FORMULA 1 - 2013

[MIKA27]

F1 team bosses back weight limit increase for 2014 season

Formula 1 team bosses think there are grounds to consider an increase to the minimum weight limit as early as next year, amid growing fears that heavier drivers are going to be penalised.

With a number of racers already expressing concerns that the 690kg minimum weight limit for 2014's new rules is too low - so will favour lighter drivers - team chiefs have now backed their calls.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner, whose 2014 line-up of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo will cause no weight drama, thinks the current situation is unfair.

"Theoretically it is not a factor for us because we have got two drivers that are of a reasonable weight, but it does penalise a driver like Mark [Webber], who could have driven for us - or someone like [Nico] Hulkenberg," he said.

"It would be a factor in signing a driver like him: which cannot be right. He shouldn't be penalised for being more than six foot.

"For sure the engine with all its ancillaries and cooling requirements is heavier as a unit, and it [a change to the weight limit] perhaps is something that should be looked at."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh thinks a number of outfits are going to struggle to hit the minimum weight target next year, which means any extra bulk carried by tall drivers will be a handicap.

"The truth is that the way the regulations have fallen now, weight is a bigger challenge," he said.

"I have been speaking to another team principal to ask if they will hit the target weight, and they won't.

"If you are not on the weight limit then having a driver that is nudging towards 80kg is a difficult thing to have. It is a simple equation - on average every 10kg is a third of a second."

Whitmarsh fears that some teams may even take safety risks in trying to make components lighter in a bid to hit the weight target.

"On every design team, there is a lot of pressure on them to save weight," he said. "Inevitably that costs money and people, when they are pushing for weight, they will pare down on margins of safety."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if there was a case for raising the weight limit for next year, which require unanimous support from the teams, Whitmarsh said: "I think there are grounds, but F1 doesn't work like that does it?

"I think the teams now will have, and are working hard, to meet the weight limit and the team's self interests will prevail.

"The team that thinks it is okay will block any change, and that is how things will work I am afraid.

"Momentarily, maybe for one or two years, a heavier driver is going to be disadvantaged. That it not what was intended but that is how it has happened."

[PaulP]

Practice 1

Times

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:39.630 20 laps

2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:39.667 +0.037 20 laps

3 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:39.816 +0.186 19 laps

4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:40.117 +0.487 20 laps

5 Jenson Button McLaren 1:40.215 +0.585 22 laps

6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.374 +0.744 18 laps

7 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:40.396 +0.766 19 laps

8 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:40.677 +1.047 15 laps

9 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:40.860 +1.230 20 laps

10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:40.880 +1.250 13 laps

11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:40.899 +1.269 20 laps

12 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:41.432 +1.802 18 laps

13 Pastor Maldonado Williams :41.482 +1.852 22 laps

14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:41.626 +1.996 21 laps

15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:41.924 +2.294 19 laps

16 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:42.002 +2.372 20 laps

17 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:42.043 +2.413 18 laps

18 James Calado Force India 1:43.008 +3.378 21 laps

19 Charles Pic Caterham 1:43.660 +4.030 20 laps

20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:43.883 +4.253 19 laps

21 Max Chilton Marussia 1:44.100 +4.470 14 laps

22 Rodolfo Gonzalez Marussia 1:46.810 +7.180 10 laps

[PaulP]

Practice 2

01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.673 31 laps

02 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:38.781 +0.108 30 laps

03 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.797 +0.124 30 laps

04 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:38.844 +0.171 35 laps

05 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:39.114 +0.441 30 laps

06 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:39.226 +0.553 34 laps

07 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:39.444 +0.771 31 laps

08 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:39.757 +1.084 33 laps

09 Jenson Button McLaren 1:39.774 +1.101 29 laps

10 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:40.006 +1.333 34 laps

11 Paul di Resta Force India 1:40.007 +1.334 34 laps

12 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:40.152 +1.479 31 laps

13 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:40.186 +1.513 33 laps

14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:40.210 +1.537 34 laps

15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.446 +1.773 30 laps

16 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:40.552 +1.879 26 laps

17 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:41.117 +2.444 34 laps

18 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:41.289 +2.616 34 laps

19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:42.461 +3.788 36 laps

20 Charles Pic Caterham 1:42.798 +4.125 35 laps

21 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:43.108 +4.435 31 laps

22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:43.441 +4.768 29 laps

[PaulP]

My guess

Vettel

Hamilton

Rosberg

[PaulP]

Qualifying

01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:37.202

02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.420 +0.218

03 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:37.464 +0.262

04 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:37.531 +0.329

05 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.679 +0.477

06 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:38.038 +0.836

07 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:38.223 +1.021

08 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:38.237 +1.035

09 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:38.405 +1.203

10 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:38.822 +1.620

11 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:38.362 +0.793

12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.365 +0.796

13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:38.417 +0.848

14 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:38.431 +0.862

15 Paul di Resta Force India 1:38.718 +1.149

16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:38.781 +1.212

17 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:39.470 +1.129

18 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:39.987 +1.646

19 Charles Pic Caterham 1:40.864 +2.523

20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:40.871 +2.530

21 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:41.169 +2.828

22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:41.322 +2.981

[Hypersomniac]

Vettel

Hamilton

Alonso

[Hypersomniac]

What in the heck is going on in this race?

[PaulP]

# Driver Ctry Team Time Gap Pits

1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:43.578 2

2 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:42.445 4.200 2

3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:42.403 4.900 2

4 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:42.841 24.100 2

5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.596 25.200 2

6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:43.665 26.100 2

7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:42.803 26.600 2

8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:44.457 32.200 2

9 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:43.157 34.300 2

10 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:43.182 35.100 2

11 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:42.744 35.900 2

12 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:44.414 47.000 2

13 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:45.194 50.000 2

14 Charles Pic Caterham 1:44.948 63.500 2

15 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:44.375 64.500 3

16 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:45.414 67.900 2

17 Max Chilton Marussia 1:45.518 72.800 2

R Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso RETIRED 2 laps 4

R Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso RETIRED 3 laps 2

R Adrian Sutil Force India RETIRED 5 laps 5

R Mark Webber Red Bull RETIRED 19 laps 3

R Paul di Resta Force India RETIRED 31 lap 2

[MIKA27]

Korean Grand Prix: Untouchable Vettel triumphs amid the chaos

Sebastian Vettel took a step closer to his fourth world title as he powered to a commanding victory in the Korean Grand Prix, claiming his fourth win in a row and a hat-trick at the Mokpo venue on a day where the excitement came from numerous incidents, prompting a couple of safety car periods which spiced up an otherwise dull afternoon when the world champion elect was never threatened.

Fro the moment the red lights turned off Vettel simply put his foot down and the Red Bull blasted into the lead where he remained unchallenged. Even at the restarts the German gave his rivals no room to have a go as again the Red Bull combo were in a league of their won as they have been for the past four races.

It is now merely a matter of when the 26 year old German will bag his fourth title, and doing the maths the scenario is such that Vettel will take the title in Japan next Sunday if he wins and Alonso finishes lower than eighth.

Vettel said afterwards, ”It’s not great getting stuck behind the safety car but really pleased with the result and great by the team. Fortunately we had enough pace to get ahead after both safety cars but both Kimi and Romain were very competitive and did better with their tyres. I am really enjoying things at the moment, we have a great team and we are having a great time.”

Behind Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen drove another superb calculated race and turned around ninth on the grid to second place, beating his Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean in the process, the Frenchman having to settle for third despite looking sure of second place for most of the race until he made a mistake which allowed Raikkonen through.

Raikkonen summed up his afternoon, ”It was OK. I think I lost a place on the first straight. The car has been under steering this weekend and was doing it today and I had to look after my front tyres. I got stuck in traffic but even without the safety car we could have finished on podium.”

Grosjean sw the bright side of losing second place to his teammate, ”It was pretty good fun, we had a good start, it was hard but it was good to be very close to the Red Bull, it didn’t get too far away. I made a small mistake and Kimi overtook me but it was my mistake. But we are back on the podium so it is all good.”

Report in progress…

MIKA: Many thanks for your Qualy and Race posts Paul

[MIKA27]

Korean Grand Prix: Untouchable Vettel triumphs – fourth title now a mere formality

Sebastian Vettel took a step closer to his fourth world title as he powered to a commanding victory in the Korean Grand Prix, claiming his fourth win in a row and a hat-trick at the Mokpo venue on a day where the excitement came from numerous incidents, prompting a couple of Safety Car periods which spiced up an otherwise dull afternoon on which the world champion elect was never threatened.

There was also the unexpected appearance of a track marshals’ vehicle on the track, which coupled to a number of incidents along the way made the race in the nearly empty venue slightly less boring.

From the moment the red lights went out Vettel simply put his foot down and the Red Bull blasted into the lead where it remained unchallenged. Even at the restarts, the German gave his rivals no room to have a go, as the combo were again simply in a league of their own, as they have been for the past four races.

Vettel now has a 77 point lead at the top of the table. With five races remaining, it is merely a matter of when exactly the 26 year old German will bag his fourth title. The mathematics of the current situation is such that Vettel will take the title in Japan next Sunday if he wins and Alonso finishes lower than eighth.

Vettel said afterwards, ”It’s not great getting stuck behind the Safety Car, but [i'm] really pleased with the result and great [work] by the team. Fortunately we had enough pace to get ahead after both Safety Cars but both Kimi and Romain were very competitive and did better with their tyres. I am really enjoying things at the moment, we have a great team and we are having a great time.”

Behind Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen drove another superb, well calculated race, converting ninth on the grid to second place by the end of the afternoon, beating Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean in the process. The Frenchman had to settle for third despite looking sure of second place for most of the race, until he made a mistake after the restart which allowed Raikkonen through.

Raikkonen summed up his afternoon, ”It was OK. I think I lost a place on the first straight. The car has been under steering this weekend and was doing it today and I had to look after my front tyres. I got stuck in traffic, but even without the Safety Car we [would] have finished on podium.”

Grosjean saw the bright side of losing second place to his teammate, ”It was pretty good fun, we had a good start, it was hard but it was good to be very close to the Red Bull – it didn’t get too far away. I made a small mistake and Kimi overtook me but it was my mistake. But we are back on the podium so it is all good.”

Nico Hulkenberg was again the ‘man of the match’ as he went toe-to-toe with Lewis Hamilton in an intriguing battle for fourth place towards the end of the race. The Mercedes driver gave it his utmost but simply could not get by the Sauber which was at its best on the twists of the Yeongam venue.

Further credit to Hulkenberg who also saw off the attentions of Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso before Hamilton attacked mercilessly in the last phase of the race But there was no way through for the Briton who sought advice, over the radio, on how to get by the Sauber, with the words, “Has anybody got any suggestions?”

“I drove one of the best races in my career so far,” said Hulkenberg. “I have had cars in the mirrors before, but today there were a lot and it was a bit annoying. The car’s traction was very good today, so that kept [my race] alive against Fernando and then Lewis later on.”

Behind the pair Alonso had the best view of the dicing. He had an occasional sniff at the Mercedes but thought the better of it and in the end Hulkenberg took fourth, with Hamilton and Alonso finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

Of Vettel’s win Alonso said afterwards, ”They deserve it, they are the best … at the moment, they are winning everything and we have to do better.”

Hamilton will be disappointed after starting from the front row and at one point challenging Grosjean for second. Bizarrely Mercedes kept the Briton out far too long on his second set of tyres and an unplanned tussle with teammate Nico Rosberg did little to help his cause – Rosberg finished seventh, despite having to pit and change the front wing on the Mercedes.

Alonso remains second in the championship standings but is sure to concede that nothing bar a miracle will see him usurp Vettel. If anything Ferrari have slipped a notch with their race pace no longer the strength that could previously help the Spaniard turn a third row start into a podium.

McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez were eighth and tenth respectively. Button found himself running hot and cold with a car that is not up to the task of fighting for the podium. Perez caused the first Safety Car period when the right front Pirelli tyre on the McLaren appeared to de-laminate and left a huge chunk of debris lying dangerously in the middle of the track.

Splitting the McLaren’s was the Ferrari of Felipe Massa who recovered after spinning out on the opening lap. Facing the wrong way after an ambitious move over the kerbs at the inside of the hairpin, he had it all to do from the back of the field. Eighth place was his reward.

With his teammate’s luck apparently infinite, Mark Webber was once again victim of a dolop of the bad stuff. Staring from 13th (thanks to a 10-place grid penalty) he carved his way through the field and was looking set for a podium finish, but shortly after the first Safety Car the Red Bull was struck in Turn 3 by Adrian Sutil’s spinning Force India.

The KERS on board the Red Bull is believed to have sparked the fire that broke out. The Australian’s afternoon was over.

Webber went on to criticise Pirelli after Perez’s tyre failure in front of him caused a puncture.

“That is how it is. The drivers aren’t super important – it is what other people want,” he said. “The tyres are wearing a lot and they also explode a bit – but that is for Pirelli to sort out. Pirelli will put the puncture of Perez down to a lock-up but the reason the drivers are locking up is because there’s no tread left.”

For Force India it was a day from hell as both Sutil and Paul di Resta crashed out of the race.

The Formula 1 circus moves to Suzuka for Round 15 of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship, which is very nearly in Vettel’s pocket.

[MIKA27]

Hulkenberg: I drove one of the best races in my career so far

Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg equaled his career-best performance with a fourth-place finish at Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix, in a result that could make millions of dollars difference to the financially strapped team.

Hulkenberg put in a superb defensive drive over the closing stages of the race – holding off world champions Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button – to take fourth place that matched his effort at Belgium last year.

The 12 points moved Sauber up to 31 in the constructors’ championship, level with Toro Rosso for seventh place. While the precise amounts of prize money for team placings in F1 is confidential and only determined at season’s end, the difference between seventh and eighth is expected to be around $3 million.

“Today I drove one of the best races in my career so far,” said Hulkenberg, who was briefly overtaken by Hamilton in the closing stages but kept his cool and retook the position a short time later on the main straight.

“I had a real good slip stream and was able to get past on the outside,” the German said. “A big thank you to the entire team for providing such an excellent car today.”

The mature performance will further enhance the reputation of Hulkenberg, who had been linked this year with moves to Ferrari and McLaren, but who is most likely to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus in 2014.

“We went into the race with high expectations and it is a great feeling that we were able to meet these through our own strengths,”

team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said. “Nico put in a superb performance and, once again, great fight, as it definitely was not easy to keep those cars behind him.”

Rookie teammate Esteban Gutierrez also matched his career best by finishing 11th, though the young Mexican was frustrated with being just outside the points after starting from eighth on the grid.

“It’s a great experience and will help me to improve my race craft,” Gutierrez said.

MIKA: It's hard to pick a driver of the race, there were a couple but Hulkenberg gets my vote. So much pressure from close persuers for a great number of laps. Brilliant drive IMO.

[MIKA27]

Why always Webber? His curse reaches new low in Korea

As his teammate Sebastian Vettel was drenched in champagne, and unconvincingly downplayed the assumption that he is assured of a fourth-successive Formula 1 title, Red Bull’s Mark Webber sat disconsolately in the garage and reflected upon yet another chapter in his story of extraordinary bad luck and lamented the quality of the Pirelli tyres on offer to F1 drivers.

The Australian has shown a repeated knack throughout his career for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix may well have been the most remarkable example yet.

Having started the race with a harsh ten-place grid penalty for merely hitching a ride back to the pits after the Singapore Grand Prix, Webber had worked his way up from 13th to a creditable third place when he made his second pit stop on lap 29 (of 55 )at the Yeongam circuit.

Emerging back onto the track, Webber was trailing Sergio Perez when the McLaren’s right-front tyre blew and Webber had no way to avoid the debris, immediately picking up a puncture that sent him back to the pits again.

Fans created a banner for Mark Webber in Korea

“The tyres are wearing a lot and they also explode a bit, but that is for Pirelli to sort out,” a philosophical Webber said after the race.

“Pirelli will put the puncture of Perez down to a lock-up but the reason the drivers are locking up is because there’s no tread left.”

It was a blow, but fitting a new set of Medium-compound tyres would have given Webber a fighting chance of a decent points finish.

However he was bemused to see the team had fitted a set of the short-life Super-softs rather than Mediums.

The radio message from his engineer said: “We are in a tricky position, the plan is to try to go to the end” to which Webber radioed back “Why did we choose the options?” The sheepish answer was: “We had nothing else left mate.”

Upon resumption after a Safety Car period, Webber was charging into the turn out of the main straight when he was hit from behind by the spinning Force India of Adrian Sutil, impacting the KERS system on the Red Bull which immediately started a fire.

Webber sat in the car for a few worrying seconds as the flames engulfed the car before stepping out and watching the fire from close distance, like a barbecue in his homeland.

Asked why he took so long to get out of the car, he laconically replied: “I was trying to get the fire extinguisher out but I couldn’t. I had my overalls on.”

The ill-luck occurred on the same track where three years previously he went into the race with a 14-point lead in the championship, only to see his only chance of a title end in a couple of seconds, when he spun in wet conditions, drifted across the track and was collected by the oncoming Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.

Webber departs F1 at the end of the season to go back to sports-car racing, where he can only hope for improved fortunes.

[MIKA27]

Fire tender vehicle provides bizarre Korean Grand Prix moment

The appearance of a 4×4 fire vehicle on the track during the running of the Korean Grand Prix provided a bizarre moment of drama as it led the slowed-down field but officials played down any safety concerns.

The sport’s governing body said race director Charlie Whiting ordered the vehicle to enter the track once the safety car message was broadcast because he realised the pace car could not be deployed before Red Bull’s race leader Sebastian Vettel arrived on the scene.

Watching viewers might have been bemused to see the workaday 4×4 trundling down the pit straight, hazard warning lights flashing, in place of the sleek silver Mercedes SLS AMG sportscar that is usually poised in the pitlane.

Officials agreed it was unorthodox but an immediate response had been needed.

Australian Mark Webber’s Red Bull had caught fire after being hit by Adrian Sutil’s Force India moments after the re-start following an earlier safety car period and marshals were struggling to put out the blaze.

Whiting had asked local organisers to deploy the fire tender parked at turn three but instead another at turn one that was better equipped entered the track instead.

Vettel, who led from pole and went on to win the race, made light of the incident.

“It looked like a BMW. I think it was a Hyundai or a Kia SUV (sport utility vehicle),” said the German. “You want the number plate?

“It was not (safety car driver) Bernd Maylander’s, so it was not the safety car. I saw that.”

Former racer Martin Brundle, now a race commentator for Britain’s Sky Sports television, told Reuters such an unorthodox intervention was rare in the modern era, with its specialised safety and medical cars.

“Many years ago I came across a breakdown truck going to pick up a crashed car, and various things over the years,” he said of his own track experiences.

“The closing speed (of approaching cars on Sunday) would have been something like 150 mph (241 kph) and you wouldn’t have wanted to be going underneath it, that’s for sure,” added the Briton.

“But with the radio systems we’ve got, the drivers can be told about anything and everything.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner saw another perspective.

“I was probably the only person who was relieved to see it because at least they had some fire extinguishers in it that were going to put the car out. It seemed to be on fire for an incredibly large amount of time,” he said.

“Obviously Mark got out of the car uninjured, which was the main thing. It was just frustrating to see your car there becoming a bigger and bigger inferno in what seemed to take an age to get some fire extinguishers to it.”

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen: I would rather start in the front and finish in front, life would be easier

Kimi Raikkonen has made it a habit of turning mediocre grid positions into podiums and at the Korean Grand Prix he was at it again, converting ninth place into a second place. He spoke about his afternoon of work in the cockpit of the Lotus E21.

You had to start a little bit further back in ninth place. How was the drive to get yourself back into a chance of getting on the podium?

Kimi Raikkonen: It was OK. I mean from the beginning I lost I think one place on the first lap, no, on the first straight, but then there was an accident so get it back. The car was just understeering too much, the whole weekend, even today, so I have to try to look after the front tyre and that was really the limitation on how much I could push and obviously we were stuck behind the traffic after the pitstops and then we decided to stop earlier and it was a good move and obviously the safety car helped a little bit but we had the speed and we could run until the end. So even without the safety car we could have maybe run until the end and still have a podium position. So it was good – but not ideal.

Tell us about the pass on Romain going into Turn One. It looked rather close.

KR: I think he moved a few times on the left. I got a good run, he made a mistake in I think the second-last corner and I got the good run and I heard that there will be yellow flags at the end of the straight so I knew he’s not going to pass me back with the DRS because it’s not open with the yellow flags. So I thought I would try to overtake and it was not too difficult.

Eighth in the early stages, could you imagine being second at the end?

KR: We have done that before, so obviously… it’s not ideal to start so behind and not having maybe the best weekend. Bit similar to the last race really but the car was a bit better in the race. Still not ideal, a little bit too much understeer and I lost one place or two places at the start and then got them back in corner three. And then I was able to pass people and then sat behind them again after the pitstop. I had more speed but I couldn’t get past and then we decided to stop a bit earlier and when the safety car came for whatever it was, five laps or something, obviously it helped a little bit for us to close the gap in the front but we managed to pass all the cars apart from these two guys already, before the safety car. So it maybe helped a bit in the end because my front tyre was in quite a bad way, it kind of ran out of the rubber in the end. So I couldn’t go much longer any more – but obviously that’s the part of racing. Sometimes it helps you a bit.

I’m sure you were pushing hard right at the end but just nothing you could do about Sebastian?

KR: No, I mean. Let’s put it this way: even it we would have started behind him, we still don’t have the speed of him. Not far off from him in the race with a little bit from all the tyres but I mean it’s so difficult to overtake if you’re not massively faster. So, I think that was pretty OK what we did today.

And a pretty good result for the team.

KR: Yeah. I think that’s the more important. For them to get their… not the maximum points but not far off. I think we scored quite a bit more than the guys in front of us in the championship so it’s good for them.

You said after the first initial graining phase that the times were improving but that safety car… was there anything on your Friday data to suggest that you might have actually made it to the end, without the safety car?

KR: We would probably have tried it, or looked at some point at how the tyres… without the safety car we gained a lot of time and lap places if we’d stopped earlier in the last pit stops, so who knows? In the end we didn’t stop again now. You can always say that if but it makes no difference. You have to react and do what you think is the right thing and sometimes certain things help you. My front tyre was pretty done in the end but we finished the race in a pretty good position. We would probably try to run until then anyhow.

You had some action moments in this race, coming from the back, first with Fernando Alonso, then with Romain. From the start of the race to the finish of the race, can you describe it and did you enjoy it?

KR: Yeah, it was nice, I think we had pretty OK speed and then we made the most of it after yesterday. The car still wasn’t ideal today but we managed to be a bit faster on used tyres than some others. At the beginning I managed to overtake a few cars and then I got stuck on the second… after the pit stop I got stuck with the same cars again and then decided to stop earlier. I was pretty OK after the restart. Romain made a mistake and I managed to pass him and just didn’t have enough speed at the end and not enough tyres were left compared to them, because they stopped later. It was good fun but I would rather start in the front and finish in the front. It would have made our life a bit easier.

[MIKA27]

Grosjean: It’s good to be back on the podium, good to score a lot of points

Romain Grosjean enjoyed a strong showing during the Korean Grand Prix weekend, starting third on the grid he went on to finish third in the race, but could well have been second where he spent most of the race until a mistake allowed his teammate through in the final stages. The Lotus driver spoke afterwards.

You did such a cracking drive. Obviously getting yourself into second place, that lovely fight. Tell us the story of the fight with Lewis to start with…

Romain Grosjean: Well I think it was pretty good fun. We had a good start, good run for the back straight and then could go for the place with Lewis. Then I think he kept a little bit of KERS to go for Turn Five and I had to defend a little bit but it was pretty good at the start and then after the first pitstop again, same story, so yeah, it was a hard job. And then it was good to be very close to the Red Bull. They didn’t go too far away so I think we had a good chance to catch them back but unfortunately for me – and luckily for Kimi, that’s good for the team – the safety car came and we had to pit at the same time and the same tyre age. I think we wanted to get a little bit of an advantage. Then I made a small mistake, my fault and Kimi could pass me – and then yellow flags at Turn Four, Turn Three and I couldn’t use the DRS. Tried to push hard at the end, good to be back on the podium, good for the team and happy to be here.

That chase in the early stages, were you absolutely on the limit there when you were trying to catch him?

RG: No, I think we played it pretty well. It was a good first lap and a good exit of the first pitstop fighting with Lewis who was very quick on two, three laps but I think then he had an issue with his tyres. I looked at the board at one stage and think from one lap to another one, I had the feeling he lost 0.8 seconds to me. And it seems that every time there will be a battle with Seb, there’s a safety car coming. Same as Germany unfortunately. We had the plan to pit quite early, just a few laps after the safety car came, trying to jump him and go for a very long last stint – but it didn’t work because of the safety car. But basically the car was very good. I mean at one stage we thought that we will switch to three stops because the front was going away – so I pushed a bit harder and then the team told me, “can you try to make it to two?” So I backed off a little bit but the car came back even better and I was looking consistently quick and so on. And then I think bad luck for me, a safety car came. I did a small mistake on the restart, Kimi could go into Turn One. I was going to use the DRS to get the place back and again, bad luck, Turn Three was yellow. It is what it is. It’s my fault, I went a bit wide in Turn 15, not the end of the world I think. What is good is that Seb has not been flying away today. We were always within four seconds of him and looking pretty well on the long stint. It’s not a track that is favouring us with the front-limitation.

We all suffer with front-right tyre graining and that was the problem, the main problem. We know we take care more of our rear tyres. So, it’s good to be back on the podium, good to score a lot of points for Lotus and let’s go to Japan which is the most beautiful track of the world.

We were talking about your confidence earlier on in the weekend. I guess it’s been given a boost. What’s it going to be like in Suzuka?

RG: Hopefully we go for P1! I don’t know. I think it was good to have a good start, to be able to fight at the front and it’s good to have a strong qualifying, a strong race. I don’t need any luck to be there. It just goes how it goes and it’s looking pretty good. The car is suiting me more and more and I think we can still learn a little bit but there we are.

Can you describe to us the conversation with the team when you were in the situation to fight with Kimi? We could hear some parts of the conversation but not all of it…

RG: Our radio is quite bad, I have to say. I don’t hear most of the conversations either. I just made a mistake, Kimi could go for it and the unfortunately there was a yellow flag at turn three so I couldn’t get my place back. I was quicker today but then we have rules not to fight. It’s a track where it is most impossible to overtake even though there are long straights. I mean in sector two and three there is so much issue with the front tyres so you cannot get close enough and then lose a lot of downforce, lose a lot of lap time. I should have avoided that astroturf in Turn 15 and it would have been the end of the conversation.

Do you think the Lotus had the pace to beat the Red Bull today without the safety cars?

RG: I don’t know how much Sebastian left in his pocket. I figured it was pretty close after the… well, while I was close to him, I didn’t want to close the gap too early, because you know that if follow a car by too much, we are all aware that the front tyre is the issue so you lose a lot of downforce from the fronts so you grain even more. So every time he was a little bit ahead I was giving a gap and then following the gap and I was surprised how our pace at one stage… I thought the front tyres were going away but I was surprised our lap time was still improving, so I was catching a little bit back and I think the last stints would have been pretty epic without the safety car, because that was basically the longest one on the tyres and we were going right to the end of their life so that could have been either the gamble to go for the lead… maybe both of us… I don’t know if we would have reacted but it would have been close and no more rubber on the tyres.

You said after the first initial graining phase that the times were improving but that safety car… was there anything on your Friday data to suggest that you might have actually made it to the end, without the safety car?

RG: Well, I think we hold the long runs on Friday to see how it goes and we choose which tyre we preferred. I think everybody did, it was the medium tyres and now we know after one stage it would balance the car a little bit. The question is how much to push at the beginning because the first few laps are the most critical from the front tyres. Yeah, it more or less looked as it was on the plan and then once you fit the prime tyres and you do your second stint, you know how much you can extend the last one and they can try to calculate the degradation and so on to give you the best chance to have the longest stint possible.

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Both Caterham and both Marussia drivers reprimanded

Caterham duo Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde and Marussia pair Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton have been reprimanded by race stewards, after an incident packed Korean GP.

Bianchi and Pic were reprimanded for failing to respond to yellow flags, while Van der Garde and Chilton were reprimanded for lapping too quickly while the Safety Car was out on track.

Bianchi and Pic now face compulsory ten place grid penalties in Japan next Sunday, as both have collected three reprimands so far this season.

The stewards decided to take no action against either McLaren’s Sergio Perez or Force India’s Adrian Sutil, who were also the subject of investigations for incidents they were involved in during the race.

Perez was investigated on suspicion of forcing Force India’s Paul di Resta off track as well as for a tangle with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, in a separate incident.

Sutil was also investigated for his role in a collision with Mark Webber which caused the Red Bull driver to retire from the race.

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Pirelli come under fire from drivers after tyre incidents in Korea

Mark Webber has joined his friend Fernando Alonso in delivering a blistering attack on Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli, with Lewis Hamilton also voicing his displeasure at the state of affairs at the Korean Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s Alonso said on Saturday the “quality” of the Italian marque’s 2013 products are “very on the edge”, to which Pirelli boss Paul Hembery hit back.

“I can only suggest he goes to ask the soon-to-be four time champion how to get the best from the same tyres,” said Hembery.

Hembery approached Alonso and apologised. The Spaniard told reporters after the race, ”We speak with facts and they [Pirelli] just use words. Everybody can see that.”

He added, “These are tyres that won’t last a lap, but as we said [on Saturday], we have zero problems with the performance. It’s us who haven’t adapted to these 2012 tyres. It’s up to us Ferrari, or the drivers, to improve.”

“But the tyre marbles [bits of discarded rubber off line] are there, and when it rains they have to stop the races, and then Perez has a blow-out… So we know the tyres are on the limit in terms of quality. Hembery had not heard this and he made a mistake, and he came to apologise, so we are thankful for that,” said the Ferrari driver.

But after the Korean Grand Prix race, Pirelli was fighting on another front.

Before retiring with a spectacular KERS fire after a crash on Sunday, Red Bull’s Webber suffered a tyre puncture, caused by the debris of what the Australian described as Sergio Perez’s tyre “explosion”.

Webber accused Pirelli of being unconcerned about driver safety.

“I think I got a Pirelli puncture from a Pirelli tyre,” he lamented.

Pirelli entered Formula 1 with a brief to spice up the racing by supplying tyres that degrade quickly. On Sunday, a frustrated Lewis Hamilton said on the radio he lost ground with a set that was “f*cked”.

“It’s strange, you know,” the Briton said afterwards. “Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the end having our own little race, yet we are of a higher calibre than that.”

And Webber is quoted by the BBC: “The drivers aren’t super important (to Pirelli) — it is what other people want.”

Amid Webber’s troubles, his teammate Sebastian Vettel cruised to a fourth consecutive win on Sunday, moving him to his first ‘match point’ of a fourth consecutive title.

If Alonso finishes lower than eighth on Sunday at Suzuka, and Vettel wins a fifth consecutive race, the German will wrap up the championship with four races still in his pocket.

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Whitmarsh would be delighted to have Alonso back at McLaren

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh seems intent on stoking wild rumours by insisting that Fernando Alonso could leave Ferrari and return to the Woking outfit in 2014.

Ferrari’s Spaniard denied the speculation yet again when it emerged earlier in Korea, but McLaren boss Whitmarsh says the team “could afford” to sign Formula 1′s highest-paid driver.

The suggestions about McLaren’s ability to pay Alonso follows reports claiming that the great British team, locked in a performance slump this season, has recorded a financial loss.

“We could afford to bring Alonso here next year,” Whitmarsh is quoted by the Guardian. ”I shouldn’t be stoking wild rumours of his return in 2014 but would we welcome him back, be delighted to have him back in the team? Of course we would.”

The rumours are being further stoked by Alonso’s continuing obvious frustration at Ferrari, where he qualified just sixth on Saturday.

Speed Week quotes him as saying he is getting used to being outpaced by Red Bull.

“It has been the same for the past four years,” said Alonso, who joined Ferrari in 2010, “and now we are the fourth fastest team in the field. But we have been able to fight for the title … so we can be proud,” he added.

Formula 1 legend Alain Prost said that he can understand Alonso’s frustration.

“Fernando deserves to be champion, but mistakes have been made and that may have caused frustration,” the Frenchman told Spain’s El Pais.

“It is true that he has also not had much luck, but the combination of Red Bull and Vettel is very difficult to beat.

“Where I disagree with him is you can’t really blame Ferrari; if he was always in the middle of the field I could understand, but the car has always been quite competitive.

“Red Bull is just better, period,” added Prost.

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Alonso hails RBR's 'super performance'

Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari need "another category of car" if they want to compete with the Red Bulls.

The Spaniard - and pretty much the rest of the pack - was once again unable to keep up with Sebastian Vettel as the German won his fourth race in a row to increase his lead in the standings to 77 points with only five races left.

Alonso finished down in sixth and he admits Red Bull's RB9 was in a class of its own while he was struggling in his Ferrari.

"Obviously it's not a surprise anymore," Alonso said. "It's not frustrating or surprising you on Sunday. The place where [Mark] Webber overtook me at Turn 6 we need to have another category of car because if not it's impossible to do Turn 4, Turn 5 behind another car and be side-by-side. This is super performance and they deserve it, they are the best ones at the moment, they are winning everything and we have to do better."

Having started fifth on the grid, Alonso lost out to Nico Hulkenberg at the start and he was stuck behind the Sauber driver for a long time while later in the race he found himself behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

"It was not good. We are not competitive in pure performance - we know that - but normally on Sunday we have a good pace," he said. "Here also on Sunday we didn't have the performance we expected. We saw on Friday a little bit the long runs were not as good as other grands prix and we knew that maybe the race would be tough and unfortunately we confirmed this feeling today.

"We were not so good at the start. At Turn 3 we lost the position with Nico and then we were all the race behind Hulkenberg which obviously doesn't help the tyres. We didn't have the pace; hopefully in Suzuka we can come back to a better one and fight for the podium again."

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Pirelli blames flat spot for blowout

Mark Webber's prediction that Pirelli would blame a flat spot for Sergio Perez's tyre failure in Korea has come to pass.

Perez suffered a spectacular right-front blowout on lap 31, sending rubber and carbon fibre flying all over the track. Webber, who was just behind the McLaren when the incident took place, couldn't avoid the debris and he was forced to make a pit stop soon after as he damaged a tyre.

The Australian was fuming afterwards and told BBC that "Pirelli will put the puncture of Perez down to a lock up but the reason the drivers are locking up is because there's no tread left."

The Red Bull driver was spot on with his prediction with the Italian company's chief Paul Hembrey saying that punctures will always be part of racing.

"Regarding Sergio Perez's front-right tyre issue we have been able to determine very quickly that it was the result of a flat spot caused by a lock-up under heavy braking," he said.

"We're obviously on exactly the same construction as we raced here last year, so there's no underlying problem, while flat spots or punctures have just always been an integral part of racing."

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McLaren 'not talking' to Hulkenberg

Martin Whitmarsh expects McLaren will re-sign Sergio Perez for next season despite rumours linking Nico Hulkenberg to his seat.

After losing out on the 2014 Ferrari race-seat, Hulkenberg has been linked to Lotus while a brief spate of rumours also suggested he could head to McLaren.

However, team boss Whitmarsh insists that move is not on the cards as it is only a matter of time before Perez is handed a new deal confirming him as Jenson Button's team-mate.

"I expect things to work out with Sergio," the Brit told Sky Sports News.

"We're not talking to Nico. He's doing a good job and certainly deserves a competitive seat next year, but we're not talking to Nico at the moment."

Whitmarsh also weighed in on calls for the minimum weight for next season to be increased from the 690kgs that it has been set at, as there are fears that heavier drivers will be penalised.

Although it is going up from this year's 642kgs, the extra weight will cover the new V6 engines and the Energy Recovery Systems with some teams already struggling to meet it.

"We have to find a solution, but I doubt we will find one in the next few weeks or months," Whitmarsh said.

"But sadly, the way it has worked out means the heavier drivers will be less attractive. It has happened by accident.

"We have raised the minimum weight but the new powertrains are heavier than people expected and now have a situation where heavier drivers could be a disadvantage."

Hulkenberg, who stands at 6ft, is one of those heavier drivers.

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Korean GP: Mercedes admits it faced dilemma with Hamilton's strategy

Mercedes admitted that Lewis Hamilton's tyre problems in the Korean Grand Prix left it in a strategic dilemma.

Hamilton complained vehemently over team radio during his second stint as his medium compound Pirellis rapidly lost performance.

Mercedes boss Ross Brawn said the team preferred to keep him on track until he was nearer the predicted window for a two-stop strategy.

"At that point, we had a difficult decision to make: an extra stop at lap 22 would have committed us to a much slower three-stop strategy, or we could leave Lewis in clean air to tough it out and try and reach the target lap to make our two-stop strategy work," said Brawn.

"We chose the latter option but it was a pretty painful few laps as Lewis battled to minimise the time loss."

Hamilton said that the loss of tyre performance happened without warning.

"A disastrous race for us," he said.

"We'd obviously have liked to finish higher and I think we deserved higher. Things just didn't go our way today.

"The car was feeling OK but the right front was just destroyed all of a sudden at one point.

"They just said it might go through the graining phase, but it wasn't graining, it was just dead.

"The tyre was losing temperature and I was locking up. I couldn't get round the corners.

"It was a very difficult 10-15 laps we had to do on that tyre and that's really what lost us so much ground."

Hamilton ultimately finished fifth after a huge late battle with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.

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Brake problem to blame for Toro Rosso's retirements

Daniel Ricciardo has blamed a brake problem for his late retirement from ninth place in the Korean Grand Prix.

The Australian had run as high as fourth during the first stint of the race after starting on the medium-compound tyre and was set to claim two points when he was pitched off the track at Turn 3 with less than three laps to go.

The problem, which is also believed to have led the team to calling team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne into retirement, resembled the one that cost Ricciardo eighth place in the closing stages of last year's Yeongam race, although he was able to struggle home ninth on that occasion.

"Coming down to Turn 3 with a few laps to go, I braked and the car immediately shot to the left," Ricciardo said.

"When I got out, I saw the front-left brake duct and calliper is hanging off, so it's obviously broken.

"It could have been a repeat of last year's [problem], in a points position with a few laps to go."

While frustrated at losing points with the issue, Ricciardo was happy with his race performance.

Toro Rosso struggled with the car all weekend and he had started 12th, but having capitalised on the first-lap confusion caused by Felipe Massa spinning his Ferrari at Turn 3, he jumped to seventh.

But while he would have left Korea with points, Ricciardo does not believe that would have been representative of the pace of the car.

"Personally, I am really pleased with my performance in the car today," he said. "I am not sure we had a top 10 car but we really did make the most of it and were fighting in the top 10 for the majority of the race.

"I'm pleased but it's frustrating that the team didn't get rewarded."

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Mercedes to investigate Rosberg's issue

Mercedes says it will have to investigate what caused Nico Rosberg's front wing/nosebox issue during the Korean Grand Prix.

Rosberg was just passing team-mate Lewis Hamilton for third on the Yeongam's circuit long straight when the front of his Mercedes suddenly drooped in a shower of sparks.

The team put the problem due to a "structural issue" between the nose section and chassis.

Rosberg had to nurse the car back to the pits for attention and finished seventh.

"I really could not believe it," said Rosberg.

"I was feeling good, had pace in the car, was going for it, and then the damn thing dropped and there were sparks coming off.

"I felt like I was sitting on the ground so I had no idea what was going on. The team and my engineer did a really good job to quickly tell me what the situation was and all I could do was try to cruise home.

"I wanted to know how bad it was, because if the wing is really under the car then it's massively dangerous and I could've completely lost control of the car and crashed straight on, without braking, into the wall.

"I had to judge the situation and when I understood it wasn't too bad I could carry some speed back to the garage."

The German was certain he could have finished on the podium but for the nose drama.

"The car was very quick," said Rosberg. "I was very comfortable and for one second the podium was guaranteed and I was going to go for [Romain] Grosjean because I had really good pace."

[NaFFe]

that was one crazy race. webber cant catch a break though