Formula One: Highlights of the Korean Grand Prix – Part 5
With both Red Bulls out of contention, the championship position changed drastically. Alonso, if he were to finish the race in the lead, was to reach 231 points and put Mark Webber 11 points behind while Hamilton climbed up to 3rd with 210.
The Red Bulls weren’t the only ones. Adrian Sutil crashed with Kobayashi while trying to find a way past. His incident filled race was finally over. Meanwhile, Jenson Button was still struggling in 12th and more importantly, was scoring no points
finsihing outside the top 10 – was it a touch premature to concede that his title hopes were sinking with every lap? While a despondent Vettel walked down the pit lane, all was not lost for Kamyui Kobayashi as he managed to continue his race.
The order at the top saw Alonso leading the rest of the field, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Vettel was seen chatting with a few of his Red Bull team members who looked rather philosophical about Vettel’s
engine blow up. There was growing belief that it was going to be a Ferrari race with 4 laps to go.
Jenson Button’s on track woes continued as he spun off in his rather unfruitful 12th. Hulkenberg entered the pit lane and made his scheduled stop for a new set of intermediates. Alonso was flexing his wings with a healthy lead of 5.4 seconds;
if all went well, there was no stopping him from cruising to a race win.
2 laps to go… Hamilton lapped 4 seconds slower than the Ferrari in front. Perhaps it was a sign of the McLaren settling for a hard fought 2nd. However, despite gaining a lot of grounds on the 2 Red Bulls in front of him in the championships, he
was still 21 points behind the new provisional champion Alonso.
Final lap… Alonso took the chequered flag as the Ferrari camp was jubilant for their man. The McLaren of Lewis Hamilton took second and the team garage was reasonably happy with their car’s performance. Felipe Massa brought home another Ferrari to the finish
line and subsequently, claimed the final step of the podium. There was general consensus that the championship race became even more fascinating with the Red Bulls failing to finish.
Summary
Korea might be remembered in days to come, as the venue that changed the complexiton of the championships this year. The Grand Prix experienced a spectacle that nearly none suspected - Both the Red Bulls failed to go the entire race distance, allowing Fernando
Alonso to grab his 5 race win of the season along with the title lead. Hamilton's title aspirations received a fillip as well, and he is now 3rd in the championship.
The Race started on a dampened front thanks to the heavy rain before the start, conditions were so severe that the race not only had to be delayed but also had to be started behind the safety car. Conditions were judged to be too risky and the race was red
flagged on lap 4. On the restart, a mere half an hour afterwards, saw cars having to line up behind the safety car yet again, this time for an agonizingly, snail’s paced period. However, once conditions were deemed conducive for racing, we witnessed an action
packed feature one that looked fitting enough for the first Korea based race.
At the end of the 55 laps, it could be argued that Alonso was a touch lucky to be able to cash in after Vettel's engine failed him in the 46th lap. Earlier on in the race, Mark Webber, mostly due to his own doing, vacated 2nd spot as he
crashed out and took the 4th placed Mercedes of Nico Rosberg out with him.
Michael Schumacher did extremely well to gain 4th followed by Robert Kubica, Liuzzi, Barrichello, Kobayashi, Heidfeld and Hulkenberg rounding off the top 10 and point scoring positions.
The championship position (in terms of points) is as follows:
Fernando Alonso on 231 in the Ferrari. Mark Webber on 220 in the Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton on 210 in the McLaren Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel on 206 in the Red Bull.
It's still one race win separating the top four, but with two races to go, as long as Webber and Alonso don't crash out, it appears to be a battle among the top three, with Alonso arguably posing as the best call to wear the crown at the end of the season.
That's it for now... do join us on bettor.com for the next race on the 7th of November from Brazil!
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