Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Korean GP

Sebastian Vettel’s charmed run has continued at the Korean Grand Prix, where he has just collected his fourth consecutive race win. The Red Bull champ won by just over four seconds from the Lotus duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

Vettel is very much on track to secure his fourth world title, his winning margin masks the comfort with which he won. Although he was helped by a pair of Safety Car periods, which extended his tyre life and brought the field together in what was a bizarre race at times.

The first Safety Car came out on Lap 31 after a severe flat spot into Turn 1 from Sergio Perez preceded a spectacular failure to his right front tyre on the main straight. An unlucky Mark Webber, who had just rejoined the track after pitting for new tyres, was the first on the scene and he picked up a puncture after having nowhere to go except over the debris left behind from Perez’s McLaren.

In effect the need to come in for new tyres ruined Webber’s race after he was making good progress through the field following his start from P13 due to his 10-place grid penalty. Alas, worse was to come.

On the first lap after the race restarted Adrian Sutil lost control under brakes into Turn 3 and spun putting his rear tyre into the sidepod of Mark’s car. Almost immediately Webber’s car caught fire and his race ended in flames for the second grand prix in a row.

In the aftermath of that event a fire marshal’s vehicle entered the track and interrupted the race before the Safety Car was deployed. There was potential for a nasty incident but thankfully, the fire marshal escaped incident. We suspect whoever was responsible for sending that car out on track won’t be working at an F1 race again anytime soon.

Once racing resumed we were treated to some first class action, sadly none of if centred on the first three and the two Lotus drivers were unable to challenge Vettel for the victory. The rest of the field, though, was fighting desperately for position and the action was exciting right to the end.

Unfortunately, it was a bad day for the Aussies with Daniel Ricciardo retiring from the race while he was in ninth position with only three laps to go. It’s not clear why Daniel had to park his car off to the side of the circuit.

Nico Hulkenberg drove a masterful race to finish P4, holding off Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg.

Grosjean made a good start to earn himself P2 on the opening lap with a good move on Hamilton and he probably deserved better than P3 today. Although we’ll never know what might have been if the Lotus pairing were able to run longer on their tyres, it’s expected they might have given Vettel a tougher fight for victory.

2013 Korean Grand Prix final placings

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 55 Laps (25 pts)
2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – +4.2 secs (18 pts)
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus – +4.9 secs (15 pts)
4. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – +24.1 secs (12 pts)
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – +25.2 secs (10 pts)
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – +26.1 secs (8 pts)
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – +26.6 secs (6 pts)
8. Jenson Button McLaren – +32.2 secs (4 pts)
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari – +34.3 secs (2 pts)
10. Sergio Perez McLaren – +35.1 secs (1 pt)
11. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +35.9 secs
12. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +47.0 secs
13. Pastor Maldonado Williams – +50.0 secs
14. Charles Pic Caterham – +63.5 secs
15. Giedo van der Garde Caterham – +64.5 secs
16. Jules Bianchi Marussia – +67.9 secs
17. Max Chilton Marussia – +72.8 secs
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – +2 Lap
19. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – +3 Lap
20. Adrian Sutil Force India – +5 Lap

Retired/not classified
Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – +19 Lap 13
Paul di Resta Force India – +31 Laps 15

Fastest Lap
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull – 1:41.380 (Lap 53)

2013 F1 world championship – Drivers (top 10)

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 272
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 195
3. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – 167
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 161
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – 130
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 122
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 89
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus – 72
9. Jenson Button McLaren – 58
10. Paul di Resta Force India – 36

2013 F1 world championship – Constructors

1. Red Bull Racing-Renault – 402
2. Ferrari – 284
3. Mercedes – 283
4. Lotus-Renault – 239
5. McLaren-Mercedes – 81
6. Force India-Mercedes – 62
7. Sauber-Ferrari – 31
8. STR-Ferrari – 31
9. Williams-Renault – 1