Tweet from @willbuxton: Entire support race run under safety car. Where are the cranes? Any F1 crash in walled section will take an age to clear. Worrying.
Now, how are you watching? I'm following the Beeb here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9120810.stm and Autosport live updates here: http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/289
The pit lane is open, and cars are free to make their way to the grid, but most are going out for a tester lap on the tyres.
Glock and Massa have both had a spin, whilst Schumacher messed up the pit lane exit a little. The race hasn't even started yet!
Talking of Schumacher, he was reprimanded yesterday after holding up Barrichello in qualifying. No penalty for him, though.
Petrov is the only guy starting with a penalty - a five place drop carried forward from the Japanese Grand Prix. He starts in 20th.
Now, where was I? Oh yes, following live timing here: http://www.formula1.com/live_timing/live_timing.html and McLaren's epic data here: http://www.mclaren.com/home
Most important link of all though, the Sidepodcast dashboard: https://sidepodcast.com/dashboard/ All the comments, tweets and FBFB information you could possibly need in one window.
You can always follow the comments the old fashioned way, in the thread itself: https://sidepodcast.com/2010/10/24/live-korea-2010-the-race/ Aaaand, I'm done.
Tweet from @byronf1: Ferrari desperately changing Alonso's water pump. No grid penalty. Major work that, so close to the race.
Pit stop action before the race has even begun.
Pos | Driver | Pts |
---|---|---|
1 | Mark Webber | 220 |
2 | Fernando Alonso | 206 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | 206 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | 192 |
5 | Jenson Button | 189 |
Button is the guy under pressure at the moment. I am told, although I have not done the maths myself, that if Webber wins and Button finishes 7th or lower, he's out of the championship fight.
Interview with Button, post-qualifying: "It's going to be tough whatever the weather does, and there's a chance of rain as well. It's all up in the air a little bit, and you can make or break a race on the first lap. I'll be looking for a good start and to make up some places."
Korea International Circuit | |
---|---|
Local Timezone | +0900 GMT |
First Race | 2010 |
Total Races | 0 |
Number of Laps | 55 |
Circuit Length | 5.621km |
Race Distance | 309.155km |
Here's some new facts for you, although be warned, this is approximated for a dry setup. Under wet conditions, there'll be less throttle, and the requirement to use both compounds goes away.
(source Daimler AG) | |
Full Throttle | 53% |
Prime Tyre | Hard |
Option Tyre | Soft |
Tyre Usage | High |
Brake Wear | Low |
Downforce Level | 8 / 10 |
Average Speed | 197kph |
19°C
Track | 18°C |
Humidity | 86% |
Wind Speed | 1.1mps |
Interview with Webber: "I've got the same opportunities as everyone else to get a result out of this. It can make things tricky, but we'll put our best foot forward and hope for the best result."
Interview with Rosberg: "Track is very, very slippery. Tyres are not an easy choice, it will be interesting to see what everybody does. I'm comfortable with my choice." Without telling us what it is, obviously.
All of these times were set in the dry, obviously. Silly rain making all my widgets irrelevant.
Free Practice 1 | Hamilton | 1:40.887 |
Free Practice 2 | Webber | 1:37.942 |
Free Practice 3 | Kubica | 1:37.354 |
Qualifying | Vettel | 1:35.585 |
Talk of a start behind the safety car - Red Bull would be keen on it, McLaren not so much.
Tweet from @InsideFerrari: There will be a standard start, not behind safety car
Phew.
Tweet from @NobleF1: The rain has increased consistently for the past 10 minutes. You can see the oily chemicals coming to the top of the asphalt on the grid
The start of the race has been delayed for ten minutes.
Not a great debut for Korea, but far better to delay than bring out the Safety Car straight away.
We did see Charlie Whiting canvassing drivers on the grid, for their opinion on conditions, but they're now strapped in their cars and waiting patiently.
Tweet from @autosportlive: The safety car remains in position at the front of the grid awaiting further instruction from race director Charlie Whiting.
Race Control confirm they'll start behind the Safety Car. Terrible news.
Good news for Red Bull of course, but terrible news for... well, everyone else. No overtaking, and slow laps.
Tweet from @InsideFerrar: This means that all the cars will have to start with extreme wet tyres and there will be no formation lap
Comment from Alex Andronov: This is a shame about the rain. I was really looking forward to seeing the track today
Here's some curious facts to pass the time. The total length of tyre barrier in Korea = 3,137.28 metres.
Total length of the conveyer belt wrapping the tyres = 3,356.3 metres.
Why is it called a conveyer belt? Does it move like in the supermarket?
Pos | Driver | Total |
---|---|---|
1 | Fernando Alonso | 4 |
2 | Mark Webber | 4 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | 3 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | 3 |
5 | Jenson Button | 2 |
Tweet from @emmastonier: Tough call re whether to start behind safety car. Wonder if same call at other circuits or decision due to new track and the unknown? #F1
Team radio from Button: "I think it's going to be dark before we finish."
Assuming they get started, of course.
Cars are lowered to the ground, tyre blankets off, engines on.
Race started. In a way.
The spray is massive. You can sort of see Whiting's point.
Tweet from @culbforce: Rain will become lighter in 15mins
Team radio from Button: "It's like a lake on the straight."
Tweet from @WilliamsF1Team: Rubens is reporting a lot of standing water and there would be no way they should start the race yet
One lap down.
Team radio to Massa: "From what we know, there will be another twenty minutes of rain. It looks like a lot of rain. You need to do everything you can to keep the tyres alive, to get them to work, and keep the pressures up. Maybe you're going to have five or ten laps behind the safety car."
Senna pits for a change of tyres. Not sure why, but he was last anyway, so it makes little difference to him.
Tweet from @MJRoberts55: They need to clear some water, so just let them go and let 24 cars move a lot of water. #F1 #Korea
It looks like a gap is building between Yamamoto and the rest. He can't quite keep up in the wet conditions maybe? Senna is already tucked up behind him.
Team radio from Alonso: "Worst conditions I've ever driven in."
Race stopped.
They'll reform on the grid and sit waiting for conditions to improve, if they do.
Team radio from Button: "You can't see, you can even see the front tyres when you're on the straights. It's driving completely blind, just waiting to hit somebody."
Button has also requested a new pair of gloves as his are really wet. Bless.
And he followed up asking for a new suit as well. Absolutely soaking. That would provide some entertainment, if pit stops included a change of clothes as well.
Tweet from @ubaidparkar: #F1 The Korean Grand Prix has been red flagged! I think this is an excuse to continue secret construction of the circuit...
All the cars are lined up nicely on the grid. Mechanics have returned with many umbrellas.
Bruno Senna pitted because he was convinced there was something wrong with his car - but a change of tyres didn't help. It's just that wet out there.
Tweet from @ManipeF1: As VET has completed 3 laps, half points will be awarded if the race doesn't resume. #F1
Noooooo, not half points.
Tweet from @autosportlive: The teams will have a ten-minute warning of the restart from race control.
Tweet from @ManipeF1: Full points will be awarded if the race reaches 42 laps. #F1
Mark Webber waits patiently on the grid.
Holly Samos: "What do you think is going to happen next?"
Christian Horner: "I have no idea."
Kubica is out of the car, wandering around the grid under a yellow and black umbrella.
The Mercedes mechanics have taken off Rosberg's nose and are fiddling with the insides. No part of that sentence sounds right.
Hamilton climbs out of the car, he's heading back to the garage without an umbrella or a hat or anything. Brave chap.
This is not so great for those fans who have managed to turn up today. They've got their wet gear on and have no race to watch.
Tweet from @clubforce: Race delayed for another 15mins. Not raining too hard but visibility is so poor
Comment from Alex Andronov: TED says Rosberg was having his setup changed
Is that allowed?
Tweet from @autosportlive: Parc ferme conditions have now ended, so the teams can make set-up tweaks during this red flag period.
Yes, it is.
Most of the cars are shrouded in black covers to keep the rain out.
Rubens has put on a jacket over the top of his overalls. Might be a bit chilly out there.
Massa is still sitting in the car.
Stefano Domenicali peeps into his little red notebook - perhaps he is checking the rules on points.
Kobayashi looks terribly bored. As are we all!
Let's play a game. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with J.
There's some kind of sweeper out on track, making little difference, but trying it's best.
Track status has gone from red to green to yellow. Still no ten minute warning for the drivers, though.
Team radio to Liuzzi: "Sunset is at quarter to six. If we've got another ten or fifteen minute delay, potentially we won't get the two hours in and the race will be suspended due to light."
Alex guesses: "TIM!"
Technically, that does not begin with a J, but ding, ding. You are right!
Interview with Heikki: "I think if we went out and did a few laps behind the safety car, we could take some of the water away from the racing line out on track and quite quickly it would become driveable, and that's what we're here for."
Webber and Alonso are having a bit of a chat.
Webber makes quite a lot of hand gestures. It is fun to try and guess what he is saying.
McLaren's super duper data: Radar says at 4 o'clock, the rain intensity is lighter.
Webber and Alonso now chatting to Bernd Maylandar, Safety car driver.
It is looking a bit brighter out there, and the rain seems to be a bit lighter. No ten minute warning yet though.
The discussion at Sidepodcast HQ is what would be the worst case scenario? To get some racing and still be on half points? To wait for another hour and not get any racing? To race and have all the cars retire and there be no winner?
Tweet from @chrishughespr: Just give Bernd Maylander the win.
There are now three of the big orange sweepers out on track, trying to clear the standing water.
Race will be resumed at 16:05.
Race Control message - Safety Car will do more than 1 lap - wet weather tyres must be used.
Alonso is putting on his helmet, about to be strapped back into the car.
The Medical is doing a lap, looks a lot cleaner out there.
Barrichello is being fastened back into his Williams.
A further update on Senna suggests that his front tyres were the wrong way round and that's why he had to come back in to swap them over.
Team radio to Massa: "It doesn't really look any better to me. The only thing is now you can see the back of the rain, so maybe it's going to stop."
Button back in the car and ready for the restart.
Race started again - Safety Car conditions.
I suppose technically, it is not green, it is actually yellow and Safety Car.
Team radio from Vettel: "There's still a lot of water, it's a little bit better than before, but there's still a lot of water, a lot of spray."
Lucas di Grassi has pitted for a new set of extreme wet tyres.
Team radio from Button: "It's a little bit better but still very, very wet." "Okay, understand, just keep the information coming."
Yamamoto runs wide behind the Safety Car - first real incident we've seen.
Liuzzi has just set the fastest lap of the race, a glorious 2:40.286.
Team radio to Barrichello: "We're expecting light rain to continue for the next 25 minutes, and then that will be it."
A weather update. Still raining.
19°C
Track | 18°C |
Humidity | 88% |
Wind Speed | 1.2mps |
Team radio from Vettel: "The water on the straight is slowly decreasing, so it's getting better little by little. The problem still is the water cannot really go away."
This is, of course, exactly the same as qualifying, but just a reminder.
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull |
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull |
3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren |
5 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes |
Schumacher runs wide over the grass and the Mercedes gets covered in mud.
Team radio from Hamilton: "Conditions are good. The track is good, it's getting dryer, it's improving all the time."
That's the kind of optimism I like to hear.
Tweet from @alexjsnell: Just watched the cars from up on the korean style bridge. Spray doesn't look so bad from up there, but the onboards look awful! #F1
Tweet from @antdavidson: Agree with Lewis 100% Track is good! Let's get a move on!!! They'll be on Inters in a few laps!
The spray is certainly looking better, from the comfort of my chair. The onboards are still quite scary though.
I don't think Schumacher lost any places from his little off. The Mercedes crew were wandering around the pitlane, but neither car looks set to come in.
The cars have closed up considerably, and Hamilton is on the radio pushing to start the race. It's about time the Safety Car came in.
Tweet from @eddstrawF1: Hamilton wants it started - he knows that, if he is going to win the title, this wet race is his big chance
Remember, the lower points are better, and these are some slow times!
Sebastian Vettel | |
---|---|
Lap 7 | 2:40.241 |
Lap 8 | 2:41.182 |
Lap 9 | 2:40.186 |
Lap 10 | 2:40.302 |
Webber told over the radio that Hamilton is keen to get going, Mark says he sees little difference. Clearly the championship is on everyone's minds.
Team radio to Alonso: "There's a forecast for five minutes more rain."
New fastest lap - 2:36.092 from Lucas di Grassi. Let us remember this moment, please.
If the Safety Car keeps on going, there'll be concerns that it will run out of fuel - it'll have to swap with the medical car.
Tweet from @MikeGascoyne: Our guys saying visability at the back is very bad, espicially in sector 3 where there is still a lot of standing water
Team radio from Hamilton: "Start. the. race."
Lewis: "Are other people complaining, what's the reason we're not starting?"
Pits: "Lewis, we think other drivers don't have the same enthusiasm for starting the race at the moment."
Lewis: "Well, it's a wet race, what do they expect?"
Di Grassi has pitted again.
On 5 live, Crofty reports he can see some blue skies!
Tweet from @alexjsnell: Lucas coming in for a new set of extreme wets. The logic being that they'll be warmer, so better grip for the restart #F1
And Holly on 5 live reports it has pretty much stopped raining in the pit lane.
It's not clear why the Safety Car is still out there, we're really just in a period of waiting - either stop or start, but this is crazy. Only 25 minutes or so until the two hour maximum anyway.
For a while, it looked like it was brightening, but now it's starting to darken - not because of the rain but because of nighttime.
On the back straight, there is practically no spray at all.
Comment from Steven Roy: FBFB The stoppage doesn't count for the two hour maximum
Safety Car coming in at the end of this lap.
I think I speak for us all with a resounding WOOOOOOHOO.
Tweet from @JRobertsF1: Thank god for that! Look out for Lewis at the restart!
Track is clear.
A clean start at the front, drivers taking it nice and easy.
Di Grassi pits.
Rosberg has overtaken Lewis for fourth place. Oops.
Button has an attempt on Massa round the outside, but it doesn't stick. Schumacher is close behind the McLaren too.
Trulli spun at Turn 1, he is last bar Di Grassi - who has pitted three times so far!
Lap times fall below two minutes, with a 1:57.805 from Vettel.
Sutil attempts to pass another car but outbraked himself and loses places instead.
Replays show Trulli's spin, and Senna also ran straight off track, but circled the Lotus and returned to the track.
Webber spins, bounces off the wall and takes out Rosberg as well.
Safety car deployed.
Webber looks pretty annoyed, but he didn't want to go racing in the first place.
Replays show he just ran wide, slightly off track, and it was so slippery that he was out of control. Rosberg was just a passenger in that, already into the corner.
The McLaren mechanics applaud. Bad form.
Kobayashi, Buemi and Senna all pit.
Pos | Driver | Pts |
---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | 231 |
2 | Fernando Alonso | 244 |
3 | Mark Webber | 220 |
Petrov has pitted and changed for intermediate tyres. Risky business!
Rosberg returns to the garage on the back of a motorbike. Webber is also on his way back.
Trulli pits.
Pos | Driver | |
---|---|---|
1 | 0 | Sebastian Vettel |
2 | +1 | Fernando Alonso |
3 | +1 | Lewis Hamilton |
4 | +2 | Felipe Massa |
5 | +2 | Jenson Button |
Tweet from @MikeGascoyne: rain for 5-10 mins from 17.05
Track is clear.
The crane crosses the entire track to retrieve Webber's car.
Vettel gets a great restart, a bit gap already over Alonso.
Trulli gets it all wrong coming into the corner, and bashes into the side of Senna - leaving a a Lotus front wing lying on the track.
Trulli pits, as you would expect.
Pos | Driver | Gap |
---|---|---|
1st | Vettel | 1:45.537 |
2nd | Alonso | +2.5 |
3rd | Hamilton | +5.3 |
4th | Massa | +7.5 |
Koabyashi tries to make a move, but runs the corner wide and loses out.
Invident involving Trulli and Senna under investigation by the stewards.
Lucas di Grassi off into the wall.
Schumacher overtakes Button - hard to see the move in a cloud of spray, but it looks like he just braked better than the McLaren.
Trulli has climbed out of the car, his race is over. Plenty of smoke pouring from the back of the Lotus.
Tweet from @tonyfernandes: these hydralulics have been a disaster
Glock and Kovalainen are doing pretty well so far, they are up to 13th and 14th - although down a pit stop on their closest rivals.
Tweet from @EliGP: We need 41.25 laps to award full points. Less than that will mean half points
McLaren mechanics pour into the pit lane. Button is gambling on inters. Sutil follows him into the pits.
Hamilton sets a new fastest lap 1:53.914.
Button rejoins right behind a big train of cars. Not great for him.
Team radio from Vettel: "Tyres are okay, but I don't think they'll last the distance. I have more and more sliding." "Understood, there's more rain ahead."
Kovalainen tagged another car and spun off, but continued. At the same corner, but moments later, Sutil also spun and continued.
Interview with Webber: "Look, it was my mistake, I got on the kerb and I lost control of the car. Today wasn't my day and my second non-finish of the year and it brings me back to them on the points.
"I couldn't see Fernando, I was just doing my own thing, and trying to keep the pace going. Fair enough conditions to start, right on the edge, but okay.
"I'm not too worried about being third, but I want to get back to the front."
Hulkenberg pits for intermediate tyres.
Tweet from @lukehmuse: Webber totally honest and blaming himself for the crash, very mature and honest response
Buemi is off track, front wing damage, smoke coming from the car, debris everywhere.
Safety car deployed.
Hamilton pits.
Massa, Schumacher and Kubica all pit. Barrichello as well.
Replays show Buemi twitching down the straight, unable to make the corner and sliding into Glock's car as well. It looks like Timo is still going.
Kovalainen and Glock have both pitted.
Vettel is in the pits from the lead. Alonso also in.
In the pit lane, a complete repeat of Hungary. Kubica held and held as cars stream past, and then let go almost into the side of a Force India. Narrowly avoided crash.
Interview with Di Grassi: "Very difficult track conditions, I was caught up trying to overtake Yamamoto, ended my race. Very disappointing."
Hamilton has jumped Alonso after the pit lane.
Race control confirm no further action on the Senna/Trulli incident.
Replays show Alonso's stop was very slow - the right front was a long time coming, and the wheel gun took an age as well.
21 laps to go, 25 minutes of light left. Touch and go!
Incident involving Buemi and Glock under investigation by the stewards.
Driver | Compound | Laps |
---|---|---|
Hamilton | Extreme | 32 |
Vettel | Extreme | 33 |
Alonso | Extreme | 33 |
Track is clear.
Vettel repeats his nice, clean restart again. All through safely, it seems.
Alonso has got back past Hamilton, as Lewis got the corner wrong. Massa has also closed up to the McLaren.
Interview with Buemi: "Basically, I locked the front wheels and I think my front wing was a little bit damaged, but I just locked the front and went sideways."
Kovalainen under investigation for speeding in the pit lane - a drive through penalty announced in what must be the quickest stewards decision ever.
Sutil forces Button wide on track, and falls even further down the field.
Driver | Reason | Lap |
---|---|---|
Rosberg | Accident | 18 |
Webber | Accident | 18 |
Trulli | Accident | 24 |
Di Grassi | Accident | 25 |
Buemi | Accident | 30 |
Glock | Accident | 31 |
Sutil overtakes Heidfeld for 12th place.
Vettel sets a new fastest lap - 1:51.909
Sutil runs really wide and allows that position and a lot of others back. He appears to have found a whole other section of track.
Public service announcement: For BBC TV viewers, you'll be switching from BBC 1 to BBC 2 at half past.
Kovalainen pitted for the second time today.
Team radio to Alonso: "Protect the tyres a bit and think about not being too aggressive, especially through turns 7 or 8."
Alguersuari has overtaken Sutil for 13th position.
Vettel's going a bit quicker now.
Sebastian Vettel | |
---|---|
Lap 36 | 1:52.694 |
Lap 37 | 1:51.909 |
Lap 38 | 1:50.852 |
Lap 39 | 1:50.914 |
Petrov has had a huge crash at turn 1.
He climbs out of the car gingerly, but okay. The car is pretty smashed up.
He looks very downbeat about it as he walks to safety.
The wheels are definitely off that car.
Comment from Lukeh: It was the final turn FBFB
Tweet from @emmastonier: This race is certainly giving the locals some excitement. Would love to know what they think of their first experience of #F1
The light has changed, sun is beginning to set, and things are taking on an orange glow.
We've reached the point where full points will be awarded. Phew!
A mid-table positions update.
Pos | Driver | |
---|---|---|
8 | 0 | Robert Kubica |
9 | +8 | Tonio Liuzzi |
10 | +2 | Kamui Kobayashi |
11 | +2 | Nick Heidfeld |
12 | +2 | Adrian Sutil |
Ten laps to go.
Driver | Lap | Time |
---|---|---|
Fernando Alonso | 42 | 1:50.257 |
Felipe Massa | 41 | 1:50.673 |
Lewis Hamilton | 39 | 1:50.710 |
Hamilton says the light level is fine, but... he would say that, wouldn't he?
Vettel slows way down, and Alonso is past for the lead.
Vettel's engine has given up.
He is out of the race!
Vettel is out of the car, and I believe I just spotted him with a fire extinguisher. He's trying to beat Fireman Heikki at his own game.
Vettel picks up an extinguisher.
It had to happen eventually, Sutil bombed past Kobayashi, lost complete control, swiped past the Sauber and is off track.
Kamui continues, Sutil has one wheel hanging off.
Is there anyone left??
Driver | Reason | Lap |
---|---|---|
Rosberg | Accident | 18 |
Webber | Accident | 18 |
Trulli | Accident | 24 |
Di Grassi | Accident | 25 |
Buemi | Accident | 30 |
Glock | Accident | 31 |
Petrov | Accident | 39 |
Vettel | Engine | 45 |
Sutil | Accident | 46 |
Pos | Driver | |
---|---|---|
1 | +2 | Fernando Alonso |
2 | +3 | Lewis Hamilton |
3 | +3 | Felipe Massa |
4 | +5 | Michael Schumacher |
5 | +5 | Rubens Barrichello |
We're in danger of seeing Schumacher on the podium, here!
Pos | Driver | Pts |
---|---|---|
1 | Fernando Alonso | 231 |
2 | Mark Webber | 220 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | 210 |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | 206 |
5 | Jenson Button | 189 |
Vettel looks pretty philosophical about it - at least he and his teammate have met the same fate. Bad day for Red Bull.
Tweet from @autosportlive: Both Alonso and Hamilton are on well-worn intermediates, with little difference in pace between the pair.
Pos | Driver | Laps Down |
---|---|---|
13 | Kovalainen | 2 |
14 | Senna | 2 |
15 | Yamamoto | 1 |
Massa has a bit of a rear end wobble, and Rob Smedley looks nervous on the pit wall. A double podium for Ferrari could be on the cards.
Just three laps to go.
Tweet from @InsideFerrari: What a tension inside our garage...
Hulkenberg has pitted from 8th place.
Replays show the Williams running very wide, with zero grip on the tyres, hence having to come in.
Button spins, but recovers nicely to continue. He's down in 12th, though.
Driver | Lewis Hamilton |
Team | McLaren |
Position | 2 |
Stops | 1 |
Last Lap | 1:52.897 |
Best Lap | 1:50.430 |
Liuzzi is up to sixth, pretty impressive considering the scrappy afternoon his teammate had.
Barrichello ran wide, dropped down to 7th, gifting a move up for Kubica and the aforementioned Liuzzi.
Alguersuari | vs. | Hulkenberg |
10th | +0.5s | 11th |
Final lap.
It's terribly dark out there, but they will make it to the end.
Fernando Alonso wins the Korean Grand Prix!!
Hamilton crosses the line 15 seconds later, followed by Massa a further 15 seconds down the road.
Driver | Fernando Alonso |
Team | Ferrari |
Race Time | 2:48:20.810 |
Race Distance | 308.630km |
Average Speed | 109.997km/h |
The normal congratulations are issued over the radio to Alonso, who laughs hysterically in response. Understandable really. Chaos out there.
Tweet from @tabathavalls: And great result for HRT, again both drivers have achieved their best result of the season so far! Excellent job! #F1
14th and 15th for the HRT boys, all due to retirements of course, but in a race like this, getting to the end is nothing to sniff at.
The cars look absolutely filthy. All that mud, you'd think it was a rally.
Tweet from @clubforce: 6th for Tonio! Woot! m/ .. ahead of Williams in the constructors championship! Fantastic drive!
Tweet from @eddstrawF1: 6th for Tonio! Woot! m/ .. ahead of Williams in the constructors championship! Fantastic drive!
Points positions:
Pos | Driver | |
---|---|---|
1 | +2 | Fernando Alonso |
2 | +3 | Lewis Hamilton |
3 | +3 | Felipe Massa |
4 | +5 | Michael Schumacher |
5 | +3 | Robert Kubica |
6 | +11 | Tonio Liuzzi |
7 | +3 | Rubens Barrichello |
8 | +4 | Kamui Kobayashi |
9 | +4 | Nick Heidfeld |
10 | +1 | Nico Hulkenberg |
The championship is as predicted earlier, with Alonso first, and Webber second - I'm sure he will be taking the positives out of that.
Liuzzi has clawed something back with this race - their season long battle is creeping ever closer to 50/50.
Force India | Finished Ahead |
---|---|
Tonio Liuzzi | 7 |
Adrian Sutil | 10 |
Alonso celebrates with a spot of champagne.
Tweet from @JRobertsF1: Brazil can't come quick enough now....
Press conference quotes - Alonso: "One of the best races of the year for us, for the team. Fantastic achievement for Ferrari, we've been competitive all weekend. We knew the race pace was there. This morning was wet, and we knew that it was a tricky race to finish, and of course, winning the race, I think it's the first wet race that I win."
Press conference quotes - Hamilton: "Still a great result, very happy with it. Of course, some small mistakes, but very tricky conditions out there. Fernando did a great job, they generally had more grip out there. My tyres were shot right at the end. Good for the championship and the team."
Press conference quotes - Massa: "It means good points for the team, a good race in difficult conditions. At the end was very, very dark, it was difficult to see in front. I think it was a good race, very difficult, tricky conditions at the beginning. The visibility was almost zero. I'm very happy for this position, for me, for the team, and Fernando did a very good job as well."
These tables haven't changed, but for a nice round-up:
Driver | Lap | Time |
---|---|---|
Fernando Alonso | 42 | 1:50.257 |
Felipe Massa | 41 | 1:50.673 |
Lewis Hamilton | 39 | 1:50.710 |
Driver | Reason | Lap |
---|---|---|
Rosberg | Accident | 18 |
Webber | Accident | 18 |
Trulli | Accident | 24 |
Di Grassi | Accident | 25 |
Buemi | Accident | 30 |
Glock | Accident | 31 |
Petrov | Accident | 39 |
Vettel | Engine | 45 |
Sutil | Accident | 46 |
Pos | Driver | Pts |
---|---|---|
1 | Fernando Alonso | 231 |
2 | Mark Webber | 220 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | 210 |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | 206 |
5 | Jenson Button | 189 |
Watching replays of Alonso crossing the line, the chequered flag was very, very late. I'm not sure Fernando even saw it. I think my chequered flag was ahead of the real one!
It's hard to see in this picture, but Alonso has already pass the flag, and it's just being unfurled.
From what I can gather, people have found this race fascinating but not necessarily enjoyable. A terrible start, and then plenty of incidents to follow kept it worth watching, but it was not great racing.
It's a shame we didn't get to see the full potential of the track. Several of the drivers thought there would be a lot of overtaking opportunities but the weather put a stop to that.
A terrible day for Red Bull, but it means the championship battle is still red hot. Alonso is leading now, but all five drivers are still in it. Button has fallen 42 points behind though, so it's looking even more unlikely for him.
Next race is in Brazil, and that usually adds plenty of it's own spice to the racing. I hope you will join me back here for that, but until then, stay tuned to https://sidepodcast.com for full results, standings, comments and thoughts, plus maybe even a podcast later today.
Thank you for sticking with me today, couldn't have done it without you. See you next time!
All content in the series Korea 2010
Filed under Lap by lap coverage
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