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Sebastian Vettel now has one hand on the Formula One world championship title after securing a fourth straight win with a victory in the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday. With the win, Vettel extended his lead to an almost insurmountable 77 points with five races to go over nearest championship contender Fernando Alonso, who finished sixth in Korea.
Vettel could clinch the championship as early as next week in Japan.
“I'm trying not to think about it, to be honest," Vettel said. "I'm trying to focus more on the present. I think there are still a lot of points to get, even though it looks very good for us. There's still a chance for Fernando, I think, so we have to stay on top of our game. But to be honest, I think I said on the podium, we're just having a good time.
“We enjoy the fact that the team is working very well. The car is working... It's on the edge, to be honest, more so than you would probably think from the outside, but it's obviously nice when you get the results like Singapore or this weekend. To be honest with you, I don't really care. I look forward to Japan because it's one of the nicest tracks of the whole season.”
Vettel wasn't as dominant as he was in Singapore two weeks ago when he won by 32.4 seconds, but the German led all the way and topped second-place Kimi R�ikk�nen by 4.2 seconds. Romain Grosjean completed the podium by finishing third, 4.9 seconds behind the three-time defending series champion.
The Korean track lends itself to good racing, with the DRS zones and some heavy braking encouraging passing. Tires also played a big role as drivers struggled with degradation and loss of grip. It wasn't at the front, but there was some great racing throughout the field behind the leaders.
A safety car appearance late in the race made it a sprint to the finish, but Vettel's victory was never really in doubt.
“Kimi pitted a couple of laps before that so his tires were a little bit older but obviously took quite a long time before the safety car came back in, and then there was another safety," Vettel said. "So I think in terms of tire age, it was no problem. Obviously, the cars get lighter towards the end [of a run], so fortunately we didn't have to challenge the absolute maximum out of the tires. I think the Lotuses were probably a little bit better in terms of endurance. So, I think the speed was there, and in the end, obviously, I tried to build up a little bit of a gap to Kimi and keep it quite consistent.”
Lewis Hamilton, who started second on the grid, knew that his big chance to make life difficult for Vettel was to get ahead on the first lap, but the German didn't leave him any opportunity and successfully held on in front. Indeed, Lewis found his hands full with Romain Grosjean, who dived down the inside to claim second place at turn three. Hamilton went on to finish fifth.
“It's strange, you know,” Hamilton said. “Me and Fernando [Alonso] in fifth and sixth at the end, and having our own little race, we are of a higher caliber than that, we should be further ahead, and fighting with the world champions at the front, and with Sebastian, I guess that just shows where the sport is today.”
Hamilton was clearly disappointed with the way his race unfolded.
“It wasn't that exciting for me," Hamilton said. "Going backwards and defending for a position is not so much fun, and when I was behind Grosjean at the start, that was it, there was no way to get past him. Those guys up ahead of us just had too much traction today. That's really where I was losing out to everyone."
Meanwhile, there was drama right behind the leaders as Felipe Massa spun as he tried to come down the inside, and then tried to avoid Nico Rosberg, very nearly collecting Alonso. As everyone backed up, Jenson Button hit the rear of Nico Hulkenberg. Button was forced to make a very early stop for a new front wing, as was Adrian Sutil, who was also involved in contact and pitted on the first lap.
As has become a familiar site in recent races, Vettel soon opened a gap on the pursuing Grosjean, with the gap going out from 2.1 seconds to 2.6 seconds by the second lap. The lead stablized as Vettel settled in and tried to save his supersoft tires. Hamilton stayed in touch with Grosjean, although he was unable to do anything about the Lotus driver.
Immediately after the first round of stops, Vettel had a lead of around 2.7 seconds, but on the medium tires he began to pull away from Grosjean, who was in turn able to open a gap on Hamilton. The real action was further down the order, as sixth-placed Hulkenberg held off a busy group that included Alonso, R�ikk�nen and Mark Webber, the latter having worked his way up from 13th on the grid.
Through those second stints, more and more drivers complained about their tires on the radio as they hit graining issues. Hamilton was particularly vocal as his lap times fell dramatically. One by one, those trailing in Vettel's wake had to come in and make their second stops, with only Grosjean staying out with the leader.
The complexion of the race changed when Sergio Perez had a front tire let go on lap 30. With the tire tread and pieces of bodywork on the back straight, the safety car came out. At the front, Vettel and Grosjean both pitted, as did several drivers further back, while those who'd made a recent stop stayed out. An unlucky Mark Webber was forced to make an extra stop after picking up a puncture on Perez's debris.
After nine laps under yellows, the field was finally released again. However, the safety car was out almost immediately after Adrian Sutil spun and collected Webber. The Aussie had to pull off with his car on fire and very little attention being given to it by the marshals, and when a local course vehicle entered the track -- seemingly without FIA authorization -- the safety car was sent out again.
In the middle of all that action, R�ikk�nen jumped Grosjean, who made a mistake, to claim second place. At the restart it was thus Vettel-R�ikk�nen-Grosjean-Hulkenberg-Hamilton-Alonso in what had become a straight 15-lap sprint race to the flag, albeit with Vettel and Grosjean best placed in terms of the age of their tires.
For many people, the real hero of the race was Hulkenberg, who finished a strong fourth.
“We started seventh but if anything we were looking more to the rear to defend rather than attacking,” Hulkenberg said. “I think it was an almost perfect race for us. We put everything together, we grabbed the opportunities.
“It was tough, really tough, and long and demanding, really. I couldn't really afford any kind of mistake. It was one of these days where we weren't really expecting that much, but when the opportunity came, we grabbed it. Good passing, the strategy worked out fine.”
Hulkenberg admitted he was worried that his tires would go off before the end of the race.
“I think the safety car helped us a bit there, both safety cars," Hulkenberg said. "On the other hand, it brought everybody back together, and my worry at the time was that if we'd fallen off like bananas five laps to the end, then I had everybody on my tail. I was worried that all the effort would be for nothing in the end. I think one of the keys today was good traction, and we had a very good top speed, which made the others not get past me.
“I'm very pleased, very happy, it's a mega result for us, best one of the year, actually. So a great team effort.”
Formula One
Sunday
At Korean International circuit
Yeongam, South Korea
Lap length: 3.49 miles
1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 55 laps, 1:43:13.701, 111.465 mph.
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Lotus, 55, 1:43:17.925.
3. Romain Grosjean, France, Lotus, 55, 1:43:18.628.
4. Nico Hulkenberg, Germany, Sauber, 55, 1:43:37.815.
5. Lewis Hamilton, England, Mercedes, 55, 1:43:38.956.
6. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Ferrari, 55, 1:43:39.890.
7. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Mercedes, 55, 1:43:40.399.
8. Jenson Button, England, McLaren, 55, 1:43:45.963.
9. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 55, 1:43:48.091.
10. Sergio Perez, Mexico, McLaren, 55, 1:43:48.856.
11. Esteban Gutierrez, Mexico, Sauber, 55, 1:43:49.691.
12. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Williams, 55, 1:44:00.750.
13. Pastor Maldonado, Venezuela, Williams, 55, 1:44:03.714.
14. Charles Pic, France, Caterham, 55, 1:44:17.279.
15. Giedo van der Garde, Netherlands, Caterham, 55, 1:44:18.202.
16. Jules Bianchi, France, Marussia, 55, 1:44:21.671.
17. Max Chilton, England, Marussia, 55, 1:44:26.599.
18. Jean-Eric Vergne, France, Toro Rosso, 53, +2 laps, Retired.
19. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Toro Rosso, 52, +3 laps, Retired.
20. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 50, +5 laps, Retired.
Not Classfied
21. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 36, Retired.
22. Paul di Resta, Scotland, Force India, 24, Retired.
Drivers Standings
(After 14 of 19 races)
1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 272 points.
2. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Ferrari, 195.
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Lotus, 167.
4. Lewis Hamilton, England, Mercedes, 161.
5. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 130.
6. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Mercedes, 122.
7. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 89.
8. Romain Grosjean, France, Lotus, 72.
9. Jenson Button, England, McLaren, 58.
10. Paul di Resta, Scotland, Force India, 36.
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Germany, Sauber, 31.
12. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 26.
13. Sergio Perez, Mexico, McLaren, 23.
14. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Toro Rosso, 18.
15. Jean-Eric Vergne, France, Toro Rosso, 13.
16. Pastor Maldonado, Venezuela, Williams, 1.
Constructors Standings
1. Red Bull, 402 points.
2. Ferrari, 284.
3. Mercedes, 283.
4. Lotus, 239.
5. McLaren, 81.
6. Force India, 62.
7. Sauber, 31.
8. Toro Rosso, 31.
9. Williams, 1.
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