which suggest either he is ignoring
his team’s instructions to look after his tyres of Webber is obeying them
and it looks to be that Vettel is going faster as the gap between Webber and
Alonso remains the same.The defending world champion needs another six laps
out of this set.
Lap 48 Hamilton is in the DRS zone and is going after 9th place and
they almost touch as Hamilton goes for the move up the inside twice! For now
he remains 10th, great defence from Vergne but I don’t think it will be long
before he loses his position.
Lap 47 Hamilton is making the move on this new set of tyres and is in
pursuit of Vergne. Vettel again being warned about his tyres and he has the
advantage to ease off a little.
Lap 46 that front right is going to cause Webber more concern that
Vettel as he’ll have to be very careful about how close that Ferrari of
Alonso gets. The gap is currently four seconds but any hint of over breaking
could turn the race on its head.
Lap 45 as things stand then, Vettel will go top of the driver’s
championship and lead Alonso by six points. Vettel leads Webber by just
under 10 seconds and short of a race incident of mechanical issue it looks
likely that we’ll have a Red Bull one-two though both drivers are being
warned about their front right tyres.
Lap 44 Massa is eager to chase Webber according to the radio and
believes he is faster that Alonso but with 11 laps left that could be a
little beyond his reach.
Lap 43 Vettel told he is doing a good job but is still needing to take
great care of the front right. Hamilton pits and is behind Vergne in 10th
place. What’s the car going to manage on these tyres [super softs]?
Lap 42 Grosjean having another go on Hamilton but he has no KERS so the
McLaren is safe for now.
Lap 41 phew! Just catching by breath after watching that and now more
bad news for Hamilton which is he will have to make a third stop. Replays
show Grosjean did not have four wheel s off the track when he made that move
so no penalty for him. To confirm their position after that excitement;
Hulkenberg went 6th, Hamilton is 7th and Grosjean 8th. Ricciardo is catching
the Frenchman though.
Lap 40 Hamilton is in a LOT of trouble here. Grosjean is trying to take
the position from here and he went straight off the track and now Hamilton
is being doubled teamed by Grosjean and Hulkenberg and the Force India
driver emerges as the victor! Fantastic defending by Hamilton but that was
superb by Nico, well formed opportunity. Shame for Grosjean but that was
brilliant to watch!
Lap 39 and there you go, Ferrari on the radio to Massa “you’re too close
to Fernando, drop off.” It’s fair enough for the title race but I
really hope to see the Brazilian driving with Ferrari next season.
Schumacher now coming under pressure from Perez and that almost ended in
debris flying all over the place!
Lap 38 Schumacher has yielded that 11th place to Di Resta. Up front the
Red Bulls are cruising but Alonso may be a little troubled to see Massa
closing in on him though it’s hugely unlikely he’ll get the go ahead to make
a move.
Lap 37 Further back Schumacher and Di Resta are battling again for 11th
with the German currently showing the young Briton how it’s done. That
battle is about to become a three-way duel as Schumacher slowing up the
Force India is allowing Perez, who’s just gone fastest, to catch them.
Lap 36 so Webber leads while his team-mate is pitting. So after the
second round of stops is complete the front is back to how it was, Vettel
leads with Webber 2nd, Alonso 3rd and Massa 4th. Rakkonen is driving well
and remains in 5th chased by Hamilton. Vergne, Grosjean, Hulkenberg and
Ricicardo are in for points as things stand.
Lap 35 am hearing the Kovalainnen has got his entry to the pits totally
wrong and ended up on the grass! More on that when I have it. Alonso
meanwhile has pitted for the second time so again we have the Red Bulls
leading. Vettel called in.
Lap 34 Grosjean really is flying now and the confidence that overtake
will have given him is reflected in his speed. He is fastest on the track
having just clocked a 1:43:59.
Lap 33 Webber pits so Alonso goes in pursuit of Vettel though I doubt
it’ll be too long before both are called in. Wonderful pits top from Lotus
there and it results in Grosjean finally getting ahead of Hulkenberg .
Lap 32 Hamilton told to look after the fronts and that he will likely
make another stop as his current position means he would be fighting for
6th…title bid over for him then. Flurry of drivers now coming in for their
second pit stop.
Lap 31 Hulkenberg asking his engineers why he is losing so much time.
He is told they are trying to figure the problem out and determine when they
can pit him. It’s getting worse for Di Resta who has now dropped backed to
15th and is duelling with Maldonado at the moment. Meanwhile Jean Eric
Vergne has just got himself into the points.
Lap 30 Grosjean and Hulkenburg go side by side on turn three but the
Force India hold position! This battle’s been going on since the third lap
of the race and I’m really surprised the Frenchman is struggling to get
by…perhaps he is too worried about causing an incident?
Lap 29 Webber’s just gone fastest on the track and has sliced half a
second off Vettel’s lead…though it’s still just over eight seconds.
Hamilton assured he is doing fine but they will move “on to Plan B”.
Lap 28 Hamilton back on the radio “It’s getting very nervous”.
Apologies to keep focussing on that but the rest of the drivers appear to be
happy and getting on with their races! Hamilton now back in 8th and he has
Ricciardo on his back. Further back Di Resta is stuck between Schumacher and
Perez who having been running near the front for so long is not having a
good middle section in this race.
Lap 27 Hamilton is called back into the pits so Raikkonen gets the
position. McLaren not carrying out the best of pits stops and they held up
their driver which won’t do their race any favours given just how early that
pit stop came. At the front Vettel is being warned about his tyres and told
to look after them if they are to remain on course with their race plan.
Lap 26 the battle between Raikkonen and Hamilton continues but the
McLaren is holding well. Webber in second is about to have Alonso come up
his exhaust and that I fear will be a tough position for the Australian to
hold.
Lap 25 Raikkonen being very cautious here while Lewis Hamilton is
simply going for it and it’s paying off for now as the McLaren holds 5th.
They’ll struggle to catch the four cars ahead of them however as they’re
about two seconds off the pace. Massa in 4th is seven seconds clear. Webber
told he is having problems with his front right tyre which will impact his
times as he slips about 8.5 seconds behind Vettel in the lead.
Lap 24 Raikkonen continues his chase on Hamilton but seems to be making
the wrong choice of manoeuvre every time, always going for the outside but
eventually the momentum is too much for the McLaren to compete with and the
Lotus takes the place. But Hamilton really is a true racer and two corners
later he has re-taken the place! Wonderful battle!
Lap 23 Hamilton told he has a mechanical balance change but is assured
the car is safe to drive. That news comes as Raikkonen makes a move on him
but is denied! Great fight from the McLaren and Kimi is continuing the hunt.
Lap 22 Rob Smedley tells Massa not to think too much of Hamilton’s drop
off the pace. The Ferrari engineer seems to think it’s a problem that will
be rectified so the threat will be back.
Lap 21 and there really i something not right, Hamilton has lost a
position to Massa now…is this going to turn into another nightmare weekend
for McLaren? On the other hand, it is wonderful to see Massa driving so well
given the start of his season and as my colleague Tom Cary said last week, a
good finish could well see him retain a seat that he appeared guaranteed to
lose.
Lap 20 Hamilton is stil on the radio complaining about something but is
not clear about what is troubling him but he is losing speed and in the
first sector is already 7 tenths off the pace.
Lap 19 Hamilton on the radio saying his tyres are not going to last.
Right to give you an idea of where everyone is: Vettel continues to lead
with Webber second and Alonso third. Hamilton is holding fourth from Massa
who is chased by Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. Maldonado has got himself in
front of Grosjean and that could well spell trouble for 8/9th place!
Lap 18 no sooner to I write that but Kobayashi has retired from the
race, his car has just been backed into the Sauber garage. It’s got worse
for Perez who’s lost a position now to Raikkonen so is now back in seventh.
His team have also just pitted him so it looks like the one-stop race is
off.
Lap 17 If you’re just rubbing the sleep out of your eyes and joining
me, Button and Rosberg’s races came to an end on the first lap of this race
due to the Sauber of Kobayashi. The Japanese driver has since been handed a
drive through penalty and is last and a couple of laps behind the leaders.
Ian Caldwell has emailed me his thoughts:
Unless there’s a mechanical or tyre issue the Red Bulls will hold station
with Alonso third. The WC is between Vettel and Alonso. Hamilton and
Raikkonen are out.”
Lap 16 and now we have a great battle with Alonso and Perez! The
Ferrari just had the edge coming out of the pit lane and now it’s gone wrong
for the Sauber as Hamilton takes advantage of the young driver going wide
and takes the position on the exit of turn 4. Fantastic move from Hamilton,
really well worked and his patience paid off.
Lap 15 Webber pits from second so Alonso now chases Vettel. Perez is
yet to pit as he is on the hards, he’s 4th and has done well to stay in
front of Hamilton. Vettel set to come in now and Ferrari react and bring
their man in too
Lap 14 All the top 10 now coming into the pits and most going on to the
harder tyres. Hulkenberg ‘s done well to break away from Grosjean coming out
of that break and that looks like it was a slow release from the Lotus team
while the Frenchman’s waving his hands around to suggest an unsafe release
from Force India.
Lap 13 Schumacher is driving wonderfully in 10th place holding off a
persistent challenge from Di Resta who now has a Toro Rosso on his tail. At
the front Vettel has pulled out with have a 3.5 second lead on Webber.
Hamilton the first of the front runners to pit and it’s very very fast from
the McLaren team.
Lap 12 Asked if he thought he was still in with a chance of winning the
title, Button added, “No, definitely not. I’ll enjoy myself over the
next few races. It’s out of our hands.”
Here’s what Jenson Button has had to say about his race ending:
I think you missed something I said. It’s two corners long. I got a good
start and I was able to get past both Mercedes and then Sergio went late, he
didn’t hit me he hit the car in front and broke something so I had to run
wide. Sauber’s over the back of me and I don’t know what happened then. I
don’t know what’s going on. It’s pretty disappointing and there’s so much
opportunity here as well. It’s a great race circuit and that’s why its so
surprising people are driving like that.”
Lap 11 Williams confirming that the problem Senna is experiencing with
his car is in fact due to debris on the track getting inside. They confirm
he will be pitted shortly. Hamilton meanwhile being told he “is on
target”
Lap 10 incredible straight-line speed from the Toro Rossos and this
time Ricciardo takes a place from Senna. They’re in fantastic form so far
today! A little further ahead there’s a good duel building between
Hulkenberg and Grosjean with the Frenchman chasing the Force India for 7th
place
Lap 9 Rosberg’s car is finally being lifted off the track which means
DRS will be re-enabled again shortly. Another great move from the Toro
Rosso’s and this time it’s Jean Eric Vergne to take 12th place.
Lap 8 the Red Bulls now pulling away from Alonso and Hamilton but well
done to Webber who really is not letting his team-mate pull off here.
Kobayashi has been handed a drive-through penalty for that incident with
Button so that will put him even further behind in this race as he currently
is last. And he honours it immediately.
Lap 7 both Toro Rossos makes a delightful move on Maldonado who looks
to be struggling in his Williams.
Lap 6 Ricciardo on the radio saying he is losing time as he sits stuck
behind his team-mate. They’re all stuck in a mini jam behind Maldonado.
Button and Rosberg have made their way back to the pits and the helmets are
on which loosely translates as “do not approach”. DRS disabled
Here’s abhishek406 predictions for today:
Vettel changed the championship scene with 2 straight victories. Surely Lewis
or Kimi can do something similar? I’m hoping it’s Kimi who does !
Lap 5 Vettel fastest out there at the moment but is struggling to pull
away from Webber at the moment. Alonso and Hamilton follow the Red Bulls and
Massa is 5th with Perez, Grosjean, Hulkenberg , Raikkonen and Schumacher
completing the top 10.
Lap 4 So Button was in a “Sauber sandwich” and he was right
to brand Kobayashi and idiot after that. The Sauber hit Rosberg first and
then Button so he is responsible for both retirements to a degree. Alonso
has moved up to third which will not please Hamilton.
Lap 3 replays of the start then show that Hamilton was very lucky not
to hit the Red Bulls who spotted the gap that the McLaren was going for.
Button was hit by KObayashi as I said and he sustained too much front right
damage to continue. Another busy weekend for the stewards already then.
Lap 2 right so there will be no Gangnam style from Rosberg as his race
just ended too. Vettel is leading this race then with Webber behind.
Kobayashi has pitted following that collision with Button. Great get away
from Senna who is up to 12th now having started 18th.
Lap 1 Button’s race is over. “Kobayashi hit me, what an idiot,”
the McLaren driver says as he pulls up. What a shame because on the tyres he
was on he had such a good race strategy. Just awaiting a replay of that but
it sounds as though the Sauber driver will be handed some form of penalty
for that.
First corner: Lights out and the Red Bulls went off well and as
expected Vettel has taken P1 into the first turn but GREAT racing between
the front two and they go wheel to wheel out of the second turn while just
behind Hamilton and Alonso charged down side by side! No incidents, so much
going on by breathe a sigh of relief.
Right, here we go…race time!
Just touching back on the gangnam style video I mentioned, here’s Nico Rosberg
enjoying a live performance earlier in the week, he’s also promised to
perform it if he makes the podium.
6:59 OK it’s almost time for lights out, so let’s make some
predictions. I think the podium will consists of three of the front four
cars, who’ll miss out? I’m going for Vettel as he’s had car problems this
morning, many will shake their heads at this but my gut instinct is usually
wrong so I’ll go against it this week. What do you think?
Much has been said about the speed Red Bull have shown in the last few races
but for one man, their resurgence is nothing his team can’t match
apparently. Alonso yesterday hailed Ferrari as a stronger team and said he
is confident of snatching victory today.
I have confidence we will do a good race, the long runs normally are good for
us, yesterday they were good and in race pace there are many factors. In
qualifying it is just about the quickest car getting pole position, in the
race it is not only about the quickest car. You need to have good strategy,
good tyres, good pit-stops and a good start… so many things. On that in
general, I think we are the strongest team with all these factors. Thanks to
this strength we are leading the championship. We need to show our good
points and hide a little bit our weakness, which maybe is qualifying. Today
we did a good qualifying and we need to use our strong point tomorrow.”
6:50 Outside the top 10 there has been a penalty handed out and that
was to Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo who’s dropped five place for an
for an unscheduled gearbox change. The Australian had qualified in 16th
place, one ahead of French team mate Jean-Eric Vergne.
6:47 You all saw what happened last weekend, with Alonso retiring on
turn one the title race was blown open…well it allowed Vettel to get right
back in so today’s race it pivotal to the championship with just four races
left after this weekend. Red Bull dominated at this track last year and as
such Ferrari cannot afford any errors this afternoon. While Hamilton,
Raikkonen and Button remain in with a mathematical chance of the title
they’ll need a huge swing of fortune to catch the front runners.
With that said, here’s a little more information about the Yeongam track:
Circuit length: 5.615km/3.489miles
Laps: 55
Race distance: 309.155km/192.099miles
Lap record: One minute 39.605 seconds (Sebastian Vettel 2011)
2011 winner: Sebastian Vettel
2011 pole position: Lewis Hamilton 1:35.820s
2011 fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel 1:39.605s
Tyre compounds to be used: Soft/supersoft
Overtaking chance: Mainly into turn three
Average speed: 205kph (127.38mph)
Gear changes per lap: 51
Number of corners: 18 (11 left/7 right)
Number of safety cars deployed last year: one
We only have 20 minutes to go before lights out, so here’s what out columnist David
Coulthard has had to say about Korea this week:
Who to watch: Sebastian Vettel is going for a hat-trick of wins in
Korea and he was fastest in free practice. But I fancy it will be closer
this weekend. After the dominance of Vettel and Red Bull at Suzuka, we come
to Yeongam, where the atmosphere may be down on Japan but competitiveness
has increased. The long-run pace of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren were
similar on Friday and it looks like we have a race on our hands. I will be
particularly interested to see how Fernando Alonso responds after his DNF in
Japan. He has led the championship for so long now it will feel like a
symbolic moment if and when he loses it.
Where the race will be won and lost
Starting on the front row of the grid here is key. You want to be in clean air
rather than having it stolen from you. You want to be able to run your own
race. While the first sector is classic ‘point-and-squirt’, where
straight-line speed is all-important, this track becomes very technical in
the second and third sectors and the drivers need to concentrate extremely
hard. Once again tyre degradation will be important, as it is a long circuit
6:38 This is by far and away my favourite images from the weekend so
far. Webber and Vettel dancing ‘Gangnam Style’ with Psy. If you’re not
familiar with him then I’ll bring you a video of the track shortly but I’m
sure you can expect to hear it numerous times today, particularly at the end
of the race as he’ll be waving the chequered flag.
6:32 Now I am not sure when I last wrote this but there are NO
penalties for any of the top 10 runners this morning…that makes a nice
change doesn’t it but who do you reckon will be the first to cause some
trouble? Grosjean as we saw last week courted some harsh criticism for his
error on the first turn and the Frenchman’s been involved in a flurry of
incidents this season. A word of warning really must be issued then for the
front six cars as today’s race gets started…Grosjean is starting 7th. What
do you think can be done to help him out? Has he got a special awareness
problem? Has he simply had a huge run of bad luck and on a number of
occasions been in the wrong place at the wrong time? I think he is a
phenomenal driver, lacking in experience perhaps, but definitely one that
will succeed in years to come.
6:20 Good morning/afternoon/evening F1 fans and welcome to what is
another unnaturally early Sunday morning wake up time for myself and other
UK viewers. As ever I am armed with a bucket of coffee and am ready and
raring to go for today’s race.
Just 24 hours ago I awoke to news that one Mr Mark Webber had snatched himself
pole position, that was my first prediction of the weekend wrong then, I had
his team-mate Sebastian Vettel down for prime position, but no matter, we
still have ourselves a Red Bull front row lock out.
Behind the Red Bulls are Lewis Hamilton (3rd ) and Fernando Alonso (4th) so
Webber on pole could really play into Hamilton’s race plan…at least so
says Martin Whitmarsh. Asked about the prospect of Webber moving aside to
allow Vettel to clear off and win, he thought it was unlikely.
“I don’t think he will willingly, it is possible,” he said.
Here’s how they start:
1st row
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull)
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull)
2nd row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
3rd row
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
4th row
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus)
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India)
5th row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)
6th row
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber)
7th row
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber)
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India)
8th row
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams)
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso)
9th row
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams)
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham)
10th row
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham)
Timo Glock (GER/Marussia)
11th row
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso)
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT)
12th row
Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT-Cosworth)
Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia)