Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic will be hit with 10-place grid penalties after both receiving their third reprimands of the season for failing to respond to yellow flags during the Korean Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel: "It was a long race today, but it’s really great to win. The start was crucial, it’s always tricky here as you’re nervous about the long straight when you start from pole. Fortunately we had good traction off the line and I had a strong exit out of the first corner. We kept the lead and tried to control the race from there. I think Mercedes had more range than us today, but we were able to win which is great. It was a very strong performance from the whole team and I’m happy. We’re just focusing on continuing to take one step at a time and trying to get the best out of the car at every single race."
Lotus F1 Team scored its third double podium of the season as Kimi Raikkonen took second and Romain Grosjean third in an emphatic team performance at the Korean Grand Prix. Both drivers benefited from strong race pace and drove superbly, including dicing with each other, during a race which saw two safety car periods.
Kimi Raikkonen: "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: "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 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."
KOREAN GRAND PRIX, YEONGAM
55 laps, 308.630km., Weather: Dry.
CLASSIFIED:
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1h43:13.701
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus + 4.224
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus + 4.927
4. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber + 24 114
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG + 25 255
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 26.189
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG + 26.698
8. Jenson Button McLaren + 32.262
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 34.390
10. Sergio Perez McLaren + 35.155
11. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber + 35.990
12. Valtteri Bottas Williams + 47.049
13. Pastor Maldonado Williams + 50.013
14. Charles Pic Caterham + 1:03.578
15. Guido van der Garde Caterham + 1:04.501
16. Jules Bianchi Marusaia + 1:07.970
17. Max Chilton Marussia + 1:12.898
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso + 2 laps
19. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 3 laps
20. Adrian Sutil Force India + 5 laps
Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel - 1:41.380
NOT CLASSIFIED:
DRIVER TEAM On Lap
Mark Webber Red Bull 36
Paul di Resta Force India 24
After 14 Races:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. S.Vettel 272 1. Red Bull 402
2. F.Alonso 195 2. Ferrari 284
3. K.Raikkonen 167 3. Mercedes AMG 283
4. L.Hamilton 161 4. Lotus 239
5. M.Webber 130 5. McLaren 81
6. N.Rosberg 122 6. Force India 62
7. F.Massa 89 7. Sauber 31
8. R.Grosjean 72 8. Toro Rosso 31
9. J.Button 58 9. Williams 1
10. N.Hulkenberg 31
11. P.Di Resta 36
12. A.Sutil 26
13. S.Perez 23
14. D.Ricciardo 18
15. J.Vergne 13
16. P.Maldonado 1
