F1 2010: the first Korean GP!

[Ferry_vO]

Qualifying results:

1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 35.585s
2. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 35.659s
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 35.766s
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 36.062s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 36.535s
6. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 36.571s
7. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 36.731s
8. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault 1m 36.824s
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 36.950s
10. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 36.998s

11. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 37.620s
12. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 37.643s
13. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 37.715s
14. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 37.783s
15. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault 1m 37.799s*
16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 37.853s
17. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 38.594s

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 38.955s
19. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 1m 40.521s
20. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 1m 40.748s
21. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 1m 41.768s
22. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 1m 42.325s
23. Sakon Yamamoto Japan HRT-Cosworth 1m 42.444s
24. Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 1m 43.283s

* denotes driver due to take five-place penalty

[Wing_Z]

Yes, a real cliffhanger - and the race may well be in the wet!
The new track does seem to have a blend of everything, favouring different setups in each of the three sectors: here Red Bull does best, there McLaren.
Ferrari looks good all round, and Alonso is alight.
Watch him...

[Panther_99FS]

Looks like an impressive qualifying performance by Nico Rosberg - I'm hoping he has a good race too! :jump:

[Ferry_vO]

The odd numbers on the grid seem to have an advantage over the even numbers due to the racing line; Kubica told the press he'd rather be on the clean line in P11 than in the dirt on P8 (Where he is now).
Looks like the fight in the first turn will be between Alonso and Vettel and possibly Rosberg, Webber, Hamilton and Massa have a disadvantage. But who knows, Alonso and Vettel fighting for the lead in the first few corners might be good news for Webber.. :wiggle:

Tried the track in F1-2010 a few times and I do like it, except for the slow part at turn 4-5-6. The fast section that comes next is a lot of fun though!

[Panther_99FS]

Alonso and Vettel fighting for the lead in the first few corners might be good news for Webber.. :wiggle:



Yep....The odds are still with Webber taking the championship...

[Wing_Z]

...Ferrari looks good all round, and Alonso is alight.
Watch him...

Whoo Hoo!
And how...this man said he's going to win the championship, and there's no reason not to believe him.
2 Red Bull DNF's - unbelievable.
A Ferrari 1 - 3
And a great drive by Hamilton into 2nd.

An event-filled race, probably one of the most entertaining, ultimately, this year.
It was really interesting to hear how the teams were using the radio chatter (broadcast to everyone of course, including race control) to bluff and counter-bluff.

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 55 Winner 3 25
2 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 55 +14.9 secs 4 18
3 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 55 +30.8 secs 6 15
4 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 55 +39.6 secs 9 12
5 11 Robert Kubica Renault 55 +47.7 secs 8 10
6 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 55 +53.5 secs 17 8
7 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 55 +69.2 secs 10 6
8 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 55 +77.8 secs 12 4
9 22 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber-Ferrari 55 +80.1 secs 13 2
10 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 55 +80.8 secs 11 1

Two races to go, and theoretically, still 5 drivers in it.

[demorier]

Holy crap...what a mess that race was.:blind:

[Cazzie]

I hate it for Webber, I hate it that Alonzo, my nemesis, won the race and took the points lead. I hate it that the officials hate to red flag the event, I needed the sleep.

But I loved the mayhem rain brought to the race. As I have stated, I hope for rain at every F-1 event. Otherwise the event is, well, uneventful.

Caz

[Ferry_vO]

Brazil has a lot of rain too... :wiggle:

Alonso looks good at the moment, but he's been using his last engine since Italy already, a new one will give him a ten-place grid penalty unless he can maybe use one of his older engines again. Vettel might have one new engine left, but Webber still has at least one and maybe even two engines for the next two races.

It will be a very interesting end of this season! :jump:

[Panther_99FS]

A mistake by Webber opened the door for a few other drivers...

Once again, Hamilton showed how good of a wet weather racer that he really is....

Good to see Liuzzi up in there !

[Wing_Z]

Yes Rosberg would be fairly unhappy with Webber taking him out, given this was looking like his best race to date.
Pure luck that it wasn't Hamilton that was hit, twist of fate that he wasn't there at that moment.

One again, Hamilton showed how good of a wet weather racer that he really is....
Mostly, and he did drive well...but don't take away from the fact that the Spanish chap drove around Lewis on turn 1, after losing a place in the pit lane!

I just loved the almost rehearsed radio chatter in this race:
Behind the Safety Car, each showing their vested interest, Team Radio Vettel: Ooh conditions are very poor, can't see much...
TR Hamilton: Let's get racing, almost time to put on inters!

Along with Liuzi, Schumacher and Barrichello would've been delighted with their promotions from grid.
And the biggest loser?
Mr utterly spineless J Button.