If Hülkenberg does not secure a seat on the 2014 grid on account of his size –
at 74kg he is one of the larger drivers, a potentially serious handicap next
season when new engine regulations and minimum weight limits come into play
– it would be a travesty.
All that drama glossed over the reality, however, which is that Vettel has now
led 209 of the last 213 laps in Formula One. And while there can be no
denying both his and Red Bull’s magnificence, there is a serious concern
that their hegemony is becoming a major turn-off.
Vettel now enjoys an enormous 77-point cushion over Alonso heading to Japan
this Sunday. If he wins at Suzuka and Alonso finishes lower than eighth, the
26-year-old will become a quadruple champion at an even younger age than the
great Frenchman Alain Prost was when he won his first grand prix.
“He has won already,” Hamilton said, “unless he doesn’t finish the rest of the
races, and even if he doesn’t he has probably still won it.
“Personally I feel for the fans because I remember the period of time when
Michael Schumacher was winning.
“I remember waking up in the morning to watch the start of the race and then
going to sleep, and then waking up when it ended because I already knew what
would happen. I am pretty sure a lot of people were doing that today, at
least in my family there is [sic].”
None of which should be held against Vettel, or indeed Red Bull, who were
again outstanding yesterday. Vettel trotted out his usual line of not
getting ahead of himself but there is no danger of him throwing it away now.
Fortunately for the sport there are wholesale changes to the rules next year
which should help to level the playing field.
This was another consummate performance despite failing to take off
initially.
All that changed on lap 31, however, when the front right tyre on Sergio
Perez’s McLaren exploded spectacularly on the long straight between laps two
and three, sending Red Bull’s Mark Webber limping back to the pits on
account of a puncture caused by the debris.
When the race restarted six laps later, Webber was in the wars again, Force
India’s Adrian Sutil sending the Australian spinning out of the race.
To complete a miserable hat-trick, an oil radiator burst in the incident then
set his car on fire. What followed was bizarre in the extreme, a 4×4 fire
truck being despatched on to the track to attend to Webber’s stricken Red
Bull before the safety car had been deployed. That resulted in the leaders
sweeping around Turn Two to discover a grey SUV pootling along in front of
them.
With the Korean marshals initially coming under fire, FIA race director
Charlie Whiting later admitted he had made the call, although he had not
anticipated that the fire truck would be despatched from Turn One, ahead of
the leaders, before the safety car had had a chance to intervene. In short,
it was a shambles.
Vettel eventually won by four seconds from the excellent Lotus pair of Kimi
Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
Hamilton, meanwhile, fought a succession of running battles including one
against his own team-mate Nico Rosberg in which sparks literally flew, the
German’s front wing coming loose and scraping along the ground, In the end,
the 2008 world champion just held off Alonso for fifth but was left
nonplussed.
“It’s strange, you know,” he said. “Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the
end, and having our own little race, we are of a higher calibre than that.
We should be further ahead, and fighting with the world champions at the
front, and with Sebastian. I guess that shows where the sport is today.”
Final Positions:
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 43mins 13.701secs
2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus F1 Team 1:43:17.925
3 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 1:43:18.628
4 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:43:37.815
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:43:38.956
6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:43:39.890
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:43:40.399
8 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:43:45.963
9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:43:48.091
10 Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren 1:43:48.856
11 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:43:49.691
12 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:44:00.750
13 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:44:03.714
14 Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham 1:44:17.279
15 Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham 1:44:18.202
16 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 1:44:21.671
17 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia 1:44:26.599
18 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 2 Laps
19 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 3 Laps
20 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India at 5 Laps
Not Classified:
21 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 36 Laps completed
22 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India 24 Laps completed