The dramatic Korean Grand Prix (Part 2)
As the conditions kept getting worse, the cars were still behind the safety car as they entered the 2nd lap of the race. Things were not looking good as there was an abundance of standing water on track and the cars were struggling to gain grip.
Bruno Senna came in the pits from the 24th position and rejoined the track after a total of 25.3 seconds in the pits. The cars were largely set-up for dry conditions with some minor changes available to the team such as the front wing angle and
brake cooling.
Alonso told his team that these were the worst conditions that he has ever driven in and the race had to be suspended as the cars were ordered to return to the start finish line for the red flag line to wait for the restart.
The drivers were now slowly and carefully coming out through the final sector towards the start finish area. Button said that he could not even see his front tyres due to the spray of water on the straights. The race clock was suspended with just 1h53m08s
remaining. Three laps were completed as the pack re-formed on the grid. The race was expected to resume behind the safety car when the conditions allowed for it.
The cars lined up in grid order once again and the mechanics now rushed onto the circuit to carry the usual track routine checks as they waited for further information. The teams received a ten-minute warning of the restart from the race control.
The race needed to cover a distance of 42 laps for full points to be awarded as the FIA rules state that a driver must complete at least 75% of laps to score full points if there is an unforeseen circumstance.
The Formula 1 official weather radars showed that the rain would continue lightly for some time but the conditions were expected to improve after a minimum time of half an hour. Mark Webber took his helmet off so that he could get some fresh air as he remained
in the cockpit to discuss the situation with his engineers. Darkness was also expected to hit the track after a couple of hours as the afternoon was in its final moments.
Mercedes mechanics were making some adjustments to the area behind the brake reservoirs on Rosberg’s car. Hamilton decided to step out of his McLaren as well and headed to the garage to dry off. The Safety car driver Bernd Maylander remained at the controls
of the Mercedes as he kept constant contact with race control. The rain was now falling lightly in Yeongam as everybody waited to see the 10 minute signal to be given.
Maylander took his helmet off and climbed out of the safety car to get some fresh air while Mark Webber talked to a TV channel reporter.
“Visibility is the issue. On the run to Turn 3 there is quite a lot of water to be honest. The best thing is to wait a while and then see how we go,” he said.
Parc stated that the conditions have now ended so the teams were given the signal to make set-up tweaks to their cars during the red flag period if they wanted. Bruno Senna was one of the many drivers who climbed out of their cars as he waited for further
instructions. He was adjusting his helmet back then along with a HANS device.
The official Formula 1 weather radar predicted that the rain would stop after a period of less than 20 minutes while Jaime Alguersuari sat in the cockpit of his Toro Rosso without his helmet and contemplated the conditions of the track.
As the conditions kept getting worse, the race control team was delaying the race as much as they could and after looking at the conditions on the track, it seemed that the race might not even happen if the conditions do not stabilize.
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