5.11.10

For Round 17 we stayed out East, but moved about 700 miles west from Japan to Korea for the inaugural Korean GP. The track was only just finished in time and this was to have a significant impact on the world championships. The track was "dusty" and slippery. When it "rubbered in" it was very slippery off the racing line. When it rained, it was lethal, apparently "green" tarmac does not drain properly, the oils that are in it when it is laid ooze out, making things very tricky. I'm sure there was a rule at one time that tracks had to hold a race meeting before they held a GP, but that has no place in the Brave New World of F1.

The Korean International Circuit was described by PR types as a mix between Monaco and Monza. I don't see it. One of the many things that differentiates proper "road" circuits from made-up ones is that the former have no sharp corners; I don't mean tight, I mean sharp i.e. with no radius. Korea has a sharp 70° left-hander, followed immediately by a sharp 50° left-hander. Then there's a long straight followed by a sharp 45° right-hander, then another straight. Here it looks like Hermann finally put down his set squares and got out the French Curves as it ends in a tight, but rounded 170° hairpin. Then there are a number of fast, but mostly medium speed squiggles back to the pit straight. It all looks too false, too "made-up" and that is the failing of all these state-sponsored new circuits in the middle of nowhere, except perhaps Istanbul Park. The difference between the Tilkedromes and the traditional circuits is like the difference between a ready meal and good home cooking. This one also made you faintly nauseous.

If you are a Tifoso, quali was pretty good until the last second. Alonso was quickest in Q3 then Webber and Vettel flashed across the line to demote him to third. Vettel was first and Webber second. For me one of the most interesting sights in quali was one of the Virgin drivers (di Grassi I think) struggling to put in his "hot lap". The thing was lurching and sliding about. As someone once said of (I think) Gunnar Nilsson in an early Lotus 77: "It looked like there was a war going on in there". Robert Kubica was on his slowing down lap, cruised up to the back of the Virgin and just followed it around; it looked like he was at about 50%. His Q1 lap was around 5 seconds quicker. Also, you have to bear in mind that although he went nearly a second quicker, Kubica eventually qualified 8th, 1.3 seconds slower than Vettel, who was 6.74 seconds ahead of the Virgin.

Race day was wet, as wet as it can only seem to get in the east, though Ed Brown's last postcard reminded me of the 1978 International Trophy at Silverstone. Unlike then, Safety Cars are used now and the Korean GP started under one and ran like that for three laps after which it was red-flagged, Alonso saying they were the worst conditions in which he had ever driven a racing car. The race re-started under the Safety Car again and ran that way for another 14 laps. The rain lessened and then they were off, Vettel leading from Webber, Alonso and Rosberg who had got past Hamilton. Then on the next lap, disaster for Webber, he slid wide, put a rear wheel on the astroturf, which is ultra-slippery when wet, spun, hit a wall (strangely close for a new circuit), bounced off and slid across the track, collecting the unfortunate Rosberg. Both retired.

This brought the Safety Car out again, with Alonso second and Massa fourth. The other championship contenders Hamilton and Button were third and fifth, the latter seeming to be struggling in conditions where previously he has done so well. When the wreckage was cleared and they resumed racing, interesting sights in this period were Kobayashi slithering about on inters, at this stage they were not the thing to have. We also saw Di Grassi crashing out, ironically demolishing a Bridgestone hoarding.

Button changed to inters on lap 28, rejoining behind a group of cars which dropped him to 15th. To add to his misfortune, four laps later the Safety Car came out again when Buemi dropped it trying to pass Glock and taking both of them out. Most piled into the pits and changed to inters, Hamilton getting ahead of Alonso when a Ferrari front wheel nut spun away, quickly being replaced by the spare that each wheel-changer carries. Alonso later said it was his fault as he had not pulled up with his front wheels straight.

Fortunately for we Tifosi, Hamilton handed him the place back when he had an off-circuit excursion after the SC went in. Before this we heard him saying that he could see the wear on the fronts on the out lap and that he'd switched to max. front wing and min. rear diff. Shortly after his team-mate was heard complaining that he could not control the rear end, which illustrates their different driving styles. Jenson ended up amidst the scrapping mid-fielders. He slid off and Sutil jumped him and pushed him wide off the circuit. JB eventually struggled home to finish 12th, thus probably ending his championship hopes. Sutil seemed to spend the whole race passing people and going off, then passing the same people again. He made one lunge too many nine laps from the end, lost it and crashed into Kobayashi. Sutil's race ended on the spot, though Kobayashi came home eighth.

16 laps from the end Petrov dropped it. His Renault was severely damaged and stranded in a dangerous place, but no SC. By now the real concern was failing light, it was late afternoon/early evening in Korea and getting dark. Vettel was comfortable in the lead but amusingly Martin Brundle predicted some Red Bull radio traffic about how it was getting too dark. Sure enough a couple of laps later this duly happened, though as Brundle said Vettel's case wasn't helped by his setting fastest lap times! More amusement came from radio traffic between Lewis Hamilton and McLaren. Lewis, in third and chasing hard said the light was fine. In between them Alonso said nothing (that we heard) but applied remorseless pressure to the young German.

Despite this, I suspect that this would have been how the race finished, until 11 laps from the end Vettel's car went past the pits sounding very sick. Next his Renault engine blew up in the biggest possible way with sparks and shrapnel bouncing down the track. Alonso and Ferrari were leading! Fernando reeled off the remaining laps with great speed, confidence and style, he just looked in a different league to the others. In the end he was 15 seconds up on Lewis to take his third win in four races and the lead in the Drivers' Championship with two races to go. To complete Ferrari's joy, Massa drove a good race to third. It would be churlish not to mention that Schuey drove a great race to finish fourth after qualifying ninth. At the flag it was almost dark, which we didn't pick up until the podium ceremony, the TV cameras compensating for the lack of light.

Onto a proper circuit, Interlagos. Massa, often the master of his home circuit has said he will try to win, but that he will sacrifice the victory if it will help team-mate Fernando Alonso to the title. Would that cost Ferrari another $100,000? It does look like Massa is staying next year....

Footnote

In Japan, Crazy Dave Coulthard was in the McLaren Mission Control and in Korea he was in their Woking Gin Palace. He told us everything was being monitored to death by huge teams of highly skilled engineers, but did we actually learn anything? Err no. It was stuff like "We were OK in the dry/wet, not so good it the wet/dry, but think it'll be OK now it's dry/wet again". Why didn't he ask "Why"?

Click here for FIA lap chart

Stefano Domenicali: This has been a fantastic day, in which we have turned around the situation in the Drivers’ championship and also, albeit partially, put us back in a stronger position in the Constructors’ classification. However, we are well aware the hardest part begins now. What counts the most in this final part of the season is for the team and the drivers to keep a cool head, along with reliability and concentration. This weekend we proved capable of doing that even in very unusual conditions like those we experienced today. Finally, I want to say it is an honour for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro to be the first name to go on the winner’s trophy for the Korean Grand Prix, in a country that is expanding rapidly and a market that is also growing in importance in terms of our road cars.

Fernando Alonso: “It is a great feeling winning this way, as it was a very difficult victory, given the track conditions. Clearly, this was a great help for our championship chances, but luck proves that Formula 1 is not just about the maths! Red Bull are still favourite, but we will continue to do our utmost and try to always get onto the podium. The car has improved so much in the second half of the year thanks to continuous updates.

Felipe Massa:“A great result at the end of a very difficult race. I am very pleased, for myself and for the team. By the end, it was almost dark and the intermediate tyres were deteriorating, especially the rears: there is a light on the steering wheel which is very bright and in these conditions it was quite distracting. We were a bit lucky, but we also did a good job.