2010 Korean Grand Prix

Background

The 2010 Korean Grand Prix was the 17th of the 19th rounds in the 2010 Formula One World Championship and was held at the 5.615 km (3.489 mi) anti-clockwise Korea International Circuit on 24 October 2010. The Grand Prix was contested by twelve teams with two drivers each. The teams (also known as constructors) were Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari, Renault, Williams, Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Lotus, Hispania and Virgin. Tyre supplier Bridgestone provided four types of tyres to the race; two dry compounds (soft green-striped "options" and hard "primes") and wet-weather green-lined compounds (intermediate and full wet).

Before the race, Red Bull driver Mark Webber led the World Drivers' Championship with 220 championship points; he was ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, who were tied for second place on 206 championship points. Lewis Hamilton was in fourth with 192 championship points and Hamilton's teammate Jenson Button was fifth on 189 championship points. There were 75 championship points available for the three remaining races, which meant Hamilton or Button could still win the title. Both drivers would mathematically stay in contention if Alonso or Vettel won the race and neither McLaren driver finished in a points-scoring position. Red Bull led the World Constructors' Championship with 426 championship points; McLaren and Ferrari were second and third with 381 and 334 championship points respectively, while Mercedes on 176 championship points and Renault on 133 contended for fourth place. Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari had so far won races in the previous 16 rounds of the season. Felipe Massa (twice) and Robert Kubica had finished in second place, and Nico Rosberg, Massa (twice), Kubica (once) had all finished in third.

With three races remaining in the Championship and a 14-point advantage, Webber said he would continue his pursuit of the title; "I need to keep racing hard and going for victories. Clearly, if my rivals have a rough weekend it makes it a bit harder for them and it gives me a bit more scope, but I'm not looking to abuse that because it can all go pear-shaped very fast." Vettel said his season had been fraught with car problems but he remained positive about his chances; "I think it's normal to have ups and downs – and sometimes you have more, sometimes less – but, as I said, the expectation was probably to be in a position to fight for the championship and I think we're in a very strong and very good position." Alonso urged his teammate Massa to help him in his title bid and said the Korean Grand Prix could become "decisive" for his championship rivals. He favoured Hamilton to win the Korean Grand Prix. With Hamilton 28 championship points behind Webber and with Button a further three championship points behind his teammate, McLaren's team principal Martin Whitmarsh said his drivers would keep their focus in the season's remaining three races and produce consistent performances. Karun Chandhok, who raced for Hispania in the first ten races of the season, said Red Bull were the favourites to win, and that he thought the circuit's three long straights would suit the McLaren cars.

Practice

Per the regulations for the 2010 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday morning and afternoon and another 60-minute session on Saturday morning. The track was dusty when the first practice sessions were held; grip was poor and some drivers went onto the run-off areas after going off the track. Hamilton paced the first practice session with a 1:40.887 lap; almost one-tenth of a second quicker than Kubica. Rosberg and Michael Schumacher set the third- and sixth-fastest times respectively for Mercedes; they were separated by Vettel and Button. Webber, Nick Heidfeld and the two Williams drivers completed the top ten; Nico Hülkenberg ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Hispania driver Bruno Senna spun at turn nine after his left rear suspension failed and stopped on the track without hitting a barrier. Grip was improved for the second practice session, in which Webber set a time of 1:37.942—the quickest of the day—despite spinning late in the session. Alonso was second-quickest and Hamilton third. Kubica set the fourth-quickest time. Button, who was sidelined for most of the session with an overheated exhaust, was fifth. Massa, Vettel, Vitaly Petrov, Rosberg and Kamui Kobayashi made up positions six to ten. Sakon Yamamoto in the other Hispania car caused the session to be suspended after spinning and stopping his car at turn 16.

After discussions with Whiting during a Friday night drivers' briefing, the height of an apex at turn 16 was increased and the wall in the area was moved back. A new apex kerb at turn 18 was built to stop dirt and stones from accumulating on the circuit, which was extensively cleaned. Drivers were told they could enter the pit lane from the racing line without incurring a penalty. Bridgestone had reported heavy tyre graining during the Friday practice sessions; its Motorsport Tyre Development director Hirohide Hamashima said drivers would face a challenge of looking after their tyres if track conditions had not changed before the race. Kubica was quickest in the final practice session; his late lap of 1:37.354 was 0.048 seconds quicker than Hamilton's in second. Alonso and Webber were third and fourth. Rosberg, who was fifth, slowed at turn 15 during the session's closing stages; he narrowly avoided a collision with Alonso. The incident was subject to a stewards' investigation; the stewards decided not to penalise Rosberg. Massa, Button, Hülkenberg, Schumacher and Sutil completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. Vettel was 16th; the result of running onto the grass.

Qualifying

Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes and eliminated the cars that finished 18th or lower. The second session lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 17. The final session determined pole position to tenth. Cars which competed in the final session were not allowed to change tyres before the race; these started the race fitted with the tyres with which they set their quickest lap times. It was held in overcast weather conditions. Tyre degradation on the soft compound tyres was heavy; the drivers set their laps on the hard tyres during the first session and switched to softs for the two remaining sessions.

With a lap of 1:35.585, Vettel set the fastest time at the end the final session on his second timed run, achieving his ninth pole position of the season. Although he was delighted to get pole position, he felt he lost time in the middle sector after making a mistake. Vettel's teammate Webber was also on the front row of the grid; he recorded a lap time 0.076 seconds slower. Webber was not happy with his first set of option tyres; he chose to do two more timed laps on a new set of option tyres in the third session. Alonso qualified third; he said his starting position had realised Ferrari's "maximum potential". He also aimed to ensure that he finished the race because rain had been forecast. Alonso had been the fastest driver during most of the third session until Vettel set his pole position lap. Hamilton set the first session's fastest time of 1:37.113; he almost did not challenge for pole position because he avoided making contact with the pit lane entry barrier. He fell to fourth overall in the final session. In the faster of the two Mercedes, Rosberg secured fifth place; Massa in the slower Ferrari placed sixth. Massa was not happy because he would start the race on the dirty side of the grid, having encountered traffic during the third session. Button complained about the lack of grip and that he could not get his tyres to the optimum temperature; he managed seventh position but was happy to start on the clean side of the grid. Kubica recorded the eighth-fastest time and struggled with oversteer, which prevented him from setting a faster lap time. Schumacher in the slower Mercedes took ninth place ahead of Barrichello in tenth. Barrichello was angry with Schumacher because he had blocked Barrichello during the second session. Schumacher went to Barrichello to apologise and was subsequently reprimanded by the stewards.

Hülkenberg in 11th was the fastest driver not to advance into the final session. His best time of 1:37.620 was 1.5 seconds slower than Webber's pace in the second session. He said 11th was a "good position to start from" despite losing the rear of his car in turn twelve, which caused him to abort one of his quick laps. Hülkenberg was followed in the times by the BMW Sauber drivers Kobayashi in 12th and Heidfeld in 13th, followed by Sutil in the quickest of the two Force India cars. Petrov, who qualified in 15th, was penalised five positions on the grid because he had caused an avoidable accident with Hülkenberg at the start of the previous race at Suzuka. Petrov was aiming for a top ten grid position to minimise the effects of his grid penalty but he spun on his final timed lap after hitting a kerb; he was unable to set a quicker lap time because his tyres had become dirty. Hence, Jaime Alguersuari inherited 15th position, ahead of his teammate Sébastien Buemi who opted to run one flying lap with a light fuel load for his last run of the second session but made minor mistakes which cost him time. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Trulli and Timo Glock were the quickest drivers unable to advance beyond the first session. Liuzzi complained the tyre wear on his soft compound tyres was so excessive it created a large amount of oversteer for half a lap. The tenth row of the grid was filled by Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) and Lucas di Grassi (Virgin). The two Hispania drivers completed the final two positions on the grid; Yamamoto in 23rd was 0.8 seconds faster than his teammate Senna in 24th.

Qualifying classification

The fastest lap in each of the three sessions is denoted in bold.

Notes:

^ – Renault's Vitaly Petrov was given a retroactive five-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable accident with Williams's Nico Hülkenberg at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Race

The track was wet before the race because rain had fallen the previous night. The air temperature was 20 °C (68 °F) and the track temperature was 18 °C (64 °F). Approximately 80,000 people attended the race. Ferrari discovered a water leak in Alonso's car, which was repaired in the hour before the event started. While on their reconnaissance laps, Massa, Senna and Glock left the circuit but avoided damage to their cars as drivers tested wet tyre compounds. The race was scheduled to start at 15:00 Korea Standard Time (UTC+9) but rain continued to fall. A new start time of 15:10 local time was planned. Standing water on the track caused heavy spray and impaired visibility, meaning the race would start behind the safety car. All cars were required to use the full wet tyres.

The race began without a formation lap and despite the slow speed, drivers struggled for grip on the wet surface. After three laps under the safety car, conditions were unchanged; drivers reported on the circuit's condition via radio and the race was suspended. Light rain prevented the race's resumption for more than 45 minutes until the marshals and road sweeping trucks removed some of the excess water and dirt on the track. Resin on the newly laid track surface had prevented water from soaking into the ground. The rain had eased slightly during the suspension. Teams were allowed to change the set-up of their cars, which were largely optimised for dry weather conditions.

The race was restarted behind the safety car with the drivers in the positions held before the suspension. The safety car remained out for 14 laps, during which the standing water was reduced as the cars circulated the track. Schumacher, Liuzzi and Yamamoto left the circuit during this period but were all able to rejoin. Di Grassi made a pit stop for new tyres three times under safety car and Senna made a pit stop at the end of the first lap. Once the safety car drove into the pit lane at the conclusion of lap 17, cars were allowed to overtake. Vettel maintained his pole-position lead going into the first turn with Webber close behind. Further back, Schumacher passed Kubica for eighth place. Senna and Trulli spun off onto the run-off area but both drivers were able to continue. Rosberg passed Hamilton by taking the inside line to take fourth place at the third corner. Button tried to overtake Massa heading into turn four but ran wide. He momentarily lost the advantage and fended off Schumacher's attempts to pass him.

At the end of the first racing lap, Vettel led by 2.8 seconds from Webber, who was followed by Alonso, Rosberg, Hamilton, Massa, Button, Schumacher, Kubica, Hülkenberg and Sutil. Alonso chose a cautious approach and lost four to five seconds while building up his pace slowly in the early stages. Sutil ran off the circuit but continued after losing his position to both Williams drivers. Webber lost grip on the next lap after running across the outside kerbing and spinning across the track onto the wall between turns 12 and 13; he slid back onto the circuit and collected Rosberg, forcing both drivers to retire. The debris on-track from the accident called the safety car to be deployed. Kobayashi, Petrov, Heidfeld and Buemi all made pit stops for intermediate tyres during the safety car period.

Post-race

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media at a later press conference. Alonso said the Grand Prix was "one of the best races of the year" for the Ferrari team and that the wet weather conditions made the victory more difficult; "I think it's one of the most tricky conditions' victories I've ever had, probably, because we started with very extreme conditions, red flag, then a couple of laps behind the safety car". Alonso said he would not alter his driving style in the final two rounds of the season. Hamilton said finishing in second was "a great result" and that he was "very happy". He also said he lost time to other drivers in the final third of the lap because of braking problems. Massa said that despite the poor visibility he endured he was happy to finish third. He also said he struggled with his rear tyres, which caused him to slow.

Petrov said he had mixed feelings after the race, having been in seventh position before his race-ending crash on lap forty-one, "I am disappointed to end the race in the wall and not in the points, but it was encouraging to be running in the top ten". Barrichello, placed fifth before he ran wide on lap fifty-two and was passed by Kubica and Liuzzi, said, "I was lucky with the timing of the safety car and we were running in a good position right up until the closing stages. Unfortunately, I just ran out of tyre in the last five laps which cost us two places in the end."

Webber said he was at fault for causing the accident between himself and Rosberg on lap 19; "I thought I'd managed to catch it but I lost the car and made contact with the wall. Then Nico hit me, which wrecked his race as well. It was my mistake and it wasn't my day." Rosberg was puzzled over the incident; he said, "I don't understand why Webber didn't hit the brakes. It was crazy to roll back across the track like that." Gerhard Berger, who raced in Formula One for 13 years, courted controversy when he accused Webber of crashing deliberately and claimed Webber planned to take out either Alonso or Hamilton. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner defended Webber in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, saying it was "absurd" that Webber attempted to take out another competitor and stated the car suffered heavy damage with the collision with the wall. Webber later went to Rosberg and apologised for the crash on the Friday before the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Vettel said Red Bull "did more or less, a perfect job" in the race until his retirement from an engine failure on the forty-sixth lap. Renault principal engineer Fabrice Lom apologised to Red Bull for Vettel's engine failure. It was later revealed by Vettel that the engine was not to have been used in future races had it not failed. Horner subsequently said Red Bull would not be favouring Vettel or Webber for the Drivers' Championship. In 2011, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said he had considered retirement from the sport after Vettel and Webber failed to finish because he believed Red Bull had lost the possibility to win the title in 2010. After Webber and Vettel retired, members of the McLaren and Ferrari teams celebrated the events. Sauber team principal Peter Sauber told Blick it was "very unsporting" and that "they were scenes that didn't please me at all". Button said problems with his front tyres caused him to lock up under braking. He later described his race as "sad". Button also told journalists he believed he was unable to defend the Drivers' Championship though said he would not assist Hamilton unless Button was mathematically ruled out.

Race classification

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.

Championship standings after the race

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.