A masterclass display in treacherous conditions gave Fernando Alonso a vital victory in Korea.
But he was helped by Sebastian Vettel suffering another car failure late in the race.
Lewis Hamilton finished second but let a chance for victory slip through his fingers by going off the track after the third and final restart.
Heavy rain in the lead-up to the race meant the start was delayed by over an hour. This led to a minor war of words conducted over the team radios between drivers urging a start to the race – mainly Hamilton – and those who opposed it – including the Red Bull drivers, Alonso and Robert Kubica.
The safety car finally peeled off after 17 laps, leaving the Red Bulls at the front of the pack, Vettel leading Mark Webber and Alonso.
Having lobbied for an earlier start to the race Hamilton didn’t get away well at the restart and was quickly passed by Nico Rosberg.
That proved to be a blessing in disguise, for after just two laps of green flag running the championship leader Mark Webber astonishingly lost control of his car at turn 14. His RB6 swung back across the track and harpooned Rosberg.
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That brought the safety car out once more, with Alonso now up to second behind Vettel, and Hamilton up to third. Their team mates were behind them, Felipe Massa ahead of Jenson Button, but after the next restart Michael Schumacher neatly lined up Button for a pass.
Button never looked happy on his full wet tyres so he made an early switch to intermediates. But just two laps later the safety car was out again, allowing the cars in front of him to switch to intermediates without any risk of falling behind him.
That included team mate Hamilton, who made it into the pits at short notice first while Vettel and Alonso were already heading past the pit lane.
The safety car allowed Vettel and Alonso past quickly – avoiding a repeat of Valencia – but a slow pit stop for Alonso allowed Hamilton into second.
He didn’t hold the place for long. Before the safety car came in he warned him team he was concerned about grip and at the restart he ran wide at the first corner. That allowed Alonso past, leaving Hamilton defending from Massa.
The top three continued in that order, Vettel pulling away to begin with, then Hamilton catching them back up again. A three-way battle was developing for the lead – but suddenly it was extinguished.
In the closing stages of the race tyre wear came into play. Alonso seemed to have looked after his tyres beautifully and by the end of the race was up to four seconds per laps faster than the cars behind.
He tiptoed around the final lap to win the inaugural Korean Grand Prix and claim a priceless 25 points on a day when both Red Bull drivers failed to score.
Hamilton salvaged second, and perhaps his only consolation for going off after the final safety car period was that Alonso would probably have passed him anyway.
Massa took third after a quiet race, although he came close to spinning off at the same place as Webber. Schumacher matched his best finish of the year with fourth.
Kubica nicked fifth of Rubens Barrichello in the closing stages, and Vitantonio Liuzzi followed him through for an excellent sixth.
Kamui Kobayashi was fortunate to finish eighth after being hit by Adrian Sutil.
The final point went to Nico Hulkenberg despite a late pit stop for more intermediate tyres after going off.
Jaime Alguersuari was 11th ahead of Button, whose championship chances are in tatters are failing to score. He was another victim of Sutil, who bundled him off the track at turn five. The Force India driver later made race-ending contact with Kobayashi. The last runners were Heikki Kovalainen and the two HRTs, Bruno Senna ahead of Sakon Yamamoto.
Vitaly Petrov also crashed out of the race, spinning into the barriers at the final corner. Yellow flags remained at the spot for several laps but race control avoided sending the Safety Car out again.
If they had the race certainly wouldn’t have gone the distance. Darkness had fallen and there were only a few minutes left on the clock when Alonso finished the 55th lap of a race that lasted over two and three-quarter hours.
The Ferrari driver now holds the upper hand, having pulled 11 points clear with just two races remaining in 2010.
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2010 Korean Grand Prix
- Mercedes deny Massa held up Schumacher for Alonso
- Korea say 168,000 attended first F1 race
- Alonso not considering Brazil title win
- Hamilton: Alonso would have passed me
- Button: “I will fight until it’s impossible”
- Horner hits back over Webber criticism
- Korean International Circuit: your verdict
- Montezemolo: “We haven’t won yet”
- 2010 Korean Grand Prix: the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Korean Grand Prix weekend? (Poll)
Nadya
24th October 2010, 11:52
Wish Alonso’s pit stop was smooth without any problem, so that Hamilton always stayed behind him.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 12:44
lol, well Hamilton threw it away anyway! :D
Forza Ferrari!
Syqo
24th October 2010, 13:26
It was highly unlikely that he was going to beat Alonso. His tyres were completely shot, Alonso was lapping four seconds faster than him (and everybody else) at times and finished 15 seconds ahead of him. It would have been almost impossible for Hamilton to defend against Alonso without completely destroying his tyres so I don’t think he threw it away. Alonso was fantastic and deserved to win though.
Webber fan
24th October 2010, 13:27
It would have been an interesting battle. But alas it was not to be.
Alistair
24th October 2010, 16:40
I’m convinced that Webber deliberately turned his car back onto the racing line after spinning and hitting the wall. Study the replay: Webber made a deliberate effort on the wheel to reverse back onto the racing line; which, surely, he knew was [likely to be] occupied. Why? I suspect, in all seriousness, that he was trying to take out Lewis for what would have been the fourth time this year. But he got Rosberg instead.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 17:58
Take out Lewis? Now as silly as your theory already sounded, I think he’d have been more concerned with Alonso who was right behind him (on the racetrack and championship standings).
chemakal
24th October 2010, 18:18
Agree with David A, I’ll watch it again but if your crazy theory was to be right he would have gone against Alonso who was behind him in the race and closer in the championship. Why Ham?
Antranik
24th October 2010, 19:00
@Alistair Did you even watch it from the 2nd angle?? His wheel was messed up from the impact with the wall, he couldn’t steer it in any way, thats one of the dumbest theories ever.
Younger Hamilton
24th October 2010, 18:22
Errh Syqo i dont remember Alonso lapping 4 secs quicker than Lewis it was around 1-1.5secs a lap in the late stages
Syqo
24th October 2010, 18:57
Lap 53:
Alonso: 1:51.318
Hamilton: 1:55.912
Difference: 4.594
It was only one lap but he was around a second slower just before that and over two seconds slower in the final two laps. Alonso had much more grip and his tyres were in much better shape so I just don’t think Hamilton would have been able to defend against him. I was surprised by the McLarens’ lap of grip as they normally excel in these conditions but Button really struggled.
spectator
24th October 2010, 23:53
yes he did brundle mentioned that anyway it was just about the tyres
spectator
24th October 2010, 23:50
only question would have been if vettel was going to suffer from his tyres like ham did
Younger Hamilton
24th October 2010, 18:20
Oh my god im gonna stop predicting how the weekends are gonna plan out because this is the third weekend now i said no forza ferrari anyway.Lewis never threw anything away even if he didnt commit himself too deep into turn 1 and went wide Alonso still would have brezzed past.Did you watch the race no offence i have to admit me being a big McLaren Fan and that,but Lewis was struggling more like a pig than Fernando was.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 22:44
It seems everyone is latching onto the words “threw it away”. Let me clarify: Lewis Hamilton made a driver error which gave Alonso a position, but wasn’t on Fernando Alonso’s level anyway this weekend.
Marcello
24th October 2010, 15:06
yea im ith you on that one, if alonss pit stop went smooth perhaps hamilton would have fallen even more behind
Alistair
24th October 2010, 16:32
Given that Lewis’s McLaren is the third best car, and has been all season, Alonso was always going to get past. If they were in the same cars, no chance. But the Ferrari manages its tyres better than the McLaren. Jenson clearly had a bad race; but I think it shows that the McLaren is not as competative as people may think…
Apparently, this is Alonso’s first wet weather win! After nine seasons in F1, with Championship winning cars at Renault and potentially championship winning cars at McLaren and Ferrari. Not a good record.
Brian Baum
24th October 2010, 17:35
I’m not sure what Alonso meant by saying Korea was his only wet race win. I was at the 2007 European GP in Germany where he took a close victory from Massa in horrible conditions during much of the race. Hamilton fans will remember it was his first non-points finish.
chemakal
24th October 2010, 18:21
Alonso ment it was his 1st win in a complete wet race, from lap 1 til final lap
vmdg345
24th October 2010, 21:44
Accordin to WCC it´s second best…so far. And btw, remember first Alonso´s podium…
spectator
24th October 2010, 23:55
you are really a mclaren fanatic some many crazy theories anyway i dont like alonso either or ham or vettel or webb but especially vettel and ham the youngsters
silencer
24th October 2010, 11:53
if i’m not wrong, today is red bull 1st double DNF. The happier man that leave yeongam today I guess is Webber despite 11 point behind alonso :-D
baracca
24th October 2010, 13:21
well, at least the second: Turkey was another one
Mach1
24th October 2010, 16:26
I thought Webber survived that one in Turkey? Just took a hit on where he finished.
baracca
24th October 2010, 22:04
Had to check it but you’re right! I was pretty sure they both were out. Mark had to pit and lost 2 positions to the McLs, but survived and got 3rd place
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
24th October 2010, 11:54
Eh, I wouldn’t say it was a “masterclass”. His drive in Singapore certainly qualified as such, but a hell of a lot went Alonso’s way today – like Webber crashing out and taking Rosberg with him whilst avoiding the Ferrari, Hamilton’s off and Vettel’s engine self-destructing. Skill was involved to master the conditions, but there was a healthy dose of luck in there, too.
Lee
24th October 2010, 11:57
Alonso has had more than his fair share of bad luck this year.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
24th October 2010, 12:25
Having bad luck in one race does not mean having good luck in another qualifies as “masterclass”. Alonso was good, to be sure. But he never controlled thr race the way Vettel did; by the time Vettel retired, Hamilton was too far away to be a threat. Like I said, Singapore was masterclass. This wasn’t.
RioF
24th October 2010, 13:09
The RB6 maybe the top of the 2010 class, but I you have to wonder if the car is kind to its tires and engine.
Could Vettel’s engine have gone cos of the prolong duration of the race? Anyway, another point to consider is…
Just before the crash, Vettel had complained about the lack of light… etc etc, could this be a coded message that the engine has a problem?
I mean think about it, for all the monitors and checks on the car, surely they would have picked up something of this sort before it happened? and it looked pretty fatal to the engine as well.
Skett
24th October 2010, 13:54
I highly doubt that. It was awfully valid for a coded message. If he’d said it during a normal race people would notice
macca77
24th October 2010, 15:21
IMO he knew there was a problem and was trying to make some noise so the race would end sooner, he didn’t know at the time that the car was in such a bad shape (the engine blew after just one or two laps), but he was certain the car was going to brake before the end of the 55 laps.
Dipak T
24th October 2010, 16:49
Nope, that was trying to get Charlie Whiting to call the race early. Soon, after, FOM broadcast Hamilton saying over the radio that the light was perfectly fine, its all just mind games.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
24th October 2010, 15:08
Alonso’s actually had incredibly good luck this year if you look at it – apart from Valencia, and arguably Silverstone, although that was probably his fault in the first place.
He’s inherited two wins, a 2nd and a 4th from Vettel failures. He’s had lucky safety cars that have brought him back to the pack after his own errors in Melbourne, Shanghai and Monaco. He escaped without major damage after a couple of lap 1 incidents as well. And that is without mentioning Hockenheim.
He’s driven extremely well at times, but he certainly has benefited from luck more than others.
GeorgeK
24th October 2010, 17:09
I would rather be lucky then good, and it it’s a beautiful thing when you are lucky AND good like Fernando.
PT
24th October 2010, 17:43
Alonso would have certainly won at Monaco if he hadn’t crashed in Practice 3. Remember that the Ferrari was in such strong form throughout the weekend. The fact that the crash in practice should cause such serious damage to his car was bad luck and Webber and Red Bull were in effect “gifted” a win.
And hasn’t Webber had good luck? He should have retired following the coming together with Hamilton at Singapore. His 3rd place finish there enabled him to retain the lead in the championship till Korea.
Lewis Hamilton slid into the gravel at Spa in the final laps and missed the barriers by inches to go on to win. He was also gifted the win at Turkey thanks to the shenanigans of the Red Bull drivers.
Luck is a factor in motor racing – everyone has benefited from it this season, not only Alonso. He drove brilliantly at Korea, and as he said in the post-race interview it was the first time he won in the wet. A masterclass and measured performance from him shouldn’t be nullified by attributing it to luck.
dragon
25th October 2010, 1:57
Off-topic, but I’m not sure how you can suggest Monaco would have been Fred’s if he hadn’t have crashed. Marky Mark was in one of his untouchable moods, that day.
Alistair
24th October 2010, 16:36
His main problem has been driver errors. He’s on a good run of form for now; yes, it won’t last. Before, he was making driver error after driver error. We shouldn’t forget this. Webber and then Seb’s failure gifted Alonso this win.
spectator
25th October 2010, 0:00
despite this race and the first one yes i agree and lewis had some bad luck moments but in general 3 wins for ham are 3 too many that car isnt good enough button was very lucky in the beggining and vet is the unlucky master
Steve
24th October 2010, 12:03
You could say the same for any race, even drivers who win from pole. Lucky their car didn’t explode.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
24th October 2010, 12:27
Of course you could say that. But you have to admit that a lot of things went Alonso’s way today. Do you honstly think he would have won if Webber and Rosberg hadn’t retired, if Vettel’s engine had stayed in one piece and Hamilton had gone off? Of course not. benfiting from luck does not make a drive “masterclass”.
Manu
24th October 2010, 12:40
The same can be said for Hamilton. From 6th to 2nd without overtaking a single car.
Nadya
24th October 2010, 12:57
“The same can be said for Hamilton. From 6th to 2nd without overtaking a single car.”
Thats a feisty counter attack from manu. nuff said
Skid
24th October 2010, 13:12
Hamilton should send a thank you card to Webber for taking Nico and himself out.
Skett
24th October 2010, 13:56
Whats that got to do with it? Nobody claimed Hamilton gave us a masterclass and nobody claimed that he didn’t have any luck.
Kbdavies
24th October 2010, 14:42
Err, there was no point where Hamilton was 6th – either in qualifying, or in the race.
Todfod (@todfod)
24th October 2010, 12:47
I agree a lot of things went Alonso’s way today, and I wouldn’t call it a masterclass drive. I would call it a solid performance though, and I was pretty sure that he would have got by Vettel during the last couple of laps anyways.
baracca
24th October 2010, 13:20
And Hamilton too, if he hadn’t gone wide in the restart. If that would have happened to Massa instead everybody would be booing TO
Mads
24th October 2010, 13:20
Why would he? Alonso were nowhere near fast enough, Alonso was a tiny bit faster at one stage, but Vettel was preserving his tires then he picked up the pace and Alonso just couldn’t gain anything on him.
Mike
25th October 2010, 1:17
I’d be tempted doubt that, the Red Bull was the faster car…
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk)
24th October 2010, 15:54
I read that as a compliment from you PM.
I leave satisfied ;)
Cacarella
24th October 2010, 16:03
“You have to admit that a lot of things went Alonso’s way today”
A very biased opinion indeed.
You could also say that It wasn’t bad luck that took Webber out or forced Hamilton wide but lack of skill in these conditions. Perhaps you could give Alonso credit for NOT making a mistake like this in the race rather than dismissing it as ‘good luck’. The only gift he and every other championship contender was given today was Vettels engine failure, the rest was skill and/or lack of it.
PT
24th October 2010, 17:53
Webber made a mistake that cost him dearly – Alonso didn’t.
Hamilton made a mistake that cost him one place – Alonso didn’t.
You can talk about Vettel’s cruel luck benefiting Alonso, but don’t bring Webber and Hamilton into it, please. They made a mistake, while Alonso didn’t. So who deserves the credit?
Alonso was better than the rest of the title contenders, except Vettel. The first Korean Grand Prix was and will always be remembered in history as the day Alonso proved his wet weather skills.
baracca
24th October 2010, 22:21
I beg to disagree. Alonso drove a terrific wet race in Hungary 2006. He got a 2 seconds penalty in quali, which dropped him to 15th in the grid. His charge through the field was something I’ve only seen Ayrton Senna do before (15th to 3rd in the first lap). He got first position and was clearly poised to win, but in the pitstop he got a bad job, he lost a wheel and crashed.
So his wet weather skills were very much already proven, although he didn’t get to win that race
IDR
24th October 2010, 13:16
That was not a masterclass race but that was a SOLID race from Fernando.
He told before the race start, this race was for not to loose not for win, and he was right.
Fernando raced error-free very quick setting various fastest laps, and with a very cold head. He made his race, the others didn’t.
Being error-free and competitive in conditions like we saw today, maybe is not masterclass it looks like quite close to it.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th October 2010, 13:23
Have a look at his lap times and everyone else’s at the end of the race if you don’t agree with me.
Korean Grand Prix fastest laps
With three laps to go there was no-one within two-and-a-half seconds of him.
Alistair
24th October 2010, 16:50
With three laps to go, the only cars that could challenge him on pace, i.e., the Bulls, were both out. With three laps to go, pretty much everyone had backed-off: that Alonso backed-off less, relatively speaking, is not a great achievement.
Alonso won because he had a very quick car, kind on its tyres; and he was very fortunate that the guys he couldn’t pass DNFd. Otherwise, he would have been third; even fourth, perhaps, if Lewis hadn’t made that one mistake.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th October 2010, 17:07
I don’t believe everyone on the track bar Alonso had given up on improving their positions at that point.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
24th October 2010, 19:52
I do. From all accounts it was pretty difficult to even see where you were going in those last couple of laps. I think every single driver out there including Alonso was just concentrating on where their braking points were, staying on the drying line, and making sure they got their car to the finish without incident.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 22:48
He lost the position through driver error and wasn’t driving as well as Fernando anyway. Lewis only gained the position through a poor pitstop from Ferrari, not through Lewis doing anything right.
PT
24th October 2010, 18:05
Thanks, Keith for that vital link. It strengthens the case for Alonso.
David Smith
24th October 2010, 13:22
Didnt Alonso say after all his bad races and bad luck he was due to have some good luck and the others to have some bad luck?
Fixy (@)
24th October 2010, 13:41
You might be right, but looking at Hamilton and Webber you can notice how Fernando made no mistakes; neither did Vettel, but retiring was unlucky for him. Fernando would have reached second if it wasn’t for his “luck”.
Electrolite
24th October 2010, 15:28
To be honest, no matter what anyone says, Alonso had at least a little bit of bad luck in the early-mid part of the season. With most drivers, luck tends to even itself out until the very end. I can’t believe the twists and turns are still happening.
Julian (@julian)
24th October 2010, 17:28
Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton all gave a masterclass in how to drive in the rain on a ‘virgin’ track :P
Alonso and Vettel did not make one mistake all race in horrid conditions. Hamilton the same barring one corner in a car that isnt very kind on its tyres.
He didn’t control the race? he drove away from everyone at the end. Sure his tyres were in better nic but he was lapping around the same times at the end as when he was first on the inters. I doubt the ferrari is ‘that’ kind on its tyres :P
US_Peter (@us_peter)
24th October 2010, 19:56
Alonso volunteered in the press conference that he was to blame for the botched pit stop, by coming into the box a bit sideways he said he made it difficult for the mechanics, which resulted in the slow stop. Other than that one tiny error though he drove one hell of a race.
engines
25th October 2010, 12:24
Domenicalli said that it was not Alonso’s fault
Baracca
25th October 2010, 13:03
it was “I find it hard TO MATCH his words this year”, sorry
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th October 2010, 11:54
Well, it makes both championships more interesting, doesn’t it? Red Bull should be the team to beat at both of the final GPs, but how often have we said that this year? If they continue with their usual comedy of errors, we could have an epic championship showdown. Though if they gift Alonso another win at Interlagos it could all be over bar the shouting.
Sad that Button’s all but out of it, though. Would be great if we could still get all five drivers in contention by Abu Dhabi…
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
24th October 2010, 14:33
You might as well have stolen the words from my mouth! Other than Button’s misfortune, I think this race could hardly have been more perfect for the championship. The only thing that could have improved it is if Hamilton beat Alonso. And I suppose if Mark and Sebastian scored a few – but not too many points it would have been even closer!
I tipped Alonso to win this one, as he has the momentum and the Ferrari seems to be the scariest machine on the grid! It must be causing a few sleepless nights at McLaren and Red Bull I would imagine. It is just so unpredictable! But it is Alonso’s championship to lose now, and Webber and Hamilton are on top form!
On another note, I thought FOM did a much better job than usual this weekend, but I wish they showed us an onboard from Rosberg and the onboard from Petrov was facing towards the front of the car so we could have seen what he did wrong. Other than that, I don’t think we missed too much today, so thank you Formula One Management!
But with just 2 races left, I feel very strange… It is a mixture of excitement and sadness that the excitement is drawing to a close! :P I thought Magnificent Geoffrey made a valid point in the live blog, where he told us to enjoy every moment of the remaining Grands Prix, as everything we see will only happen once. – Great advice Mag!
And who else is with me in thinking the stewards were way too harsh to give Buemi a penalty? He was obviously attempting an overtaking manoeuvre and made a mistake – he didn’t deliberately wipe Glock out for fun! See here: http://bit.ly/c4QcyF
Anyway, roll on Interlagos – the scene of the best race of 2009; will it produce similarly spectacular racing this year? Let us hope so!
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 11:58
I actually missed the action when the last Safety Car came out, but if it’s true it let Alonso and Vettel past I’m disappointed. In Valencia the problem was caused because one car went through and not the other. In this case the SC let the two leading drivers through? I hope that’s not the case because that’s wrong on so many levels (okay I would want Hamilton to win, but that hardly seems fair if it happened that way).
Ted
24th October 2010, 12:09
The safety car picked up the leader and the line formed behind Vettel as it should. No one was let through like Valencia. They fixed that hole in the regulations.
Steve
24th October 2010, 12:09
Got any proof or are you just blowing steam?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 12:13
To me that implies the SC let by Vettel and Alonso. I never saw it so I was surprised to see this.
Ted
24th October 2010, 12:18
Did you ever see Hamilton behind the safety car? Was Hamilton ever lapped? No and No! It was always Vettel that was following the safety car.
What Valencia did was leave Alonso stuck in 3rd behind the safety car while Vettel and Hamilton went on to join from the back still in 1st and 2nd. When Alonso pitted, he lost out.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 12:25
What Keith wrote implies this:
SC comes out. Vettel goes past the pits. Alonso goes past the pits. Hamilton goes into the pits. SC lets by Vettel and Alonso and eventually everyone else. Vettel pits. Alonso pits, falls behind Hamilton. SC picks everyone up.
Is it too much to ask for this to be cleared up without useless “prove it” comments? I’m not saying it happened; I’m saying it’s implied in the write-up so I want to know what really went on or if it’s the wrong choice of words/interpretation. Jeeze.
Ted
24th October 2010, 12:36
You’re absolutely correct I must say. It’s most definitely a mistake in the writeup.
Fixy (@)
24th October 2010, 13:45
The SC was deployed and exited the pits after Vettel and Alonso had passed, so it let through all the other drivers too. If it had come out before Vettel, Vettel and Alonso would have pitted behind the SC (if allowed) and they would have ended in the back of the field.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 15:28
That’s what I thought until I read the article.
Sorry Keith, hope it doesn’t sound like I’m criticising you ;) I’m probably just reading it incorrectly.
sumedh
24th October 2010, 17:20
Thanks a lot Fixy. I actually had the same doubt.
Once again, the deployment of Safety car is not correct though. It is supposed to pick up the leader. In Valencia it picked up P2 – Hamilton, today it almost picked up P3-Hamilton. Was Maylander so tired after driving for 17 laps that he couldn’t make it to the track in time?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th October 2010, 12:01
Also I think it’s worth asking whether Vettel would have won without his car failure. Alonso was faster than pretty much everyone in the final stages of the race; is it fair to assume Vettel might have worn his tyres out as much as the others?
I’m sure you’re already well into your post-race analysis, Keith, but maybe a point to consider?
Steph (@)
24th October 2010, 12:03
“Alonso was faster than pretty much everyone in the final stages of the race; is it fair to assume Vettel might have worn his tyres out as much as the others?”
Exactly along the lines of what I was thinking. We could have had a great fight. It reminded me of bahrain in some ways as Alonso saved his car then and said he was preparing to attack and then Seb retired.
DaveW
24th October 2010, 17:12
That stretch was when I thought my long sleepless night would have its reward. Hamilton and Alonso were creeping up on Vettel, who had just radioed that his tires were going off. I’ll admit that in my sleep deprived delirium I saw a vision of silver streaking by a two cars tangled up in the runoff. Alonso, from what we know now, probably would have caught him but, Vettel would not have forgone a Victory Finger moment without some desperate measure.
David BR
24th October 2010, 12:08
Yep, despite all the mistakes and bad luck Hamilton’s had this year, that little hiccup losing him second place could be the decider. He now has to win both races and hope Vettel and Webber roll in second and third. Since I thought his task this race was to reel in ten points from Webber, the result isn’t much different.
No denying Alonso is on a roll though and Massa could be crucial help to him at Interlagos. As for Red Bull – Webber’s off was hugely damaging and really comes close to justifying their favouritism for Vettel.
DaveW
24th October 2010, 17:20
Hamilton’s brief is to beat the majority of his rivals and hope each of them in turn face a disaster. It’s the best he can hope for and the plan is in effect now and ahead of schedule. Vettel, Webber, and Button have registered their calamities. Now that he is in the mix again, he needs Disaster to visit Mr. Alonso and he must beat Vettel, or the other way around, for the next race, and he will control his fate in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, the man that now seems swaddled in fortune leads the title. But, lets remember that the curse of the WDC table remains in effect: if Alonso does win in Brazil, it will be the first time this year that a driver has won while leading the race.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 18:47
He only needs Alonso to have a disaster. Webber he can beat on track.
Steph (@)
24th October 2010, 12:09
I’m more nervous for Fernando now oddly. Momentum comes and goes and just look how all over this season is. Fernando has actually had some luck like today, Germany and Bahrain coupled with his obvious bad luck so I hope things have evened out and he can ahve a calm last couple of races.
I actually think the driver who deserves some luck is Seb. The others are probably equal or a little bit in debt this season but Seb’s had some many failures although maybe each failure is for a mistake :P
I don’t know who to call. There’s a feeling about Webber but my head says Vettel or even Hamilton but heart says Fernando. If Webber wins he hasn’t had the failures Seb has although had some bad luck, Hamilton has been lucky at Turkey and Canada and bad luck but made mistakes, Alonso will ben known for his mistakes and Germany and I’ve already gone through Seb. It seems noone wants this year’s title. RBR really should have won it by now and given how good Alonso is and then Hamilton I just can’t write them off.
We could get to the next two races and Ham could win and Alonso DNF. Seb could get pole and waltz it while everyone else implodes. I just don’t have a clue.
Franton
24th October 2010, 12:20
Isn’t Alonso on his last engine? I see at least one retirement because of that in his future.
Steve
24th October 2010, 12:25
He is out of FRESH engines. He can use any of the previously used engines.
W-K
25th October 2010, 0:15
According to the rules I read, engines cannot be used again after they are replaced in qualifying or racing. Except for the last race.
From this I assume that Vettel will have to take a 10 place grid drop in the next race.
info from http://www.vivaf1.com/reliability.php regulations tab.
Stretch (@stretch)
25th October 2010, 11:14
Cross-over topics
https://www.racefans.net/2010/10/24/preserving-his-tyres-key-to-alonsos-victory-korean-grand-prix-analysis/comment-page-2/#comments
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 12:27
Every engine Alonso has to use will be on its third race. Could be significant.
Franton
24th October 2010, 14:18
He’s had at least three blow up, and one down due to Monaco crash damage. Trouble is fairly likely.
Manu
24th October 2010, 15:55
Actually you’re mistaken:
http://www.vivaf1.com/engine.php
He did 4 races with engine n°8 and only one with engine n°7. So I guess he’s going to use N°7 for the two last races.
Manu
24th October 2010, 15:56
*last two races.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 22:58
Wow, he won three races (inc. Monza) with the same engine!
chemakal
25th October 2010, 11:01
Amazing stats! Alonso has used engine nº 8 in the last 4 races. Great reliability for Ferrari then, shouldn’t be a problem to finish the season with engine 7. Nº 6 has only been used twice
Baracca
25th October 2010, 12:51
Yep, Ferrari had serious trouble with the engines but it was fixed early in the season. They seem to be highly reliable now. Anything could happen but I wouldn’t expect engine trouble in the last two GPs (although I lost count of all the people who has posted “nice” messages of the “I hope his engine will blow up” type.
Randy
24th October 2010, 12:45
Once you get past all the hype surrounding the championship fight it is Kubica who has had the most consistent error free season. Just doesn’t have the equipment but has been perhaps the best driver this year.
Ads21 (@ads21)
24th October 2010, 21:34
yer I actually agree Kubica has been magnificent as has Rosberg. Neither has had the pressure of a 5-way title race to deal with though.
Todfod (@todfod)
24th October 2010, 13:15
I agree with Steph on Vettel deserving some luck. Being a huge Alonso fan, I was thrilled with the result, but I would have hoped for Vettel to finish on the podium and level the points tally with his teammate. Vettel has come under a lot of criticism for his race craft and status within the team, nonetheless, I would consider him a more worthy champion than Mark Webber. Webber has been the only driver amongst the top 5 who has had no mechanical problems this year. And if you drive a 100% reliable RB6 and do not win the championship, you are definitely not a worth champion in my books.
David BR
24th October 2010, 14:50
Tough but true Todfod.
Going back to Steph’s point, I think Interlagos will be the real decider. All three title competing teams have a chance at the circuit, but you also have to factor in Massa. Today he looked intent on helping Alonso and Ferrari, despite not seeming overly thrilled on the podium. I expect he’ll want to prove a lot at São Paulo, where he drives exceptionally well. So that’s surely in Alonso’s favour. Vettel will out-qualify Webber again. Awkward to say the least as, if so, depending on where the Red Bulls are placed, they may have to decide during the race that Vettel should let Webber past to have any reasonable chance at Abu Dhabi. And Hamilton – on paper a good chance to compete, but McLaren seem to have no solution to improving the car, and the circuit is one where he’s had problems.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 15:18
He’s had some problems, just not total failures. But otherwise agreed on your last sentence.
David BR
24th October 2010, 15:56
As a Ham fan in Brazil, I hope he finally gets a win here! But if Ferrari perform well, we could see ALO – MAS (letting through ALO) – HAM – WEB (let through by VET). Which would leave Hamilton (and Vettel) out of it and Webber 24 points behind Alonso, needing an Alonso DNF and himself winning at Abud Dhabi to grab the WDC.
Looking good for Fernando, if his engine holds out. Which I think it will.
Nas-T
24th October 2010, 12:09
the car really dirty after the race….just like they just finish a rally stage.
Fixy (@)
24th October 2010, 13:48
Yes. It looked strange to me: with all that water I thought the cars were going to be cleaner! That means there was really a lot of dust on track.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th October 2010, 19:09
Plenty of them exacerbated the effect by attempting a bit of rallycrossing too, of course.
Nas-T
25th October 2010, 14:25
I just had a crazy idea. can you guy imagine a rallycross with a open wheel car. not like a dune buggy but just like a f1 car. it would really nice. just strengthen the suspension and increase the ride height. put some 4X4 tyre…wow!!
Funkyf1
24th October 2010, 12:11
Great drive by Alonso, I feel sorry for Nico Rosberg who may have been the unsuspected hero and Vettel who’s car again failed him, that was great footage of the engine throwing itself into destruction as he crusied down the straight. Mistakes by all the other contenders shows why the party isn’t over till the fat lady sings. Bring on Brazil!!!!
Ferrero
24th October 2010, 12:12
Well if RBR don’t support Webber to the fullest now they don’t deserve to win. Two VET-WEB 1-2s (in that order) and Alonso only needs to finish 3rd twice to clinch it.
Nadya
24th October 2010, 12:17
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-photos/4473/2010-south-korean-formula-1-grand-prix/165312/#165312
Could someone explain what the meaning of this???
Franton
24th October 2010, 12:19
That’s just Bernie showing Vettel how to do it properly with the correct finger … :p (joke)
Ral
24th October 2010, 13:14
RedBull team gave Bernie a zimmer frame for his eightieth birthday and I imagine that was Bernie’s good-humoured “thank you” to RBR. Funny picture :)
Marcello
24th October 2010, 13:48
walking sticks attached toa red bull modified front wing? for bernie as a 80th bday pressie?
Franton
24th October 2010, 12:18
Extremely annoyed. Not at the race, but at the BBC’s appalling coverage. Legard needs to be fired immediately because he missed things like Lewis being overtaken by Rosberg for about three laps!
A big insult to injury was that they switched channels they were broadcasting the race on about 1/3rd from the end! So this means some of us who weren’t willing/completely incapable* (delete where appropriate!) to get up early, had to record it and only got 2/3rds of a race! The final insults were to make sure that BBC iPlayer doesn’t have the complete race (current as of 12:15pm GMT) and then to delay the repeat from 1pm till 2pm instead! So that’s my afternoon wrecked, and just to watch one race.
Sure enough some big mouth (not online, someone I know) has spoiled the race results for me too. Seriously annoyed.
Also, and here’s a big point, in my line of work you have to plan for things like weather. How come Bernie seemingly didn’t bother to do that for this race? Isn’t that part of the world renowned for very seasonal (and monsoon type) weather? Think ahead a little guys!
Skett
24th October 2010, 14:10
Legard ****** me off, I have it use the red button to set it to the r5l commentary. I switched it back towards the end though (because I was getting annoyed with being told that portsmouth aren’t going into administration every 10 minutes). It wasn’t too bad until the end until he said “Liuzzi’s passed Barichello! We never saw that!” Yes we did, it was about 4 laps ago!
You can’t blame them for the change in channel though. You have to remember that this went on far longer than it should have done, and BBC1 is their MAIN channel. They had other shows booked in which they couldn’t change.
Franton
24th October 2010, 19:52
Rubbish, they don’t do channel swapping for any other sporting events with the possible exception of Wimbledon.
Skett
24th October 2010, 21:41
What other sporting events run over their alotted time?
Marcello
24th October 2010, 15:12
Totally agree, how can Jonathan L miss Rosbergs overtake on Hamilton for 3 laps? Maybe he was too busy watching another channel at the same time!!!!!
GeordiePorker
24th October 2010, 15:18
Franton,
I don’t doubt that the channel change was annoying, but really, how could the BBC predict the delays? Answer: they couldn’t. They changed channel because of their pre-existing programming commitments. Finding an extra hour or so of airtime is not an insignificant task. There’s no need to beat them up over this.
However, Legard is a prat, a useless commentator and is over-excitable. Basically manages to mix all of the great Murray Walker’s worst habits but removes all of the comedy from it. In My Humble Opinion, firing him would be insufficient. Shooting him, on the other hand… ;-)
Steph
24th October 2010, 17:16
The BBC ran the entire show again this afternoon
Franton
24th October 2010, 19:51
Too little too late. Why was iPlayer just as cocked up? Running it even later in the afternoon than originally scheduled just meant I had the entire thing spoiled for me for certain.
They don’t swap channels for other sporting events, especially football. Why should F1 be the exception? Everything else normally gets bumped for footy or cricket.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 23:02
The early wake up is an integral part of being an F1Fanatic IMO :P
Ponzonha
24th October 2010, 12:19
A little bit off-topic:
I find extremely annoying that images of teams celebrating rivals’ crashes. Let’s not forget that the most important thing after a GP is that everybody returns safely at home. After Webber crashed, we saw McLaren and Ferrari celebrating, even though we didn’t have images of Rosberg, who might as well be injured because of a nasty side hit.
I know that it is competition, but I would love to put sportsmanship (gentlemanship?) first.
Steve
24th October 2010, 12:28
Its something that’s been in the blood of F1 since ever. When Lewis crashes out, I jump up in my seat with joy and so do the mechanics (they are also just spectators).
Whining about it is just silly.
Stefanauss
24th October 2010, 12:33
That has nothing to do with F1, it’s just sports.
But yeah, for me, i always check before that the driver is fine before freeing my joy =)
Ponzonha
24th October 2010, 13:41
Did you jump after Kubica crashed in Montreal 07? That’s what I am talking about. I don’t care if the accident is huge or small, first check that the driver is OK, then celebrate or whatever.
Sandman
24th October 2010, 13:12
Jumping when they crash, that i can live with. After all thats drivers mistake, they sure can be happy their rivals committed one.
But McLaren’s mechanics cheering and jumping and whatnot after Vettel engine failed? So disgusting.
Skett
24th October 2010, 14:08
How does that make any sense? So your saying its ok to cheer if you’re not sure about their safety but if its a simple technical problem its disgusting?
Some people are just backwards!
Cacarella
24th October 2010, 16:19
Ha Ha!!!
So you can celebrate a driver error (even if it puts the driver at risk for injury),
But you shouldn’t celebrate a car failure!?
It’s terrible to celebrate the misfortune of the RB6! :)
Younger Hamilton
24th October 2010, 18:15
That makes no sense either i totally agree with Skett here.Your Post sucks and doesnt any sense man. no offence.
Sandman
25th October 2010, 7:26
It IS terrible to celebrate it in such a way, seeing how they cheered and jumped and screamed because their rivals had mechanical failure. Just think about it, mechanical failure. Where did the sportsmanship go? I almost wish they have a similar failure in the next 2 races to see their sorry faces then. “Almost” only on account of me liking Lewis too much.
And where did you read its OK to cheer when you are not sure about persons safety? All I said was i can “live with” the cheering in those particular cases this Sunday. Of which NONE was life-threatening, obviously.
Mind you, I’m not saying it’s fair or nice, I’m just saying i kind of get them, after all you count on your rivals to make mistakes, sometimes even you try to force them into one on-track. But cheer after machinery giving up, when the rival driver had just massive bad luck? How far is that from “Oh God, please, drop a large 2 ton space rock on Vettel to remove him from the championship run”.
JamesC1991
24th October 2010, 17:13
I totally agree with you,when I see them doing it,I was disgusted,shameful behaviour,karma will come back and bite them hopefully.
On Alonso a very good drive but Vettel was magnificent until his heartbreaking engine failure,lost 66 points due to various car problems now this season,really should be out of site.
Now RBR have to back Mark Webber for the championship
Darren
24th October 2010, 12:21
I feel for Webber, not only did he screw up his own race he watched his team mate stop, even if he got a 5th he would still be be close enough to Alonso and probably had full RBR support for the last 2 races.
Stefanauss
24th October 2010, 12:29
The fact is, Alonso is leading although he hasn’t the best car. He has chased from far away. That’s remarkable anyway, even if it’s mind-blowing thinking RBR has still not won the WCs and is up to lose them.
Should he win, it’ll be no less valuable than 2000 Schumacher’s against the McLarens.
Steve
24th October 2010, 12:34
Yup. Even though Alonso is in the lead, I still see him as the underdog. The bulls have the grip and Mcl have the top speed. Alonso will need to do his absolute best to win this WDC.
BBT
24th October 2010, 13:57
He has the 2nd best car
Stefanauss
24th October 2010, 14:40
Now. It was not even *always* the 2nd best.
Anagh
24th October 2010, 17:34
i dont top speed is wat mclaren showd today… nico passed lewis before the end of the straight.
SPIDERman
24th October 2010, 12:31
I think red bull and vettel are to blame..i suspect they set his engine high and urged him to push well past the 42nd lap because they wrongly assumed the race would be stoppped using the 75% rule by the race director therefore handing red bull the victory.you could hear the rsdio traffic vrom Vettel complaining about visibility very soon after the 43rd lap on the radio while Hamiton was saying visibility was perfect….very soon after wards Vettel blew his engine… and Honer was said to have left the pit wall in disgust.
Steve
24th October 2010, 12:39
Mclaren asked lewis about visibility in reponse to Vettel’s remark. Politics through and through.
I don’t believe Vettel’s engines have blown simply due to bad luck. I think he turns up his engine each time he needs to respond to the catching driver. Perhaps he pushed his engine too hard in order to compensate for the lack of race pace? He could also be spinning the wheels too much. A loss of traction would result in the engine hitting the limiter, causing the engine to wear quicker.
Mads
24th October 2010, 13:30
It could also just be bad luck? See most other drivers have had an engine failure this season, why don’t people mock them for driving their engine too hard? A F1 is made to run at full power, they turn it down because they load the cars with too little fuel. At that stage in the race Vettel was preserving his tires, so too much wheel spin is not very likely.
Ted
24th October 2010, 12:42
Interesting note. It could be quite the conspiracy if proven. Obviously the person who would benefit the most by completing 75% race distance would be Vettel, giving him an 11 point lead over Webber (and very likely #1 status in the team). Otherwise it would be Vettel on 218.5!
If that is what happened, I’m glad it blew up in their face. Pun intended.
Rahim.RG
24th October 2010, 13:17
The Visibility complain was because he had a Medium Visor(in his words)…which was a bit of darker shade….and he said after then…that maybe it was just him…as other could finish with ease….
Skett
24th October 2010, 14:13
I saw that when they were getting ready on the grid and I couldn’t believe it. I’ve done a bit of karting and I once made the mistake of using a tinted visor in the wet. You can see almost nothing, its far worse than using a tinted visor in the dark. I’m sure he’s using better visors than I have, but still
chemakal
25th October 2010, 11:12
well, that could be the most silly excuse in F1 history: lost the WDC in 2.010 because after meeting with the team for hours and practicing the whole weekeend, we finally decided to go with the medium visor altough everyone knows that it’s no good in rain conditions…
Anagh
24th October 2010, 17:37
yeah it did look like that. His engine blew the same way Alonso’s did in China i think when he tried to pass Button. Alonso was on the limiter there.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th October 2010, 19:11
Interesting theory, but Red Bull would have been extremely stupid to bank on the race being stopped prematurely.
Funkyf1
24th October 2010, 12:36
@Nadya, I believe that’s Redbull hanging it on Bernie for his 80th birthday and him responding to the fact that their flexi wing won’t help him at all.
@Franton I think we all agree that Legard needs to go, but the weather, therefore the broadcasting times cannot be controlled. The non european countries ( like us in Australia ) deal with that all the time. The rest of the weekend the weather was fine.
@Ponzonha I totally agree with your point, the broadcasters should be focusing on the track action. Rosberg is fine, they showed him in the paddock later in the race.
Stefanauss
24th October 2010, 12:43
Guys, obviously you know what airs in UK and the level of F1 coverage more than I do, but it’s really strange to hear you complaining about BBC. I’m italian and this time i got to watch the race with the online feed and it was the first time in a while i didn’t wish to turn sound off completely so bad.
Seriously, you’re lucky. Italian coverage is plain ridiculous. Annoying, missing and messing things up, let alone the Ferrari Hooliganism i let you imagin about…
matt88
24th October 2010, 12:52
well, at least we have Jean Alesi for the after-race comments… :)
Fixy (@)
24th October 2010, 13:53
When Vettel’s car broke and Alonso overtook him everyone would have imagined a cry of joy from the TV, but there was a journalist interviewing Petrov (not considering her appaling English and silly questions) after his crash. Nobody interrupted him and I worked out by myself what happened without believing it.
matt88
24th October 2010, 16:38
hehe, i was already jumping on the sofa when they cried “VETTEL! VETTEL IS OUT!”.
However, the worst F1 coverage should be the French one. Some summers ago i was on holiday there and they put 4-minutes breaks during the race. Unbelievable, considering that France is one of the homelands of F1.
RaulZ
24th October 2010, 20:30
Spanish one seems to be like Italian. Now is better because they have people that understand like Delarosa or Marc Gene, but it has been pathetic sometimes.
But I see even in BBC the thing is similar.
daykind
24th October 2010, 12:43
Usually I wouldn’t criticise Legard but today he was very poor.
During the safety car periods, he was coming out with pointless, pointless information rather than explaining in full detail what this meant for the race. He twice spoke over team radio transmissions, constantly repeated strong points already raised by Brundle, and rather than talking about a great race, explaining things about Korea’s economy and how Yeongam would soon have a city.
I love commentators in sport, and usually I don’t mind Jonothan Legard, but today was one of the worst performances from a sports commentator I have ever seen.
Bitterly Disappointing!
sam crawford
24th October 2010, 13:03
They both completely missed the fact Alonso had passed Hammy until 2 replays later, and he doesn’t half talk some bull. Still, at east he doesn’t go crazy about Hamilton passing Massa, then goes crazy about Hamilton passing Massa AGAIN, at the same corner, in the exact same way (It was just a replay, everyone but him realised that!) Get Chandhok full time if he’s not racing :D
FelipeF1
24th October 2010, 13:04
Everyone can have a bad day at the office, right?
Franton
24th October 2010, 14:37
Not when it’s every time Legard opens his trap …
Anagh
24th October 2010, 17:41
You know watz worse? Steve slater calling Nico Rosberg the Driver for Williams n sumone Tweets him to correct that! Now tell me u got something worse than that! :P
Rolo
24th October 2010, 12:55
I’m not an Alonso fan but I can honestly say that the title is all but his. He’s just so good when he’s out infront and the one thing he lacked at the start/middle part of season is there in bundles now. That thing is consistency and thats why he is a worthy world champion because he never gave up and always makes sure he gets the most out of every race. (and this is being written by a lewis fan)
goofy
24th October 2010, 13:19
Why Alonso wasn’t investigated for doing a purple S3 and a flap under yellow after PET’s crash?
baracca
24th October 2010, 13:34
Overtaking under yellow flag is not allowed, but there’s no definite rule about speed. Stop clutching at straws.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 15:21
He probably slowed enough and blitzed the rest of the sector.
dec, why does he have to be a Hamilton fan? There are 22 other drivers apart from these two…
Santi
24th October 2010, 15:43
Was it a local yellow? in that case he can go as fast as he wants in other sectors
goofy
24th October 2010, 16:53
It was a local yellow in S3. PET crashed in last corner.
FYI I’m not any Fanboi but i like Alonso
goofy
24th October 2010, 16:58
Yeah maybe. But i think you have to take the last corner at full speed to set a purple S3
Pi
24th October 2010, 13:22
great result for ferrari. they said before the race they wanted to first finish and then score well. they knew it was not the best track for their car.
interesting to see that in 7 races, alonso went from 52 points behind hamilton (leader after silverstone) to championship leader. remember the comments of that time when he was saying that he could still win the title!
same for ferrari as a team, they were 113 points behind, it is now down to 52.
d-d
24th October 2010, 13:29
My subjective view about some drivers:
Rosberg – great performance until unlucky crash
Schumacher – truly class, pleasure to watch him, great job.
Vettel – also doing good job, robbed like Rosberg of great result
Massa – he delivered better than expected. Almost error-free, scored beatiful result for Ferrari.
Alonso – did great job to help his fortune and was deservedly awarded (kind of justice after earlier misfortunes)
Hamilton – he also showed he wants to be a champion, great perfomance despite two mistakes (lost two times his position to Rosberg and to Alonso.
Kubica – dissappointed. Cannot compete with Schumacher in the rain. Gained later due to care about tyres.
Petrov – his best performance so far despite unfinihsed race, but what counts he makes mistakes too often. He delivered another costly finish for Renault.
Sandman
24th October 2010, 13:49
I cant agree with the MSC & Kubica points.
Mercs were CLEARLY faster in the wet (did you see what Rosberg did to Hamilton?), I’m betting a wet setup. Similar to Williams, who were astoundingly fast in the first, very wet, part of the race.
When it started to dry around the track, interns on those cars stopped behaving like they were supposed to. Hence the sudden problem of both Williams drivers and Schumacher (his lap times dropped strong in the last 5-6 laps). In the meantime, Kubica flourished.
Skett
24th October 2010, 14:18
To be fair to Hulkenburg, he had a slow puncture (according to their website)
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 14:47
Kubica didn’t really flourish at any point, it was a fairly average weekend for him.
vayha
24th October 2010, 15:21
David – I’ve noticed you are prejudiced to Kubica – are you German? Kubica showed two skills during this race, which are crucial for outstanding drivers: Car controling which has no grip, because of low temperature of the tires and wise strategic planning of tires condition at the end of the race. Once again Kubica showed he has head on his shoulders.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 15:38
No, I am not German, nor I am prejudiced against Kubica. I am getting sick of the assumptions made about me simply because I don’t blindly sing praises at Kubica for everything he does.
He did well to pick up the points this weekend, but was quiet, not very fast in the first half of the race and just didn’t drive as well this weekend as he did at say, Australia, Monaco or Suzuka. So by his standards, average drive.
vayha
24th October 2010, 19:45
Crash net gave him A+ for all season. Ony Kubica get highest rating.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/164288/1/comment_best_driver_of_2010_it_isnt_one_of_the_title_contenders.html
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 20:19
I never said he hasn’t been good this season. This weekend he was not A+. More like B-.
Keamo
24th October 2010, 16:28
David, i agree with you 100% . I can’t say i was highly impressed by him today. I have also noticed how people are always so quick to shower praises on him, calling him the best driver on the grid blah blah blah. He’s good but not as good as people make/wish him to be and i don’t think the Renault is as bad as it is made out to be.
Sandman
25th October 2010, 7:15
While i can understand why you don’t like the Kubica hype, you kind of missed my point.
I’m almost 99% sure both mercs and possibly Williams too were set to wet conditions. The upper hand both Rosberg and Schumacher had was obvious, they did overtaking on both McLarens (whose drivers are known for good in-the-wet skills) with relative ease. So you cannot really compare “skills” of drivers that weekend seeing they opted for different scenarios.
Renzo
24th October 2010, 13:37
Hope that RBR will support 100% Mark Webber for the last two races!
the others are out, he can still do it
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
24th October 2010, 13:44
I had forgotten that… Hamilton could have won the race. *sighs*
Marcello
24th October 2010, 13:51
totally agree with you, some of the stuff written isa bit weird to be fair…
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 15:22
The state his tyres were in at the end, I don’t think so. I did wonder if McLaren should have pitted him again halfway to the end of the race, but maybe there would have been traffic and they weren’t confident of getting him past Massa again, let alone catching Alonso.
Funkyf1
24th October 2010, 13:45
I believe I saw Helmut Marko kissing Vettels ass as he returned to the pits after another car failure, Mark Webber will always be shown “the finger” while Sebs still there, don’t get your hopes up people
Marcello
24th October 2010, 13:54
poor webber, I felt sooooo sorry for him but he might be feeling slightly better now that his team mate has ended up with no point either….totally agree with you however, i actually think the whole team has been backing vettel ever since the “front wing steal incident”. Red bull may loose this championship if they carry on backing the wrong person…just like Mclaren did in 2007.
jake
24th October 2010, 13:51
vettel deserved this win more than anyone!! its a shame!! we could have had an epic championship battle during the final stages!!lots of good luck to vettel for the future!!!,no one could even keep up with his blistering pace in the wet!!!
Santi
24th October 2010, 15:50
No one could even keep up? err… both Alonso and Hamilton were only 2 or 3 seconds behind him when he had the failure and catching up…
Ledzep4pm
24th October 2010, 13:53
You have to remember a race like that is a race of attrition. Webber made a mistake, Vettels car couldn’t take it, Button wasn’t fast enough. Therefore Hamilton and Alonso were the best Driver/Car combo, and they reaped the rewards
Fixy (@)
24th October 2010, 14:01
Strange no one has still praised Liuzzi, started 18th and ended 6th, committing only one error, and gaining advantage on everyone else’s mistakes, and shining against Sutil, started 14th and retired after numerous crashes and mistakes that kept me without breath because I was worried for other drivers like Button and Kobayashi that were hit by him.
Dipak T
24th October 2010, 17:15
So nearly took out either a Sauber of his team mate on a restart though.
Anagh
24th October 2010, 17:43
Poor guy being overshadowed by the crashing bulls! :P
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th October 2010, 19:14
I thought Liuzzi’s was one of the stand-out drives today. For all the grief he gets from people who want Paul di Resta to replace him, he did a great job in difficult conditions.
Unlike his teammate, as you say.
Skett
24th October 2010, 19:51
It doesn’t really surprise me tbh. Apparently his car control is second to none but he sucks at getting the setup right
Todfod (@todfod)
25th October 2010, 8:56
How can you judge Luizzi by one race performance? and say that he deserves this seat for next season. For every one solid performance Luizzi puts in, he has approximately 5 poor ones. Sutil on the other hand, has one dismal performance for every 5 strong performances. I still think Luizzi should be replaced by DiResta next year.
Mr draw
24th October 2010, 14:21
You forgot to mention Hidefeld’s 9th place!
Rumen
24th October 2010, 14:30
Wasn’t that Vettel’s last engine (engine number eight)?
If it is, he will receive a ten-place grid penalty for Brazil, right?
Franton
24th October 2010, 14:39
According to F1Wolf, then yes he will.
baracca
24th October 2010, 15:15
I don’t think so, he surely has workable used engines.
Apart from Lewis, the three WDC leaders (Fernando, Mark and Seb) have run out of spare engines.
An engine breakup while racing at Interlagos would be a disaster for any of them, because they would get a DNF there and the grid penalty for Abu Dabhi on top of that. A breakup in Abu Dhabi wouldn’t be that bad because I don’t think the grid penalty can be made effective in a new season.
chemakal
24th October 2010, 18:53
They all have more than 1 used engine, a blow up in Brazil doen not necessarily mean a penalty in Abu D
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 15:23
He can use Engine 7 twice more, problem is it’s done two races already, so he might have to take a 9th!
chemakal
25th October 2010, 11:15
nº 7 has done only 1 race (Spa), nº 6, 2. He’s used nº8 in the last 4 races (3 wins)…
schooner
24th October 2010, 14:42
I’d have to say that I have mixed feelings about this race. As a McLaren fan, I was of course glad to see Hammilton take second, and claw back a few points, but I’d still have to rate his chances to win this year’s championship as pretty slim. And while I certainly applaud Alonso’s superb drive, if it’s to come down to a showdown between him and Webber for the big prize, I’d rather Webber had stayed on track and kept the points lead. Oh well.
As far as Vettle is concerned, I didn’t much mind seeing his engine detonate. His day will come.
Ng
24th October 2010, 14:51
I doubt so people, as Fernando Definetely has the momentum now, but the season is changing way too quickly that anyone can predict. 1 dnf saw web falling to 2nd and all previous lead behind wiped off.
ALO is on used engines, so we could see hamilton being lucky after whole string of misadventures from italy to japan.
Hamilton still has a new engine (if im not wrong) and i think his engine wil be in better state because lets not forget he did not finish the power circuits, Monza, which places the engine on high percentage of throttle.
furthermore , ham has new gearbox for korea , so his gearbox is also pretty new. im not sure abt the other title contenders, but maybe mclaren will talk to BUT to get his support for HAM soon.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
24th October 2010, 15:29
Not sure what engine he used today but before the race he had two engines on 1 race each and another on 2 races.
Martin_B
24th October 2010, 19:12
If ALO wins the next race he will have enough points in hand to be easy on his engine in the last race.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
24th October 2010, 14:52
Webber made his own grave, Button can’t complain at this stage of the championship.Not sure what was Vettel complaining about on lap 46? Feel bad for Roseberg & Vettel.Sutil was coming & going of the track .For sure this was Schumi’s best race of the season,they seemed to be the only team to have made some changes to their suspension (as shown on TV) after the red flag on lap 4 ,have that helped them?
Last ting two Red Bulls retired, both Vettel & Webber will be having nightmare today if guess what? TURKEY 2010!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
24th October 2010, 15:10
It was nice to see that there w3ere many people coming to race with their kids with them.
Rahim.RG
24th October 2010, 15:12
I don’t know why is this happening to Vettel….?
But whats good to see is that even if it is happening, he’s not whining or sulking like some other drivers….Good to see that….He’s Learnt his lesson..
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
24th October 2010, 15:15
Alonso did win at Nurburgring 2007, so he has won a wet race before (although it wasn’t wet the whole time).
Marcello
24th October 2010, 15:19
I thought that when I heard ALO in the press conference mention that he had never won in the wet….I’m glad some1s remembered, in fact Nurburgring 2007 was my favourite race ever, I’d say the very last proper wet race before Charlie and his mates got deeply into the “health and safety, if its raining we dont race” thing.
baracca
24th October 2010, 16:35
Yuppers, a hotly contested wheel-to-wheel overtake of Fernando on Felipe (with a heated argument in live TV at the ceremony afterwards). And best of all, the only time I can remember Fernando lapped his then, ahem, team mate.
chemakal
24th October 2010, 18:56
The whole time, that’s what Alonso meant, from lap 1 to flag
Kbdavies
24th October 2010, 15:24
McLaren don’t have a hope in hell of winning either championship based on today’s performance. Their development programme has really been found wanting this year.
They keep talking up the car’s performance, only to find out that they are always playing catch-up – as they have done for most of the season. The Mercedes, Ferrari’s, Red Bulls were much quicker in the wet today, despite McLaren’s enthusiasm of being better in a wet race, and Jenson couldn’t even overtake a Torro Rosso, Saubers, and even got overtaken by a Force India!
Both Macca drivers, especially Lewis, have flattered the car throughout this championship, putting it places it shouldnt be. At this stage in the championship, i cannot see them making any major inroads into the car’s development to give them any major advantage into the last 2 races.
What is clear also, is that McLaren will now have to back Lewis for the remainder of the season,(though i dont think they have the car to win), as Jenson hopes are really over. His lack of qualifying skill, racecraft, and aggression has really put paid to his championship hopes this season, and also hurt McLaren in the Constructors championship.
He simply cannot depend on luck or strategic calls to haul himself up in the race; and all this talk of him being kinder to his tires, or being a master strategist has now been exposed to be total hogwash. Jenson really should be ashamed of his performance this race.
Skett
24th October 2010, 20:08
I think the problem is that mclaren WERE better in the wet. Near the start of the season I seem to remember comments that the reason the Red Bull wasn’t as good in the wet was because the Exhaust Blown Defuser makes it very difficult to get the balance right, which is much more noticable in slippery conditions. Since Mclaren now have an EBD of their own it would seem they’re suffering the same way.
It wouldn’t surprise me if thats partly been Buttons fault later in the season. He is famously picky about balance and setup after all.
BasCB (@bascb)
28th October 2010, 20:24
Actually it was not so much McLaren being best in the wet, but them being on top in the changeable conditions.
MW
24th October 2010, 15:25
There have been a number of comments about reliability, tyre wear etc and whether these are just bad luck or whether they have some relation to driving style. Much as we all want to see drivers giving 100pc 100pc of the time, it seems pretty clear that modern f1 cars won’t take that kind of treatment. Alonso gave a masterclass of knowing just how much he could push his car. When he is on form, and calm, he is a genius at this. Vettel is clearly a very fast driver but how much did his driving approach contribute to his car failure? Give an on-form Alonso a good (but not necessarily the best) car and he will not only be the quickest, but also the most likely to bring it home. I think he will win 2010 and probably go on to take a good few other titles too.
Mach1
24th October 2010, 16:10
This has probably been mentioned already.
In my opinion, even if hamilton had not made a mistake after the safety car and stayed ahead of alonso (and therefore into 1st after Vettels engine blew). I think that Alonso would have passed him anyway due to how badly his tyres went off before the end of the race. Either way mistake or no, I think Alonso would have got this.
Anagh
24th October 2010, 17:17
The luckiest person on track today should be Lewis Hamilton. Not only did he score second after a big mess of 3 DNFs n a gearbox issue, but he also didnt crash, thanks to Nico Rosberg. If Nico hadnt overtaken Lewis when the race started, the other car that would’ve collided with Webber’s would’ve been Lewis’s!
DaveW
24th October 2010, 17:42
That would have been a fascinating thread of fate, if Webber would have collected Hamilton his mudbath, after the whole Singapore situation. When I saw a flash of silver flying into Webber, that’s what I had assumed happened. The situation the did result, Ron Dennis would have called “rough justice.” I see some more slings and arrows coming at the Senna Esses in a couple weeks. I wish him no ill but Alonso has been neglected by misfortune for a rather extended period now.
obbi
24th October 2010, 17:30
I fell sorry for the Red Bull guys, but it is what it is. However to see Alonso climbing towards a possible title is just painful. While the Red Bull guys gave us show, Ferrari subdued the F1 show to shameful team orders. Aren’t we saturated by mediocre characters who won the F1 championship?
Arr
24th October 2010, 17:36
Anyone here thinks Alonso would just take the penalty and use a fresh engine in Brazil? I honestly think he would as why risk a DNF and having to incur the penalty at Yas Marina.
chemakal
24th October 2010, 19:01
A DNF is Brazil doen’t mean a penalty in Abu D, he still got other used engines. I would rather bet he would change engine after Brazil if he gets some decent points.
BasCB (@bascb)
28th October 2010, 20:25
He now used a engine for 4 races and has is engine nr. 6 or 7 (not sure wich one) for the last 2 races, so that should not really be a problem.
Wynan
24th October 2010, 17:53
It was a great race. Button really desappointed me, he have to support lewis know. Alonso proves he is a talented driver who never give up and make few mistakes. I am a Lewis’ fan but i think Alonso is stronger under pressure. Lewis often makes silly mistakes like braking tooooo late and getting out of track… I’m sure 2011 he will be more mature.
chemakal
24th October 2010, 19:07
well all that about Hams maturity was said at the beginning of the season but he proves to be no good under pressure when it comes to the peaks of the season, sprecially if he Alonso is behind. That late brakings, and in Korea that entrance to box in Q3 (very doubt the correct moment to practice entrance to boxes is Q3) and today losing position so easy
U2
24th October 2010, 18:25
Alonso’s comments post qualifying yesterday stand vindicated. He certainly finished the race that too without any hiccups, it was very important to keep the concentration strong and save the tires in case he needed them at the end. Truly masterful as Keith has put it in his comments
What I loved even more was his calm demeanor in the post race conference when he was asked what this race win meant to his chances and he said it’s still the same, we need to make sure we finish all the remaining races on the podium :)
Hyoko
24th October 2010, 18:43
That’s almost mathematically true.
With two 3rds Alonso gets 261 points. Even if Hamilton gets both wins he remains a point behind. Webber still could get the WDC, but he would need a win and a 2nd (or of course both wins) for the WDC.
If Alonso gets a 2nd and a 3rd then Webber needs both wins. With two 2nds still Webber gets the WDC with both wins. With a win and a podium Alonso clinches it for sure.
So two podiums for Alonso is maybe not enough but only if Webber gets ahead of him in both races AND wins at least one of them.
U2
24th October 2010, 18:33
I think the following statement in the post race conference just sums up the maturity of Alonso as a racing driver. My money is still on Alonso
Q: Fernando, just two races left in this championship. You are 11 points clear of Mark Webber and 21 clear of Lewis. How are you feeling right now?
FA: Well, I think nothing changed really. We know that with the new points system anything can happen in one race. If you don’t score, you lose 25 points to one of your main opponents, so nothing has changed. Here it was bad luck for Mark and Sebastian (Vettel) but anything can happen in the next two races. There are still four or five contenders, so as we repeat many times, being on the podium, being consistent maybe is the key to winning the championship. We have been doing well, very concentrated, very focused in the last six or seven races but the last two we cannot forget we need to be on the podium and fighting for victory in the next two races.
NickO
24th October 2010, 18:42
I read somewhere that Alonso has to make his engine last to the end of the season whereas Webber had a fresh one put in that only had to do a few slowish laps this time around.
Will engine wear affect the mindset of the two drivers going forward?
U2
24th October 2010, 18:59
Its certainly playing on both the team and the drivers mind (Ferrari).. both Stefano and Fernando keep mentioning it every now and then and have their fingers crossed for the remaining races
I think Ferrari engine management should be good and the new fuel that Shell has brought would also aid in keeping the engine wear and tear respectable
Just my guess though :)
F1silverarrows
24th October 2010, 21:11
I……..I…………..I, throws bottle up against the wall.
(When vettel’s engine blew up)
It pains me to say it but Alonso will win the WDC.
1.Vettel will not help webber win the world title and will glady take points off him to make sure he is number one in red bull.
2.Hamilton is too far away on points, maybe not mathmatical but I doubt even hamilton can close a 21 point gap in 2 races.
And before you start typing up 2007 memories and 17 point gaps, don’t kid yourself this ain’t 2007 and Alonso has Ferrari backing him this time round. Your talking about the best driver on the grid, being in the best of forms all season and having the most experienced team in history on helping 1 driver.
I would love to see Alonso, Webber DNF in Brazil to make the final race extra close, but I just dont’ see that happening
Tbh i’m sick of typing in f1 blogs for this season atleast, this f1 season is over and for the first time in 15 years watching f1 I cant stomach to watch the last 2 races. So i’m going to drink myself into a coma, WAKE ME UP FOR 2011!!!!!
All the best f1 fanatics.
David-A (@david-a)
24th October 2010, 23:12
No thanks :P
Formel1 GP
24th October 2010, 23:20
Now, it’s Fernando pulling away. He’s the strongest driver since Germany, but I’m still hoping that one of the RB6 or a McLaren can catch him!
Jared404
25th October 2010, 9:36
Using Jamie’s calculator it shows that Fernando just has to finish in the points in the last two races to win.
Baracca
25th October 2010, 11:38
Absolutely not true. Not even two 2nd positions would be mathematically enough. Mark would take the WDC with two wins.
That said, two podium positions would make Fernando very hard to beat (Webber would need at least a win and a 2nd, and there’s nothing Seb or Lewis could do). But with two non-podium positions in the points, anything could happen.
chemakal
25th October 2010, 19:00
yep, Webber and Alonso are the only drivers that depend on their own results. 2 wins for Webber, Alonso loses the tittle by 3 points being 2nd in both GPs… wow, can’t wait! Come on Alonso!
Uncle Bob
25th October 2010, 11:53
Anyone else think Webber could have done more not to roll back into Rosberg after his crash??
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
25th October 2010, 12:07
It did look a bit that way – compared to how deftly Button regained control when he spun later on, it seems strange Webber couldn’t have turned the steering wheel the other way and kept out of the firing line of traffic.
Rosberg was not impressed – here’s what he said on Twitter. I’ve resisted the urge to clean it up:
chemakal
25th October 2010, 12:51
wow, has he formaly complained? If this is true, not braking caused a far more dangerous situation than other drivers that got a penalty… Buemi…
Baracca
25th October 2010, 13:17
I doubt that they would want to give Mark a penalty now, it would be perceived as little less than handing out the WDC to Fernando. The question about if it was deserved or not is a wholly different one.
chemakal
25th October 2010, 15:55
agree. Giving a penalty to Webber + Hockenheim would be too much and the media roar a tsunami
Enigma (@enigma)
25th October 2010, 13:58
Yep – and it has cost him in the championship. Rosberg might’ve taken some points off Hamilton or Alonso.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
25th October 2010, 13:47
Exciting stuff to watch all weekend.
My heart sank for both Webber & Vettel. But thats racing and I guess with now having to use used engines perhaps engine failure is something we may see more of in the next two races?
On the plus side, this season is really going down to the wire. Interlagos can’t come quick enough.