Race winner Sebastian Vettel (R) of Germany and Red Bull Racing celebrates with second placed team mate Mark Webber (L) of Australia and Red Bull Racing
YEONGAM, South Korea. Australia’s Mark Webber finished second as his teammate Sebastian Vettel won the Korean Formula One Grand Prix yesterday to take over at the top of the championship standings.
It was the first 1-2 finish of the season for the Red Bull team.
With four races to go starting in India in two weeks, Vettel, the reigning champion who is chasing a third drivers’ title in a row, sits atop the standings with 215 points. Alonso, who finished third, is on 209.
It was the 25-year-old German’s third win in three races and he will now be favourite to retain his crown, in what had been a highly unpredictable season until he took the championship by the scruff of the neck.
Alonso’s fellow Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, second at Suzuka seven days ago, continued his resurgence with a fourth-placed finish yesterday.
Lewis Hamilton, who still had title aspirations going in this race, finished down in 10th.
Fifth was Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, followed by Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India. Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo (both Toro Rosso) and Hamilton rounded out the top 10.
Vettel, who started second on the grid behind Webber, nipped in front of his teammate at the first corner.
“The initial launch was not good,” Webber said.
“There was some wheel spin and from there I knew I would have issues. It was very mediocre.”
Behind them Alonso and Hamilton duelled over third place, with the Spaniard winning through.
Jenson Button’s bad weekend finished almost as soon as the race began. His fine start from lowly 11th was wrecked when Kamui Kobayashi came flying down the inside, smashing into Button and destroying his McLaren’s suspension.
Sauber driver Kobayashi pitted for repairs, copped a drive-through penalty and eventually retired.
Vettel had a shaky moment on lap 35 of 55 when he ran wide, before pitting to go onto softer tyres.
“We have done another step and hopefully we can carry the momentum into the next races . . . A lot can happen but we need to focus on ourselves,” he said after winning.
Alonso was pleased overall despite losing the lead – as Ferrari at least overtook McLaren for second place in the constructors’ list.
“We have to be happy with the performance today. We finished third and fourth behind the Red Bulls who are difficult to beat. We are moving in the right direction. We just need an extra step to be as competitive as Red Bull,” Alonso said.
Young Australian Ricciardo fought from 21st on the grid to finish ninth in his Toro Rosso.
The next race is October 28 in India.
AFP
