Sunday 24 October 2010

F1 2010: Alonso claims crucial Korea win to take title lead

FERNANDO ALONSO won a hectic inaugural South Korean Grand Prix to take the lead in the Drivers' Championship with just two races left.

Alonso finished ahead of McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa while the two Red Bull drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, both retired.

The Spaniard's third win in the last four races puts him on 231 points, 11 clear of Webber and 21 ahead of Hamilton.

Vettel, in fourth place on 206 points, and defending champion Jenson Button, in fifth on 189, are still in with a mathematical chance of winning the title.

But, with Alonso in such strong form, it is just about impossible for them to close the gap at this late stage.

That is something which McLaren's Button has pretty much accepted after he could only finish 12th, failing to score after struggling for grip in the heavy Seongnam rain.

Quite how Vettel is so far behind in the title race is difficult to fathom, considering his qualifying record of nine pole positions in 14 races, including this one in South Korea.

But the young German's inability to convert Saturday successes into big points on Sunday has plagued him throughout the season.

This time, he was let down while leading by a lack of reliability in the Red Bull engine blew up on lap 46 of 55 to complete a miserable day for the Milton Keynes-based team after Webber's earlier accident.

The first ever Korean GP began behind the safety car due to rain described by Alonso as "the worst I have ever driven in".

Race director Charlie Whiting then suspended it for 45 minutes after just three laps. A further frustrating 13 laps behind the safety car followed before almost immediate drama as Webber spun off a soaked kerb, across the track and into Mercedes GP driver Nico Rosberg via a wall.

After another safety car break, Vettel looked set for a fourth victory of the campaign until Alonso dominated the latter stages of race.

First, he took back second place which he had lost in pits to Hamilton. Then, he closed the gap to Vettel who began to complain about the fading light as dusk fell.

It got worse for the German when his engine failed in spectacular fashion and Alonso eased home to continue a purple patch of form which began with his controversial win at Hockenheim in July.

Since then, the two-time champion has won in Italy, Singapore and now Korea. He was also in second place in Hungary and third in Japan when the Red Bulls dominated both qualifying and the race.

After the race in Suzuka, Webber looked in great shape to be the first Australian F1 world champions since Alan Jones for Williams in 1980.

But Alonso's experience of having won the title at Renault in 2005 and 2006 has started to tell in the second half of this season.

Now, as the most in-form driver - and having sensed Red Bull weakness and snatched the lead - it is Alonso's title to lose.


2010 Season Results
PODIUMS
Bahrain GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Australian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault
3 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari

Malaysian GP (Pole: Mark Webber)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
3 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes

Chinese GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes

Spanish GP (Pole: Mark Webber)
1 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

Monaco GP (Pole: Mark Webber)
1 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
3 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault

Turkish GP (Pole: Mark Webber)
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Canadian GP (Pole: Lewis Hamilton)
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

European GP (Valencia) (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

British GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes

German GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

Hungarian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

Belgian GP (Pole: Mark Webber)
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
3 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault

Italian GP (Pole: Fernando Alonso)
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari

Singapore GP (Pole: Fernando Alonso)
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Japanese GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Korean GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari

REMAINING RACES
Brazilian GP (7 November), Abu Dhabi GP (14 November)

STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 231 (5 wins)
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 220 (4 wins)
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 210 (3 wins)
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 206 (3 wins)
5 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 189 (2 wins)
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 143
7 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 124
8 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 122
9 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes 66
10 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams-Cosworth 47
11 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 47
12 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber-Ferrari 31
13 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India-Mercedes 21
14 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 19
15 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams-Cosworth 18
16 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8
17 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber-Ferrari 6
18 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber-Ferrari 6
19 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rossi-Ferrari 3
Seven drivers have yet to score (Heikki Kovalainen (Fin), Jarno Trulli (Ita), Bruno Senna (Bra), Lucas di Grassi (Bra), Karun Chandhok (Ind), Timo Glock (Ger), Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn), Christian Klein (Aut))

Constructors' Championship
1 Red Bull-Renault 426
2 McLaren-Mercedes 399
3 Ferrari 374
4 Mercedes 188
5 Renault 143
6 Force India-Mercedes 68
7 Williams-Cosworth 65
8 BMW Sauber-Ferrari 43
9 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11
Three teams have yet to score (Lotus-Cosworth, Hispania-Cosworth, Virgin-Cosworth)

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