| Source: autosport.com |
Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth straight Formula 1 victory in a Korean Grand Prix enlivened by spectacular racing and bizarre incidents in his wake.
The Red Bull driver was joined on the podium by Lotus duo Kimi Raikkonen – charging forward from 10th on the grid – and Romain Grosjean.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h43:13.701 2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 4.200 3. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 4.900 4. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari + 24.100 5. Hamilton Mercedes + 25.200 6. Alonso Ferrari + 26.100 7. Rosberg Mercedes + 26.600 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 32.200 9. Massa Ferrari + 34.300 10. Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 35.100 11. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari + 35.900 12. Bottas Williams-Renault + 47.000 13. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 50.000 14. Pic Caterham-Renault + 1:03.500 15. van der Garde Caterham-Renault + 1:04.500 16. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 1:07.900 17. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 1:12.900 18. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 2 laps 19. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 3 laps 20. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 5 laps Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:41.380 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Webber Red Bull-Renault 41 Di Resta Force India-Mercedes 29 World Championship standings, round 15: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 272 1. Red Bull-Renault 402 2. Alonso 195 2. Ferrari 284 3. Raikkonen 167 3. Mercedes 283 4. Hamilton 161 4. Lotus-Renault 239 5. Webber 130 5. McLaren-Mercedes 81 6. Rosberg 122 6. Force India-Mercedes 62 7. Massa 89 7. Sauber-Ferrari 31 8. Grosjean 72 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 31 9. Button 58 9. Williams-Renault 1 10. Hulkenberg 31 11. Di Resta 36 12. Sutil 26 13. Perez 23 14. Ricciardo 18 15. Vergne 13 16. Maldonado 1
Kimi Raikkonen – 2nd: “Second place is ok and a good result for the team, but we’re here to win and having to fight your way to the front from a bad starting position is not ideal. Qualifying was pretty awful for me, but it’s difficult to say whether a better grid position would have made the difference. Sebastian was faster than us at the end; not massively, but a little bit for sure and his tyres were fresher too so I think it would have been tough to catch him in any case. We were closer to the Red Bull today than we have been in some races, but not close enough. People might say it was good luck with the safety car, but sometimes these things go with you and others they go against you. We made up some places even before that happened, and if we hadn’t had the speed then we wouldn’t have been in a position to take advantage. You could see at the end that we had more than enough pace to keep the others behind, so I think it’s deserved.”
Romain Grosjean – 3rd: “It’s a fantastic result for the team. Of course, one step higher on the podium would have been better for me and two steps better would have been superb, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Our battle with Lewis [Hamilton] was good and our pace was great, but the two safety car periods hurt our attempts to battle for the win. After the restart I should have been in front of Kimi on the road, but it was my mistake which let him past. I went a bit wide in Turn 15 and got on the Astroturf – which is very slippery – and that let him get a run on me. Then there were yellow flags into Turn 3 so I couldn’t take the place back straight away. Of course, I was asking the team to let me past Kimi as I was on fresher tyres, but they left us to race which is our philosophy of fair play. You lose so much downforce in sectors two and three and obviously our cars are pretty close on performance so it’s pretty hard to pass, but we have to be very happy with a double podium.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “Another double podium for the team is a fantastic result and it tastes like a race win this late in the season. Credit to everyone back at Enstone for delivering us extra performance from the long wheelbase car, as any gain towards the end of the year is especially beneficial as we fight for position in both Championships. The race team delivered a great strategy and pit stops, whilst both drivers drove exceptionally well. We have a lot of promise for the remaining races and podiums are certainly on our agenda.”
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 