When the race restarted six laps later, it took just a few corners for another
major incident to occur, Force India’s Adrian Sutil colliding with Red
Bull’s Mark Webber, sending the Australian spinning out of the race and
setting his car on fire.
A bizarre decision from the Korean marshals to send a fire truck onto the
track before a safety car had been deployed will surely be investigated,
while the length of time it took to clear the track of the earlier debris
did not look very clever either.
Korea’s chances of hosting a future grand prix, already shaky, will not have
been helped by such amateurism.
Webber was understandably frustrated afterwards, one of many on the day to
raise concerns about Pirelli’s tyres, the front right in particular proving
troublesome for teams.
“Pirelli will put the puncture of Perez down to a lock up but the reason
the drivers are locking up is because there’s no tread left,” Webber
said. “The tyres are wearing a lot and they also explode a bit as well
but that’s for Pirelli to sort out.”
His words came a day after Alonso made some very outspoken comments regarding
Pirelli’s tyres. The Italian manufacturer have already changed their tyre
structures once this year after the fiasco at Silverstone where multiple
tyre failures almost saw the race red-flagged.
Pirelli feel aggrieved since they are unable to conduct any testing with
current teams and drivers, the one time they did – at a ‘private’ test with
Mercedes in May – they were hauled over the coals by the governing body.
Vettel eventually won by four seconds from the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen
and Romain Grosjean, with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg doing his chances of
getting a decent drive next year a power of good by claiming a creditable
fourth.
Hulkenberg held off Mercedes’ Lewis
Hamilton, who had an eventful race, fighting a succession of drivers
including his team-mate Nico Rosberg, and at one stage asking his team: “When
are you going to call me in as these tyres are f*****?”
Hamilton actually passed Hulkenberg at Turn One on lap 48, with seven to go,
but was re-passed down the straight to turn three. Meanwhile the Briton then
had his hands full trying to fend off Alonso. Force India’s Paul di Resta,
another sweating on his future, suffered a fourth retirement in a row.
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