Formula One: Korean Grand Prix Live Report

YEONGAM, South Korea (AFP) –

Winner Red Bull-Renault driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany (C) reacts on the podium next to second-placed Red Bull-Renault driver Mark Webber of Australia (L) and third-placed Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain after the Formula One Korean Grand Prix at the Korean Circuit in Yeongam on October 14

0802 GMT: AFP IS NOW CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT with Vettel, chasing a third drivers’ title in a row, sitting atop the standings with 215 points. and Alonso, who has had a disappointing couple of weeks, especially in Japan, on 209. Not a good day either for Button and Rosberg, both out almost from the start thanks to a surge by Sauber driver Kobayashi, who was also later forced to retire due to damage to his car.

But perhaps some of the most exciting displays of driving came from the battle to stay in the top ten between Hamilton, who finished with large chunks of astro turf sticking out from his car, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg. Grosjean and teammates Vergne and Ricciardo.

0748 GMT: As the national anthems play, Vettel can savour his win and taking the lead in the drivers’ championship. Red Bull can also savour another win and their first 1-2 of the season. Webber can take pleasure in his first second place finish, while possibly the only disappointed man on the podium is Alonso who now has even more to fight for.

0745 GMT: Here are the top positions:

1st – Vettel

2nd – Webber

3rd – Alonso

4th -Massa

5th – Raikkonen

6th – Hulkenberg

7th – Grosjean

8th – Vergne

9th – Ricciardo

10th – Hamilton

LAP 55/55: Vettel gets whoops of joy as his team congratulate him on a “brilliant, brilliant drive.” with Webber second followed by Alonso in third.

VETTEL WINS!

LAP 55/55: Vettel is on his way to victory and no one can catch him baring disaster.

LAP 53/55: Hamilton has picked up a chunk of astro turf under his car, which shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.

LAP 52/55: Vettel is warned by his team that his right front is problematic.

LAP 50/55; Interesting bit of team play near the back with the two Toro Rosso drivers, Ricciardo and Vergne in 8th and 9th, battling each other.

LAP 49/55: Vettel is over 10secs in the lead with Webber just over 4secs ahead of Alonso.

LAP 48/55: The key battle now could be between Alonso, Massa and Webber who is trying to hold onto his 2nd place, but is facing faster times by the Ferraris.

LAP 47/55: Hamilton is driving his heart out with a brave but futile attempt to grab 9th place from Vergne.

There are also problems on the track with large chunks of astro-turf floating around which could lead to a safety car coming out.

Red Bull-Renault driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany (R) leads the pack at the start of the Formula One Korean Grand Prix at the Korean Circuit in Yeongam on October 14.

LAP 46/55: Vettel gets instructions to slow down.

LAP 43/55: Hamilton has pitted for a set of super soft tyres and drops into 10th.

Meanwhile Kobayashi says of his clash “with 4 cars side by side after the start he had nowhere to go but to brake at some point. He is very sorry for Jenson and Nico!”

LAP 42/55: Massa is told to hold station behind Alonso, despite how well he is going.

LAP 40/55: Grosjean tries to get past Hamilton but gets into trouble and runs off the track which slows him down allowing a nice opportunist move by Hulkenberg to get past Grosjean and Hamilton and grab 6th.

LAP 38/55: Vettel, guess what? Yep sets the fastest lap.

LAP: 37/55: Hamilton has battled back into 6th place while at the top Vettel leads followed by Webber, Alonso and Massa, which looks like it could be the final order if the tyres hold up.

LAP 35/55: Wow, big lockup by Vettel which gets him orders to pit for new tyres..

LAP 34/55: Alonso into the pits, but he drops behind Webber.

LAP 33/55: Webber’s stop has dropped him into 5th place with Vettel, Alonso and Massa yet to pit.

LAP 32/55: Webber dives in for a quick change of tyres the first of the leaders to do so.

LAP 29/55: Let’s take a quick break from the Vettel roadshow and look at some of the others: Schumacher has dropped to 11th with Perez on his tail, followed by Senna, Di Resta and Maldonado 12th,13th and 14th respectively, and settling in last is Karthikeyan in 20th in the HRT-Cosworth.

LAP 28/55: Alonso is still chasing Webber for 2nd, but the gap between them is still about 1.8secs and doesn’t seem to be closing.

LAP 27/55: With vettel now over 8secs ahead of Webber, my colleague Peter Stebbings tells me one or two journalists in the media centre are nodding off as dusk sets on the Yeongam circuit. They feel this is Vettel’s race

LAP 26/55: Vettel sets another lap record, the same thing he kept doing in Japan last week, and once again his pit are telling to stop doing it and conserve his tyres.

Just catching up on retirees De la Rosa has also ended his race.

LAP 24/55: Raikkonen is trying everything to get past Hamilton, who is pulling out all the stops to block him and hold onto 5th. with some stunning driving

LAP 22/55: Hamilton is having serious tyre problems and is struggling to keep up the pace.

LAP 21/55: Massa has popped into fourth past a struggling Hamilton making it a Red Bull v Ferrari race with Vettel leading followed by Webber, Alonso and Massa.

LAP 19/55: Perez is now into the pit for new tyres, one of the last to do so.

LAP 18/55: No podium for Kobayashi today. He’s packed it in.

LAP 16 /55: Vettel pits nicely and keeps the lead followed by Alonson who squeaks out of the pit just ahead of Perez, who compounds his problems by making a mistake on Turn Four letting Hamilton get by.

LAP 15/55: Webber has pitted with a good restart

LAP 11/55: Schumacher is having the fight of his life trying to hold onto his 10th position with Di Resta and Vergne on his tail.

LAP 10/55: Both Vergne and Ricciardo in the Toro Rossos are showing good speed and moving up the field and are now 12th and 13th

LAP 9/55: In a smooth move Jean-Eric Vergne gets past Bruno Senna and starts to catch Di Resta who is in 11th.

LAP8/55 : Kobayashi is given a drive-through penalty after he hit both Button and Nico Rosberg, both of whom are out and making their way on foot to the pits.

LAP 5/55: Webber is closing on Vettel cutting his lead to 1.2secs.

LAP 4: Further back Raikkonen and Massa are battling for fifth with Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Perez following. Kobayashi, who will be trying to emulate his podium place from Japan, is back in 22nd after having to pit for new tyres after his bash with Button.

Red Bull-Renault driver Mark Webber of Australia returns to the pit during the qualifying session of the Formula One Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam on October 13. Webber and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel have made it a front-row lock-out for Red Bull,

LAP 3: Vettel leads followed by Webber and Alonso who tried to get past the Red Bull cars but was forced to drop back

Lap 1:Jensen Button despite a good start has a disaster as Kobayashi tries to force his way through and hits his tyres.

Webber is leading the field with Vettel, Hamilton, and Alonso close behind

0604 GMT: THEY’RE OFF

0603 GMT :The din of all the cars lined up together on the grid has to be heard to be believed – ear-shattering

0557 GMT : Peter tells me Korean pop star Psy has been causing a real stir. He is due to wave the chequered flag at the end of the race and has been giving lessons to Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in how to do his famous horse dance

0557 GMT : Peter tells me Korean pop star Psy has been causing a real stir. He is due to wave the chequered flag at the end of the race and has been giving lessons to Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in how to do his famous horse dance

0552 GMT: My colleague Peter Stebbings who is trackside reports that the weather is dry and the stands noticably fuller than the last two years

0545 GMT: WELCOME TO AFP’S LIVE REPORT ON THE KOREAN GRANDPRIX.

Mark Webber and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel have made it a front-row lock-out for Red Bull, with Lewis Hamilton‘s McLaren on the second row, alongside Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who will be looking to put his Japan disaster behind him and boost his drivers’ championship lead over Vettel, which currently stands at only four points.

Fifth on the grid is Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, followed by Alonso’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg of Force India.

The Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher round out the top 10.

A notable absentee from the top-10 shootout was Jenson Button of McLaren, who bowed out in the second qualifying session, along with the Sauber duo of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi.

Vettel was quickest in the final practice and in the first two sessions of qualifying. He appeared set for pole until Webber left it late in the session to steam home in one minute 37.242 seconds, just 0.074 seconds ahead.

It was the 200th Formula One pole for Red Bull’s engine supplier Renault and the second Red Bull one-two at the front of the pack in as many weeks.

“Very very happy to get the job done,” said Webber, who started on pole at Monaco in May, but only after Schumacher was relegated five places on the grid for an incident in Barcelona. Webber won in Monaco, as he did at the British GP.