Formula One 2010

[Pettengill_Mark]

I would love to see Lotus succeed so this is good news, hopefully they'll be capable of taking a few points next season. Don't really see Virgin or Hispania making that kind of step up though.

Couldn't agree more. Would love them to get a bit more competitive in the mid-field races, mixing it up with the likes of Force India and chasing down Renaults.

[Lineker]

P1


Pos  Driver              Car                   Time       Gap       Laps

 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m32.585s            23

 2.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m32.633s  + 0.048s  23

 3.  Robert Kubica       Renault               1m33.129s  + 0.544s  23

 4.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m33.639s  + 1.054s  13

 5.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.643s  + 1.058s  9

 6.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m33.677s  + 1.092s  21

 7.  Nico Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth     1m33.707s  + 1.122s  24

 8.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m33.739s  + 1.154s  20

 9.  Nick Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.791s  + 1.206s  23

10.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m33.831s  + 1.246s  9

11.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m33.929s  + 1.344s  25

12.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.042s  + 1.457s  19

13.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m34.169s  + 1.584s  23

14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m34.271s  + 1.686s  19

15.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m34.373s  + 1.788s  24

16.  Vitantonio Liuzzi   Force India-Mercedes  1m34.379s  + 1.794s  21

17.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.991s  + 2.406s  26

18.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m35.684s  + 3.099s  22

19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Cosworth        1m36.949s  + 4.364s  25

20.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m37.329s  + 4.744s  17

21.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth        1m37.388s  + 4.803s  23

22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m37.778s  + 5.193s  23

23.  Bruno Senna         Hispania-Cosworth     1m38.814s  + 6.229s  28

24.  Sakon Yamamoto      Hispania-Cosworth     1m39.443s  + 6.858s  26


All timing unofficial[/code]




[code]P2


Pos  Driver         Team                    Time              Laps

 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:31.465            31

 2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:31.860  + 0.395   29

 3.  Kubica         Renault                 1:32.200  + 0.735   32

 4.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:32.362  + 0.897   34

 5.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:32.519  + 1.054   35

 6.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:32.533  + 1.068   28

 7.  Petrov         Renault                 1:32.703  + 1.238   32

 8.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:32.831  + 1.366   27

 9.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:32.842  + 1.377   26

10.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1:32.851  + 1.386   26

11.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:32.880  + 1.415   26

12.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:33.471  + 2.006   31

13.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:33.481  + 2.016   8

14.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1:33.564  + 2.099   16

15.  Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari          1:33.697  + 2.232   33

16.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:34.005  + 2.540   32

17.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:34.055  + 2.590   37

18.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:34.310  + 2.845   33

19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1:36.095  + 4.630   37

20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1:36.333  + 4.868   33

21.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1:36.630  + 5.165   28

22.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1:36.834  + 5.369   28

23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1:37.352  + 5.887   33

24.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth            1:37.831  + 6.366   34


All Timing Unofficial

There were horrdendous storms over Suzuka which has delayed qualifying until just a few hours before the race!! It will now be on BBC One from 1:50am (UK time) before the race coverage begins at 6am. P3 becomes irrelevant now as hardly any times were even set:

P3


Pos  Driver              Car                   Time       Gap        Laps

 1.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m55.902s             9

 2.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       2m07.497s  + 11.595s  6

 3.  Lucas di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth                             1

 4.  Sakon Yamamoto      Hispania-Cosworth                           1

 5.  Bruno Senna         Hispania-Cosworth                           1

 6.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari                          4

 7.  Nick Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari                              1

 8.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                                     1

 9.  Nico Hülkenberg     Williams-Cosworth                           2

10.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth                           1

11.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari                              1

12.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Cosworth                              1

13.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                                    1

14.  Vitantonio Liuzzi   Force India-Mercedes                        1

15.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault                            1

16.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes                                    1

17.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                                     1

18.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault                                     1

19.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes                            3

20.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth                              1

21.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault                            1

22.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes                        1

23.  Robert Kubica       Renault                                     2

24.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes                            3


All timing unofficial[/code]


When asked what he believed would happen if qualifying could not take place on Sunday, Brawn said: "I think it is then done on numerical order, which we would not complain about! And Michael will be glad that he picked number three rather than four this year."


Lewis Hamilton is also set to take a grid penalty.


Lewis Hamilton's championship hopes suffered another big blow on Saturday after he was given a penalty for changing his car's gearbox.


The British driver, who has not scored in the previous two races, will require a gearbox change ahead of tomorrow's qualifying.


"In P3 today, we noticed abnormal gearbox oil pressure on Lewis's car, which we believed we had corrected ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session," said a McLaren spokesman.


"This afternoon, as we fired up Lewis's car several times in preparation for qualifying, we became aware that the symptoms were worse than we'd originally diagnosed, and a decision was later taken to change the gearbox ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session and the grand prix.


"As a result, Lewis will receive a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow's race."


The grid-deciding session will take place on Sunday - five hours ahead of the start of the race - after officials were forced to cancel today's qualifying because of the poor weather.


Hamilton, 20 points behind championship leader Mark Webber with four races to go, has endured a tough weekend at Suzuka so far, having crashed out on Friday and having managed just six timed laps so far.


Finally, Bernie is now certain that Korea WILL go ahead, but the final verdict won't come until after this race when Charlie Whiting goes for his inspection.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Despite practice times I'm going to state that if it stays wet then Button has a massive chance of winning. He's good around Suzuka and he's one of the best wet riders on the grid, if not THE best these days.

Vettel will start well and then crash or something.

[DJ Ice]

Despite practice times I'm going to state that if it stays wet then Button has a massive chance of winning. He's good around Suzuka and he's one of the best wet riders on the grid, if not THE best these days.

Vettel will start well and then crash or something.

Vettel is genarally very good on the wet, So is Adrian Sutil. Hopefully he gives a good run-out

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Would be nice for Sutil to get a good run.

Also, apparantly Ross Brawn believes that if there's no qualifying then it runs in number order down the grid so Jenson will be first, the Mercedes will be second and third after Hamilton's penalty.

[DJ Ice]

Would be nice for Sutil to get a good run.

Also, apparantly Ross Brawn believes that if there's no qualifying then it runs in number order down the grid so Jenson will be first, the Mercedes will be second and third after Hamilton's penalty.

They should do it in order of standing's. In reverse

[Lineker]

Rubens Barrichello just posted this to his Twitter. :lmao:

[LUKIE]

Kubica

Renaults

[Katsuya]

Apparently people's wheels didn't want to stay on today...pretty good race though throughout, thanks to a lot of little battles and Kobayashi's overtaking all the way. Big shame about Kubica too since he would have been right amongst the top 5 and thrown the cat amongst the pidgeons, especially with Lewis' problems. Webber pulling out more of a lead is great, too

Also, yay for Lotus pretty much securing 10th for themselves, since let's be fair, Virgin and Hispania don't really deserve it.

[Adam]

I'm glad the rain stayed away, this race didn't need it and never does. Easily one of my favourite of the year and this race only enhanced my feeling that this is the best season in Formula 1 for a very long time.

Red Bull were winning this weekend from first practice on Friday, easy stuff for them and they exerted their advantage to the full today. A terrific day for Vettel, and a great day for Webber too. He gains ground on 3 of the 4 rivals, increases his lead and got lucky with Kubica's retirement. He remains the favourite for the title, I can't wait to see how it pans out. Alonso drove pretty well to take third, and he's still very much in contention.

McLaren, for me, are falling out of it now. Lost ground on all of their rivals in the drivers race, Hamilton was unlucky massively this weekend what with the accident and the third gear failure during the race. He said if he got 3rd it would be a terrific achievement and on merit he was getting 4th today. Shame for him, because he deserved maybe a bit better today and I certainly felt a lot more for him than I did at Monza. For Button, the strategy failed, enough said.

I cannot stand Michael Schumacher but this was his best performance of the season. For once he looked like the superior Mercedes driver over Rosberg and that's a very solid 6th place. Sauber were brilliant, I like how it took Brundle about 15 laps to notice that the pit stops had brought Heidfeld ahead of Barrichello, and by a good 4 seconds or so too. He's got nearly as many points in 1 race as de la Rosa managed all season. Kobayashi is a star, he drove like a maniac again today and it paid off. I suppose he got a bit of luck with Sutil's retirement after the pit stop strategy didn't pay off, but to recover for 7th place is brilliant, what a drive. Added terrific entertainment to the race and I hope and expect he continues to do that.

Only real shame from this was Kubica's wheel falling off. That would've added so much more to the leaders battle, but ah well.

Bring on Korea now then...and nice touch by the BBC to run the closing highlights package with the old ITV F1 theme playing over it.

Edited October 10, 2010 by AdamDRFC

[Lineker]

Flavio Briatore has admitted that there is now a 'possibility' that he will return to a role in Formula 1 soon - even though he has ruled out becoming a team boss again.

The former Renault chief said last month that he was happy being away from the sport and enjoying simply being a father.

However, in an interview with the Journal Du Dimanche, Briatore has dropped a hint that he may be looking for a way back into the sport - most likely in the commercial or promotional spheres.

Speaking about recent speculation linking him with a role alongside Bernie Ecclestone, at Pirelli or with Ferrari, Briatore said: "These are rumours and have no bearing on the matter. What is certain is that I am having a two-year break [from F1]. Then I am ready to try a new professional adventure.

"I have drawn a line under the role of team boss, but that does not mean I am saying goodbye to F1. Far from it.

"There are still some interesting things to do in the future – but more in the commercial field, in business. As far as the sporting side goes, I have already given everything."

Although Briatore said there were no exact plans for what he was going to do, when asked if a return would mean a job in the paddock, he replied: "It's a possibility."

Briatore, who campaigned hard for reduced costs when he was a team principal, also believes that the sport needs to make much bigger cuts to budgets in the next few years.

"I would limit costs so much more drastically, by at least 70 per cent," he said. "The teams are in agony. The cars are just a few seconds under the performance of GP2 cars – and that is a discipline that requires access to a budget 10 times less. It's madness, especially when it becomes extremely difficult to find sponsors.

"F1 is fighting for survival and she does not realise it. We have to stop having meetings that decide nothing."

Qualifying


Pos  Driver              Team         Q1         Q2         Q3

 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull     1m32.035s  1m31.184s  1m30.785s

 2.  Mark Webber         Red Bull     1m32.476s  1m31.241s  1m30.853s

 3.  Lewis Hamilton*      McLaren      1m32.809s  1m31.523s  1m31.169s

 4.  Robert Kubica       Renault      1m32.808s  1m32.042s  1m31.231s

 5.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari      1m32.555s  1m31.819s  1m31.352s

 6.  Jenson Button       McLaren      1m32.636s  1m31.763s  1m31.378s

 7.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes     1m32.238s  1m31.886s  1m31.494s

 8.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams     1m32.361s  1m31.874s  1m31.535s

 9.  Nico Hulkenberg     Williams     1m32.211s  1m31.926s  1m31.559s

10.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes     1m32.513s  1m32.073s  1m31.846s

11.  Nick Heidfeld       Sauber       1m33.011s  1m32.187s

12.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari      1m32.721s  1m32.321s

13.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault      1m32.849s  1m32.422s

14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber       1m32.783s  1m32.427s

15.  Adrian Sutil        Force India  1m33.186s  1m32.659s

16.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso   1m33.471s  1m33.071s

17.  Vitantonio Liuzzi   Force India  1m33.216s  1m33.154s

18.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso   1m33.568s

19.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus        1m35.346s

20.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus        1m35.464s

21.  Lucas di Grassi     Virgin       1m36.265s

22.  Timo Glock          Virgin       1m36.332s

23.  Bruno Senna         Hispania     1m37.270s

24.  Sakon Yamamoto      Hispania     1m37.365s


All timing unofficial[/code]


*Hamilton took a five place grid penalty due to changing his gear box.



[code]PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS


The Japanese Grand Prix

Suzuka, Japan;

53 laps; 307.573km;

Weather: Sunny.


Classified:


Pos  Driver        Team                       Time

 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h30:27.323

 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     0.905

 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     2.721

 4.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    13.522

 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    39.595

 6.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    59.933

 7.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:04:038

 8.  Heidfeld      Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:09.648

 9.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +  1:10.846

10.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:12.806

11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap

12.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +     1 lap

13.  Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth             +    2 laps

14.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps

15.  Senna         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

16.  Yamamoto      HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps

17.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    5 laps


Fastest lap: Webber, 1:33.474


Not classified/retirements:


Driver        Team                         On lap

Sutil         Force India-Mercedes         45

Kubica        Renault                      4

Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth            1

Massa         Ferrari                      1

Petrov        Renault                      1

Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes         1

Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth              1



World Championship standings, round 16:                


Drivers:                    Constructors:             

 1.  Webber       220        1.  Red Bull-Renault          426

 2.  Alonso       206        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          381

 3.  Vettel       206        3.  Ferrari                   334

 4.  Hamilton     192        4.  Mercedes                  176

 5.  Button       189        5.  Renault                   133

 6.  Massa        128        6.  Force India-Mercedes       60

 7.  Rosberg      122        7.  Williams-Cosworth          58

 8.  Kubica       114        8.  Sauber-Ferrari             37

 9.  Schumacher    54        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         11

10.  Sutil         47       

11.  Barrichello   41       

12.  Kobayashi     27       

13.  Petrov        19       

14.  Hulkenberg    17       

15.  Liuzzi        13       

16.  Buemi          8       

17.  De la Rosa     6       

18.  Heidfeld       4       

19.  Alguersuari    3       


All timing unofficial

lol, di Grassi. And lol Petrov, who will surely not retain his seat for 2011 now, and he will also lose five places on the grid of the Korean Grand Prix for his accident at the start of the race. Poor Kubica . But my driver of the day was easily Kamui Kobayashi. In his home race as well, what a man. Great outing for Lotus too. Another Suzuka classic. Into the unknown in Korea now (probably!)

[LUKIE]

So cannot blame Petrov for what happened. Re-watch it. He was a fucking bullet on that grid, and he had to circumnavigate about 5 slower cars in front of him. I was just amazed at how much he just went "fuck this" and literally drove around everyone. It was just bad timing, and certaintly not careless driving.

I agree with the budget idea. As it is, it's not so much being successful in a sport in regards to putting together a better car. Red Bull could be losing 100 million dollars a year in F1, but if they are making 2 billion dollars profit in the real world, it wouldn't matter. That's not fair, when say, Lotus is losing 100 million dollars a year in F1, and not making it up anywhere else.

Budget!

And fuck Ferrari if they complain about it!

[Lineker]

The Korean Grand Prix will take place later this month after the FIA gave the circuit a green light on Tuesday following two days of safety inspections.

Although the event has been surrounded by speculation for weeks that the venue would not be finished in time for the October 24 race, FIA race director Charlie Whiting was happy with the progress that had been made.

Whiting told race officials that he had seen enough at the track to convince him that he will issue it with the mandatory circuit licence that it needs to host a Formula 1 race.

In a statement issued by race organisers, Whiting said: "It is satisfactory, and I will issue the license through (ASN) KARA."

Race promoter Yung Cho Chung welcomed the FIA approval, and said he believed the grand prix would ignite huge interest in his country.

"We are delighted that all works are now finished to the complete satisfaction of the FIA, and we join the whole of Korea in welcoming the Formula 1 fraternity to the Korea International Circuit for the first time," he said.

"The KIC has been constructed to the highest standards, and will become the epicentre of motorsport in the country. We believe the Korean Grand Prix will be the catalyst to ignite enormous interest in the sport across the nation."

Aerial photographs of the track this week showed that the final layer of asphalt had been laid, but that much of the infrastructure around the venue was not yet totally complete.

F1 teams said at the weekend that they expected the race to go ahead, even though F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has expressed some reservations about it in Singapore a fortnight ago.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "I think we have got to respect the fact that a lot of money has been spent, and a lot of effort put in, and I am sure the Korean nation will ensure that there is a grand prix."

Mercedes GP team boss Ross Brawn said: "As far as we know, yes it will happen. The final surface has been laid and they are finishing off the kerbs and so on...I think the infrastructure will be a bit weak, but we want to race there and we need to do everything we can, as long as it is safe to race there."

The Portimao track in Portugal looks set to join the Formula 1 pre-season testing roster next year, AUTOSPORT has learned, as teams close in on finalising the build-up programme to the 2011 campaign.

F1 teams agreed recently that there would remain four official pre-season tests next year from February until early March.

And although this year's testing build-up took place exclusively in Spain, for 2011 teams are edging closer seeing Portugal and Bahrain added to the schedule.

F1 teams met in Japan last weekend to make further progress in agreeing the tests, and they have all-but finalised that the four tests will take place in Barcelona, Jerez, Portimao and Bahrain.

Although the order for the first three tests has not been agreed, AUTOSPORT understands that the Bahrain test will take place on March 3-6 - effectively the weekend before the opening race of the 2011 season.

[Lineker]

More track news... a Russian GP it seems is on the way for sure now.

Russia is set to announce a five-year deal to host a Formula 1 grand prix from 2014, according to a government source in the country.

Formula 1 commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone is meeting prime minister Vladimir Putin in the city of Sochi, reports the Reuters news agency.

Putin was quoted as saying: "We have reached an agreement with the principal owner of Formula 1 that Sochi would host the Russian Grand Prix from 2014 to 2020."

Sochi is on the south west Black Sea coast of Russia, near the Georgian border, and will also host the Winter Olympics in 2014.

Russia has had its first Formula 1 driver this year, with Renault's Vitaly Petrov 13th in the standings with 19 points. Though his place at the team beyond the end of this season is yet to be confirmed.

Exciting stuff.

[GA!]

The Korean track doesn't look that good to me so far. Lots of long straights and slow, tight corners. I haven't spotted any overtaking places yet.

[LUKIE]

I raced on it in F1 2010, and it was an okay track.

Nothing beats the Abu Dahbi one (or UAE one... whichever crazy muslim country the last race is in).

[GA!]

I like how the video game version of the track was completed before the real one.

[EddieG]

Isn't Abu Dhabi in the UAE?

[Lineker]

It is!

P1


Pos  Driver              Team                  Time       Gap        Laps

 1.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m40.887s             15

 2.  Robert Kubica       Renault               1m40.968s  + 0.081s   18

 3.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m41.152s  + 0.265s   21

 4.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m41.371s  + 0.484s   18

 5.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m41.940s  + 1.053s   16

 6.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m42.022s  + 1.135s   25

 7.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m42.202s  + 1.315s   23

 8.  Nick Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari        1m42.293s  + 1.406s   18

 9.  Nico Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth     1m42.678s  + 1.791s   21

10.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m42.883s  + 1.996s   23

11.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m42.896s  + 2.009s   22

12.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m43.054s  + 2.167s   25

13.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m43.309s  + 2.422s   20

14.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m43.602s  + 2.715s   18

15.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m43.928s  + 3.041s   21

16.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m43.940s  + 3.053s   23

17.  Vitantonio Liuzzi   Force India-Mercedes  1m44.887s  + 4.000s   21

18.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m45.141s  + 4.254s   26

19.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m45.588s  + 4.701s   20

20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m46.613s  + 5.726s   17

21.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Cosworth        1m47.115s  + 6.228s   22

22.  Sakon Yamamoto      Hispania-Cosworth     1m50.347s  + 9.460s   29

23.  Bruno Senna         Hispania-Cosworth     1m50.821s  + 9.934s   15

24.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth        1m51.701s  + 10.814s  11


All timing unofficial[/code]




[code]P2


Pos  Driver         Team                     Time              Laps

 1.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:37.942            23

 2.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:38.132  + 0.190   30

 3.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:38.279  + 0.337   29

 4.  Kubica         Renault                 1:38.718  + 0.776   29

 5.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:38.726  + 0.784   19

 6.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:38.820  + 0.878   32

 7.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:39.204  + 1.262   22

 8.  Petrov         Renault                 1:39.267  + 1.325   28

 9.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:39.268  + 1.326   29

10.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:39.564  + 1.622   26

11.  Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari          1:39.588  + 1.646   25

12.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:39.598  + 1.656   26

13.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1:39.812  + 1.870   35

14.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:39.881  + 1.939   27

15.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:39.971  + 2.029   22

16.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1:40.478  + 2.536   30

17.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:40.578  + 2.636   29

18.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:40.896  + 2.954   32

19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1:42.773  + 4.831   29

20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1:42.801  + 4.859   19

21.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1:43.115  + 5.173   26

22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1:44.039  + 6.097   29

23.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth            1:45.166  + 7.224   19

24.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1:46.649  + 8.707    3


All Timing Unofficial

P3


Pos  Driver         Team                    Time               Laps

 1.  Kubica         Renault                 1m37.354            15

 2.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1m37.402  + 0.048   16

 3.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1m37.426  + 0.072   15

 4.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1m37.441  + 0.087   13

 5.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1m37.629  + 0.275   12

 6.  Massa          Ferrari                 1m37.955  + 0.601   16

 7.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1m38.419  + 1.065   15

 8.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1m38.501  + 1.147   17

 9.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1m38.630  + 1.276   12

10.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1m38.632  + 1.278   18

11.  Petrov         Renault                 1m38.668  + 1.314   14

12.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1m38.733  + 1.379   16

13.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m39.058  + 1.704   21

14.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1m39.145  + 1.791   16

15.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m39.159  + 1.805   21

16.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1m39.780  + 2.426   9

17.  Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari          1m40.289  + 2.935   17

18.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1m41.591  + 4.237   15

19.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1m41.623  + 4.269   15

20.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1m41.853  + 4.499   17

21.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1m42.095  + 4.741   19

22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1m43.111  + 5.757   19

23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1m43.417  + 6.063   19

24.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth            1m43.880  + 6.526   20


All Timing Unofficial[/code]




[code]Qualifying


Pos  Driver         Team                   Q1        Q2        Q3

 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault       1:37.123  1:36.074  1:35.585

 2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1:37.373  1:36.039  1:35.659

 3.  Alonso         Ferrari                1:37.144  1:36.287  1:35.766

 4.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1:37.113  1:36.197  1:36.062

 5.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1:37.708  1:36.791  1:36.535

 6.  Massa          Ferrari                1:37.515  1:36.169  1:36.571

 7.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:38.123  1:37.064  1:36.731

 8.  Kubica         Renault                1:37.703  1:37.179  1:36.824

 9.  Schumacher     Mercedes               1:37.980  1:37.077  1:36.950

10.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:38.257  1:37.511  1:36.998

11.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth      1:38.115  1:37.620

12.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1:38.429  1:37.643

13.  Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari         1:38.171  1:37.715

14.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:38.572  1:37.783

15.  Petrov         Renault                1:38.174  1:37.799 *

16.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:38.583  1:37.853

17.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:38.621  1:38.594

18.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes   1:38.955

19.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         1:40.521

20.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1:40.748

21.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth         1:41.768

22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth        1:42.325

23.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth           1:42.444

24.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth           1:43.283


* Drops five places for Japan penalty


All Timing Unofficial

Both Vettel and Webber nicked ahead of Alonso right at the death - and Webber has a brand new engine for this race so that will become an advantage on the long straights! Hamilton was also lucky to escape a major car rebuilt after a big shunt. Seems like a really interesting trrack layout too.

[Lineker]

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS


The Korean Grand Prix

Korea Auto Valley, Yeongam, Korea;

55 laps; 308.825km;

Weather: Wet.


Classified:


Pos  Driver        Team                       Time

 1.  Alonso        Ferrari                    2h48:20.810

 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    14.999

 3.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    30.868

 4.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    39.688

 5.  Kubica        Renault                    +    47.734

 6.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes       +    53.571

 7.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +  1:09.257

 8.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:17.889

 9.  Heidfeld      Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:20.107

10.  Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth          +  1:20.851

11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:24.146

12.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:29.939

13.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +     1 lap

14.  Senna         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

15.  Yamamoto      HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps


Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:50.257


Not classified/retirements:


Driver        Team                       On lap

Sutil         Force India-Mercedes         46

Vettel        Red Bull-Renault             45

Petrov        Renault                      39

Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              31

Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           30

Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth              25

Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth               25

Webber        Red Bull-Renault             18

Rosberg       Mercedes                     18



World Championship standings, round 17:                


Drivers:                    Constructors:             

 1.  Alonso       231        1.  Red Bull-Renault          426

 2.  Webber       220        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          399

 3.  Hamilton     210        3.  Ferrari                   374

 4.  Vettel       206        4.  Mercedes                  188

 5.  Button       189        5.  Renault                   143

 6.  Massa        143        6.  Force India-Mercedes       68

 7.  Kubica       124        7.  Williams-Cosworth          65

 8.  Rosberg      122        8.  Sauber-Ferrari             43

 9.  Schumacher    66        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         11

10.  Barrichello   47       

11.  Sutil         47       

12.  Kobayashi     31       

13.  Liuzzi        21       

14.  Petrov        19       

15.  Hulkenberg    18       

16.  Buemi          8       

17.  De la Rosa     6       

18.  Heidfeld       6       

19.  Alguersuari    3       


All timing unofficial[/code]


Just watching highlights on BBC Three now, was a good race. Must have been frustrating though to have a delayed start behind a safety car; and then a wait of over an hour after the red flags to restart the race in safer conditions. 


Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Buemi will lose five places on the grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix following their accidents in Korea.


Force India driver Sutil was given the penalty after making contact with Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi on lap 47 of the race.


The German was also fined $10,000 "in view of the driver's admission that he was aware of brake problems with his car throughout the race," according to the stewards.


Toro Rosso's Buemi will also lose five places on the grid in Brazil following his accident with Virgin's Timo Glock.


Red Bull will not ask Sebastian Vettel to play a supporting role in Mark Webber's quest to win the Formula 1 World Championship title, despite the German's own chances slimming when he suffered an engine failure in the Korean Grand Prix.


Vettel was forced to retire from the lead of the race, and whereas victory would have given him the world championship lead, he is now fourth in the standings, 25 points behind Fernando Alonso and 14 behind team-mate Webber.


But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said it was too early for Vettel to give up on his own challenge, and that things could turn around quickly just as they had in Yeongam - where Webber began the race as the points leader before crashing out.


"As we saw in this race, at different points during the race, different drivers were leading this championship," Horner told the BBC. "We gave a big gift to Fernando today and as a team we need to look at that, but we've seen how quickly this can change.


"In last year's scoring there is only 10 points between Sebastian and Fernando and obviously Mark is even closer than that so our strategy will be to push both drivers.


"It would be wrong [to ask Vettel to do that]. Nobody has a crystal ball and if anybody could have predicted today's race I'm sure they would have done very, very well. This championship is not over until the last lap in Abu Dhabi and we will be pushing flat out until that point in time."


Red Bull started the inaugural Korean F1 race with both its cars on the front row, and Horner admitted that it was a bitter experience to come away from the event with zero points.


"Sometimes motor racing can be cruel and for Red Bull it was one of those days," he said. "Sebastian and the team had done everything right, read the strategy and the conditions.


"He got himself in to a commanding position, almost in sight of the end of the race and then a catastrophic engine failure unfortunately denied us a certain race victory.


"Mark hasn't made many errors this year, but unfortunately made one today that cost him dearly. Mark is obviously bitterly upset with what happened today, but he will bounce back. After Valencia, which was the last time he had a DNF - he came back and won the next race. He'll bounce back at Brazil, it's a track he enjoys.


"Sebastian has been remarkably philosophical. He's dealt with that issue. It's cruel for him because it is not the first time and to lose a guaranteed victory right now is tough.


Interlagos will be make or break for Red Bull, that's for sure.