Vettel got off to a flying start and took the lead on the first lap and went on to win his 10th race this season.

With both the Driver’s and the Constructor’s Championship already won this season Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull still have one record still in their sights.  Vettel has already been likened to fellow countryman Michael Schumacher and if he can win the remaining three races in India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil he will equal Schumacher’s record 13 wins in a single season.

Over the past few seasons the FIA have attempted to address criticism aimed at F1 being dull and races becoming predictable with less overtaking and thrills.  But next season it will be up to the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and McLaren and Ferrari to catch the 24 year old Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team.

Heavy rain had led to a ten minute delay in the start of the Korean Grand Prix and when it was deemed safe to start the race it was done so under the Safety Car, lasting just three laps before being red flagged.

It was forty eight minutes before the race got back under way and even then it was necessary to start behind the Safety Car, with half hour passing before normal racing was able to begin.

With Sebastian Vettel controlling the race from the front and Red Bull team mate Mark Webber in second, Fernando Alonso was able to keep in touch with the leaders in third place.

Light rain was still falling when on lap nineteen, Mark Webber lost control of his car, spinning across the track and bouncing back on narrowly avoiding the following Ferrari of Alonso, but collecting the fourth place Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and ending the race for both the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers.

It was all the more upsetting to see Rosberg involved through no fault of his own after displaying some brilliant aggressive driving to force himself past Lewis Hamilton into fourth place earlier on, in what was the Mercedes drivers best drive for some time.

Another frustrating Safety Car period followed as the debris was cleared from the track conditions appeared to be improving, McLaren’s Jenson Button was the first intothe pits to switch to intermediate tyres, emerging behind a traffic jam of cars in what was already a dreadful day for the current World Champion.

Another crash involving Sebastien Buemi and Timo Glock brought the Safety Car out yet again and Alonso and Hamilton entered the pit lane together for a change of tyres.

The Ferrari team had trouble with the front right wheel nut, giving McLaren the edge as Hamilton emerged from the pit lane some distance ahead of Alonso. But as the race got back underway Hamilton lost his car going into the first corner allowing the wiley Spaniard to claim the place back.

A hapless Button was forced back even further down the field following one of the many incidents in the race involving Adrian Sutil, who appeared to be having the time of his life spinning his car off the track and forcing other drivers to take evasive action with his uncontrolled late braking manoeuvres, totally oblivious to the madness of it all.

The Force India driver was penalised after the race with a five place grid penalty as well as being fined $10,000 for his irresponsible driving while knowing that he had a brake problem! Torro Roso’s Buemi also penalised for his crash with Glock and taking a five place grid penalty.

Back to the race and Alonso looked to be closing the gap on Vettel but still some way behind the German driver as dusk started to close in, the Red Bull driver understandably moaning on the radio to his team complaining that visibility was getting bad.

And then on lap 46 the Red Bull engine gave up, ending Vettel’s race and the Ferrari breezed past to lead the Grand Prix. Darkness was descending by the time that Fernado Alonso took the chequered flag, winning the race and putting himself in the driving seat for the Drivers Championship.

Korean Grand Prix Results:

Position     Driver     Race Time
1     F Alonso     2:48:20.810
2     L Hamilton     2:48:35.809
3     F Massa     2:48:51.678
4     M Schumacher     2:49:00.498
5     R Kubica     2:49:08.544
6     V Liuzzi     2:49:14.381
7     R Barrichello     2:49:30.067
8     K Kobayashi     2:49:38.699
9     N Heidfeld     2:49:40.917
10     N Hulkenberg     2:49:41.661

Drivers Championship Leaderboard:

Driver     Points
1      F Alonso       231
2     M Webber     220
3     L Hamilton    210
4     S Vettel          206
5     J Button        189
6      F Massa       143
7      R Kubica     124
8      N Rosberg   122
9      M Schumacher     66
10      R Barrichello     47

The race is far from over for the McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and anything can and does happen in F1, but they will certainly need a good result on the new track in Korea to have any chance of topping the drivers championship come the end of season.

Lewis Hamilton takes time out to reflect on his first race finish in three at the Japan Grand Prix and gives his thoughts on the new and untested circuit in Korea and how he has prepared for a track that he has never raced on.

Still optimistic over his chances of winning this years championship, listen to what Hamilton has to say here;

Australia has now been chosen as the second round, allowing the race to begin at 5pm to fit in with the television broadcasters who favour racing in ‘twilight’ rather than the dark.  However, the Singapore round will still be under full floodlights when it takes place in late September.

Although as yet no contract has been signed, the Canadian Grand Prix has been pencilled in for the 13 June, if the contract fails again this year the Turkey Grand Prix will be held later to compensate.

South Korea is a new circuit on the calendar, set to take place in mid-October with the final round being held in Brazil as usual but it will be held in November.

Here is the calendar;

Australia          March 28
Malaysia           April 4
China              April 18
Spain              May 9
Monaco             May 23
Turkey             May 30
Canada*            June 13
Europe (Valencia)  June 27
Great Britain      July 11
Germany            July 25
Hungary            August 1
Belgium            August 29
Italy              September 12
Singapore          September 26
Japan              October 3
Korea              October 17
Abu Dhabi          October 31
Brazil             November 14

*Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.

Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.