F1 analysis: Korean Grand Prix
2010-10-25 07:53
Yeongam - Team by team analysis of Sunday's inaugural Korean F1 Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
Red Bull (Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel retired)
Red Bull suffered their first double retirement since March 2008, a run of 51 races. Webber crashed out, only his second retirement of the season, and lost the championship lead to Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. Vettel, who started on pole for the ninth time in 17 races, suffered a blown engine. The German, now fourth overall, must finish ahead of Alonso in the next race in Brazil to stay in the title hunt.
McLaren (Lewis Hamilton 2, Jenson Button 12)
Hamilton revived his title chase with a typically spirited drive, while Button's defence of his crown is effectively over with the Briton 42 points off the pace. McLaren closed the gap on Red Bull in the constructors' standings to 27 points.
Ferrari (Fernando Alonso 1, Felipe Massa 3)
Alonso's fifth win of the season, and 26th of his career, was also Ferrari's 215th since 1950. The Spaniard now leads Webber by 11 points. Alonso has now won three of the last four races and scored more points than anyone in the last seven.
Mercedes (Michael Schumacher 4, Nico Rosberg retired)
Schumacher overtook Button and equalled the best result so far of his comeback season. Rosberg was in fourth place when Webber's car crashed and spun into his path on lap 19.
Renault (Robert Kubica 5, Vitaly Petrov retired)
Kubica had problems in warming up his tyres early on. Petrov started with a five-place grid penalty and started 20th. He had climbed to seventh by the second safety car period but then crashed at the penultimate corner.
Force India (Vitantonio Liuzzi 6, Adrian Sutil retired)
Liuzzi started 17th but took advantage of the final safety car period to pit for intermediate tyres. Sutil had brake problems and was handed a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Brazil for causing an avoidable collision when he collided with Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi.
Williams (Rubens Barrichello 7, Nico Hulkenberg 10)
The team scored points for the fourth race in a row but lost ground to Force India ahead of them. Barrichello lost two places at the end due to tyre wear. Hulkenberg was sixth when he picked up a slow puncture and had to pit.
Sauber (Kamui Kobayashi 8, Nick Heidfeld 9)
Kobayashi was lucky his car was not badly damaged in the collision with Sutil. Both cars pitted for intermediate tyres after 19 laps during the safety car period.
Toro Rosso (Jaime Alguersuari 11, Sebastien Buemi retired)
A pit stop problem cost Alguersuari points, the Spaniard entering ninth and leaving 15th. Buemi collided with Virgin's Glock when he locked the front wheels and was handed a five-place penalty for Brazil.
Lotus (Heikki Kovalainen 13, Jarno Trulli retired)
Trulli's race ended on lap 25 with hydraulic problems. Kovalainen was also struggling with the hydraulics towards the finish.
HRT (Bruno Senna 14, Sakon Yamamoto 15)
HRT chalked up their best result of the season so far.
Virgin Racing (Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi retired)
Di Grassi went out trying to avoid a crash with Yamamoto, who was ahead. Glock was 12th, although yet to pit, when Buemi took him out.
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