Photos: Kimi Räikkönen at Korean Grand Prix 2012

Source: F1GrandPrix

Korean GP: Vettel Takes The Win, Title Lead

Sebastian Vettel claimed yet another dominant victory in Korea and by doing so took the lead in the Drivers' Championship

Vettel clinched his third successive victory - and fourth of the season - in dominant fashion in Korea on Sunday where no-one, not even his own team-mate, could compete with him.

The 25 points put the German at the top of the Drivers' standings where he now leads Fernando Alonso by six points as the Ferrrai driver could only manage third. Fourth place went to Felipe Massa despite the Brazilian making it clear in the latter stages that he was quicker than his Spanish team-mate.

It was a miserable race for the McLaren team with Jenson Button being taken out at Turn 3 by Kamui Kobayashi and Lewis Hamilton suffering a suspected suspension element failure that dropped fim from fourth place to tenth at the flag.

Race Report
It was hazy low sun over the Yeongam circuit, with no chance of rain, as the drivers came round on the parade lap with the ambient temperature at 21C and the track at 24C.

Seven rows of grid:
1.Webber, 2.Vettel, 3.Hamilton, 4.Alonso, 5.Raikkonen, 6.Massa, 7.Grosjean, 8.Hulkenberg, 9.Rosberg, 10.Schumacher, 11.Button, 12.Perez, 13.Kobayashi, 14.DiResta

As the lights went out Mark Webber got more wheel spin on pole than team-mate Vettel in P2 and despite there only being 200 metres to the first turn Vettel managed to get the inside line and lead through Turn 1.

Behind them, Lewis Hamilton got an even better start than the pair of Red Bulls and looked to head between the two just as the gap closed. Fernando Alonso starting from P4 went outside and then switched to the inside of Hamilton between Turns 1 and 2 and was able to use that edge all the way up the straight to Turn 3, a great bit of car positioning.

Vettel was ahead of Webber all the way up the long straight but could hear his engine to his left. As they hit the braking zone for Turn 3 Mark Webber was alongside him but out of position on the outside so Vettel moved across and took the place and had saved enough KERS to keep ahead for Turn 4.

Turn 3 was an almighty sort-out but showed the skill of the front six drivers - Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa - as they entered the braking zone sometimes three abreast.

Further back, the manouvering wasn't so skilful. Jenson Button had already avoided a tap from Sergio Perez who tried to take Turn 1 at an impossibly tight angle and almost hit his 2013 team-mate. Then on the long drag down to Turn 3 Button was sizing up outbraking Nico Rosberg who was alongside him when Kamui Kobayashi lost control and hit both Rosberg and Button hard.

Rosberg was able to continue for a lap but Button's right front wheel was now deranged at an angle and he couldn't continue. Kobayashi's front wing was damaged but he could continue back to the pits. Grosjean managed to stay clear of everyone.

Raikkonen wanted to get past Lewis Hamilton into Turn 4 and Lewis pushed him out wide losing the Lotus momentum, so much so that Felipe Massa was able to get past the Finn into P5 at Turn 5. Raikkonen tried to hold the line into the following corner but the Ferrari was already through.

Positions at the end of Lap 1:
1.Vettel, 2.Webber, 3.Alonso, 4.Hamilton, 5.Massa, 6.Raikkonen, 7.Hulkenberg, 8.Grosjean, 9.Perez, 10.Schumacher, 11.DiResta, 12.Senna, 13.Maldonado, 14.Rosberg

There was little movement in the early stages when the cars were close, because the DRS zone was neutralised by waved yellow flags as Nico Rosberg's car - which had stopped on the long back straight on Lap 2 - was craned away slowly. By Lap 8 Kobayashi had been given a predictable drive-through penalty, although he was already in last place.

When the DRS was finally enabled on Lap 9 Kimi was suddenly 0.4 quicker in S1. At the front the Red Bulls weren't running away with the race, but they were edging clear. On Lap 10 Mark Webber put in the fastest lap and a lap later it was Sebastian Vettel's turn.

Lewis Hamilton had managed to stay clear of Felipe Massa despite the Ferrari driver edging into the DRS zone and on Lap 13 he was first to dive into the pitlane for a scheduled pit-stop, followed in by Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Schumacher.

A lap later and it was Mark Webber, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in for untroubled stops, and then on Lap 15 it was Vettel and Alonso. There were no passes for position as a result of the stops although Alonso exited the pitlane alongside the yet-to-stop Sergio Perez and both raced up to Turn 3 side by side. Alonso managed to outbrake the Sauber and the following Lewis Hamilton got past Perez soon after.

Sergio Perez might have had thoughts about making his soft tyres last a lot longer but by Lap 18 he was losing a lot of time. On that lap he dropped 1.5 seconds in Sector 2 alone and was straight into the pits. The many predictions that some teams might be one-stopping were very soon put to rest.

Positions at the end of Lap 20:
1.Vettel, 2.Webber, 3.Alonso, 4.Hamilton, 5.Massa, 6.Raikkonen, 7.Hulkenberg, 8.Grosjean, 9.Maldonado (not stopped) 10.Schumacher, 11.Ricciardo, 12.DiResta, 13.Perez

On Lap 20 Lewis Hamilton suddenly looked to be struggling. He had closed up on Alonso after the first stops but then the gap started to go out and he was a second a lap slower than the cars around him. After the race it was diagnosed that it was a possible rear anti-roll bar failure.

Hamilton wasn't able to resist Felipe Massa for very long and was soon under pressure from a very patient Kimi Raikkonen, who clearly couldn't hang on to the pace of the two Ferraris in front of Hamilton. On Lap 23 Hamilton was able to push Kimi wide around the outside of Turn 3 after the DRS zone. On Lap 24 Kimi got past Lewis into Turn 3 and then Lewis fought back with a KERS boost up the inside taking the place back into Turn 4. The battle was only settled when Lewis headed into the pits on Lap 26 for more tyres.

In front of him things weren't looking good for Mark Webber in the second stint, something not really picked up by the TV feed. Webber was significantly slower than Vettel, Alonso and Massa. On Lap 23 these three did 36.3 in the first sector while Mark could only manage a 36.7. The gap from Webber to Alonso came down from 3.0 on lap 20, to 2.6, to 2.3, to 1.6, and then 1.3 on Lap 24.

Alonso hovered just out of DRS range while the TV cameras focused on the likely sparks between Raikkonen and Hamilton. Then on lap 26 Mark started to show a bigger advantage in the second sector and the gap started to go out to 1.8 and then 2.2 and then 2.3 and the crisis seemed to have passed. By Lap 28 Mark was putting in the fastest lap of the race but by that stage Vettel was nine seconds up the road.

Nico Hulkenberg was enjoying a race-long battle with Romain Grosjean and the Lotus driver was having difficulty trying to find a way past into Turn 3. On Laps 29 and 30 it was close, but Hulkenberg had the craft to elude him and use his KERS to keep ahead despite the DRS favouring the car behind.

Massa was right up there in touch with Alonso all of the race and just 12 seconds covered the front four on Lap 31 while there was another 11 seconds back to Raikkonen and 17.5 back to the Hulkenberg vs Grosjean battle. Hamilton, having stopped much earlier than the others, had yet to take places back.

Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg then pitted for the second time on Lap 32, Alonso on Lap 34, Massa, Vettel and Raikkonen on Lap 35. On new tyres Grosjean finally got past Hulkenberg but was under pressure, as evidenced by a rallycross moment where he crossed the grass and went straight on in the final kink on Lap 34.

Positions at the end of Lap 36:
1.Vettel, 2.Webber, 3.Alonso, 4.Massa, 5.Raikkonen, 6.Hamilton, 7.Vergne (one stop), 8.Grosjean, 9.Hulkenberg, 10.Ricciardo, 11.Schumacher, 12.DiResta, 13.Perez

On Lap 37 Vettel had a lead of 6.8 seconds from Mark Webber who was 4.5 ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was only 1.4 seconds in front of Felipe Massa. At this stage of the race Massa's Ferrari looked so quick that it was capable of catching the second Red Bull - on Lap 37 Massa put in a 1:42.689 to Alonso's 1:44.192.

Felipe Massa duly got the warning call from engineer Rob Smedley "Felipe, you're bit too close to Fernando, back off to a couple of seconds."

Hamilton still held on to sixth place but in some cases was two seconds a lap slower than Grosjean. The McLaren looked like a sitting target but when Grosjean tried a move round the outside at Turn 3 on Lap 40, Hamilton ran him off the track. The Lotus driver couldn't make the overtaking move stick as it had been off-track (like Vettel in Germany) and as they both shaped up for Turn 4 Nico Hulkenberg drove around the outside of them both, Hamilton pushed him onto the kerbs, but there was too much of the Force India to push him all the way and then Hulkenberg had the line for Turn 5. The move of the race.

Now fully engaged in proceedings again Lewis put in a personal best lap time before pitting for his third set of tyres on Lap 42. He set off after Jean-Eric Vergne on a set of supersoft tyres but such was the straightline speed advantage of the Toro Rosso that even with DRS Lewis couldn't get close enough going into Turn 3. Vergne caught and passed the struggling Daniel Ricciardo, but just as Hamilton looked to take advantage in the final few laps he hooked up a piece of torn Astroturf to the sidepod and trailed it around to the flag.

The front seven positions didn't change between Lap 41 to the flag on Lap 55. Despite being asked to back off, Felipe Massa was only 1.2 behind Alonso on lap 42. Massa was heard to be asking about Mark Webber's lap times but was obliged to drop back. (Last year he finished in front of Alonso)

The final ten laps of the race was filled with worries over the state of the tyres and in particular Sebastian Vettel's tendency to go for fastest lap at the close. His team thought that the tyre taking the most load, the right front, might go at any second and his engineer, Rocky, told him this repeatedly. "Sebastian, I'm sorry to be on your case but you will not know till it's too late!"

As it was, the man who had stopped for tyres earlier, Mark Webber, rained on Seb's parade by putting in the fastest lap on the penultimate lap, a 1:42.037 to edge the gap out to Alonso to 6.6 seconds. Seb countered with a personal best on his final lap but it was a long way off fastest. The new World Championship leader told Adrian Newy afterwards that if he backed off and let the tyres go cold he got problems as well.

Vettel came across the line for his third win of the 2012 season in a row, having led all three Korean grands prix from 2010 to 2012 with the exception of 12 laps (when he retired in 2010). Mark Webber took second with Alonso third and Massa an easy fourth, a country mile clear of Raikkonen in fifth, Hulkenberg in sixth and an intact Grosjean in seventh.

Lewis Hamilton, complete with Astroturf, couldn't catch Vergne in eighth or Ricciardo in ninth but managed to fend off Perez to hold onto 10th. Probably not the result he was expecting when he was sat on the grid and a lot of hard work with a "nervous" car that looked a problem to drive.

Although the momentum is with the Red Bull team and Vettel, the race pace of the revised Ferrari F2012 showed that they are not far away and Felipe Massa will certainly be wearing red in 2013. The same might not be said of Kamui Kobayashi.

Results

01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h36:28.651
02. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 8.200
03. Alonso Ferrari + 13.900
04. Massa Ferrari + 20.100
05. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 36.700
06. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 45.300
07. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 54.800
08. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:09.500
09. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.700
10. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:19.600
11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:20.000
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:24.400
13. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:29.200
14. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1:34.900
15. Senna Williams-Renault + 1:36.900
16. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
19. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 2 lap2
20. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Did Not Finish
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 17
Rosberg Mercedes 2
Button McLaren-Mercedes 1

Source: Planet-F1

Qualifying: Webber pips Vettel to pole

Mark Webber claimed his second pole position of the season as he edged team-mate Sebastian Vettel in Korea on Saturday

Although Vettel was the favourite to take pole position at the Yeongam circuit, it was his Aussie team-mate who stole the show with a 1:37.242. That put Webber 0.074s up on Vettel and secured the 36-year-old's second pole of the season.

The second row has Lewis Hamilton alongside Fernando Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen qualified fifth ahead of Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean.

Qualifying Report
It was overcast at the sparsely spectatored Yeongam circuit with an ambient temperature of 22C and the track at 28C.

Pastor Maldonado set the first sub-1:40 lap at 1:39.716 which was ramped up by Fernando Alonso with a 1:39.543 and then Felipe Massa did considerably better with a 1:39.074. Kimi Raikkonen moved it down to 1:38.887.

Drivers were running multiple laps on the harder of the two tyres (the Soft) and so Alonso edged his time down even though he didn't improve his place. Sebastian Vettel needed just three laps to set the definitive time of 1:38.208. Mark Webber slotted into P2 and then Jenson Button took P2 off him. Lewis Hamilton was faster than Alonso but not by much and was having issues getting his car stopped into Turn 1.

Narain Karthikyean had already ended his qualifying after a front brake disc failure pitched him into a spin in the braking zone for Turn 3, the HRT car out on the spot.

With four minutes left to run the danger positions were: 14.Hulkenberg, 15.Perez, 16.Vergne. 17.Kobayashi, 18.Kovalainen, 19.Petrov, 20.Senna.

The switch to the red-walled supersoft tyre was taken by all the mid-grid teams with Bruno Senna most vulnerable, already down amongst the new teams. However a set of supersofts immediately produced results as Maldonado jumped to P10, Senna to P13 and Kobayashi to P4.

With other cars improving the timesheet was rapidly turning over and seconds later the positions were: 14.Hamilton, 15.Alonso, 16.Senna, 17.Schumacher, 18.Vergne.

Ferrari were alive to the possibilities of Alonso going out and sent him back on track with a set of supersoft tyres. Hamilton stayed in the garage.

When Vergne put his Toro Rosso into P6 that pushed Michael Schumacher into P18, and when he grabbed P8 it made the positions: 16.Hamilton, 17.Alonso, 18.Senna. What's more Senna and Alonso were on laps that looked like improving their position yet Hamilton was sat looking at the timing screens.

Alonso took a scruffy P16 pushing Lewis to P17, but then after a good opening sector Bruno Senna had a 44.1 second middle sector (his best had been 43.6) and that was his Q1 over. The Williams team called him back into the pits, much to the relief of McLaren.

Out went: 18.Senna, 19.Petrov, 20.Kovalainen, 21.Pic, 22.Glock, 23.de la Rosa, 24.Karthikeyan (no time)

It was another poor result for Bruno Senna, although ultimately Pastor Maldonado would not finish that much further in front of him. Great outcomes for Petrov and Pic outqualifying their team-mates against the run of form this season. Overall the difference between P1 (Vettel) 1:38.2 and P17 (Hamilton) 1:39.1 was just 0.9 of a second.

Qualifying 2
There was no-one anxious to get clear track space at the beginning of Q2 and it took almost a minute before Sergio Perez came out to set the benchmark time of 1:38.981. Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi reduced it to 1 1:38.504 before Fernando Alonso became the first man to break the 1:38 barrier with a 1:37.987.

Ferrari will have been encouraged to see that Sebastian Vettel couldn't beat that by very much - a 1:37.767 for Vettel put him top with Mark Webber slotting into P3 and then Lewis Hamilton displacing him in P3.

The McLarens had more brake locking issues than most and Jenson Button should have put in a faster first lap than he did on his opening tour but locked up. With four minutes of the session left to run the danger positions were: 6.Grosjean, 7.Schumacher, 8.Button, 9.Raikkonen, 10.Kobayashi, 11.DiResta, 12.Rosberg, 13.Perez, 14.Ricciardo, 15.Hulkenberg,16.Vergne, 17.Maldonado.

Everyone but Vettel went for another run on track, though not necessarily using a new set of tyres. With low wear on the smooth (underused) Yeongam circuit the supersofts could be used for more than one fast lap.

Nico Hulkenberg jumped up to P7, Maldonado could only improve to P13 and then the yellow flags came out for Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso which he parked at the side of the track in the final sector (gearbox). Despite the yellow flags Perez improved to P10, Rosberg moved to P7, then Raikkonen to P5, pushing Button into P11 where he stayed.

As the session closed, out went: 11.Button, 12.Perez, 13.Kobayashi, 14.DiResta, 15.Maldonado, 16.Ricciardo, 17.Vergne.

Button was the big casualty, losing out by 0.005 to Michael Schumacher, unable to put in a fast final sector, while Paul diResta hit a lot of traffic and was slower on a new set of softs than he was on a scrubbed set.

Qualifying 3
Mercedes produced an almost pantomime start to the final qualifying session by going to the end of the pitlane (with the green light on) and just sitting there, letting their tyres go cold. First Rosberg, and then Schumacher parked their cars. In fact Michael was sat there for an age while all the other cars went round him.

Hamilton was keen to get on with his outlap and passed both a Red Bull and a Lotus in his anxiety to get the track position he wanted.

Across the line they came on their opening laps, Massa set the benchmark with a 1:38.010, followed by Alonso 1:37.667. Grosjean slotted into P3 and then Lewis Hamilton displaced him in P3.

Sebastian Vettel then produced the much-expected provisional pole lap of 1:37.316, while team-mate Mark Webber could only manage P3 behind Alonso.

The keen-to-park-up Mercedes cars had come into the pits without setting a lap time, but in the second round decided to go for it. In fact Michael Schumacher was launched into the pitlane right in front of Lewis Hamilton who adeptly swerved round him.

The Force India of Nico Hulkenberg wasn't saving tyres either and claimed P7. Next round was a blistering lap from Mark Webber who put his Red Bull on provisional pole. Lewis Hamilton did a lot better to cross the line in P3, Alonso stayed P4, Nico Rosberg outqualified team-mate Michael Schumacher by taking P8, but lost a place when Romain Grosjean came past him to grab P7.

All eyes turned expectantly to Sebastian Vettel who would no doubt reclaim P1 but a poor first sector ruined his chances and he came up short of his team-mate.

So it was a Red Bull front row but with some interesting neighbours on the grid - Alonso just in front of Raikkonen who punctured Alonso's rear tyre at the last start in Suzuka. Grosjean next to his team-mate and not far away from Rosberg (who got shunted out of the last race) and Schumacher who he's had the pleasure of colliding with in the past.

Given that the low-tyre wear surface could produce a grinder of a one-stop race for some teams, then track position on the opening lap will be key. And with a lot of dust on the used-once-a-year-track that might generate some mistakes on Lap 1 tomorrow. Vettel and Webber should be clear of it, but further back there could be a lot of 'fun'.

Times

01. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m37.242
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m37.316 + 0.074
03. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m37.469 + 0.227
04. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.534 + 0.292
05. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m37.625 + 0.383
06. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m37.884 + 0.642
07. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m37.934 + 0.692
08. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m38.266 + 1.024
09. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.361 + 1.119
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.513 + 1.271
11. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.441 + 0.674
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.460 + 0.693
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.594 + 0.827
14. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m38.643 + 0.876
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m38.725 + 0.958
16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.084 + 1.317
17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.340 + 1.573
18. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m39.443 + 1.235
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m40.207 + 1.999
20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m40.333 + 2.125
21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m41.317 + 3.109
22. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m41.371 + 3.163
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m42.881 + 4.673
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth no time

Source: Planet-F1

Räikkönen hoped for a little more from Lotus-team's update

Kimi Räikkönen tested the new exhaust system based upon the Coanda-effect for the first time on Friday in Korean Grand Prix -practice. Kimi wasn't completely assured about it's benefits at once.

In theory it should give half a second to the laptimes.

- It was quite a difficult day. It's not easy to get the car to fall in place. Hopefully it goes better on Saturday, Räikkönen said.

Then what about the update-side?

- We will now look at the data we collected and decide if we will continue with it or not. Maybe we expected a bit more from it than it looked like, Kimi estimated.

James Allison let understand that the update-part will be kept in the car this weekend.

- It's still far from the optimum, but we are relatively satisfied with how it worked during practice, Allison assured.

It's difficult to compare, because the feeling in the car on Yeongam track is different when compared for example tohttp://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/400 ... eltaSuzuka with the same machinery.

- This is a completely different track and since I haven't drove with this new system anywhere else, it's completely impossible to evaluate my feelings, Kimi emphasized.

Yeongam is the season's first completely new track for Kimi.

- It's an ok track, although it was surprisingly bumpy on some parts when thinking that it's a new track. We are pretty much the same we always are on Fridays. Hopefully we get the car better for Saturday, because now it looked like we need to get one second more. Then again others surely also improve.

– Laptimes don't matter, what matters is that we get the right impression from these practices for Saturday, Räikkönen reminded.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Practice Two: Vettel leads Bull 1-2

Sebastian Vettel proved to be the driver to beat in Korea on Friday as he edged team-mate Mark Webber by 0.032s in Practice Two.

Vettel, who moved to within four points of the Championship lead when he claimed his third win of the season last time out in Japan, posted a 1:38.832 on Friday afternoon.

That put the German a mere 0.032s up on Webber while Vettel's main rival and Championship leader Fernando Alonso was third. However, he was three-tenths off the pace.

Practice Two got underway in near perfect conditions with the track temperature up to 30'C as Lewis Hamilton posted the afternoon's first lap time, a 1:41.841.

This sparked a run from his rivals with Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher and Paul di Resta, a 1:40.331, hitting the front one after the other.

Schumacher was the first into the 1:39s but his reign was short-lived as World Champion Sebastian Vettel jumped to the front while his team-mate Mark Webber sandwiched the Mercedes driver.

But while lap times were tumbling lap after lap, drivers were still struggling to keep all four wheels on the asphalt with Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez, Charles Pic, Heikki Kovalainen all testing the track's limits.

Perez's session came to an end just before the halfway stage as the 22-year-old, having complained of DRS issues, stopped on the side of the track with a hydraulic problem.

Halfway through the session the top three were Vettel with a 1:39.089, Webber and Button.

A switch to the supersoft tyres saw the two Red Bulls engage in a private battle for the P1 slot with Webber and Vettel taking hundredths off each other's times.

Button was the first to challenge only to lose out to Alonso, however, neither came close to battling the Red Bulls for supremacy.

With drivers swapping to heavier fuel loads and lapping at about seven second short of their previous bests, Vettel was guaranteed his first P1 finish of the weekend, 0.032s ahead of Webber.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:38.832 33 laps
02 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:38.864 0.032 33 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:39.160 0.328 28 laps
04 Jenson Button McLaren 1:39.219 0.387 29 laps
05 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:39.330 0.498 31 laps
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:39.422 0.590 30 laps
07 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:39.584 0.752 35 laps
08 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:39.717 0.885 25 laps
09 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:39.739 0.907 33 laps
10 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:39.839 1.007 26 laps
11 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:39.957 1.125 28 laps
12 Bruno Senna Williams 1:40.089 1.257 32 laps
13 Paul di Resta Force India 1:40.112 1.280 34 laps
14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:40.445 1.613 27 laps
15 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:40.745 1.913 11 laps
16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.789 1.957 31 laps
17 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:40.997 2.165 32 laps
18 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:41.200 2.368 33 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:41.602 2.770 23 laps
20 Timo Glock Marussia 1:42.596 3.764 28 laps
21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:43.066 4.234 20 laps
22 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:43.067 4.235 22 laps
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:43.869 5.037 36 laps
24 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:44.533 5.701 24 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Practice One: Hamilton makes his mark

Lewis Hamilton put in a late charge to pip Fernando Alonso to the P1 slot in Friday's first practice for the Korean GP

Although it was the Championship leader who held onto the P1 slot for most of the session, always seeming to improve his time when his rivals closed the gap, it was Hamilton who ended FP1 quickest of all.

The McLaren driver posted a 1:39.148 to edge Alonso by 0.302s. Mark Webber was third.

It was a relatively cool start to the morning with Valtteri Bottas posting the first lap time, a 1:45.225, which, despite going quicker, was easily beaten by Jenson Button by 2.350s.

With the duo doing their part to clean up the dusty Yeongam circuit, others ventured out as the day's action kicked off in earnest.

Fernando Alonso was the next to lead the way with a 1:40.895 while others struggled to stay on the track which was slippery because of the dust. Test drivers Giedo van der Garde and Jules Bianchi both had moments as did Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez.

Halfway through the session the top three were Alonso, Pastor Maldonado and Michael Schumacher.

Alonso's time stood strong while his rivals slowly but surely closed the gap as Nico Rosberg was the first to get within a second of it.

Mark Webber posed the next challenge only for Alonso to extend the gap as he went four-tenths quicker than previously. Lewis Hamilton closed the gap with 30 minutes remaining as he moved up to second, 0.025s off the pace.

With drivers pushing hard in the final 15 minutes, Rosberg ran off the track as did Perez, van der Garde kicked up dirt as he rode the kerbs hard and Alonso locked up, had a serious slide and complained of "a lot" of vibrations.

The weekend's first practice ended with Hamilton putting in a late charge to take the P1 slot with a 1:39.280, relegating Alonso to second by 0.302s.

Times
01 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:39.148 23 laps
02 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:39.450 0.302 21 laps
03 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:39.575 0.427 21 laps
04 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:39.854 0.706 23 laps
05 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:40.088 0.940 21 laps
06 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:40.221 1.073 21 laps
07 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:40.396 1.248 24 laps
08 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:40.422 1.274 22 laps
09 Paul di Resta Force India 1:40.440 1.292 19 laps
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:40.480 1.332 21 laps
11 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:40.929 1.781 14 laps
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:41.048 1.900 25 laps
13 Jules Bianchi Force India 1:41.140 1.992 21 laps
14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:41.220 2.072 19 laps
15 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:41.514 2.366 20 laps
16 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:41.596 2.448 23 laps
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:42.021 2.873 25 laps
18 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:42.027 2.879 23 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:42.104 2.956 24 laps
20 Timo Glock Marussia 1:42.175 3.027 13 laps
21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:42.706 3.558 22 laps
22 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:42.820 3.672 19 laps
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:44.517 5.369 23 laps
24 Dani Clos HRT 1:45.735 6.587 22 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso annoyed after media’s interest in new wing

"I do not think the readers are interested to get up in the morning and read about three or four points of downforce"

The interest in Ferrari’s 2012 front wing in Korea left Fernando Alonso annoyed.

"I think it’s to do with the team, not the journalists," La Gazzetta dello Sport quotes the Spaniard as saying in Korea, where his 150 Italia was fitted with the radical new wing.

Media reports analysed in detail the difference between the new and old wing and its performance in Korea relative to the regular specification driven by Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa.

"As I’ve said before, in these last four races we need to learn a lot about 2012," Alonso said. "Gaining or losing a tenth is a very low priority at the end of this season compared to finding the direction for next year’s car.

"We are working with a specific goal that is not easy for you (reporters) to understand," he added.

"I do not think the readers are interested to get up in the morning and read about three or four points of downforce, certain diameters — I think they want to know who is fourth or fifth or whether you are working for the grand prix or the next year.

"The details seem very superficial to me."

On the radio towards the end of Sunday’s Korean grand prix, Alonso was heard to tell his team "I give up" — a call rarely heard from the double world champion.

Alonso insists his focus is on what will make the 2012 season better.

"I will come to work (in 2011) to gain experience for the things for next year," he is quoted by AS sports newspaper. "We can try some experimental parts and also (experiment with) how to deal with the weekends."

The 30-year-old is currently third in the drivers’ championship.

"If we can get one tenth (for the 2012 car) from the information and yet finish fifth in the championship, I would sign it now," insisted Alonso.

"No one expects us to come to India and have the pole and the win. Expect us to be fourth or fifth in qualifying and third, fourth or fifth in the race," he said.

Source: Nextgen

Video: BBC - Korean GP - Fernando Alonso explains 'give up' call during Korea GP

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso explains why he said "I give up" to his team on the radio with two laps to go.

The Spaniard finished fifth at the Korean Grand Prix and appeared to lose all hope of catching the Red Bull and McLaren cars in front of him.

Sebastian Vettel won from Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber's third place sealed a second consecutive constructors' championship for Red Bull



Source: SixtyBuckss

Button laments McLaren's understeer

Jenson Button said a lack of front-end grip prevented him from taking the fight to Mark Weber and Lewis Hamilton after finishing fourth at the Korean Grand Prix.

A bad first lap dropped Button down the order, but he fought back to get on the tail of Webber's Red Bull towards the end, which was harassing Hamilton for second place. However, following the tight final sector, Button struggled to get within a second of Webber at the DRS activation point, which in turn meant he was not allowed to use his rear wing flap to gain a straight-line speed advantage into turn three - his only realistic chance of making a move stick.

"Towards the end of the stints the pace was OK, but I just couldn't get close enough in the last sector," Button told the BBC. "Whether I didn't have enough front-end in the car or what … but I put a lot of front-end in the car during the stops, and still I had so much understeer in the last sector. That meant I couldn't get close enough to them to use DRS and I think I used it once in the whole race."

He added: "It's not a great result but it's better than last year, I struggled here a lot last year. It's not one of my better circuits, but I didn't have any more really so fourth was it. I couldn't get close enough to use DRS, so that was it. But we'll go back and look at the data and look at the reasons for it."

Button said he was caught by surprise when Felipe Massa launched his Ferrari past him at turn three on the opening lap, which dropped him from third to sixth.

"The start itself was alright and then I thought Mark was behind me down into turn three, I don't know where Massa was … I braked where I felt it was correct, and it felt correct, but then I turned in and there was a car there," Button said. "I couldn't see him at all before I actually turned in, and then I was stuck on the outside and lost a lot of places. I don't think it would have changed my race, even if I didn't have a bad first lap because I just wasn't quick enough today."

Source: ESPNF1

Webber admits battle with Hamilton was 'intense'

With Sebastian Vettel racing away to the win, the excitement in Korea came mainly from an epic battle between McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Mark Webber

The Korean Grand Prix featured one of the most genuinely hard-fought and knife-edge battles seen on track in recent seasons, with two of the leading drivers in two of the top cars on the grid fighting tooth-and-claw over second position for much of the race.

"The battle with Lewis was pretty intense," agreed Red Bull's Mark Webber of the fight that lasted almost two thirds of the 55-lap race distance.

The team had been hoping to pull off the vital overtaking move in the pits, but Hamilton and Webber came in together and McLaren put their man out on track first - meaning that Webber would have to do all the work for himself out on the track.

"I was frustrated that we followed him out of the pit lane," he admitted. "I risked quite a bit to try and pass him on the out lap, before he got settled in."

He couldn't quite pull it off, despite running side-by-side with Hamilton in the initial laps after the pit stop. Despite increasingly struggling with downforce issues, Hamilton seemed able to get traction out of the corners at key points and thwart Webber's best overtaking moves.

"It's not easy to pass a driver of Lewis' calibre," he admitted "I tried some moves and it was a good battle as our cars had weaknesses and strengths in different areas of the lap, so trying to get the move done wasn't particularly easy."

Webber insisted he enjoyed the battle, but would have dearly loved to have taken second place from Hamilton by the end to make it the perfect day for Red Bull Racing. "I would have liked to have got that extra position, which I think performance-wise we deserved," he said. "But McLaren did a good job and Lewis drove well."

Overall, despite the frustration of finishing in third place, he was happy: "There were loads of positives today, it was a good start for me and I got a good result ... I'm sure there will be some headaches tonight," he added, talking about joining in with the team's trademark celebrations for winning their second constructors' title.

His team boss Christian Horner was delighted with Webber's efforts today. "All credit must go to Mark Webber, who tried everything to pass Lewis who in fairness defended very well," he said. "Despite being considerably quicker, we couldn't get into the right place entering the DRS zone to make it a one-two."

Webber's team mate Sebastian Vettel had more success in passing polesitter Lewis Hamilton in the first lap of the race. "I knew overtaking Lewis near the start would be difficult and I nearly went off under braking, but he was very fair and it was important for us to get track position."

It had all looked simple and plain sailing for Vettel from there, but the young German insisted that it had been anything but.

"I wasn't too comfortable to be honest, there was a lot of head wind and it was difficult to get away. I could see the car behind getting bigger in the mirrors and it was tough to break the tow, but we did it," he said. " It was a phenomenal race, we had so much pace and it was so much fun out there."

"Sebastian did everything right," commented Horner. "He had a good start, made a bold move up the inside into turn four and then controlled the race.

"It was a world champion's drive."

Source: Crash.net

Video: BBC - Korean GP - Hamilton concedes Red Bull were too quick for McLaren

Lewis Hamilton says although he is "not ecstatic" at finishing second at the Korean Grand Prix having qualified on pole, he admits he is happy for his McLaren team.

The 26-year-old Englishman says the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were quicker than the McLaren's and he would not have been able to stop the world champion from overtaking him.

Red Bull wrapped up the construtors' title thanks to Vettel winning the race and Webber completing the podium in third



Source: SixtyBuckss

Vettel hails Red Bull's mental toughness

Sebastian Vettel has hailed his Red Bull team after they pushed through their hangovers to help him to victory in Sunday's Korean GP

Having won the title last Sunday in Japan, it was celebration time for the double World Champion and his team. That, though, Vettel admits was probably not the best way to go into the second of the back-to-back grands prix.

The team endured a tough start to the weekend and even saw their run of pole positions, which had been 15 from 15 heading into Korea, come to an end.

But Red Bull and Vettel put that behind them with the 24-year-old taking the lead at the Yeongam circuit on the fourth corner of the opening lap.

From there it was all Vettel, who crossed the line to win with a 12 second advantage over Lewis Hamilton. Mark Webber's third place ensured the team also claimed the Constructors' title.

"I think it is good to see that the whole team keeps on pushing," said Vettel. "In terms of preparation it was not ideal because most of us were tipsy after Sunday night but we deserved that.

"But to come here and have a tough Friday and a tough Saturday morning, and to come back in qualifying and in the race was fantastic.

"It was so fun to drive. The car was getting quicker and quicker.

"It is fantastic, after last weekend the Drivers' Championship, this weekend the Constructors' Championship for the team. It is fantastic.

"I want to say a lot of thanks to Renault. They have been pushing so hard. The package is fantastic, so thank you very much. I am very, very happy today."

Speaking about his race, the German revealed he was surprised that the field only had to stop twice to change tyres as prior to the race he had predicted as many as four stops with the Pirellis.

"In the end we ended up stopping way less than we thought. We expected a bit more degradation, and eventually it came, but we delayed the first stop, and in the end you realise you don't have to stop three times.

"It was a very good race from that side. The tyres and tyre management were not easy, especially towards the end of the stint. I was able to gain on Lewis. I always wanted to stay clear of DRS with the headwind of Turn 2 to Turn 3.

"I was pushing hard. The tyres did not help in the second stint but they came back. It was crucial to control race from there."

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso: I can’t be happy with sixth

Fernando Alonso could only manage sixth best time during qualifying, for the Korean Grand Prix at the Yeongam circuit, and was clearly unhappy with the outcome, which will see him start the race from an all Ferrari third row on the grid but remains optimistic that he can still battle for a win as he did at Suzuka last weekend.

Speaking to media after qualifying, Alonso said, “I can’t be happy with sixth, but the position reflects our current situation: McLaren and Red Bull are stronger than us so it just leaves us to fight between ourselves for fifth and sixth places. That’s how Saturday goes, but maybe tomorrow will end up like Sunday in Suzuka and we will find ourselves again fighting for the win.”

The Spaniard, who won last year’s inaugural Korean GP, explained, “When tyre degradation is very high, usually we are in good shape, but here the situation is not very clear, as the behaviour of the Supersofts over a long run and on full tanks is still an unknown quantity. We had considered using this tyre right from Q1 but then we decided not to take too many risks.”

“Today, we were losing too much time in the first sector, where we lacked top speed. On my last run, I immediately lost a few tenths at the first corner and after that, I could not make up the time, so I decided not to complete the lap,” revealed the two times world champion.

Alonso added, “Unfortunately, I start from the dirty side of the grid, which should be a major disadvantage here, so I hope I don’t lose a place to Rosberg. We will have to keep an eye on what happens ahead of us and exploit the strategy in our favour.”

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali shared Alonso’s optimism, saying: “Only eight days ago we were in an almost identical situation and then, 24 hours later we came very close to winning. Therefore, let’s wait and see how things go tomorrow and then we can add up the figures from this weekend.”

When asked about the new front wing the team tested on the Italia 150, Alonso was vague, “The new front wing? I don’t like talking about individual components; on the one hand I think that’s a job for the engineers, on the other, I prefer to share my opinions about it only with the team.”

Source: YallaF1

Massa happy with qualifying improvement

Felipe Massa said that he has been making progress in qualifying since the mid-season break after he outqualified Fernando Alonso at the Korean Grand Prix.

Massa moved up to fifth with his final lap of qualifying, beating his team-mate by 0.15s. With Alonso also running an improved front wing that Ferrari has designed for its 2012 car, Massa's performance was even more impressive. He said that he was pleased to be stronger in qualifying than earlier this season, but warned the team was still comfortably the third quickest team.

"I am happy with my performance today," Massa said. "I think I got a good lap on my final run, after the first one in Q3, when I used the same set of Supersofts I had already run in Q2. My impression is that we are now also improving our Saturday performance, but there are still four cars in front of us and so the grid position stays more or less the same."

Massa also said that he feels the tyres are holding up better than first expected, and would be focusing on keeping out of trouble during the race.

"Going into this Grand Prix there was a lot of concern about tyre degradation but, at least from what we have seen today, it seems to be less severe than expected. Let's see how things go tomorrow. I am confident: if nothing strange happens to me, as has been the case in the last few races, then I think I can do a good job. It was actually here, a year ago, that I stood on the podium for the last time: maybe tonight I'll watch the race again, even if the weather then was very different to what we can expect tomorrow."

Source: ESPNF1

Button: Two team fight for the win

Jenson Button reckons Sunday's Korean GP will be a battle between McLaren and Red Bull for the race victory

The two teams occupy the front two rows of the grid with Lewis Hamilton on pole ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Button and Mark Webber.

Button was booted off the front row, which would have been McLaren's first lock-out of the season, by 0.084s.

"As a team and in terms of the car, I think we are in a great place right now," Button told Autosport.

"I really don't know how the race is going to go tomorrow but you would think it would be between us and the Red Bulls. I don't think Ferrari is that far behind in terms of consistency over one lap they don't have the pace in race consistency.

"It is a great way to end the season, as a team we are obviously disappointed we could not get this performance earlier in the year, but it can only be good for next year.

"Obviously there are rule changes but having a good base for this year going into 2012 is something we really need."

As for the key to success in Sunday's grand prix, Button summed it up rather well: "Being quick! That is something we have been good at in the last few races in terms of consistency."

However, the McLaren driver does admit that tyres will be crucial factor in Sunday's 55-lap race as many are expecting a high-wear rate with the Pirellis.

"We know the tyres have a short life here and if you can make any difference by looking after them is a little bit unknown tomorrow. We will see, but I think everyone is looking forward to tomorrow, it should be a lot of fun.

"We are finding our feet on high fuel, seeing how it feels and acts.

"Today was a reasonably good day for me, obviously thought we could fight for first but Lewis was too quick today but all in all a pretty good day and looks good for tomorrow."

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel escapes sanction for shortcut

Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel escaped sanction on Saturday after cutting a corner in Korean Grand Prix qualifying

The governing FIA said in a statement that stewards had decided Red Bull's German, who qualified on the front row alongside McLaren's pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, gained no advantage from the action on a slowing down lap before setting his fastest time.

"Having noted that Car 1 (Vettel) started what was its fastest qualifying lap with 17 seconds to spare prior to the chequered flag, the stewards determined that no advantage was gained," it said.

Vettel, 24, clinched his second successive title in Japan last weekend.

McLaren's Jenson Button, who qualified third, was pleased with the decision after saying he hoped his rival would not be penalised and demoted from the front row for only the second grand prix the anti-clockwise Yeongam circuit has hosted.

"We had a wet race last year, with a rolling start, so nobody has actually started on those grid slots yet in a Formula One car," he told reporters.

"And every lap we do we drive across the right hand side of the grid, I don't think anyone has driven once across the left-hand side of the grid yet. So the odd numbers should have an advantage.

"I'm pretty happy being P3, I can't be P1 because Lewis has done a better job than me so being P3 is probably the second best place."

Source: Reuters Sports

Video: BBC - Lewis Hamilton downbeat despite taking Korean GP pole

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is strangely subdued after grabbing pole position for the Korean Grand Prix.

Hamilton edged out Red Bull's double world champion Sebastian Vettel by 0.222 seconds.

The British driver admits his season has been a "rollercoaster" and his main focus is winning Sunday's race



Source: SixtyBuckss

Qualifying: Hamilton ends Red Bull's pole run

It only took 16 qualifying sessions, however, McLaren have finally beaten Red Bull to pole position thanks to an impressive lap from Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull have dominated Saturday afternoons this entire season, claiming 15 pole positions in 15 race weekends. But all good things come to an end and Hamilton ensured that's what happened in Korea on Saturday.

The McLaren driver clocked a 1:35.820 to take his first pole of the season and the 19th of his career. Sebastian Vettel had to settle for second place, missing out on his 13th pole position of the season by 0.222s.

Jenson Button was third, a further 0.084s off the pace, with Mark Webber in fourth ahead of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.

Qualifying 1
It had stayed dry for morning free practice and it was still dry as we started qualifying with a pale watery sun and an ambient temperature of 22C with the circuit at 28C.

The two Renaults were on track early and Bruno Senna - who had explored a lot of unusual places on the circuit on Friday - set P1 at 1:39.951, team-mate Vitaly Petrov lowered this to 1:39.406. Lewis Hamilton had clearly learned from his too-late appearance at Suzuka and re-set P1 at 1:38.278 on the first of what would be a three-timed lap run on the soft Prime tyre.

In Korea Pirelli had forecast a lot of tyre wear on the soft Prime and super-soft Option tyre and it looked as though Red Bull were trying to save all their Primes for the race because both Vettel and Webber went out on a set of super-softs for their first run, something usually confined to the new teams. Christian Horner confirmed his drivers were given a target time to achieve so as not to take too much life out of them.

Both Hamilton and Button circulated for a cooling off lap before putting in a faster lap with Hamilton reducing P1 to 1:37.525 and Jenson Button taking back P2 off Fernando Alonso - who was running a new front wing this weekend while Massa kept the old one. The Red Bulls were 5th and 6th after their first runs, behind the two Ferraris.

Running into the last four minutes, Liuzzi, Barrichello, Maldonado and Ricciardo had all failed to set a time. The Williams drivers were leaving it late, but Ricciardo's HRT had developed a water cooling problem and he would not set a time. The danger positions were: 16.Perez, 17.Kovalainen, 18.Trulli, 19.Glock.

Maldonado's first lap placed him only to P16 which pushed Kobayashi to P17 and Perez into the exit seat in P18. The Mexican responded by elevating his Sauber to P10 and Kobayashi jumped forward to P15. So now it was Adrian Sutil in P17 and Maldonado back in P18.

The two Force Indias were out together and while Paul DiResta claimed P7, Adrian Sutil grabbed P9. Now it looked to be a battle of Kobayashi versus the two Williams for who would be the fall guy, with Barrichello in P17 and Maldonado in P18. When Rubens abandoned his final lap and came in it was then down to Maldonado to eliminate his team-mate by jumping to P16.

So out went: 18.Barrichello, 19.Kovalainen, 20.Trulli, 21.Glock, 22.D'Ambrosio, 23.Liuzzi, 24.Ricciardo.

Qualifying 2
There was no sign of the soft tyres in Q2 as everyone switched to the super-soft. Paul DiResta set the first P1 at 1:38.868 followed by another early Hamilton run, a 1:36.526. Button slotted into P2, and then Mark Webber took P2 and then Sebastian Vettel took P2.

Michael Schmacher had the track to himself in the middle of the session but reported a very bad tyre vibration. With 0.5 seconds to the next quickest car (a Renault) he thought he would have enough to make Q3, but his lap was only good enough for P9.

Going into the last four minutes the danger positions were: 7.Massa, 8.Petrov, 9.Schumacher, 10.Alguersuari, 11.Buemi, 12.Sutil, 13.DiResta, 14.Perez, and with Senna, Kobayashi and Maldonado not having set a time.

Massa felt sufficiently at risk to need another lap and put his Ferrari up into P5, Maldonado could only manage P14, Adrian Sutil took P9 for Force India demoting Michael Schumacher to P10 and when Jaime Alguersuari claimed P10, Michael was out. Paul DiResta then booted Alguersuari out of Q3 by claiming P10.

There was no sign of major improvement from the cars leaving it very late - Buemi stayed P13, Kobayashi could only claim P14, Bruno Senna P15 and Perez stayed at P17. So out went: 11.Alguersuari, 12.Schumacher, 13.Buemi, 14.Kobayashi, 15.Senna, 16.Maldonado, 17.Perez.

It was conspicuously a poor result for Schumacher who had finished fourth here last year, but it was equally as bad a result for Bruno Senna (down in P15 and with his team-mate in P8) going into the tricky phase where Renault are deciding who will be in the car next year.

Qualifying 3
Yet again Lewis Hamilton wasn't going to leave it late in the session to qualify and while Nico Rosberg set provisional pole at 1:37.754, Lewis Hamilton followed him home with a 1:36.130 - Button took P2 and then Webber took P2 and then Vettel grabbed P2.

So after the first runs it was: Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Button, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg and Petrov - with the two Force Indias staying in the garage. One run was enough for Nico Rosberg and he was off down the long pitlane to be weighed by the FIA's Jo Bauer.

It was going to be very tight in the run for pole with four cars genuinely in with a shout. Hamilton was out first and looking like his old self behind the wheel, moved the best time down to a 1:35.870, Button couldn't match it but grabbed P2. Mark Webber made a mistake at the very first corner and abandoned his lap, likewise Fernando Alonso. Felipe Massa then went past his team-mate to take P5, while Vettel came up 0.2 shy of Hamilton, but yet again, just in front of Button.

It was a curiously contained Lewis Hamilton who arrived back in the pits, with no celebration on the radio, no high-fives in the pitlane. The McLaren driver strode to the weighing-in area without removing his helmet and disappeared backstage beyond the reach of the cameras as soon as he could.

The whole weekend has the feeling of a 'hangover' race with no pitlane buzz, no support races - almost like a contractual obligation for F1 to appear and go through the motions. However McLaren had interrupted Red Bull's sequence of 15 pole positions - something they should have done the previous weekend, when there was a lot more passion on display.

Times
01. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.820
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m36.042 + 0.222
03. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.126 + 0.306
04. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.468 + 0.648
05. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m36.831 + 1.011
06. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m36.980 + 1.160
07. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m37.754 + 1.934
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m38.124 + 2.304
09. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes no time
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes no time
11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.315 + 1.789
12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.354 + 1.828
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.508 + 1.982
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.775 + 2.249
15. Bruno Senna Renault 1m38.791 + 2.265
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m39.189 + 2.663
17. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.443 + 2.917
18. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m39.538 + 2.013
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m40.522 + 2.997
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m41.101 + 3.576
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.091 + 4.566
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m43.483 + 5.958
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m43.758 + 6.233
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth no time

Source: Planet-F1