The 'will-it-happen-or-won't-it' grand prix was finally made real as Formula One arrived in Korea, and as usual in F1, everybody had plenty to say before and afterwards.
On a dark day in Yeongam, the Red Bull Racing team recorded their first non-points-finish of the season, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso put the finishing touches to his impersonation of Lazarus.
As is routine at a new circuit, everyone professed themselves very happy to be here. Once things got started, drivers were rather worried about the slippery nature of the circuit, the profile of curves and the amount of dust and dirt being blown onto the surface.
“As expected, it was really dirty this morning, though it improved during the day, though there are still some corners that have remained dirty or where the asphalt is higher than the kerbs.”
Sébastien Buemi – Toro Rosso
“The track was very slippery, but we expect that with new tarmac where nobody has run before.”
Robert Kubica – Renault
“This morning, the track was extremely dusty, so all the drivers were sliding around quite a lot. But the track evolution throughout the day has been quite dramatic, so the track is looking quite good now, even if there’s still plenty of dust offline.”
Lewis Hamilton – McLaren
Red Bull racked up another one-two in qualifying, their eighth lockout of the year.
“Qualifying was obviously very entertaining! I was getting more and more comfortable with the track and the car was picking up speed with the track rubbering in towards the end, so very pleased.”
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
“We knew it was going to be a tight fight. It always is. Front row is still not too bad. It was a good battle and I just missed out by a sniff, but I’m ready to go for tomorrow.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing
Behind them lurked Fernando Alonso and Hamilton – but Jenson Button appeared to have killed his championship chances down in seventh.
'It’s important to remember that we’re still in the fight' – Lewis Hamilton
“I think we’re in a very good position. First of all, I think Red Bull are normally very strong on Saturday; they’ve scored something like 95 per cent of the year’s pole positions, so no surprise to see them very quick. I think we have a strong race in front of us now with what is normally our better part of the weekend – which is the race pace.”
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
“We were very quick in practice, so I don’t know where the Red Bulls found an extra half a second in Q3! Still, it’s important to remember that we’re still in the fight: we make good starts, and there are some long straights here, which should suit us.”
Lewis Hamilton
“It’s going to be a bit tough tomorrow, whatever the weather does. But the good news is that I’ll be starting from the clean side of the grid, and there are a couple of long straights after the first corner, so it’ll be a fun first lap!”
Jenson Button – McLaren
Race day came and with it torrential rain. The race began 10 minutes late and behind the safety car. After a three-lap procession, the red flag duly fell and everyone returned to the grid. 
Getty Images
“It’s so wet. At Turn Three it’s like a lake – it might be a while before we start this one.”
Jenson Button (car to pits radio)
“This the worst condition in which I’ve ever driven a car. It’s completely impossible.”
Fernando Alonso (car to pits radio)
“Visibility was the issue. I was pretty lucky to be at the front, but further back you had no ability to see anything. There’s a lot of water, a lot of concrete and not too many places to go if you have a problem. The best thing is to wait a while and see how things go.”
Mark Webber
At 4.05pm, the race restarted, again behind the safety car, which did 15 laps before letting racing commence. The opinions of the drivers seemed to be influenced by their championship standings and potential points haul.
“It’s a little better than before, but there’s still lots of water and lots of spray.”
Sebastian Vettel (car to pits radio)
“Guys, this is almost intermediates, it has dried up so much.”
Lewis Hamilton (car to pits radio)
“I don’t see a huge difference, to be honest.”
Mark Webber (car to pits radio
'When Mark had the problem it changed the picture of the race' – Fernando Alonso
Mark Webber was an early casualty. The championship leader spun into the wall and collected a hard-charging Nico Rosberg on the rebound.
“Totally my fault. I got a wheel on the kerb on the exit of Turn 12 and went into a long, slow motion slide. The wall was close and did some damage and then I wrecked Nico’s race as well.”
Mark Webber
“It was really difficult to judge which way Mark's car would go and I took the decision to go left, but he spun more and more that way and I just couldn't avoid him. It's a real shame as we could have had a great result today."
Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
“Conditions were extremely difficult, no visibility at all for the first 10 laps of the race plus the safety car laps, so not easy, but then the car was performing well with both tyres, the extreme and the inters. Maybe not as good as Sebastian in some parts of the race, but when Mark had the problem it changed the picture of the race.”
Fernando Alonso
Vettel led from Alonso and Hamilton. Sébastien Buemi and Timo Glock had a big accident which brought out the safety car again, and saw all the front-runners pit for intermediate tyres. Hamilton got past Alonso after the Spaniard had a bad stop, but threw it away at the restart by running wide at the first corner.
“It was my mistake. I locked the tyres and I arrived sideways, so I think it was difficult for the mechanic in the position I stopped.”
Fernando Alonso
“I was really struggling with the brakes, locking the fronts, locking the rears, finding the right balance, and locked both fronts into Turn One.”
Lewis Hamilton 
Getty Images
With twilight falling over the Yellow Sea, Vettel led into the final quarter of the race, before an engine failure put him out.
“There was no warning and we have no idea why [it happened]. It was a very cruel luck for Sebastian. He had done everything right, as had the team, and to lose a grand prix almost within sight of the finish is very, very frustrating.”
Christian Horner – Team Principal, Red Bull Racing
“I’m talking here while the race is still going on… obviously this is not a very nice moment.”
Sebastian Vettel
'We are all back together again as we go to the final two races' – Mark Webber
Alonso inherited the lead and led Hamilton to the flag, with Felipe Massa a surprise third.
“Victory tastes very good.”
Fernando Alonso
“It was very dark at the end, probably the darkest it’s ever been, so the last few laps were an interesting experience.”
Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull Racing’s double DNF, two weeks after a 1-2 finish in Japan turns the championship on its head. The team still lead the Constructors’ Championship, but by a greatly decreased margin. Meanwhile, in the Drivers’ Championship, Alonso leads from Webber, followed by Hamilton, Vettel and Button. Alonso and Webber can both take it with two wins, the other three now need results to go in their favour. We’re heading into the final act.
“It brings me back to them on points and we are all back together again as we go to the final two races.”
Mark Webber
“We’ll keep pushing and putting pressure on. As you’ve seen today, things can happen. I really wasn’t expecting to see the two Red Bulls drop out, but this is how incredibly close this championship is. Obviously Fernando and the Ferraris are very, very quick, but it’s still not out of reach.”
Lewis Hamilton
“We have a very strong team and a strong car and we know we are the quickest. I can go to sleep tonight knowing I did everything I could today, and we still have everything to play for.”
Sebastian Vettel
“One result and one race doesn’t change the picture of the championship. We need to keep this consistency in the next two races. Obviously winning races is fantastic and every weekend we go with the aim of winning, but sometimes we know it’s not possible. As we said many times, finishing on the podium is something that secures you a lot of points every weekend and more or less certainly puts you in a position to fight for the championship in Abu Dhabi.”
Fernando Alonso
"Motor racing can be cruel. We saw the highs of it two weeks ago in Japan and we have seen the lows of it here in Korea. But as a team, we win together and we lose together and we will fight back strongly in Brazil.”
Christian Horner
Comments
Add a comment