“Vettel victorious as Team RBR-Renault
claim the Constructors’ Championship”
PRE RACE
The circuit and surrounds remain relatively unchanged from last year. There was a lot of anticipated development which has not taken place. The track itself and the facilities are first class. The turn out from the Korean fans today has been excellent – they’ve all come to see the magic that only Formula 1 can deliver. Weather conditions are favourable: there are a few clouds lurking on the horizon, but no serious rain is anticipated.
Lewis Hamilton put in an awesome lap in qualifying to claim pole position: the first time this year that a RBR-Renault has not been on pole. It was a magnificent lap, yet Hamilton remained almost stoic afterwards. The gap between the top 3 teams has definitely narrowed.
START
The top 10, barring Sutil, have all elected to start on the Pirelli “supersoft” compound tyres. The drivers stand around or sit patiently in their cars, each going through their own pre-race ritual, as all around them last-minute checks are made to the cars. Space on the grid is at a premium as the various team mechanics swarm around their vehicles. Amidst the organised chaos the grid girls serenely stand with their boards denoting the driver name and number. We are minutes away from the start of the race. The atmosphere is one of excitement and tension… it’s almost time to go racing! The grid is cleared and the cars set off on their installation lap. The mechanics rush to get themselves and all their equipment back to their respective pit garages before the race starts. Hamilton leads the pack back onto the start/finish straight and the twin columns of cars form up once more.
One by one the 5 red lights come on…
Are you ready? Lights outs!
We are racing in Yeongam!
RACE
Lap 1
Great start by Hamilton as he leads into Turn 1. Good start by Massa as he moves up to 3rd. Vettel takes Hamilton for the lead a few corners later. The balance of the field makes it through Turn 1 without any major incidents, barring Liuzzi who has a slight contact. There is furious racing for position in the opening lap of the Grand Prix.
Liuzzi pits for a new front wing.
The Order on Lap 1 is as follows:
Vettel leads, followed by Hamilton, Webber, Massa, Alonso, Button, Rosberg, Petrov, Di Resta and Schumacher.
Lap 4
The racing upfront is very close, with mere seconds separating the leaders.
Reports come in of a few light rain drops in Turn 4, let’s hope the rain stays away.
Buemi takes Maldonado.
Lap 5
Hamilton sets the fastest lap: 1:45:020
Schumacher takes Di Resta for 9th position – good move.
Lap 6
The racing throughout the pack, from the front to the midfield is still very close.
The Order on Lap 7 is as follows:
Vettel leads, followed by Hamilton (@1,672s), Webber (@4,778s), Massa (@5,790s), Alonso (@6,659s), Button (@8,510s), Rosberg (@9,403s), Petrov (@12,975s), Schumacher (@14,870s) and Di Resta.
Lap 8
A few more rain drops are evident…
Lap 10
Button is closing up on Alonso.
Vettel sets the fastest lap: 1:44:727
Lap 11
Kobayashi pits.
Barichello pits.
Lap 12
Vettel sets the fastest lap: 1:44:400
Di Resta pits – from 10th position.
Lap 13
Trulli pits.
Lap 14
Button pits – from 5th – rejoins 12th.
Rosberg pits – from 7th – rejoins 11th.
(Pit Lane time: 20,691s. Pit-stop time: 2,9s).
There is a good dice between these two drivers in the pits.
Kovalainen pits.
Senna pits.
Lap 15
Webber pits – from 3rd – rejoins 5th.
Massa pits – from 4th – rejoins 9th.
(Pit Lane time: 23,642s. Pit-stop time: 6,4s).
Button takes Rosberg for 7th position – good move.
Lap 16
Hamilton pits – from 2nd.
(Pit Lane time: 20,846s. Pit-stop time: 3,8s).
Alonso pits – rejoins 11th.
(Pit Lane time: 20,978s. Pit-stop time: 3,6s).
Button takes Sutil for 5th position.
Lap 17
Vettel pits – from 1st – rejoins 1st.
(Pit Lane time: 19,985s. Pit-stop time: 3,4s).
There is a huge accident between Petrov and Schumacher. Petrov was racing Alonso, who was ahead of him, for position, and he drove into the side of Schumacher at the corner. Schumacher’s car is badly damaged – he parks it at the side of the track and retires from the race.
There is a lot of debris in Turn 3.
The Safety Car is deployed.
Petrov pits.
The mechanics check the car and it appears as though the front suspension and steering arm are broken. Petrov retires from the race.
D’Ambrosio pits.
The Order on Lap 18 (behind the Safety Car) is as follows:
Vettel leads, followed by Hamilton, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Massa, Alonso, Alguersuari, Di Resta and Sutil.
Lap 20
The Safety Car comes in and we are racing once more.
Lap 21
Button is putting pressure on Webber.
Lap 22
Car 12 (Maldonado) is under investigation by the stewards for hitting a bollard in the pit lane.
Maldonado is sanctioned with a Drive through Penalty.
There is slight contact between Senna and Kobayashi.
Lap 23
Vettel sets the fastest lap: 1:42:269
Maldonado serves his Drive through Penalty.
The earlier incident between cars 7 (Schumacher) and 10 (Petrov) is being investigated by the stewards.
Lap 24
Senna takes Kobayashi, and Kobayashi promptly retakes his position.
Car 22 (Ricciardo) is under investigation by the stewards for an unsafe release from the pit box.
Lap 25
Kobayashi pits – a new front wing is put on.
The Order on Lap 25 is as follows:
Vettel leads, followed by Hamilton (@1,162s), Webber (@1,751s), Button (@3,623s), Rosberg (@3,272s), Massa (@0,537s), Alonso (@0,480s), Alguersuari (@2,161s), Di Resta (2,744s) and Sutil (@1,104s).
Lap 26
Sutil takes Di Resta for 9th position.
There is very close racing between Rosberg, Massa and Alonso.
Lap 27
Massa and Alonso take Rosberg, and move up to 5th and 6th position respectively.
Hamilton is catching race leader Vettel.
Lap 28
At this stage of the race, it is very close upfront between Vettel, Hamilton and Webber.
Rosberg pits – from 7th – rejoins 14th.
(Pit Lane time: 20,722s. Pit-stop time: 3,8s).
Lap 31
There is debris in Turns 3 and 4.
Vettel sets the fastest lap: 1:42:264
Senna pits.
Buemi takes Di Resta for 10th position – good move.
Maldonado parks his Williams in the pit garage and retires from the race.
Lap 32
Barichello pits.
The incident involving car 22 (Ricciardo – unsafe release from the pit box) will be investigated by the stewards after the race.
Lap 34
Hamilton pits – from 2nd – rejoins 6th.
(Pit Lane time: 20,584s. Pit-stop time: 3,7s).
Webber pits – from 3rd – rejoins 7th.
(Pit Lane time: 20,800s. Pit-stop time: 3,8s).
There is a classic duel in the pits between these two, with Hamilton just edging out Webber.
Lap 35
Vettel pits – from 1st – rejoins 2nd.
(Pit Lane time: 20,170s. Pit-stop time: 3,3s).
Massa pits – rejoins 9th.
Button pits – rejoins 6th.
(Pit Lane time: 20,758s. Pit-stop time: 3,3s).
There is a great duel going on between Hamilton and Webber.
Lap 36
Sutil pits – from 10th.
Lap 37
Vettel sets the fastest lap: 1:40:974
Buemi pits – from 9th position.
Perez pits – from 10th position.
Trulli pits.
Lap 38
Alonso pits – from 1st position – rejoins 5th.
(Pit Lane time: 20,639s. Pit-stop time: 3,4s).
The Order on Lap 38 is as follows:
Vettel leads, followed by Hamilton (@10,249s), Webber (@0,483s), Button (@1,922s), Alonso (@7,027s), Massa (@1,037s), Rosberg (@9,026s), Alguersuari (@1,763s), Di Resta (@9,576s) and Buemi (@3,238s).
Lap 39
Kovalainen pits.
Lap 40
D’Ambrosio pits.
Alonso sets the fastest lap: 1:40:912
Trulli takes Glock.
Lap 41
Alonso sets the fastest lap: 1:40:623
The Ferrari driver is on a real charge.
Liuzzi pits.
Lap 42
The racing between Hamilton, Webber and Button is very close, with Alonso catching the trio.
Lap 43
Ricciardo pits.
Kobayashi pits.
Lap 46
Vettel sets the fastest lap: 1:40:619
Lap 48
Webber is putting pressure on Hamilton.
The Order on Lap 48 is as follows:
Vettel leads, followed by Hamilton (@11,961s), Webber (0,681s), Button (@0,826s), Alonso (@1,982s), Massa (@7,033s), Rosberg (@18,032s), Alguersuari (@0,792s), Di Resta (@12,193s) and Buemi.
Lap 49
Webber takes Hamilton for 2nd position.
Hamilton promptly retakes his position – great racing between these two.
Buemi takes Di Resta for 9th position – good move.
Lap 51
Barichello takes Senna.
Lap 52
Vettel has good lead upfront, but behind him the racing between Hamilton, Webber, Button and Alonso is very close.
Lap 54
Perez pits.
Hamilton sets the fastest lap: 1:40:459
Lap 55
Alguersuari takes Rosberg for 7th position – great move.
Vettel sets the fastest lap: 1:39:605
Vettel takes the win!
It has been another peerless performance from the new World Champion. The winning time was 1:38:01:994, with a total distance covered of 308:630km at an average speed of 188:893km/h.
2. Hamilton (@12,019s)
3. Webber (@12,477s)
4. Button (@14,694s)
5. Alonso (@15,623s)
6. Massa (@25,172s)
7. Alguersuari
8. Rosberg
9. Buemi
10. Di Resta
Retired: 21/24 starters finished the race. Petrov and Schumacher retired after their collision. Maldonado retired with mechanical failure.
SUMMARY
Alonso and Rosberg both park their cars at the side of the track almost immediately after taking the chequered flag, almost certainly low on fuel. Hamilton had a great race to finish second. He was under constant pressure from Webber. Webber, Button and Alonso all had good drives. Alguersuari had a great drive to finish 7th. A good result for Kovalainen in the Lotus-Renault, finishing 14th.
Vettel and Webber perform a “formation” victory lap: Team RBR-Renault has won the Constructors’ Championship! What a way to crown off a remarkable season from this team. After this lap the cars cruise into Parc Ferme, job done.
It was a very close race upfront and indeed throughout the pack. Vettel opened up a lead before the Safety Car came out, and then after the Safety Car period he re-established that lead. Behind the leader, it was very close racing between Hamilton, Webber, Button, Alonso and Massa. It was great to see, that despite being the new World Champion, Sebastian Vettel remains focused and dedicated, putting in his best possible performance with every race: the mark of a true racing champion. An example of this was his race engineer telling him in the last few laps of the Grand Prix to save his tyres and stop trying to put in fastest laps. He still put in a fastest lap, on the last lap.
The Pirelli “supersoft” compound tyres performed way better than anticipated: some people were predicting as many as 4 or 5 pit stops during this race. In the end the tyres lasted much longer and made for some close racing and good race strategies.
The excitable grid girls, looking very stylish in their outfits, form a superb honour guard for the top 3 drivers and cheer them on as they make their way to the podium. The trophies that are presented are beautiful and stylish. Christian Horner represents team RBR-Renault on the podium on this special occasion for the team: they have won the Constructors’ Championship. The formalities are soon concluded, and it begins to rain Mumm champagne – this is Formula 1!
It has been a great race.
Petrov has been handed a 5 place grid penalty for the next race after his collision with Schumacher.
NEXT STOP:
The Korean Grand Prix delivered a very close and exciting race.
The next race is the much anticipated inaugural Grand Prix of India in New Delhi on the 30th October 2011. A brand new circuit and surrounds has been constructed for this event, it should be a superb race. There are still many points available all round – you can expect some more close racing.
Written by Mark Batchelder, Road and Race’s F1 Connoisseur
