COOPER: Korean GP Team-By-Team

Formula 1

COOPER: Korean GP Team-By-Team

Sebastian Vettel made a brilliant first lap pass at Turn 4. After that he never looked back...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 17, 2011 Seoul (KOR)

Race winner Sebastian Vettel (Right) celebrates on the podium with second placed Lewis Hamilton (Left) following the Korean Formula One Grand Prix at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam-gun, South Korea. (Photo: Getty Images)

McLaren had threatened to knock Red Bull off pole in Japan, and in Korea Lewis Hamilton finally did it. However the tables were turned in the race as Sebastian Vettel made a brilliant first lap pass at Turn 4. After that he never looked back, and while Hamilton stayed in touch for a while his priority became defending second place from Mark Webber rather than battling for the lead. Hamilton did a great job and did much to restore the reputation that has taken a battering of late. Here’s how the weekend worked out among the 12 teams.

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were fastest in the wet on Friday and that good form continued into Saturday as Jenson topped FP3. Lewis was fastest in all three qualifying sessions, although Button just lost second spot to Vettel. Hamilton made a good start but was passed by Vettel at Turn 4. He spent the rest of the race defending his second place from Mark Webber, something he successfully achieved. Button had a bad first lap but recovered to fourth, although he was unable to do anything about Webber ahead. Both drivers were badly hampered by a lack of front grip.

Red Bull Racing
From the start of the weekend it was clear that McLaren had an edge over RBR, and for the first time in 2011 the team was unable to pull a pole lap out of the bag when it mattered, Vettel losing out by 0.289s. Mark Webber, who struggled to get the most out of the supersoft, was fourth – leaving both men on the dirty side of the track. However Vettel got ahead of Hamilton at Turn 4 and dominated the race in his usual style thereafter. Webber meanwhile also passed Button on the first lap and spent most of the race pushing Hamilton. Although he got by more than once, he couldn’t make it stick.

Scuderia Ferrari
Ferrari struggled to get its tires up to temperature in Friday’s rain, but form was better in the dry. For the second race running Felipe Massa beat Fernando Alonso, the pair taking fifth and sixth places. The Spaniard, who was running a new front wing as part of development for next year, abandoned his last run. Massa had a good first lap and both he and Alonso got ahead of Button. They ran together until the second stops, when a longer middle stint from Fernando allowed him to jump ahead. Happy with the car he caught Button, but was not able to pass. Massa dropped back but still finished sixth.

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher of Germany powers his car during the Formula One Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam on October 16, 2011. (Photo: Getty Images)

Mercedes GP
Michael Schumacher enjoyed himself as he took spot in the very wet FP1 on Friday, but having been sixth in FP3 he slipped down to 12th in qualifying after being struck by a tire vibration. Meanwhile Nico Rosberg took the usual Mercedes spot of seventh place after a collision with Alguersuari in FP2’s rain. Rosberg ran seventh early on and got ahead of Button at the first stops, but a flat spotted tire forced an early pit stop, and he ultimately fell back to eighth. Schumacher was running strongly in the top 10 when he was hit by Petrov. He was unable to get his damaged car back to the pits.

Lotus Renault
Vitaly Petrov made it through to Q3 on used tires and earned an encouraging eighth as the Force India’s failed to go out. Bruno Senna damaged his front wing clipping the wall in FP3 and struggled to match the pace of his team mate, ultimately taking 15th spot. Petrov ran eighth in the opening stint bust just after the first stops he ran into the back of Schumacher as the pair battled with Alonso. He got back to the pits, but was not able to continue. He also earned a five-place grid penalty for the Indian GP. Senna meanwhile got caught in the midfield pack and couldn’t really make progress on his way to 13th place at the flag.

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Adam Cooper

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