Vettel Cruises to Seemingly Effortless Indian Grand Prix Win

Photo source: Pirelli Photo Service

With the 2012 Formula 1 tour nearing completion with only four race dates remaining on the calender, the Indian Grand Prix on the 5.14 kilometer Buddh International Circuit was 60 laps that Sebastian Vettel needed to build up his narrow six-point lead in the driver points standing over the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.

For Alonso, entering the 2012 Indian Grand Prix weekend would not be the ideal circumstance for regaining the Formula 1 drivers championship points lead. Heading into the event, the Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel had the momentum of not only three straight race wins but as the 2011 Indian Grand Prix victor. Winning the pole, race and clocking the fastest lap in the 2011 Formula 1 event on the Buddh International Circuit last season, Vettel had already repeated in the 2012 weekend with the top spot on the 24-car grid. Launching impressively in his Red Bull-Renault, Sebastian Vettel was accompanied closely by teammate Mark Webber when the starting lights turned off commencing the 60-lap Indian Grand Prix. While the Red Bull Racing cars surged to early domination, Fernando Alonso was intent to get around the 3rd and 4th place McLaren-Mercedes vehicles. Taking several laps, Alonso's Ferrari would eventually found its way around Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

A race with a minimal of retirements, Sergio Perez, Michael Schumacher and Petro de la Rosa were the only competitors who did not make it to the checkered flag. Losing any chance of a successful effort early in the Indian Grand Prix, “that was a pretty unsatisfactory race today. It was effectively over just after the start; I lost so much time getting back to the pits with the puncture that any hope of scoring points was gone." said Schumacher who was part of an overall bad race for Mercedes GP. Finishing 11th, Michael Schumacher's teammate Nico Rosberg missed out scoring points in the Indian Grand Prix to the Williams-Renault driven by Bruno Senna.

Leading, Sebastian Vettel steadily cruised in his Red Bull-Renault. However, his teammate's Red Bull Racing car would fall under the attack of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. Complicated by a lack of extra speed due a failed KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System unit on his race car, Webber was prey to Alonso's red car through the DRS speed zone. Taking second place, Alonso would be unable to catch title rival Sebastian Vettel who took a second Indian Grand Prix by a 9.4-second advantage.

A near flawless race for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing with only a single tire stop serving as a break in the unopposed Sunday drive, Vettel padded his overall drivers point lead to a 13-marker advantage over Fernando Alonso who finished second in India. The Indian Grand Prix victory by the Red Bull Racing team delivered engine supplier Renault its 150th victory in the Formula 1 series.

Photo Source: Pirelli Photo Service

Behind second place Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber held on to the final podium position by just 0.7 of a second over McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton's teammate Jenson Button followed distantly to a fifth place finish ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Kimi Raikkonen's seventh place finish in his Lotus-Renault race car is allowing the Finnish driver to hold third place in the Formula 1 drivers' standing. Raikkonen is the only competitor currently in the top-7 drivers of the 2012 standings without a race win this season. Nico Hulkenberg driving for Force India, Lotus F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna for Williams F1 rounded out the top-10 of the Indian Grand Prix.

The next stop for the quickly depleting 2012 edition of the Formula 1 schedule is a visit to the Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 4th.



2012 Formula 1
Indian Grand Prix
Race Results

Pos #	Car #/ Driver/ Constructor
1	1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2	5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
3	2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
4	4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
5	3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
6	6 Felipe Massa Ferrari
7	9 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault
8	12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
9	10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
10	19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault
11	8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
12	11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
13	16 Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14	14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
15	17 Jean-Eric Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16	18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
17	21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault
18	20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault
19	25 Charlie Pic Marussia-Cosworth
20	24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth
21	23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1
22	7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
23	22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT F1
24	15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari

Vettel Edges Webber for Indian Grand Prix Pole

Photo source: Pirelli Photo Service

Assuming the Formula 1 driver's championship points lead after a Korean Grand Prix victory, Sebastian Vettel has four races remaining in the 2012 Formula 1 season to defend his reign in the top open wheel racing series in the world.

Competing for the second time at the Buddh International Circuit for the Indian Grand Prix, Vettel approaches the fourth to last event in the 2012 tour as the defending 2011 winner of the pole and race. In qualifying, the German Red Bull Racing star followed-up last season's success with a performance granting him a second pole for the Indian Grand Prix. Lapping at 1 minute, 25.283 seconds in the final Q3 run, Vettel's Red Bull-Renault narrowly beat-out brand mate Mark Webber for the top spot. For the third Formula 1 race in a row, the front row of a grand prix will be dominated by the Red Bull Racing organization.

With the Indian Grand Prix serving as the part of the four remaining races in the 2012 Formula 1 tour, Red Bull Racing has risen to challenge for both the ongoing drivers championship and the constructors title against Ferrari. Fernando Alonso qualified 5th for the Grand Prix of India barely topping Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa. The Scuderia Ferrari team is 77 points behind Red Bull Racing in the team constructors title with 43 points on the table for each of the remaining event.

Just six points behind Ferrari in the constructor points for Formula 1, McLaren will be attempting to forget some late season missteps (including the recent Korean Grand Prix) that has cost the team as well as drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button a meaningful chance at titles. Showing some good overall strength, McLaren-Mercedes race cars occupy the second row with Hamilton ahead of Button.

In seventh spot for the start of the Indian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus-Renault is less than a second slower than the pole-winning car of Sebastian Vettel. This can bode well to the competition at the Indian racetrack. Sergio Perez for Sauber, the Williams-Renault of Pastor Maldonado and Nico Rosberg driving for Mercedes GP rounded out the top 10 for the Indian Grand Prix grid.


2012 Formula One
Indian Grand Prix
Starting Grid

Pos #	Car #/ Driver/ Constructor
1	1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2	2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
3	4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
4	3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
5	5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
6	6 Felipe Massa Ferrari
7	9 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault
8	15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari
9	18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
10	8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
11	10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
12	12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
13	19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault
14	7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
15	16 Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16	11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
17	14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
18	17 Jean-Eric Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
19	21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault
20	20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault
21	24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth
22	22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT F1
23	23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1
24	25 Charlie Pic Marussia-Cosworth

Vettel Takes Korean Grand Prix, F1 Driver's Points Lead

Photo Source: Pirelli Photo Service

One of only five races remaining in a turbulent 2012 Formula 1 season, the 24 cars entered the country of Korea for the third-ever time. Entering this weekend with a driver's championship that could change with a matter of a few positions on track, 55 laps around the Korean International Circuit would be the site for some dramatic action to continue fueling the wide-open 2012 tour.

Taking pole of the Korean Grand Prix, Australian Mark Webber led both the field and an all-Red Bull Racing front row. As the lights went off to start the race, Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel showed no desire to be in second place for long. Launching perfectly, Vettel was able to capture the lead from Webber through the first corner. Mark Webber's less-than ideal start almost cost him second place as McLaren's Lewis Hamilton challenged early.

Despite the start for Lewis Hamilton, the 2012 Korean Grand Prix for McLaren F1 was a pure disaster first made evident by Jenson Button. On the first lap, Button's race ended when his McLaren-Mercedes was impacted by the Sauber-Ferrari of Kamui Kobayashi. Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg was not part of early race contact with Kobayashi. Parking his wounded Mercedes GP along a wall opening along the DRS activation stretch, the retired German's car was a potential aid to Sebastian Vettel as a local caution bought him extra laps to build a gap. Rosberg's car was removed by lap 10 allowing the DRS zone to finally be opened. The Sauber-Ferrari served a drive-through penalty as a result of the turn 3 incident on lap 8 and would ultimately retire after completing just 16 laps as a sad follow-up to the celebratory tone of a first-ever Formula 1 podium in Japan.

With most of the field starting the race on the Pirelli supersoft compound tires, some tempted conventional wisdom by opting with the harder tire option. With a one-stop strategy contemplated at the beginning of the race for some drivers, only Pastor Maldonado's Williams-Renault and Narain Karthikeyan's HRT-Cosworth could carry out the daring plan. Ultimately, the one-stop strategy was an unwise move as both drivers finished well outside of the top-10 of the Korean Grand Prix. In fact, the Korean International Circuit proved challenging for the majority of team that chose to make the race on two stops as right front tires wear was a typical problem for runners in the race.

Photo Source: Sauber Motorsport AG

After Button's early exit, the sole hope of the McLaren-Mercedes depended on Lewis Hamilton. While going the distance, Hamilton's race was a victim of extensive wearing or "graining" throughout the Korean Grand Prix. Adapting to a three-stop plan for Pirelli tires, it was a fight by Hamilton to hold off the Sauber-Ferrari of Sergio Perez for 10th, the final point-paying position in the Formula 1 result. The final laps for the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was also provided with some theatrics when a piece of green carpeting of the track's curbing ripped and became tangled on the right side of the race car. The overall issues for McLaren F1 in Korea cost the race team second in the manufacturer's points to Ferrari.

With a concern of tire wear in the final laps, Sebastian Vettel crossed the start/finish line first with his Red Bull-Renault. Triumphant for his third win in a row on the Formula 1 circuit, Vettel finished 8.2 seconds ahead of his teammate Mark Webber. With Fernando Alonso only able to muster a third place effort with his Ferrari, the Korean Grand Prix ends with the German Sebastian Vettel also becoming to new driver points leader. Vettel now holds a 6-point advantage on Alonso with a four-race run left in the 2012 Formula 1 season.

Following-up a podium in the Japanese Grand Prix, Felipe Massa is showing new life with Ferrari posting a 4th place finish ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus-Renault. Sixth place for Force India, Nico Hulkenberg fought bravely throughout the Korean Grand Prix event. Romain Grosjean brought the second Lotus F1 Team car across the finish line. Not as glorious as the 1-2 showing by Red Bull Racing, the Scuderia Toro Rosso organization recorded an outstanding result with both Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo scoring points ahead of the lone McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

After two weeks in a row of racing, the Formula 1 series teams and drivers get a one-week rest ahead of the Indian Grand Prix on October 28th.



2012 Formula 1
Korean Grand Prix
Race Results

Pos #	Car #/ Driver/ Constructor
1	1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2	2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
3	5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
4	6 Felipe Massa Ferrari
5	9 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault
6	12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
7	10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
8	17 Jean-Eric Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
9	16 Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
10	4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
11	15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari
12	11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
13	7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
14	18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
15	19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault
16	21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault
17	20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault
18	24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth
19	25 Charlie Pic Marussia-Cosworth
20	23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1
21	22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT F1
22	14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
23	8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
24	3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes