Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won a chaotic, rain-hit Korean Grand Prix yesterday to seize the lead in the Formula One world championship as his Red Bull rivals crashed out.
The 29-year-old Spaniard took his third victory in the last four races after pole-sitter and race leader Sebastian Vettel, of Red Bull, was forced to retire with a blown engine on lap 46 of the 55-lap race.
The inaugural Grand Prix in South Korea finished in near-darkness after a rain-delayed start and a red flag after just three laps because of the soaked track, with the race taking almost three hours to complete.
Australian Mark Webber, the championship leader heading into the first race at the new Yeongam circuit, crashed on lap 19 when running in second position to Vettel. It was the Red Bull driver’s second non-finish of the year.
Alonso’s victory, 14 seconds ahead of Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, was the 26th of his career, and the first in wet conditions. Brazilian Felipe Massa rounded out the podium for Ferrari.
With two races remaining and a maximum 50 points to be won, Alonso has 231 points, an 11-point lead over second-placed Webber. Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, is in third place with 210 points, while Vettel has 206.
“It’s one of the best races of the year for us, for the team. We know that it was a tricky race, a race to finish,” Alonso said.
“Here it was bad luck for Mark (Webber) and Sebastian (Vettel), and anything can happen in the next two races. There are still four or five contenders (for the title), so being on the podium and being consistent is the key to win the championship.”
Michael Schumacher equalled his best result of the season with a fighting fourth place for Mercedes, while Robert Kubica was fifth for Renault.
Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) was a season-best sixth, while Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), his German team-mate Nick Heidfeld and Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) rounded out the top 10.
It was a miserable afternoon for defending world champion Jenson Button, who finished 12th for McLaren after an early pit stop compromised his race and he conceded his title defence was all but over.
The race began under safety car conditions on the rain-soaked circuit.
Drivers completed three laps in the order they qualified before the race was red-flagged, resuming after a 46-minute delay.
It re-started under safety car conditions until lap 17, and on the second lap at racing speed, Webber slid wide on the kerbs at Turn 12 and crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the circuit, rebounding across the track into the path of luckless German Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), putting both drivers out.
Webber’s accident forced the safety car to be deployed again, and the Australian admitted he had simply made an error in the treacherous conditions.
“It was totally my fault, totally my mistake,” he said.
Vettel stretched his lead over Alonso to over four seconds at the mid-point of the race before another safety car intervention to clear the debris caused by an accident between Sebastien Buemi, of Toro Rosso, and Timo Glock of Virgin.
Vettel and Alonso pitted on lap 32 while the safety car was out, and the Spaniard’s chance of winning the race appeared to be over when the wheel nut on his right front tyre did not attach correctly, delaying his stop and dropping the Ferrari driver behind Hamilton’s McLaren.
But Alonso reclaimed second position when Hamilton ran wide at Turn 1 when the race resumed on lap 35.
The Ferrari driver and Red Bull’s Vettel traded fastest laps until the German dramatically slowed on the start-finish straight at the beginning of lap 46, pulling over two corners later with smoke pouring from his Renault engine.
Alonso was untroubled thereafter, increasing his lead over Hamilton over the final nine laps to take a comfortable and crucial victory.
Grid penalties
Swiss Sebastien Buemi and German Adrian Sutil were both handed five-place grid penalties for the Brazilian Grand Prix (Nov. 7) after causing collisions in yesterday’s Korean GP.
Buemi, driving for Toro Rosso, crashed into the Virgin Racing entry of German Timo Glock on lap 31 of the 55-lap race.
Force India’s Sutil crashed with Japanese Kamui Kobayashi, of, Sauber on lap 47 as he struggled with brake problems.
Gp Result
1. Alonso (Ferrari) - 2:48:20.810
2. Hamilton (McLaren) - at 14.999sec
3. Massa (Ferrari) - 30.868
4. Schumacher (Mercedes) - 39.688
5. Kubica (Renault) - 47.734
6. Liuzzi (Force India) - 53.571
7. Barrichello (Williams) - 1:09.257
8. Kobayashi (Sauber) - 1:17.889
9. Heidfeld (Sauber) - 1:20.107
10. Hülkenberg (Williams) - 1:20.851
11. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) - 1:24.146
12. Button (McLaren) - 1:29.939
13. Kovalainen (Lotus) - 1 lap
14. Senna (Hispania) - 2 laps
15. Yamamoto (Hispania) - 2 laps
Did not finish
Sutil (Force India) - after 46 laps
Vettel (Red Bull) - 45 laps
Petrov (Renault) - 39 laps
Glock (Virgin) - 31 laps
Buemi (Toro Rosso) - 30 laps
Di Grassi (Virgin) - 25 laps
Trulli (Lotus) - 25 laps
Webber (Red Bull) - 18 laps
Rosberg (Mercedes) - 18 laps
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:50.257, lap 42.
Next race: Brazil GP, November 7.
Drivers’ standings
1. Alonso 231 pts, 2. Webber 220, 3. Hamilton 210, 4. Vettel 206, 5. Button 189, 6. Massa 143, 7. Kubica 124, 8. Rosberg122, 9. Schumacher 66, 10. Barrichello 47, 11. Sutil 47, 12. Kobayashi 31, 13. Liuzzi 21, 14. Petrov 19, 15. Hülkenberg 18, 16. Buemi 8, 17. De la Rosa 6, 18. Heidfeld 6, 19. Alguersuari 3.
Constructors
1. Red Bull 426 pts, 2. McLaren 399, 3. Ferrari 374, 4. Mercedes GP 188, 5. Renault 143, 6. Force India 68, 7. Williams 65, 8. Sauber 43, 9. Toro Rosso 11.