Formula One: Highlights of the Korean Grand Prix – Part 4
This feature depicts the dying stages of the race, heading into the 37th lap. Kovalainen was given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Alonso was able to set the fastest lap. The determination of the Ferrari was commendable as
he hadn’t allowed the Red Bull to run away at the restart this time.
In the following lap, Sutil got past Heidfeld to take 12th. Meanwhile, at the front, Vettel responded with a fastest lap. It was an intriguing battle at the front as a mere 1.2 seconds separated the lead duo. Elsewhere on track, Adrian Sutil missed
his braking while battling with Kobayashi and resultantly ran wide, losing a few positions in the process.
Vettel further built upon his lead as he posted the fastest time for lap 39 and opened up the gap to 1.4 seconds. Lewis Hamilton, who had been rather quiet so far in 3rd position, set the quickest first sector time. It was perhaps the start of
bigger things to come as the McLaren was able to claim the aggregate fastest time for all 3 sectors next time. He took apart Alonso’s run with a whole second quicker.
Meanwhile Adrian Sutil was in the thick of action as he had another moment and lost 13th position to Alguersuari. All the front runners were making their mark on the race; this time, it was in the form of Felipe Massa as he went fastest on lap
41. However, rather unsurprisingly this time, as the race looked to gain momentum, there was yet another hold up. On this occasion, Vitaly Petrov crashed from 11th which brought out Yellow flags on track . It was later confirmed that the Renault
got a wheel on the white line and lost control on the corner – such mistakes wouldn’t bode well for his chances of securing a Renault drive next year.
Fernando Alonso was gaining ground on the race leader again. He set the fastest time for lap 43 and was a mere 2.3 seconds adrift effectively. However, having said that, he was also narrowly ahead of the McLaren behind - A gap of 1.9 seconds.
Whether Vetel was a touch unsettled by the sudden burst of pace from the Ferrari that was constantly eating away his race lead, or the fact that his concern over low visibility were actually genuine; it was hard to say. However, curiously, with 75 percent
of the race distance already over, it would have potentially meant full points awarded to the top 10 if the race were to be called off then.
Lewis Hamilton on the other hand, when posed the same question, felt that the light was fine. However, at the exact moment, Fernando Alonso went past Vettel. It was heartbreak for Red Bull as Vettel had to retire with a blown engine. On the flip side, it
was a dream situation for Alonso. The McLaren and Ferrari pit crew couldn’t help but show pleasure at Red Bull’s misfortune.
The situation looked bizare. How could either car of the leading constructors fail to even make the end of the Grand Prix? The Red Bulls have literally redefined the meaning of reliability this year. It has often been down to driver related mishaps that
have seen the Renault powered car NOT score points this year. The last time when both cars failed to make it to the finish line was way back in the Turkish Grand Prix; a good, 9 race weekends ago. The tale was a sad one for both Vettel and Webber as they were
literally dominating the race up front. A collision between the two ended up clearing the path for the McLaren behind to clinch the chequered flag on the day.
With a similar ‘ending’ for Red Bull this time round, it looked Alonso was the prime beneficiary. With already enough drama to last for an entire season alone after 46 laps of the Korean Grand Prix, the nerves of the Formula One viewer were heavily tested,
were there more theatrics in store for us?
Stay tuned…
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