Vettel Wins In Korea and Closes In For the 2013 Drivers Title

Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth successive 2013 victory in an action-packed race in Yeongam on Sunday.

Just like in Singapore, Vettel kept his head as several behind him appeared to lose theirs, and in doing so made sure the wheel-to-wheel battling stayed firmly in his mirrors. But Vettel was less dominant in Yeongam than he had been in the previous three races, and had to be careful to nurse his right-front tyre in a race in which several rivals ran into graining problems.

Grosjean took the fight to the Red Bull man initially by passing Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes on the opening lap, but the Frenchman was later jumped by team mate Räikkönen.

When Sergio Perez’s McLaren had thrown the tread off its right-front Pirelli tyre on the 31st lap it sent safety-car into action as the debris was cleared up. After the usual rash of pit stops (which included Red Bull's Mark Webber taking an extra stop because of a puncture from the debris), the racing resumed on the 37th lap.

When the race restarted six laps later, it took just a few corners for another major incident to occur, Force India's Adrian Sutil colliding with Red Bull's Mark Webber, sending the Australian spinning out of the race and setting his car on fire. A bizarre decision to send a fire truck on to the track before a safety car had been deployed will surely be investigated, with FIA race director Charlie Whiting later admitting that it had given marshals clearance to deploy it but had not anticipated that it would be sent out from T1, ahead of the leaders, before the safety car had had time to slow them down.

The RB9 was eventually recovered so that the racing could resume a second time on the 41st lap.

Vettel quickly resumed his lead while Hülkenberg made a move stick on Hamilton at Turn 3. At the end of the lap Grosjean made a mistake in the penultimate corner and opened the door for Räikkönen to pass into Turn 1 to take second. Grosjean, with fresher tyres on his car, was soon on the radio asking for a free pass, but was told to race his team-mate for position and failed to find a way past.

However, a more exciting battle was unfolding behind as Hamilton attempted to reclaim fourth position. He had the pace into Turn 1 to attempt a move on lap 48, but Hülkenberg's better traction out of Turn 2 allowed him to pass the Mercedes again ahead of Turn 3. Alonso, watching events from sixth position, then attacked Hamilton into Turns 4, 5 and 6, but the Mercedes was placed with precision to make sure it was always blocking each apex. Hamilton came on the radio to ask for suggestions about how to pass the Sauber, but clearly an answer was not forthcoming as he remained stuck behind Hülkenberg until the end of the race and settled for fifth.

Further back the race standings, Nico Rosberg lost out as he was held up by Button’s McLaren. Rosberg had briefly caught (and passed) Hamilton on the 28th lap before his Mercedes’ nose broke and started sparking spectacularly (while dragging on the track). He fell back behind his team mate when it proved difficult to change the nose during his resulting pit stop. He took advantage of the lifelines of the safety cars, and got back into contention for fourth in the closing stages but as Button lost pace on his ageing tyres, Rosberg lost out on the Hülkenberg-Hamilton-Alonso scrap, and they were out of reach by the time he had overtaken Button on the 53rd lap.

Felipe Massa battled for a strong recovery (from a half spin going into the third corner on the opening lap) which caused upsets and wing damage for Button and Sutil, but the intensity of a fight with McLaren’s Sergio Perez on the 43rd lap will be investigated by the stewards. The young Mexican recovered from his tyre failure and finished seven-tenths of a second behind the Ferrari to take the final point.

The stewards have four incidents to review following the race, including the Massa-Perez (one mentioned above). Perez is also under investigation for forcing Paul di Resta off track, while Van der Garde and Chilton are to be looked at for speeding under the safety car. Finally, Pic, Van der Garde and Bianchi are under investigation for failing to slow for yellow flags.

The result in Korea brings Red Bull within seven points of their fourth consecutive constructors’ crown, and Mercedes within a point of Ferrari for second in the standings - Red Bull have 402 points, Ferrari 284 and Mercedes 283, while Lotus are on 239, McLaren 81 and Force India 62.

Vettel extended his championship lead over Alonso to 77 points and now sits on a total of 272. As a result the German could clinch the title in Japan next week were he to win with Alonso ninth or lower. The Spaniard has 195, and Räikkönen as displaced Hamilton from third with 168 to his 161. Webber remains fifth on 130 with Rosberg on 122.

So all in all, the Japanese Grand Prix is going to be a spectacular race!

Sebastian Vettel	Winner
Kimi Räikkönen	Second
Romain Grosjean	Third
Nico Hülkenberg	P4
Lewis Hamilton	P5
Fernando Alonso	P6
Nico Rosberg	P7
Jenson Button	P8
Felipe Massa	P9
Sergio Perez	P10
Esteban Gutiérrez	P11
Valtteri Bottas	P12
Pastor Maldonado	P13
Charles Pic	P14
Giedo van der Garde	P15
Jules Bianchi	P16
Max Chilton	P17
Jean-Éric Vergne	Retired Mechanical)
Daniel Ricciardo	Retired (Mechanical)
Adrian Sutil	Retired (Accident)
Mark Webber	Retired (Accident)
Paul di Resta	Retired (Accident)

Note - Webber qualified third, but penalised 10 grid places for accumulating three stewards' reprimands. Bianchi qualified 21st, but started 22nd after being penalised three grid places for impeding Di Resta in qualifying