2013 F1 Grand Prix Season

[TBWG]

Italian GP:

By Matt Beer   Sunday, September 8th 2013,

Sebastian Vettel reeled off another dominant Formula 1 victory in the Italian Grand Prix, as Fernando Alonso won a battle for second place.

With the lead Red Bull out of reach from the start, the best Ferrari could hope for was 'best of the rest' honours, which Alonso secured after a long tussle with Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber.

Both Red Bulls were ordered to short-shift to protect potential gearbox issues in the closing stages, but while that stymied Webber's pursuit of Alonso, Vettel had enough in hand to back off and still comfortably triumph.

In further good news for Vettel, erstwhile title threats Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen were left squabbling (spectacularly) over minor points after early incidents.

Vettel was threatened by both Webber and the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa into a crowded first corner, but kept himself ahead and swiftly pulled away.

A beautifully judged move around the outside into the Roggia chicane on lap three took Alonso past Webber's Red Bull for third, as they went wheel to wheel right through the complex, making only slight contact on the exit.

Massa then made life very easy for Alonso when he came to overtake for second, and the Spaniard was able to stabilise Vettel's lead at six seconds.

But when Alonso tried a slightly divergent strategy by running four laps longer before his sole pitstop, Vettel's lead increased to over 10s.

Alonso came back out only just ahead of Webber, who had jumped Massa in the stops, and had several close calls in the closing laps as the Red Bull attacked, before claiming second.

Nico Hulkenberg lived up to his qualifying performance by settling his Sauber into fifth place.

He had Nico Rosberg's Mercedes in often very close company all afternoon, but kept his compatriot at bay and finished just a few seconds behind Alonso, Webber and Massa after an outstanding weekend.

Raikkonen had to pit for a new front wing after bumping into Sergio Perez at the start, while an early slow puncture put Hamilton onto a two-stop strategy, hampered further by radio problems.

The recovering Lotus and Mercedes then ended up in the same place on track late on having an epic battle both with each other and the midfield traffic.

Daniel Ricciardo stayed just far enough ahead of late chargers Romain Grosjean and Hamilton to take seventh, while Jenson Button just denied Raikkonen a point. Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez chased them home.

Grosjean reached the end despite Paul di Resta's Force India slamming into his Lotus at the Roggia on lap one, an impact that ended the Scot's race.

Jean-Eric Vergne was another early retirement, having battled in the top 10 before smoke erupted from the right rear of his Toro Rosso.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Italian Grand Prix
Monza, Italy;
53 laps; 306.720km;
Weather: Cloudy.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault           1h18m33.352
 2.  Alonso         Ferrari                    +       5.4
 3.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault           +       6.3
 4.  Massa          Ferrari                    +       9.3
 5.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari             +      10.3
 6.  Rosberg        Mercedes                   +      10.9
 7.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +      32.3
 8.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault              +      33.1
 9.  Hamilton       Mercedes                   +      33.5
10.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes           +      38.3
11.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +      38.6
12.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes           +      39.7
13.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari             +      40.8
14.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault           +      49.0
15.  Bottas         Williams-Renault           +      56.8
16.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
17.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes           +     1 lap
18.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
20.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:25.849

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           35
Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes         1


World Championship standings, round 12:               

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel        222        1.  Red Bull-Renault          352
 2.  Alonso        169        2.  Ferrari                   248
 3.  Hamilton      141        3.  Mercedes                  245
 4.  Raikkonen     134        4.  Lotus-Renault             191
 5.  Webber        130        5.  McLaren-Mercedes           66
 6.  Rosberg       104        6.  Force India-Mercedes       61
 7.  Massa          79        7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         31
 8.  Grosjean       57        8.  Sauber-Ferrari             17
 9.  Button         48        9.  Williams-Renault            1
10.  Di Resta       36       
11.  Sutil          25       
12.  Perez          18       
13.  Ricciardo      18       
14.  Hulkenberg     17       
15.  Vergne         13       
16.  Maldonado       1       
       
All timing unofficial


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[nico]

Kimi Räikkönen has made a deal with Ferrari and will replace Massa next year. 

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F1 fans get ready!

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[TBWG]

Singapore GP: Lewis Hamilton leads opening practice
By Matt Beer   Friday, September 20th 2013

Hamilton leads opening Monza practiceLewis Hamilton ended first practice for the Singapore Grand Prix atop the order in his Mercedes.

The Briton led the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in a tentative session that took a long time to get going as even backmarkers waited for track conditions to improve.

The majority of order changes at the front took place around the halfway point.

In a busy few minutes, the early pacesetting Williams duo and McLaren's Sergio Perez were usurped as the Red Bulls and Mercedes took control.

Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Webber swapped the top spot several times before Hamilton's 1m47.055s secured practice one honours.

Webber was 0.365 seconds slower in second, with Vettel half a second further back but achieving his best time near the end of a long run.

Rosberg completed the top four ahead of Lotus team-mates Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. The latter's running was limited by a steering problem.

Fernando Alonso was the fastest Ferrari in seventh.

Perez fell back to eighth, six places ahead of McLaren team-mate Jenson Button,

Felipe Massa was also outside the top 10 in the second Ferrari in 12th as Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and Sauber's improving rookie Esteban Gutierrez claimed ninth and 10th, with Pastor Maldonado's Williams 11th.

The 22 race drivers took part in the session, with no one standing aside for a reserve as teams preferred to maximise their lead racers' track time on the tricky Marina Bay street track.


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Singapore GP: Sebastian Vettel fastest in second practice
By Matt Beer   Friday, September 20th 2013,


Sebastian Vettel beat Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber to the fastest time in Friday's second Singapore Grand Prix practice session after a mighty battle between the duo.

Championship leader Vettel and Webber swapped the top spot repeatedly on the soft-compound tyres early on. Webber won that battle, with a time of 1m46.157s giving him a 0.251-second advantage over the German, who had just usurped his original mark.

Vettel blew that pace away when he moved onto supersofts and lapped in 1m44.249s.

Webber's response was compromised by a firm clout of the wall near the end of the lap, leaving him 0.604s down in the end.

Third-placed Nico Rosberg, who pipped Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.110s, was a second off Vettel's pace.

Steering and brake issues again limited Romain Grosjean's mileage, but did not stop him putting his Lotus fifth - just 0.043s behind Hamilton - during what little running he managed.

That placed him ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in the top Ferrari and McLaren respectively, and Kimi Raikkonen in the second Lotus.

Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez completed the top 10.

Bar minor brushes such as Webber's, everyone managed to stay away from the barriers with the exception of Pastor Maldonado, whose Williams required a new front wing.


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Singapore GP: Sebastian Vettel holds off Romain Grosjean in FP3
By Matt Beer   Saturday, September 21st 2013


Sebastian Vettel was fastest again in final practice ahead of Singapore Grand Prix qualifying, but Romain Grosjean and Lotus stepped up to pressure Red Bull.

There were hints throughout the session that Red Bull's rivals had reduced the advantage it held at the end of Friday.

Red Bull again held a one-two during the main running on the harder Pirellis.

This time Mark Webber turned the tables on Vettel after their Friday battle as his 1m46.220s lap beat the German by 0.079 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes was just 0.2s slower, a notable improvement on practice two.

Again there were substantial pace improvements on the super-soft tyre, with a massive leap from Grosjean putting the Lotus on top with a 1m44.364s.

Vettel managed to still pip that with a 1m44.173s, 0.191s faster, while Webber hit traffic on super-softs and was only fourth behind Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton ended the hour in fifth ahead of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.

Alonso was followed by the man McLaren would perhaps like to oust in his favour next year: Sergio Perez.

Nico Hulkenberg gave Sauber another boost with eighth place, with Jenson Button and Felipe Massa completing the top 10.

While Grosjean starred, his Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen could only manage 12th with a disappointing super-soft attempt.

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Singapore GP: Sebastian Vettel escapes late scares to take pole
By Matt Beer   Saturday, September 21st 2013,


Sebastian Vettel hung on to take his fifth pole of the 2013 Formula 1 season in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying.

The Red Bull driver opted to do just one Q3 run as his initial 1m42.841s lap put him 0.6 seconds clear of his rivals. He had also outpaced the pack by nearly a second in Q2.

Vettel's casual approach to the pole shootout almost proved costly, as first Mark Webber, then Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean all hinted at pole pace on their second shots.

In the end, they all fell short. Rosberg's Mercedes came closest, 0.091 seconds down on Vettel, who is separated from team-mate Webber by Grosjean's Lotus.

Lewis Hamilton was only fifth in the second McLaren, while the Ferraris were down in sixth and seventh, with the departing Felipe Massa ahead of team leader Fernando Alonso again.

Massa had earlier only just made it beyond Q1 having encountered traffic at the wrong moment.

It emerged just before qualifying that Kimi Raikkonen was struggling with back pain and that Lotus had been sufficiently concerned to get reserve driver Davide Valsecchi prepared.

The Finn only managed to qualify 13th, lapping 0.7s slower than team-mate Grosjean in Q2. It remains unclear whether his race participation is in jeopardy.

Esteban Gutierrez was among the stars of qualifying as he put aside recent Saturday woes to reach Q3 for the first time, having first hauled himself out of Q1 at the last moment.

His Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was overshadowed for once and is only 11th on the grid.

Sauber was not the only team to have one driver either side of the Q2/Q3 divide.

Jenson Button sneaked into the top 10 for McLaren by just 0.058s and took eighth, while the under-pressure Sergio Perez was down in 14th.

Jean-Eric Vergne was within 0.091s of joining Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in Q3 but will start 12th, three places behind the Australian.

Gutierrez and Massa's late jumps in Q1 caught out Paul di Resta, who was already in the pits and pushed back to 17th. Team-mate Adrian Sutil only managed two places better.

Williams's Pastor Malonado was also knocked out in Q1, though team-mate Valtteri Bottas made it to Q2.

Caterham was again quicker than Marussia, Charles Pic coming out in front among the tail-end pack.

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Singapore GP: Sebastian Vettel leaves action behind as he dominates
By Matt Beer   Sunday, September 22nd 2013



Sebastian Vettel produced his most dominant performance of the 2013 Formula 1 season so far to win the Singapore Grand Prix.

Red Bull's world champion left the rest of the field to entertain in his wake, as differing pit tactics following a mid-race safety car shuffled the distant chasing pack.

In the end it was Fernando Alonso who tigered through yet again to give Ferrari second place, as Kimi Raikkonen shrugged off his back problem to turn 13th on the grid into third position.

Mercedes gained fourth and fifth for Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton when the second Red Bull of Mark Webber ground to a halt on the final lap.

Rosberg did his best to make a race of it at the start as he edged ahead of poleman Vettel and outbraked him into Turn 1.

But the Mercedes ran slightly wide and Vettel slipped back through, with Rosberg's retaliation attempt on the outside of Turn 3 failing to come off.

Vettel was not going to take any more chances and began storming away from Rosberg and the rest, leading by six seconds after as many laps.

Alonso made another amazing start, but it was his late-braking move down the outside into the first corner then gained him most ground, as he surged into third place.

Up front, Vettel was not only able to outpace the pack with ease, but could also make his tyres last longer.

Rosberg's second place became a little more secure when Alonso emerged from his first pitstop behind Paul di Resta's yet-to-stop Force India, which would stay in front for six laps.

That delay would have stymied Alonso's chances of making further progress had Daniel Ricciardo not crashed his Toro Rosso and prompted a long safety car just before half-distance.

Most of the frontrunners, led by Alonso, came in for tyres, while Vettel, Rosberg, Webber and Hamilton stayed out.

As it turned out, most of those who had stopped could make their tyres last the rest of the distance.

While this was no problem for Vettel, who pulled away at such a ferocious rate he could easily pit again and stay ahead, the other three tumbled into the midfield traffic when they had to come in again in the final part of the race.

That elevated Alonso to second, ahead of Jenson Button and Raikkonen.

The Ferrari pulled well clear of the McLaren and Lotus, which engaged in an increasingly spectacular battle as Button's tyres faded.

With seven laps to go, Raikkonen pulled off a sublime move around the outside of Button to deny McLaren a podium and get himself into third from 13th on the grid.

Webber had jumped Rosberg in the final stops. The Australian then led the two Mercedes as they hacked back through the field, overtaking the Saubers and McLarens and setting their sights on the podium.

Alonso and Raikkonen were always likely to be out of reach though, and then Red Bull ordered Webber to back off amid a growing technical problem in the final laps.

He was powerless to prevent the two Mercedes easing past him and his car then came to a stand with an apparent engine failure with half a lap of the race to go.

Felipe Massa had to make three pitstops and finished sixth, ahead of a train of tyre-troubled cars in Button, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, chased by three-stopper Adrian Sutil.

Di Resta crashed out late on, while qualifying star Esteban Gutierrez fell back to 12th behind Pastor Maldonado as his tyres faded.



World Championship standings, round 13:               

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel        247        1.  Red Bull-Renault          377
 2.  Alonso        187        2.  Ferrari                   274
 3.  Hamilton      151        3.  Mercedes                  267
 4.  Raikkonen     149        4.  Lotus-Renault             206
 5.  Webber        130        5.  McLaren-Mercedes           76
 6.  Rosberg       116        6.  Force India-Mercedes       62
 7.  Massa          87        7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         31
 8.  Grosjean       57        8.  Sauber-Ferrari             19
 9.  Button         54        9.  Williams-Renault            1
10.  Di Resta       36       
11.  Sutil          26       
12.  Perez          22       
13.  Hulkenberg     19       
14.  Ricciardo      18       
15.  Vergne         13       
16.  Maldonado       1       
     

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Korea next F1 fans!

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It's this weekend!

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Korean GP: Lewis Hamilton stays on top in second F1 practice
By Matt Beer   Friday, October 4th 2013

Lewis Hamilton completed a clean sweep of fastest times in Korean Grand Prix Friday practice as Mercedes again took the fight to Red Bull.

In another strong hint that the champion team will face tougher opposition this weekend than of late, Hamilton not only set the outright pace with a 1m38.673s, but was also very positive about tyre life over later long runs.

Sebastian Vettel was 0.108 seconds down on Hamilton in second place.

The runaway world championship leader, chasing a fourth consecutive Formula 1 race win this weekend, waited much longer than anyone else to move to super-soft tyres, jumping to second when he did so.

That denied Mercedes a one-two, with Vettel edging Nico Rosberg by 0.016s.

Mark Webber had been Hamilton's main rival early on, as the pair swapped first place several times. The second Red Bull ended up back in fourth, but was within 0.063s of its sister car.

Felipe Massa was Ferrari's pacesetter in fifth, two places ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso. Romain Grosjean's Lotus was in between them.

The second Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen got straight back out after its morning crash and went eighth.

Despite a cockpit niggle, Jenson Button was ninth for McLaren, ahead of very-closely matched Force India duo Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta, who were just 0.001s apart.

No one repeated Raikkonen's trip into the wall, but both Caterham's Charles Pic and Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez had spins during the afternoon while Alonso visited the grass on his final lap.


Pos Driver                Team                   Time        Gap    Laps
 1. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes               1m38.673s           31
 2. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m38.781s  +0.108s  30
 3. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m38.797s  +0.124s  32
 4. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m38.844s  +0.171s  35
 5. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m39.114s  +0.441s  30
 6. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m39.226s  +0.553s  34
 7. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m39.444s  +0.771s  31
 8. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m39.757s  +1.084s  33
 9. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m39.774s  +1.101s  29
10. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m40.006s  +1.333s  34
11. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m40.007s  +1.334s  34
12. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes       1m40.152s  +1.479s  31
13. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari         1m40.186s  +1.513s  33
14. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari         1m40.210s  +1.537s  34
15. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m40.446s  +1.773s  30
16. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m40.552s  +1.879s  26
17. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m41.117s  +2.444s  35
18. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1m41.289s  +2.616s  34
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault       1m42.461s  +3.788s  36
20. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault       1m42.798s  +4.125s  35
21. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth      1m43.108s  +4.435s  31
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth      1m43.441s  +4.768s  29



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Korean GP: Sebastian Vettel beats Lewis Hamilton to pole position
By Matt Beer   Saturday, October 5th 2013,


 Vettel took his third straight Formula 1 pole as he beat Lewis Hamilton in Korean Grand Prix qualifying.

Practice had suggested that Mercedes would be able to give Red Bull a much harder time in qualifying at least at Yeongam.

But in the event Sebastian Vettel's initial Q3 lap of 1m37.202s put him 0.308 seconds clear of the leading Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

That lap had put Hamilton in third behind the second Red Bull of Mark Webber.

Although Hamilton was able to get ahead of the Australian on his final pole shot, he was still 0.218s adrift of Vettel, who was able to back off his own last lap, confident pole was secure.

Webber also abandoned his final lap and stayed third in the times, which will become 13th on the grid when his 10-place grid penalty for accumulating three driving reprimands is applied.

That will elevate Romain Grosjean to third, the Lotus driver having outpaced the second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Ferrari duo Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

Grosjean's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen could only manage 10th, 1.3s slower.

For the first time this year, Sauber got both cars into Q3, with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez eighth and ninth quickest.

Sauber's qualifying breakthrough came at McLaren's expense.

Despite encouraging signs in practice, the silver cars found themselves back in 11th and 12th, with Sergio Perez and Jenson Button missing Q3 by just 0.035s and 0.038s respectively.

The Toro Rossos and Force Indias were also eliminated in Q2, while neither Williams made it beyond Q1, although Valtteri Bottas could at least be pleased to outqualify Pastor Maldonado by half a second.

Charles Pic squeezed ahead of Caterham team-mate Giedo van der Garde by 0.007s to lead the rear quartet.

Pos Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   
 1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m37.202s
 2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m37.420s  +0.218s
 3. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m37.464s  +0.262s
 4. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m37.531s  +0.329s
 5. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m37.679s  +0.477s
 6. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m38.038s  +0.836s
 7. Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m38.223s  +1.021s
 8. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.237s  +1.035s
 9. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.405s  +1.203s
10. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m38.822s  +1.620s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m38.327s                                   Gap **
11. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes     1m38.362s  +0.793s
12. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m38.365s  +0.796s
13. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.417s  +0.848s
14. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m38.431s  +0.862s
15. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m38.718s  +1.149s
16. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.781s  +1.212s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m39.175s                                    Gap *
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault     1m39.470s  +1.129s
18. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m39.987s  +1.646s
19. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault     1m40.864s  +2.523s
20. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault     1m40.871s  +2.530s
21. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth    1m41.169s  +2.828s
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth    1m41.322s  +2.981s


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[erik69]

Who would have guessed Sebastian Vettel  would be on pole   

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Latest Grid

Jules Bianchi will start Sunday's Korean Grand Prix from the back of the grid after impeding Paul di Resta in qualifying.

The Marussia driver was found guilty of ignoring a radio warning regarding the approaching Force India and instead staying on the racing line. Bianchi was on an out-lap at the time.

As a result the Korean stewards slapped the French rookie with a three-place grid penalty and also a reprimand.

Bianchi's penalty means he drops from P21 to P22, the final position on the grid.

Meanwhile, Mark Webber's 10-place grid penalty for his third reprimand of the season has shaken up the front end grid.

The Red Bull racer qualified third but still start P13.

The Revised Grid
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
03 Romain Grosjean Lotus
04 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
05 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari
07 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber
08 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber
09 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus
10 Sergio Perez McLaren
11 Jenson Button McLaren
12 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso
13 Mark Webber Red Bull
14 Adrian Sutil Force India
15 Paul di Resta Force India
16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
17 Valtteri Bottas Williams
18 Pastor Maldonado Williams
19 Charles Pic Caterham
20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham
21 Max Chilton Marussia
22 Jules BianchiMarussia


TBWG

[TBWG]

Korean GP: Sebastian Vettel cruises to fourth straight F1 win
By Matt Beer   Sunday, October 6th 2013

Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth straight Formula 1 victory in a Korean Grand Prix enlivened by spectacular racing and bizarre incidents in his wake.

The Red Bull driver was joined on the podium by Lotus duo Kimi Raikkonen - charging forward from 10th on the grid - and Romain Grosjean.

As Vettel stormed away into his habitual lead at the start, Grosjean passed Lewis Hamilton for second into Turn 3.

In their wake, a late-braking move from Felipe Massa ended with the Ferrari spinning across the corner apex and scattering the pack behind. Everyone avoided Massa, but Jenson Button and Adrian Sutil picked up wing damage in the traffic jam.

The first half of the race featured Vettel pulling away from a closely-matched Grosjean and Hamilton, with Nico Rosberg behind and then Nico Hulkenberg fending off Fernando Alonso and a growing pack.

Raikkonen jumped to the front of that group when he made his second pitstop earlier than those around him.

Further up the road, Hamilton began to suffer extreme tyre wear in his second stint and tumbled away from Grosjean towards Rosberg - only for the German's front wing to partially fail in a shower of sparks as he overtook his struggling team-mate.

With both Mercedes delayed, Raikkonen gained two more places, just before the first safety car when Sergio Perez's right front tyre dramatically blew on the long straight after Turn 2.

Mark Webber, who had made good progress from 13th, was immediately behind and picked up a puncture from the resultant debris.

With the McLaren's tyre carcass in the middle of the straight, a safety car was required.

Vettel stayed clear of the Lotus pair at the restart, with Raikkonen passing Grosjean with a spectacular Turn 1 move a lap later.

Another safety car was imminent, though. Sutil had spun into Turn 3 on the restart lap and clouted Webber, causing the Red Bull to catch fire in the run-off area.

A fire vehicle eventually appeared on track to deal with the blazing car, forcing a frantic safety car deployment as the leaders bore down on the fire truck.

After that mess was resolved, the race ran green to the flag, with Vettel edging away from Raikkonen and Grosjean to win.

Behind them, a mighty performance from Hulkenberg earned him and Sauber fourth place. He had pounced on Hamilton's Mercedes at a restart to take the position, and then clung on under huge pressure from the Briton and Alonso, who were having a thrilling wheel-to-wheel scrap of their own.

Rosberg joined this battle by the end, followed by Button, Massa and Perez, who just denied Mexican countryman Esteban Gutierrez a point.

Williams ran in the top 10 for a long spell after a brilliant first lap from Pastor Maldonado, but the Venezuelan ultimately fell to 13th behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Paul di Resta crashed his Force India and both Toro Rossos also retired, Daniel Ricciardo having got as high as seventh in the first stint.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Korean Grand Prix
Korean International Circuit, Korea;
55 laps; 308.630km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault           1h43:13.701
 2.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +     4.200
 3.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault              +     4.900
 4.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari             +    24.100
 5.  Hamilton       Mercedes                   +    25.200
 6.  Alonso         Ferrari                    +    26.100
 7.  Rosberg        Mercedes                   +    26.600
 8.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes           +    32.200
 9.  Massa          Ferrari                    +    34.300
10.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes           +    35.100
11.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari             +    35.900
12.  Bottas         Williams-Renault           +    47.000
13.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault           +    50.000
14.  Pic            Caterham-Renault           +  1:03.500
15.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           +  1:04.500
16.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +  1:07.900
17.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth          +  1:12.900
18.  Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    2 laps
19.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    3 laps
20.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes       +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:41.380

Not classified/retirements:

Driver         Team                       On lap
Webber         Red Bull-Renault             36
Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes         24


World Championship standings, round 15:               

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel        272        1.  Red Bull-Renault          402
 2.  Alonso        195        2.  Ferrari                   284
 3.  Raikkonen     167        3.  Mercedes                  283
 4.  Hamilton      161        4.  Lotus-Renault             239
 5.  Webber        130        5.  McLaren-Mercedes           81
 6.  Rosberg       122        6.  Force India-Mercedes       62
 7.  Massa          89        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             31
 8.  Grosjean       72        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         31
 9.  Button         58        9.  Williams-Renault            1
10.  Hulkenberg     31       
11.  Di Resta       36       
12.  Sutil          26       
13.  Perez          23       
14.  Ricciardo      18       
15.  Vergne         13       
16.  Maldonado       1       
       
TBWG