Qualifying: Vettel grabs pole at a wet Sepang

Sebastian Vettel was probably happiest when the rain came down in Malaysia as the German secured pole position ahead of Felipe Massa

The German posted a 1:49.674 to beat Ferrari's Massa to pole position. It was Vettel's 38th career pole. Fernando Alonso qualified in third place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg. Australian GP winner Kimi Raikkonen was seventh, joined on the fourth row by Jenson Button.

Qualifying 1
It was standard Malaysia warm as we headed into Q1 with the inevitable chance of a shower or two. The ambient temperature was an unwavering 32C with the track at 41C but no chance of a shower in the first few minutes. Thus we had to wait till there were 17 minutes left on the clock before the Marussias came out on track.

It was the Williams of Valtteri Bottas who set the first sub-1:40 time at 1:38.376 (faster than his team-mate) for P1 followed by Nico Rosberg whose 1:37.239 stood as P1 for a long time in the session.

The Force Indias had chosen to go out on the faster, medium tyre for their first runs, and they were joined by the Lotuses. Adrian Sutil took over P1 with a 1:36.809 and Kimi Raikkonen slotted into P2 for Lotus. Further down the field Nico Hulkenberg was vocal on team radio about being blocked by Sergio Perez, who didn't take his McLaren off line for his old team.

Red Bull, who were rumoured to have stationed ten different rain spotters in a circle around the track, left it very late in the session to leave the garage and with four minutes to go had yet to set a time for either car. At this point the bottom end of the grid looked like:
14. Hulkenberg, 15.Vergne, 16.Ricciardo, 17.Bianchi, 18.Chilton, 19.Pic, 20.Van der Garde, 21.Webber, 22.Vettel.

The Red Bulls duly set a time, but they weren't particularly quick, Mark Webber was P15 and Sebastian Vettel P13 as the tail end of the field put in faster laps. At this stage, the P.17 drop-point was: 15.Webber, 16.Gutierrez, 17.Bottas, 18.Vergne

Bottas, who had been overtaken by team-mate Maldonado couldn't improve, Gutierrez jumped to P11, Webber jumped up to P9 as Vettel's time started to dip towards the drop-zone. Although the World Champion was on a strong lap, Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso was the only car capable of demoting him and so when JEV could no longer improve, the Red Bull team brought Vettel in to save his tyres.

So, out went: 17.Vergne, 18.Bottas, 19.Bianchi, 20.Pic, 21.Chilton, 22.Van der Garde.

At the end of Q1 Gutierrez had run ten laps and Sutil just three. Marussia would have got both cars ahead of the Caterhams if it hadn't been for a lurid moment at Turn 6 for Max Chilton which dropped him 1.2 seconds behind his team-mate.

Qualifying 2
A significant item at the beginning of Q2 was the fact that the FIA rain radar went down. This was another failure of the official telemetry system after Australia last week. There would be no cockpit warning lights, or DRS activation or safety Car systems because of the problems for a second GP in succession - something that could be critical in setting in-lap deta times for Safety Car periods.

Paul di Resta was out first on the set of used medium tyres he'd just finished Q1 with. He was en route to setting a reasonable lap (fastest middle sector, but then again everyone else was only on out-laps, so he should be) when the team brought him in. It was his team-mate Adrian Sutil who set the first significant P1 time with a 1:36.834.

Again it was Nico Riosberg at the top of the timesheets in the W04 with a 1:36.190 - Lewis Hamilton slotted into P2, which was then taken by Mark Webber.

Hamilton reported back that there were spots of rain between Turns 5 and 6 and the rain started to increase. Without the FIA radar the teams hadn't seen it coming and so Paul Di Resta and Pastor Maldonado had yet to put in serious laps. In fact Paul Di Resta set a very competitive 25.0 for sector 1 before hitting trouble.

At this point of the session, with most cars anticipating at least one more run, the order was: 1.Rosberg, 2.Webber, 3.Hamilton, 4.Raikkonen, 5.Sutil, 6.Massa, 7.Alonso, 8.Button, 9.Vettel, 10.Perez, 11.Grosjean, 12.Hulkenberg, 13.Ricciardo, 14.Gutirrez, 15.Di Resta, 16.Maldonado

DiResta ran off track at Turns 5/6 as the rain began to increase. Nobody was going to set a faster time and it was pointless going out. So the Q2 times were locked and out went. 11.Grosjean, 12.Hulkenberg, 13.Ricciardo, 14.Gutirrez, 15.Di Resta, 16.Maldonado.

Most frustrated of anyone was Romain Grosjean whose mystery chassis problems and annoyance at team-mate Raikkonen getting all the development parts was plain to see as he got out of the car. Pastor Maldonado was relatively at-ease with failing to get in a competitive lap, pleased to see the car improved and probably most pleased of all to put some distance between himself and his team-mate.

Qualifying 3
The rain had fallen for fifteen minutes and the sun was emerging over part of the circuit as the cars came out for Q3 creating a rainbow. It was intermediate tyres for everybody through the whole session and so the top ten would be allowed to choose their own tyres for the race start (should it be dry) tomorrow.

Despite the period of rain, the temperatures were exactly the same as when the session had started, but this time the DRS was disabled.

Adrian Sutil took some karting (outside) lines around corners as he set provisional pole at 1:58.293, this was beaten by Sergio Perez with a 1:56.640 and then Lewis Hamilton with a 1:54.899. Nico Rosberg jumped to the top with a 1:53.898 as the track dried out and times got progressively faster. Sebastian Vettel proved this with a superb 1:52.576 before diving into the pits for some fresh intermediate tyres. Mark Webber was good for P2.

Webber continued on his single set of intermediates, as did the McLaren drivers, whereas Vettel, Alonso and Massa took on a second set. Webber edged out Vettel with a 1:52.244 lap and then was elbowed out of the way by Lewis Hamilton with a 1:51.699.

All ten drivers were on track and with the track rapidly drying the times were tumbling. Perez took P6, Button moved up into P4, Raikkonen took P4, Rosberg grabbed P3. Alonso then jumped into provisional pole with a 1:50.727 before Sebastian Vettel went a whole second quicker to take his 38th pole with a 1:49.674.

However there was more drama in the final seconds as Felipe Massa crossed the line to take P2, the second race in a row to beat team-mate Fernando Alonso. Hamilton had beaten Rosberg when it counted after lagging for most of the session, Button was in front of Perez, P8 and P10, and Kimi Raikkonen would start another race from P7. The most important thing was that the top 10 could start on exactly the same tyre as the rest of the field, though everyone is expecting rain at some stage tomorrow.

Times
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:49.674
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:50.587 +0.913
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:50.727 +1.053
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:51.699 +2.025
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:52.244 +2.570
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:52.519 +2.845
7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1:52.970 +3.296
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:53.175 +3.501
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:53.439 +3.765
10. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1:54.136 +4.462
11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:37.636 +1.446
12. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.125 +1.935
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.822 +2.632
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.221 +3.031
15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:44.509 +8.319
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault no time
17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.157 +1.348
18. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:38.207 +1.398
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1:38.434 +1.625
20. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1:39.314 +2.505
21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1:39.672 +2.863
22. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1:39.932s +3.123

Source: Planet-F1

Qualifying: Vettel takes first CoTA pole

It was a tale of two title hopefuls as Sebastian Vettel claimed the inaugural pole position at the Circuit of the Americas while Fernando Alonso was down in ninth

Vettel had been the driver to beat heading into qualifying having topped all three practice sessions. And it was more of the same on Saturday afternoon.

The reigning World Champion posted a 1:35.657 to beat Lewis Hamilton to the coveted grid slot by a less-than-expected 0.109s.

Mark Webber will line-up third while Romain Grosjean qualified fourth but will drop down the order after a gearbox change penalty.

Abu Dhabi winner Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher were fifth and sixth while Championship hopeful Alonso could only manage ninth.

Qualifying Report
The Texan sun was beating down on the Circuit of the Americas with a really encouraging crowd of around 80,000 in attendance, many from Mexico and Venezuela. The ambient temperature was 20C and the track at 31C.

Romain Grosjean went into the session knowing that he had a five-place grid penalty from a gearbox change from FP3. Cars went out set up to run multiple laps with the front-runners using the Pirelli hard tyre and some of the new teams going with the medium right from the start. Also using mediums were Romain Grosjean and Paul diResta, whose cousin Dario Franchitti was one of the many American drivers in attendance.

Kimi Raikkonen set the first meaningful P1 at 1:41.058. This was hacked into by team-mate Grosjean with a 1:39.078 which he subsequently reduced to a 1:37.865. Bruno Senna popped up at the top of the timesheets with a 1:37.850, but then Grosjean reclaimed his place back with a 1:37.486. Felipe Massa, who looked quicker than Alonso for most of qualifying, slotted into P2.

Sebastian Vettel, who had been fastest in all three practices then set the new benchmark at 1:37.165 with Mark Webber slotting into P2 and Pastor Maldonado taking P3. Such was the nature of the diminishing fuel load and the lack of wear on the tyres that cars could continually circulate - like a Formula Ford qualifying session - with the times getting quicker and quicker and few coming back down the pitlane.

Some drivers gave their tyres a slow lap breather while a few hammered on round. Coming into the final three minutes the danger positions were: 15.Perez, 16.Kobayashi, 17.Rosberg, 18. Ricciardo,19.Glock, 20.Pic, 21.Kovalainen, 22.de la Rosa, 23.Karthikeyan, 24.Petrov.

As times continued to fall, Narain Karthikeyan dumped his HRT off track at Turn 2 bringing out the yellow flags. This left Nico Rosberg in a tricky position because he'd slipped back to P18 and couldn't improve in the first sector. Round came the Mercedes and he eased off to go a tenth of a second slower in S1 and then set personal bests in S2 and S3, he scraped forward to P17. Daniel Ricciardo couldn't improve.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile was having fun with P1 and took it down to 1:37.058, before Vettel annihilated that with a 1:36.558.

Petrov improved to P21 beating his team-mate Kovalainen (who said he was blocked) but not the two Marussias. Despite their pre-qualifying worries, HRT were well inside the 107% time.

So as the Texan dust settled out went: 18.Ricciardo, 19.Glock, 20.Pic, 21.Petrov, 22.Kovalainen, 23.de la Rosa, 24.Karthikeyan.

It had been a tremendous result for the non-KERS using Marussia team who had beaten the KERS-equipped Caterhams. It was also a tremendous result for the spectators who had seen 8 laps from Vettel instead of the usual 3 or 4 and 12 laps from Grosjean.

Qualifying 2
The multiple lappery of Q1 was going to be repeated in Q2 but with everyone on the medium tyre. Kimi Raikkonen was out early again setting the benchmark time at 1:37.672. He came round again and lowered it to 1:37.457.

Lewis Hamilton then gave another indication that Vettel might have a real fight on his hands for pole with a 1:36.795 lap which Mark Webber could not beat. Vettel could, though, with a breathtaking 1:35.971.

Times were falling fast as the fuel loads came down again and at the four-minutes-to-go mark the danger zone was: 7.Raikkonen, 8.Button, 9.DiResta, 10.Schumacher, 11.Senna, 12.Grosjean, 13.Vergne, 14.Alonso, 15.Rosberg, 16.Kobayashi, 17.Perez

At least that was an order for a few seconds as drivers improved radically. One person who wasn't going to improve at all was Jenson Button who radioed that he had lost power and cruised back to the pits, his engine still running. Alonso jumped to P4 pushing Jenson to P9 and when Grosjean grabbed P6 he was down to P10. Then Michael Schumacher administered the coup de grace by claiming P5, pushing Button to P11, which became P12 seconds later when Hulkenberg jumped into the top ten.

Interestingly the two Ferraris circulated round and while Massa improved to P2, Alonso could only stay P7.

So out went: 11.Senna, 12.Button, 13.DiResta, 14.Vergne, 15.Perez, 16.Kobayashi, 17.Rosberg

It had been another miserable session for McLaren, let down by another mechanical failure. However the biggest contrast in fortunes had been with Nico Rosberg who could not get a lap out his Mercedes while his team-mate was a mighty 1.4 seconds quicker.

As for the South American contingent at Austin, the Mexicans were despondent, but the Venezuelans were still in the contest.

Qualifying 3
The advice to drivers must have been to put in a slow first lap before going for a time, and so Alonso, Massa and Hamilton all did 1:42s and 1:43s first time round the block. Nobody had told this to Romain Grosjean who took provisional pole with a 1:37.227.

It was the same for Red Bull's Mark Webber who went straight for a time and took P1 with a 1:36.845. Lewis Hamilton responded with a 1:36.209, while Vettel - not surprisingly - trumped them both with a 1:35.877.

With two minutes of the session to run the order was: 1.Vettel, 1.Hamilton, 3.Webber, 4.Grosjean, 5.Raikkonen, 6.Schumacher, 7.Alonso, 8, Maldonado, 9.Massa, 10.Hulkenberg

Schumacher was trying his hardest and in the process went off at the tricky Turn 19 which had caught out Maldonado earlier. Hulkenberg jumped to P6. Lewis set the fastest middle sector on his way to a 1:35.928 - closing in on Vettel, but not close enough. Yet.

Alonso improved to P7 and was then pushed down again when Massa took P4. Schumacher hurdled back past them into P5. Vettel then made his pole safer with a 1:35.657 and Lewis came up just short with a 1:35.766 - fractions away from a big upset.

So, a grid of Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Raikkonen, Schumacher and Massa in the front three rows. Grosjean was P4, faster than his Lotus team-mate, but takes a penalty.

Fernando Alonso ended up in a pretty miserable P9, faster than just Maldonado, although with Grosjean moving back to P9 with his gearbox penalty that will leave him in P8 but on the dirty side of the grid. It is widely anticipated that those on even numbers, on the dirty side, will suffer with poor grip at the start tomorrow.

It might even cross Ferrari's mind to change Massa's gearbox and move him back five places, so that Alonso can start both higher and on the clean side of the grid. With Button qualifying disastrously their constructors' battle with McLaren is almost won.

Whatever the case it is going to be hard work for Alonso to keep the championship alive tomorrow starting behind Vettel, Hamilton, Webber and Raikkonen. But if anybody can do it...

Times

01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m35.657
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.766
03. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.174
04. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m36.587
05. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m36.708
06. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m36.794
07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m36.937
08. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m37.141
09. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.300
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m37.842
11. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m37.604
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m37.616
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m37.665
14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.879
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.206
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.437
17. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.501
18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.114
19. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m40.056
20. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m40.664
21. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m40.809
22. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m41.166
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m42.011
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m42.740

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Three: Vettel claims US practice hat-trick

Sebatian Vettel topped the timesheets in Saturday's final practice in Austin which saw Lewis Hamilton take second and Fernando Alonso saved by a late charge

Practice Three begun in much the same way the previous two had with drivers flying off the track at Turn 19 even whilst on their installation laps. Jean-Eric Vergne was the early pace-setter as Toro Rosso went straight into the action with Daniel Ricciardo taking second behind his team-mate.

Vergne was overhauled by Nico Rosberg who in turn was beaten by Michael Schumacher. The seven-time World Champ posted a 1:39.483 to hold the P1 slot after the first 15 minutes of action. However, only seven drivers had set times.

There were early woes for Sergio Perez and Charles Pic as the faster Sauber driver attempted to find the gap that wasn't there down the inside of Turn Seven. Instead he tagged Pic, pushing the Marussia around before spearing it in the side. A shake of the head from their mechanics as both cars are damaged.

Back at the front the big boys came out to play with Jenson Button sliding into second place, 0.3s short of Rosberg's P1 time. He continued lapping to take first, 0.2s up on the German's time. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton worked his way up the timesheets from tenth to sixth and then to fourth while Sebastian Vettel was 17th on his first effort. He went on to improve to 15th and then 11th.

Button meanwhile lowered the benchmark time to a 1:37.659 while Hamilton climbed to second behind his team-mate before taking first off him by 0.046s. Vettel found some pace and slotted into third behind the McLaren duo.

Vergne was the first casualty of the session as he broke his front suspension when he hit a kerb. He was forced to park his Toro Rosso out on track with both front tyres pointing inwards.

Fernando Alonso had a late start to his morning as the Spaniard only put in his first lap time with 20 minutes remaining. As such he caught the yellow flags from Vergne' stricken car and despite his efforts struggled to move into the top 10. In fact, Alonso was pushing so hard he had several off track moments, which also ruined what could have been a solid lap on the medium tyres.

The final few minutes saw all the drivers swap to the medium compound which take several laps to heat up. But once he had heat in the rubber, Vettel jumped into the lead with a 1:36.490 while Hamilton took second off Pastor Maldonado and the very late-improving Alonso.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:36.490 18 laps
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:36.748 0.258 20 laps
03 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:37.001 0.511 21 laps
04 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.180 0.690 21 laps
05 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.247 0.757 24 laps
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.262 0.772 27 laps
07 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:37.298 0.808 18 laps
08 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:37.415 0.925 20 laps
09 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:37.495 1.005 20 laps
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:37.538 1.048 20 laps
11 Bruno Senna Williams 1:37.569 1.079 21 laps
12 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:37.760 1.270 21 laps
13 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:37.765 1.275 26 laps
14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:37.953 1.463 23 laps
15 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:38.547 2.057 23 laps
16 Paul di Resta Force India 1:38.653 2.163 22 laps
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:38.753 2.263 11 laps
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.689 3.199 12 laps
19 Timo Glock Marussia 1:40.407 3.917 23 laps
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:40.753 4.263 19 laps
21 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:41.011 4.521 19 laps
22 Charles Pic Marussia 1:41.466 4.976 19 laps
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:43.563 7.073 21 laps
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:44.043 7.553 23 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Two: Two from two for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel continued his run at the Circuit of the Americas, topping second practice despite missing half the session with a water leak

Vettel picked up where he left off this morning, hitting the front almost immediately with a 1:40.7. However, after just three laps he headed back into the pits leaving it to his rivals to take control of the timesheets.

Lewis Hamilton was the next to lead the way followed by Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes driver had the benchmark time down to a 1:40.096 after the first 15 minutes of practice, which saw everyone excluding Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan set a time in a busy start to second practice.

Drivers were still struggling to stay on the track with Felipe Massa running wide at Turn 19 and Hamilton using the run-off area surrounding the blind Turn One at the top of the hill.

With 30 minutes gone Rosberg was still in the P1 slot while Vettel was stuck in his garage as his Red Bull mechanics worked on his RB8, which had suffered a water cooling problem.

His team-mate Webber hit the front with a 1:39.485 and continued lapping, dropping the benchmark time to a 1:39.277 before he was overhauled by Massa.

Webber and Kimi Raikkonen were the first of the front-runners to head out on the medium Pirellis, both swapping over with 40 minutes remaining. Webber went quickest with a 1:38.958 and then even quicker on his second flying lap. Hamilton climbed to second ahead of Button while Vettel improved to fourth when he finally returned to the track for the final 25 minutes.

In what seemed like only a matter of time Vettel hit the front with a 1:37.718, 0.757s up on Webber. Alonso improved to third ahead of Hamilton and Button.

The final 10 minutes saw the drivers swap back to the white-marked Pirellis and with heavier fuel loads worked on race set-up. This meant Vettel finished the session unchallenged in the P1 slot.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:37.718 17 laps
02 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:38.475 0.757 36 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:38.483 0.765 35 laps
04 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:38.748 1.030 31 laps
05 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.786 1.068 32 laps
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:39.029 1.311 33 laps
07 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:39.448 1.730 32 laps
08 Bruno Senna Williams 1:39.531 1.813 38 laps
09 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:39.653 1.935 36 laps
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:40.115 2.397 30 laps
11 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:40.166 2.448 32 laps
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:40.230 2.512 35 laps
13 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:40.286 2.568 32 laps
14 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:40.326 2.608 35 laps
15 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:40.435 2.717 30 laps
16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.516 2.798 32 laps
17 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:40.700 2.982 34 laps
18 Paul di Resta Force India 1:41.430 3.712 35 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:42.476 4.758 38 laps
20 Timo Glock Marussia 1:42.652 4.934 33 laps
21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:42.846 5.128 38 laps
22 Charles Pic Marussia 1:43.538 5.820 38 laps
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:44.453 6.735 16 laps
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:45.114 7.396 20 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Practice One: Vettel claims first CoTA P1

Sebastian Vettel put in a late charge to beat Lewis Hamilton to the first P1 at the Circuit of the Americas by 1.4s in a practice that saw drivers slipping and sliding all over the place

The action started early, from the very first installation lap, as the drivers slipped and slid their way around on the new surface. In fact, the track surface was so slippery that Nico Hulkenberg told his team it was like driving on a "wet" track.

Kamui Kobayashi had the honour of setting the first-ever lap time on the CoTA, a 1:54.846. However, the Sauber driver struggled to keep his car pointing in the right direction as almost every second corner resulted in a slide or a twitch. He lowered the benchmark to a 1:51 and then a 1:48.517.

Lap after lap the Sauber driver improved his time with Mark Webber playing a brief cameo in the P1 slot before losing out to Kobayashi with a 1:45.866. That was the P1 time after the first 30 minutes with Webber second ahead of Bruno Senna, Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo.

Webber hit the front again while his team-mate Sebastian Vettel went ninth on his first time lap and flew off the track on the second. The German, though, was by no means the only driver testing the limits as Michael Schumacher and Jean-Eric Vergne also had moments. Vettel's next lap boosted him up the order to second with Lewis Hamilton taking third. Hamilton's next lap had him taking first with a 1:42.603.

Fernando Alonso was the next to lead the way but was topped by Hamilton with a 1:40.918. As the grip levels increased, the lap times dropped, although that didn't mean the drivers were yet sticking to the tarmac with Jenson Button and Felipe Massa flying off at Turn 19. Sergio Perez had a near-miss with the pit lane entry barriers.

With 30 minutes remaining Hamilton was leading the way with a 1:40.175, 0.353s up on Button while Alonso was a further 0.07s down. Vettel was 11th but soon after improved to fourth as he ventured out for another run. Alonso upped his pace but remained third. It was more of the same as Vettel went quicker but stayed second, Alonso went quicker but stayed third and Hamilton went quicker to hold a 0.648s advantage with ten minutes to go.

Putting in the laps Hamilton went even quicker but that didn't stop Vettel from taking the P1 slot off him with a 1:38.692, which was 0.8s up on Hamilton's best and 1.6s quicker than Alonso's. And then he went even quicker - 0.5s up on his previous best - as the chequered flag fell.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:38.125 30 laps
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:39.543 1.418 28 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.337 2.212 29 laps
04 Jenson Button McLaren 1:40.528 2.403 29 laps
05 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:40.650 2.525 30 laps
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:40.966 2.841 26 laps
07 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:41.023 2.898 29 laps
08 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:41.036 2.911 28 laps
09 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:41.159 3.034 32 laps
10 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:41.473 3.348 29 laps
11 Paul di Resta Force India 1:41.783 3.658 29 laps
12 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:41.825 3.700 28 laps
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:41.833 3.708 29 laps
14 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:41.880 3.755 23 laps
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:41.998 3.873 27 laps
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:42.539 4.414 30 laps
17 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:42.588 4.463 25 laps
18 Charles Pic Marussia 1:43.288 5.163 23 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:43.443 5.318 28 laps
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:43.522 5.397 23 laps
21 Timo Glock Marussia 1:44.464 6.339 24 laps
22 Bruno Senna Williams 1:44.548 6.423 29 laps
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:46.917 8.792 13 laps
24 Ma Qing Hua HRT 1:48.559 10.434 19 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel disqualified from qualifying

Sebastian Vettel will start Sunday's Abu Dhabi GP from the very back of the grid after being disqualified for a fuel infringement

The Red Bull racer had qualified his RB8 in third place but stopped out on track on his in-lap after reportedly being told by engine supplier Renault to do so.

However, under F1 regulations all drivers have to make it back to the pits after qualifying and they have to do so with one litre of fuel in the tank. And as Vettel had not made it back, this prompted a stewards' investigation.

Article 6.6.2 of the Technical Regulations states: "Competitors must ensure that a one litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the Event.

"Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power."

The stewards called Vettel and his team into their offices to explain the stoppage but once it was learnt that the car was also short of fuel he was disqualified.

"The stewards heard from the driver and team representatives and studied telemetry evidence that showed the reason why the car was stopped," said a FIA statement.

"The Stewards accepted the explanation and considered the incident as being a case of force majeure.

"However a report was received from the Technical Delegate that showed during post-qualifying scrutineering an insufficient quantity of fuel for sampling purposes."

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Two: Vettel hits the front

As night fell over the Yas Marina circuit, Sebastian Vettel emerged as the driver to beat in FP2, setting the pace on the medium and soft Pirellis ahead of Lewis Hamilton

As the sun set over the Yas Marina circuit and the floodlights came into play, the track temperature dropped dramatically from the earlier session and was some ten seconds cooler.

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel set the early pace with a 1:43.323 as the drivers quickly got down to business. Lap after lap the German lowered the benchmark, dropping down to a 1:42.730 when he headed into the pits after an seven-lap stint.

While the Red Bull racer was in his garage, Lewis Hamilton, on his 11th lap on the medium tyres, set the timesheets alight, putting in three purple sectors to hit the front by 0.635s despite a call from McLaren to head back into the pits.

Thirty minutes into the session Hamilton was leading ahead of Jenson Button, Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg.

It boiled down to a repeat of first practice as the session progressed with the two McLaren setting the pace ahead of the Red Bulls while Alonso was there and there about.

A switch to the soft yellow-marked Pirellis did not see any massive improvements from the drivers with Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, Mark Webber and the rest all failing to go quicker on the first two or even more hot laps.

Romain Grosjean was the first notable improvement on the soft tyres and he climbed to second place. This sparked a brief run of drivers improving with Vettel taking the lead by 0.039s over Hamilton. Alonso, using the new front wing and the new rear one for the first together, climbed to fifth but was still 0.750s down on Vettel's best.

Vettel increased his lead only for Hamilton to close it while Button climbed to third ahead of Webber, Grosjean and Alonso, the drivers who made up the top six after the first hour of practice.

As the drivers put in lap after lap with a few spins and near encounters with the walls, the track temperature dropped to 30'C and many in the field opted to swap to heavier fuel loads. As such there were no changes to the timesheets with most seven to eight seconds down on their previous best times.

Practice Two concluded with Vettel on top with a 1:41.751, 0.168s ahead of Hamilton, who had a late issue with the downshifts, while Button was a further 0.5s off the pace.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:41.751 33 laps
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:41.919 0.168 33 laps
03 Jenson Button McLaren 1:42.412 0.661 35 laps
04 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:42.466 0.715 21 laps
05 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:42.500 0.749 34 laps
06 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:42.532 0.781 27 laps
07 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:42.587 0.836 30 laps
08 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:42.823 1.072 32 laps
09 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:42.998 1.247 37 laps
10 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:43.106 1.355 35 laps
11 Bruno Senna Williams 1:43.191 1.440 33 laps
12 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:43.200 1.449 35 laps
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:43.255 1.504 34 laps
14 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:43.267 1.516 31 laps
15 Paul di Resta Force India 1:43.578 1.827 33 laps
16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:43.689 1.938 31 laps
17 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:44.260 2.509 26 laps
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:45.073 3.322 19 laps
19 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:45.245 3.494 35 laps
20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:45.782 4.031 32 laps
21 Timo Glock Marussia 1:46.589 4.838 35 laps
22 Charles Pic Marussia 1:46.671 4.920 31 laps
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:46.707 4.956 26 laps
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:47.406 5.655 34 laps

Source: planet-F1

Dominant Vettel Cruises To Indian Win

Sebastian Vettel took another step towards a third World title with an emphatic victory in India while Fernando Alonso did all he could to stay in the hunt, finishing second

Starting from pole position - and with a six-point advantage in the Drivers' Championship - Vettel was the favourite for the victory at the Buddh International circuit despite Red Bull's rivals insisting they had the race pace to challenge. They didn't.

Vettel stormed into the lead, building up a gap over his team-mate Mark Webber who proved to be the perfect buffer as Alonso, Vettel's main rival for the title, used great skill to pass Lewis Hamilton and then the DRS to overtake Jenson Button to climb to third.

Alonso, the first of the leading trio to come in for his one stop of the afternoon, tried his best to fight the Bulls and eventually swept by Webber for second on lap 48 of 60. However, with the gap to Vettel more than ten second, second was the best the Spaniard could hope for.

After 60 laps, Vettel cruised to the Indian GP victory, his fourth in a row and the first time in his F1 history that he managed that feat. He also extend his lead in the Championship by a further seven points to 13 with three races remaining.

Alonso was second while Webber withstood a suspected KERS issue and a late charge from Lewis Hamilton to complete the podium. Hamilton was fourth ahead of Button, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

Results
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h31:10.744
02. Alonso Ferrari + 9.437
03. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 13.217
04. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 13.909
05. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 26.266
06. Massa Ferrari + 44.600
07. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 45.200
08. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 54.900
09. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 56.100
10. Senna Williams-Renault + 1:14.900
11. Rosberg Mercedes + 1:21.600
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:22.800
13. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:26.000
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:26.400
15. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1 lap
17. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
19. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
20. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
22. Schumacher Mercedes + 5 laps

Did Not Finish
De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 41
Perez Sauber-Ferrari 21

Source: Planet-F1

Qualifying: Vettel leads Red Bull 1-2

Sebastian Vettel's 100 percent record in qualifying for the Indian GP continued on Saturday as he claimed pole position ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber

Despite failing to cross the line in time for a flying lap - which all his rivals managed to do - Vettel's 1:25.283 proved to be unbeatable, handing the Championship leader his fifth pole of the season.

Webber was second, 0.044s adrift of his team-mate as Red Bull secured the 1-2 at the Buddh International circuit.

The second row of the grid will belong to McLaren as Lewis Hamilton pipped Jenson Button to third place after finishing 0.261s adrift of Vettel.

Continuing the trend it is an all-Ferrari third row as Fernando Alonso brought his F2012 home in fifth place ahead of Felipe Massa. However, the Spaniard, who is six points behind Vettel in the Championship battle, will be hoping for better come Sunday's 60-lap grand prix.

Kimi Raikkonen was seventh and the last driver within a second of Vettel's pole position time.

Times

01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.283
02. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.327

03. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.544
04. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.659

05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.773
06. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.857

07. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m26.236
08. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.360

09. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m26.713
10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes no time

11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m26.136
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercede 1m26.241
13. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m26.331
14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.574
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.777
16. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercede 1m26.989
17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.219
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.525
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m28.756
20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m29.500
21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m29.613
22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m30.592
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m30.593
24. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m30.662

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Two: Vettel tops Red Bull 1-2

Sebastian Vettel continued his Indian domination as he set the pace in Practice Two while his team-mate Mark Webber was a buffer between him and Fernando Alonso

With the track temperature a sweltering 38'C, the drivers were quickly down to business with Romain Grosjean setting the early pace with a 1:30.210. Within the first ten minutes every driver except the two Ferraris had set a time with Mark Webber the new pace-setter with a 1:28.847.

But it wasn't long before the Scuderia's drivers made their mark with Fernando Alonso, who is running new diffuser, new brake ducts and end plates, going 15th quickest. However, his title rival was at the other end of the grid as Sebastian Vettel went quickest with 1:28.064. Alonso, though, came back almost immediately and took the P1 slot.

He soon lost it to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton but again fought back and posted a 1:27.402 to lead the way. But while Alonso was running at the front, his team-mate Felipe Massa was running off the track, putting his F2012 into a spin while tapping the Pirelli advertising boards. No damage to the car.

The Brazilian, though, was not the only one slipping and sliding as Romain Grosjean added his name to that list when he lost it at Turn 11 while Bruno Senna spun his Williams at Turn 4. Vettel was the next to lead the way with a 1:27.256.

However, it was all change in the second half of practice as the Lotus drivers were the first out on the soft tyres. Kimi Raikkonen went quickest only to lose out to Nico Rosberg by 0.008s while Felipe Massa's first run was not at all successful as he slid off the track, kicking up gravel and grass. He wasn't the only Ferrari driver struggling with balance as minutes earlier Alonso's car had been snapping all over the place and looked to be a right handful.

Getting a handle on his F2012, Alonso finally went quickest with a 1:26.964 but was beaten by Vettel by 0.04s. A brief tussle began between the title protagonists and Webber for the P1 slot with the trio swapping positions as they made the most of the hot track and the soft tyres.

The battle eventually quietened down with Vettel in the P1 slto with a 1:26.211 and Webber second, 0.118s adrift while Alonso was third ahead of Nico Rosberg and Raikkonen. And with the drivers swapping to heavier fuel loads as the track cooled down, the times remained the same with Vettel finishing at the top.

Two drivers had the sessions curtailed; Vitaly Petrov with an engine problem and Narain Karthikeyan with a hydraulic issue.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:26.221 35 laps
02 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:26.339 0.118 33 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.820 0.599 34 laps
04 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.022 0.801 38 laps
05 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:27.030 0.809 40 laps
06 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:27.131 0.910 38 laps
07 Jenson Button McLaren 1:27.182 0.961 24 laps
08 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:27.233 1.012 37 laps
09 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:27.397 1.176 36 laps
10 Bruno Senna Williams 1:27.738 1.517 36 laps
11 Paul di Resta Force India 1:28.004 1.783 32 laps
12 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:28.178 1.957 39 laps
13 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:28.222 2.001 37 laps
14 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:28.239 2.018 37 laps
15 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:28.296 2.075 23 laps
16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:28.455 2.234 40 laps
17 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:28.596 2.375 38 laps
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:29.167 2.946 35 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:29.320 3.099 43 laps
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:29.606 3.385 22 laps
21 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:30.950 4.729 37 laps
22 Timo Glock Marussia 1:31.113 4.892 35 laps
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:31.372 5.151 20 laps
24 Charles Pic Marussia 1:31.493 5.272 31 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Practice One: Vettel tops the timesheets

Sebastian Vettel laid down his marker as the Championship leader set the pace in Friday's first practice in India, 0.3s ahead of Jenson Button

The session got off to a slow start on the dusty track with not a single lap time set in the opening 30 minutes. The deadlock was finally broken when Esteban Gutierrez, who was filling in for the unwell Sergio Perez, crossed the line with a 1:46.071.

The Mexican driver's run signalled the beginning of free practice proper and others hit the track with Lewis Hamilton, Pastor Maldonado and Jenson Button all spending time at the top of the timesheets. The two McLaren drivers had a brief exchange for the P1 slot, swapping fastest times before Button put in three fastest sector times to take it with a 1:29.684, 2.4s clear of Hamilton's best!

But while the lap times were dropping the drivers still had to be careful on the dusty track as grip was limited despite efforts in the days building up to the grand prix to clean the track. This meant drivers were slipping and sliding with Gutierrez, Maldonado, Romain Grosjean and others all taking to the vast run-off areas surrounding the track.

Back in the action, Button's 1:29.684 ensured he was still leading at the halfway point as, while others had closed the gap, the McLaren driver still had a full second on them. Nico Rosberg was leading the chase ahead of Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta and Valtteri Bottas.

Michael Schumacher was the one to finally overhaul Button only to lose out seconds later to Mark Webber as the Aussie crossed the line with a 1:28.963. He was soon joined by title rivals Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso as they improved to second and third as the session entered the final 30 minutes.

That kicked off with a mini battle between Vettel and Alonso for second place with the duo trading positions as they hunted down Webber. Alonso was the first to edge the Aussie but his reign was short-lived as Hamilton went quickest only to be dropped by Vettel by 0.010s.

The final few minutes saw Alonso move up to second, 0.008s behind Vettel, which prompted the reigning World Champ to put down his marker, extending the gap to 0.425s. Button then climbed to second, splitting the title rivals, while Hamilton was fourth.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:27.619 22 laps
02 Jenson Button McLaren 1:27.929 0.310 22 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:28.044 0.425 24 laps
04 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:28.046 0.427 25 laps
05 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:28.175 0.556 22 laps
06 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:28.447 0.828 25 laps
07 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:28.542 0.923 24 laps
08 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:28.993 1.374 23 laps
09 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:29.204 1.585 24 laps
10 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:29.291 1.672 24 laps
11 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:29.691 2.072 26 laps
12 Paul di Resta Force India 1:29.760 2.141 23 laps
13 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:29.802 2.183 18 laps
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:29.850 2.231 19 laps
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:29.895 2.276 19 laps
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:30.041 2.422 26 laps
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:30.401 2.782 23 laps
18 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:30.630 3.011 24 laps
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:30.896 3.277 20 laps
20 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:31.212 3.593 29 laps
21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:31.903 4.284 22 laps
22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:32.125 4.506 24 laps
23 Timo Glock Marussia 1:32.369 4.750 19 laps
24 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:32.859 5.240 13 laps

Source: Planet-F1

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