Alonso Wins In South Korea To Go Top, Red Bull Flooded
Alonso gets closer to another championship title
The rain water wouldn’t go away from the track as the Spaniard drove carefully to finish first and go top of the driver standings. Neither of the two Red Bull drivers, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, ran all the laps though at the South Korean Grand Prix, which took place on Sunday. The Australian, who led the standings before Alonso came back on top yesterday, pulled out after a wall-crash. Webber followed team-mate’s Sebastian Vettel abandon. As for the German, Vettel gave up after car’s engine blew smoke at 10 laps. It was the kind of race that anything could happen.
The race first was delayed 45 minutes but once the start came, the drivers would have to run under safety car conditions for laps. When the rain almost stopped, the water from the track wouldn’t be drained for minutes. Meanwhile, Button said at the driver radio that the conditions were still bad. Vettel himself complained about the track surface which almost collected the water, instead of draining it. Thus, the South Korean inaugural GP didn’t look well. There will be no wonder if this Grand Prix won’t be part of the calendar the next period. The track surface must be improved. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton, who came second in the end, was passed by Nico Rosberg for fourth place, and this immediately that the race began. However, Alonso, whom the many would rule him out of the title battle, went now top of the Formula One rankings, collecting 231 total points, eleven ahead of his predecessor Mark Webber, but who now lies on second. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is third with 210 points, while Sebastian Vettel keeps the Red Bull team top of the standings. He is forth in the driver standings with 206 points. McLaren are second in the team rankings thanks to third placed Hamilton and fifth Jenson Button, who came twelfth yesterday in South Korea, 1 minute and 29.939 seconds behind the leader.
Former world champion Michael Schumacher did a wonderful job yesterday. The seven-time F1 winner, who looked in great-shape after he announced that the track was drier when 46 laps remained to be run, passed Briton Button for fifth at one point. However, the German finished the race fourth, just behind Felipe Massa, who, just like Alonso, ran very carefully on the pouring rain and flooded track. Schumacher came home 39.688 seconds behind the Spaniard, while the Brazilian was also shared with a podium third place. Now, Schumacher lies ninth in the overall driver standing, while Mercedes team are fourth in a table led by Red Bull with 426 points, McLaren with 399 and Ferrari with 374 points. .
