Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel dominated the Korean Grand Prix to put himself on the brink of a fourth consecutive world championship. The German’s title rival, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, could finish only sixth and Vettel will take the title in Japan next Sunday if he wins with Alonso lower than eighth.
Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean took second and third. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg fended off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for fourth. Hulkenberg, who had spent the first part of the race defending from Alonso and Raikkonen, found himself under intense pressure from Hamilton and Alonso, who also had McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg close behind.
The Sauber’s straight-line speed, and ability to come off Turn One faster than his rivals, meant Hulkenberg was able to hang on to fourth place.
The race was enlivened by two safety-car periods in quick succession. The first was caused by a tyre failure on Sergio Perez’s McLaren. But then the race had to be halted again after Mark Webber’s Red Bull caught fire after being hit by the spinning Force India of Adrian Sutil at Turn Three.
Rosberg took seventh, delayed by a front wing failure mid-race, ahead of Button and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
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