Red Bull ace Vettel over the moon as 'fantastic win' sees him overtake Ferrari's Alonso in drivers' standings
A peerless Sebastian Vettel leapfrogged Fernando Alonso at the top of the world championship yesterday as the Red Bull driver led from the first corner to win the Korean Grand Prix.
With four races to go starting in India in two weeks, Vettel, the reigning champion who is chasing a third drivers’ title in a row, sits atop the standings with 215 points. Alonso, who finished third, is on 209.
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In the groove: Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel (right) of Germany and Mark Webber (left) of Australia shake a leg with South Korean pop staru00a0Psy as he shows them his much-imitated “Gangnam style” dance after the Korean Grand Prix at the Korean Circuit in Yeongam yesterday. Pic/AFP
It was the 25-year-old German’s third win in three races and he will now be favourite to retain his crown, in what had been a highly unpredictable season until he took the championship by the scruff of the neck. Second at a cool but sunny Yeongam was Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber, who started on pole. It was the first Red Bull one-two of the season.
Alonso’s fellow Ferrari driver Felipe Massa finished fourth. Lewis Hamilton, who still had title aspirations going into this grand prix, finished 10th.
It now looks increasingly like a two-horse race for the title. Hamilton and his McLaren teammate Jenson Button, who was shunted out moments after the start of the race, admitted they were out of contention.
Having celebrated his 25th career victory by jumping on top of his Red Bull with his arms aloft. “It was a fantastic race. Towards the end I felt I had a bit more in the tyres,” said Vettel, whose front-right tyre in particular was badly worn by the end. He had been warned repeatedly by his anxious team to “look after” his tyres.
He added: “I think it was a perfect day for me and the team. We will have to do our best to remain where we are now. We have to just keep it simple and do our job.”
Results
1: Vettel (Red Bull,
2: Webber (Red Bull),
3: Alonso (Ferrari), 4: Massa (Ferrari), 5: Raikkonen (Lotus), 6: Hulkenberg (Force India), 7: Grosjean (Lotus), 8: Vergne (Toro Rosso), 9: Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 10: Hamilton (McLaren),
11: Perez (Sauber), 12: Di Resta (Force India)
Results
1: Vettel (Red Bull,
2: Webber (Red Bull),
3: Alonso (Ferrari), 4: Massa (Ferrari), 5: Raikkonen (Lotus), 6: Hulkenberg (Force India), 7: Grosjean (Lotus), 8: Vergne (Toro Rosso), 9: Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 10: Hamilton (McLaren),
11: Perez (Sauber), 12: Di Resta (Force India)
Constructor standings
1: Red Bull 367 points
2: Ferrari 290
3: McLaren 284
4: Lotus 255
5: Mercedes 136
6: Sauber 116
7: Force India 89
8: Williams 58
9: Toro Rosso 21
Drivers’ standings
1: Vettel 215.0 pts,
2: Alonso 209.0,
3: Raikkonen 167.0,
4: Lewis Hamilton 153.0,
5: Mark Webber 152.0
Button hits out at ‘idiot’ Kobayashi
YEONGAM: McLaren driver Jenson Button hit out at “idiot” Kamui Kobayashi after the Sauber man sent the Briton and Nico Rosberg of Germany crashing out at the start of the Korean GP. Button’s fine start was wrecked when Kobayashi came flying down the inside, smashed and destroyed the McLaren’s suspension. “I’ve been hit by Kobayashi. What an idiot!” Button exclaimed over the team radio. — AFPu00a0
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