Friday Practice 1

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the session with a last-lap flyer – something later deemed to be illegal by the stewards due to it being under double waved yellows, after a crash for Jaime Alguersuari and engine woes forcing Pastor Maldonado to a standstill in the final minutes of the session.

Sandwiched between Lewis Hamilton and teammate Jenson Button were the two Red Bulls, with Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mark Webber.

Ferrari’s Fernando managed just four laps before he pulled up off track, having lost power from his engine. That left Felipe Massa the only prancing horse on track, running the team’s new, rather flexible front wing.

Indian Karun Chandhok became the first ever driver to set a lap in anger in India, fittingly so as it was on home turf for Team Lotus’ reserve.

Free Practice 2

In Free Practice 2, it was Felipe Massa who set the fastest time of the session, with the new Ferrari front wing seemingly having a positive impact on the performance of the car.

Sebastian Vettel found himself in 2nd between the two Ferraris, with Mark Webber in a McLaren sandwich, with Lewis Hamilton 4th and Jenson Button 6th.

The only real drama from the session was provided by Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio, who caused red flags to emerge when he crashed after clipping a kerb, sending him backwards into a wall.

Safety car, Yeongam, 2011 - Photo © Red Bull/Getty Images

The Korean Grand Prix wasn’t the most strategically interesting race, but there are still some interesting points in the race which all fell into the hands of eventual winner Sebastian Vettel.

One of these is the inter-team battle at Ferrari, with no team orders at all, much to the frustration of Fernando Alonso, who spent many of the early laps stuck behind teammate Felipe Massa, hindering his race greatly.

Alonso was stuck behind Felipe Massa until the second pit stop phase, when he managed to stay out for a long time on the soft tyre and make up enough time in clear air out front to stay ahead of the Brazilian when he eventually stopped on lap 37 – three laps after Massa came in.

As you can see on the chart below, after getting in front of his teammate, Alonso was consistently quicker than Massa when he had passed him, but by which time it was too late for him to challenge for 2nd place – much to his annoyance, when he came on the radio saying “I give up, I give up.”

What Alonso should have done is what Jenson Button did to get in front of the Ferrari duo – pit earlier than them both. Button pitted on lap 13 compared to Massa on lap 14 and Alonso on lap 15, and used the undercut to get in front after the first pit stop phase. This meant he came home in a pretty comfortable 4th place, aided by Massa holding up the quicker Alonso.

Another driver left wondering what could have been was Mark Webber, who at one stage appeared the favourite to win the race, despite running in 3rd place at the time.

At the first pit stop phase, Webber went from the super-soft tyre to the soft tyre, something not done by Sebastian Vettel or the McLarens. It seemed to be the ideal strategy, as it left him on the more durable tyre and within a couple of seconds of leaders Vettel and Hamilton.

However, rather bafflingly, when Lewis Hamilton announced he was coming in for his stop, Red Bull made Webber come in to cover him, despite being able to run further on the soft tyres. As you can see on the chart below, despite being on the supposedly slower tyre following his first stop (lap 14), he was able  to more or less match the pace of Hamilton throughout, and therefore he should have been kept out – something he himself was disappointed about.

Pit stop summary

The first column denotes the tyres the driver started the race on.

S = Soft compound
SS = Supersoft compound
N = New compound
U = Used compound
DT = Drive Through
NC = Not classified

The last column gives the total amount of pit stops

Constructors’ Championship

Sebastian Vettel has today won the Korean Grand Prix from Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, leading almost from start to finish after jumping the polesitter on the first lap. This result means that Red Bull are now constructors’ champions.

Vettel takes the lead

Despite not starting from pole position, it didn’t take Sebastian Vettel very long before he had clear air in front of him. It was a decent start from polesitter Lewis Hamilton, but unfortunately for him it wasn’t good enough, as the Red Bull cruised past the McLaren on the straight.

It was bad news for another McLaren as well – Jenson Button ran wide and was passed by Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, and started lap 2 down in 6th place, having lost three places from where he started.

Ferrari have been accused of bias towards Fernando Alonso in the past, but there was certainly none shown in the opening stages, as he was held up behind Felipe Massa, who wasn’t giving an inch to his teammate, with Jenson Button also behind held up behind the Brazilian.

First pit phase

Due to being held up behind the Ferrari duo, Jenson Button was one of the earliest drivers to come in for their stops, as he pitted on lap 14. Nico Rosberg came in at the same time, and rather intriguingly made a quicker stop than McLaren, leading to the duo being side-by-side down the pit lane.

Rosberg got his nose in front, but made a mistake and locked up on his way out of the pit lane, allowing Button back through. The early stop proved to be a smart move from McLaren, as following the stops of the two Ferraris, he was in front.

After the first pit stop phase a safety car was deployed following a collision, which involved Vitaly Petrov ploughing into the back of a completely innocent Michael Schumacher, and one which will be investigated after the Grand Prix.

Fight for 2nd

After the second round of pit stops the real battle was for 2nd place, with Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso all fighting for the spot as runner-up.

Alonso was one of the last drivers to make their second stop, and in doing this he was able to get by his teammate Felipe Massa, following a great long stint on the harder compound tyre.

At one point in the closing laps Webber dived past Hamilton, only for the Briton to come back past immediately, utilising the DRS and KERS up the long straight.

That was how it finished, with Vettel leading from Hamilton, Webber, Button, Alonso and Massa. Jaime Alguersuari did an outstanding job to take 7th, passing Nico Rosberg on the final lap. Sebastien Buemi capped a great day for Toro Rosso in 9th, with Paul di Resta rounding out the points-paying positions.

Result

Lewis Hamilton has said that today’s impressive pole position for tomorrow’s Korean Grand Prix at the Yeongam circuit isn’t “entirely unexpected”, although it is a “great achievement” at McLaren’s 700th F1 Grand Prix:

“Throughout the year, I don’t think my qualifying performances have been too bad – it’s only in the last two races that I didn’t manage to get my final run in Q3 – so today’s result wasn’t entirely unexpected. Still, we’ve been quick as a team and never stopped making improvements to the car. I’m so, so proud of all the men and women both here at the circuit and back at Woking who’ve worked so hard to get us back to where we want to be.

“Of course, pole position is still only the first step, particularly when we know that tomorrow’s race will be long and unpredictable. Pole is always a great achievement and I’m particularly proud to have achieved it at the team’s 700th Formula 1 grand prix.

“We’ve been working to improve our starts, and I hope we can convert pole into the lead tomorrow. The grand prix’s going to be tough, and it’ll be difficult to beat the two guys starting immediately behind me, but I hope to keep the lead and control the race in a responsible way.

“I now want to put all my energy into the race.”

Jenson Button, who could only manage 3rd in qualifying, blamed a bad final corner for his woes:

“On my final run, I think I lost some ground in the last corner: I hit the limiter at the apex and lost a bit of time, but I feel good in the car. Third position isn’t where I want to start, but we can have a good race from there: there are a lot of long straights on this circuit, especially after the start. With a headwind from Turn Two to Turn Three, there could be a lot of action on the first lap – I’m looking forward to that!

“Our car is feeling good this weekend. As a team, we’ve done a great job – and I’m particularly grateful to the guys in the garage who worked extremely hard last night to switch my chassis. Thanks guys.

“We’re slightly heading into the unknown tomorrow as we haven’t run high-fuel yet. Off the line tomorrow, we’ll need to get a feel for how the cars behave on high-fuel, and then we’ve got to focus on what we’re doing to the tyres over the course of a stint.

“We have all the ingredients for a fantastic race. Even more encouragingly, if we continue this way, fighting for poles and wins, then it’ll be a really good way to end the season and the perfect basis for 2012.”

Lewis Hamilton today broke Red Bull’s incredible 100% pole position record for this season, and will start ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel. Jenson Button qualified 3rd, as the race for the constructors’ title becomes even harder to predict.

Q1

Rubens Barrichello was the big victim of Q1, along with the usual suspects from Lotus, Virgin and Hispania. He was knocked out by his teammate Pastor Maldonado after the chequered flag fell, and will start tomorrow’s race from back in 18th on the grid. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the first part of qualifying.

Behind him will be the two Lotus drivers with Heikki Kovalainen in front of Jarno Trulli. The Virgin duo of Timo Glock and Jerome d’Ambrosio line up in that order behind, with Tonio Liuzzi in front of Daniel Ricciardo at the back. Ricciardo failed to set a lap time due to technical issues but should be able to start the race.

Q2

Michael Schumacher was the shock exit in Q2, and could only manage 12th place on the grid in a Toro Rosso sandwich, with Jaime Alguersuari in front and Sebastien Buemi behind.

Schumacher and Alguersuari were the victims of a late Force India rally, with both Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta saving themselves at the death.

Kamui Kobayashi will start alongside the Swiss on row seven, with Bruno Senna 15th in front of fellow South Americans Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez.

Q3

Lewis Hamilton scored his 19th career pole position, as he broke Red Bull’s 100% pole record for this season, and forced them to wait a little while longer for the record of 16 poles in a single season.

Vettel could only manage 2nd behind Hamilton, and the last time he failed to start from the front – at the German Grand Prix – it was Lewis Hamilton who was stood on the top step of the podium.

Jenson Button will start from 3rd, with Mark Webber alongside him on row two. Felipe Massa out-qualified Fernando Alonso again to start in front of the Spaniard, with Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov forming row four.

Force India duo Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil will start from 9th and 10th respectively.

Jenson Button, McLaren, Suzuka, 2011 - Photo © McLaren

After the fifteenth round of our Predictions League, ADennehey87 holds his lead over FredericoLopes, who is the first person to ever predict a round completely correctly! Well done to you – you are now in the prize positions.

To see who won their points and where for the Japanese round, look at the table below:

Our Predictions Championship is sponsored by Henri Lloyd, and are providing the Mercedes GP merchandise prizes for the top three finishers in our competition. Check out Henri Lloyd on Facebook and Twitter, and their Mercedes GP merchandise.

Jenson Button, McLaren, Suzuka, 2011 - Photo © McLaren

Sebastian Vettel has today been crowned world champion, despite only finishing 3rd in today’s Japanese Grand Prix. Jenson Button spoiled the Red Bull party, winning the Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso 2nd.

It was a lively start between the two remaining championship contenders Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel. Button got away much quicker than Vettel, but the German ruthlessly squeezed him off the track, leading to Lewis Hamilton jumping his teammate for 2nd and protests from the McLaren team.

The incident between the two was investigated, but no further action was taken but the stewards panel, including former F1 driver Alan Jones.

Lewis Hamilton was the first driver into the pits on lap 9, but not down to his choice – a puncture meant he quickly diverted into the pits, backing up everyone bar Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button in the process.

A lap later, Vettel came in for a new set of soft tyres, and so did Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber on the following lap.

Felipe Massa took the lead of the race until he made his stop for soft tyres on lap 12, leaving Vettel leading from Button, Alonso, Hamilton and Massa.

Vettel was once again the first to come in for the second stops, again for another set of the softer tyre. Some smart work from Red Bull saw Mark Webber come in on the same lap, but they timed it so well that he didn’t lose any time whatsoever.

However, incredibly, Jenson Button pitted on the next lap for the option tyre, and thanks to gaining time in the pit lane exited ahead of Vettel.

After the second pit stop phase was completed, Jenson Button led from Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Massa and Hamilton, who was being held up behind Michael Schumacher until the German came in for his second stop a few laps later.

A safety car was deployed on lap 24, due to contact between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa leaving debris on the track, with the incident being investigated. No further action was taken, with the race resuming on lap 28.

Button was flying shortly after, setting new fastest laps with the clean air in front of his McLaren.

Interestingly, on lap 34 Sebastian Vettel pitted first of the front-runners again, for a set of the harder compound tyres. He was followed by teammate Mark Webber a lap later.

Jenson Button pitted from the lead 3 laps later, exiting comfortably in front of Sebastian Vettel. Some slick pit stop work from Ferrari in the pit lane saw Fernando Alonso jump Vettel when he exited, demoting the German down to 3rd place after the third pit stop phase.

Michael Schumacher led the Grand Prix until lap 41 when he made his third stop of the race – the first time he has led a Formula 1 race since this very Grand Prix five years ago.

Fernando Alonso began to rapidly chase down Jenson Button, and was within DRS range with just 3 laps remaining. However, it wasn’t enough, with the Briton winning the Grand Prix, ahead of Alonso and Vettel, with the latter securing his second consecutive championship title.

Mark Webber finished 4th, with Lewis Hamilton 5th. Michael Schumacher finished above his target in 6th place, holding off Felipe Massa to the line. Sergio Perez was sadly the only Sauber in the points, his teammate Kamui Kobayashi could only manage 13th on home soil.

Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg were 9th and 10th, rounding off the points-paying positions.

Full results to follow…

Sebastian Vettel took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix, but it wasn’t by much, with McLaren’s Jenson Button just nine-thousandths-of-a-second behind, and Lewis Hamilton 3rd.

Q1

Nico Rosberg was the big casualty of Q1, with the German set to start tomorrow’s race with only Vitantonio Liuzzi behind him – a hydraulics problem on his Mercedes was the cause of his woes. He was eliminated with the usual crowd, with Lotus leading the way at the back of the grid.

Heikki Kovalainen will start just ahead of his teammate Jarno Trulli in 18th and 19th respectively, Belgian Jerome d’Ambrosio out-qualified his teammate Timo Glock for 20th, with Rosberg splitting the two Hispanias; Ricciardo ahead of Liuzzi.

Q2

An unwell Sergio Perez didn’t have the best of days, finishing last in Q2 thanks to a hydraulic problem. Fortunately for his teammate and the only driver racing on home soil today – Kamui Kobayashi – he didn’t suffer the same misfortune, and a last-gasp effort saw him creep into the pole-position shootout.

The two Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta will make up row six tomorrow, Williams drivers Rubens Barrichello, and Pastor Maldonado row seven, Toro Rosso duo Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari row eight, and Sergio Perez 17th.

Q3

There was much tyre-saving and little track action until two minutes of the session remaining, with Sebastian Vettel taking pole position from McLaren’s Jenson Button by  just nine-thousandths-of-a-second.

Sadly Lewis Hamilton, who had a real chance of taking pole position this weekend, was held up by Michael Schumacher at the final corner of his out-lap, and missed the time cut, meaning he has to settle for 3rd place for tomorrow’s race.

Felipe Massa did well to out-qualify teammate Fernando Alonso for only the third time this season, with the two Ferraris 4th and 5th. Mark Webber could only manage 6th.

Michael Schumacher, Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi all didn’t complete a Q3 lap, and will start from 7th-10th respectively.

Sebastian Vettel has today won the Singapore Grand Prix in typical dominant fashion, leading from start to finish and edging ever closer to his second consecutive world championship title. He now requires just one point in the remaining five races to become champion. Jenson Button took 2nd having pushed Vettel all the way to the line, with Mark Webber 3rd.

Vettel got away cleanly along with teammate Mark Webber, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Australian being jumped by Jenson Button off the line for 2nd place, and Fernando Alonso for 3rd place. Lewis Hamilton was the biggest loser amongst the championship contenders, falling down to 8th place behind Michael Schumacher on lap 1.

However, it didn’t take long for Hamilton to get back past the German, unlike last time around when the Briton’s race was ruined by the seven-time champion. This time around, the McLaren took the Mercedes once DRS had been activated with a smart overtaking manoeuvre.

Shortly after Hamilton took aim at the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, and succesfully passed him for P6 down the inside on the run down to turn 7, utilising the DRS once more, while Sebastian Vettel managed to pull away from Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa at a remarkable rate.

The first frontrunner to pit was Fernando Alonso on lap 10, who dived into the pits for a set of the harder compound tyres just after being passed by Mark Webber in a superb move. A lap later Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton dived into the pits for soft and super-soft tyres respectively, and exited in that order. However just after exiting the pit lane there was contact between the two, thanks to some clumsy work by Hamilton in clipping Massa’s rear tyre.

Both were forced to dive into the pits, Massa due to a puncture and Hamilton due to a broken front wing, ruining any chance of a successful race for the duo. Mark Webber pitted on lap 13, and thanks to some smart work in the pit lane from Ferrari, when Webber exited he was behind the Spaniard Fernando Alonso.

After Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button made their stops from 1st and 2nd on lap 15, Lewis Hamilton’s day went from bad to worse as it was announced he had been handed a drive-through penalty for causing a collision in the incident involving Felipe Massa.

Paul di Resta was running in 3rd place for a while after all of the championship contenders had made their stops as he started the race on the harder compound of tyres. However once he pitted on lap 20, he fell down to 8th place and Vettel, Button and Alonso led the race while Lewis Hamilton toiled down in 15th position.

Di Resta holding up Fernando Alonso greatly benefited Mark Webber and allowed him to close the gap to the Spaniard dramatically. Alonso was the first contender to make their second stop, he went onto the harder compound tyre on lap 26, exiting behind Webber’s Red Bull.

There was drama on the half-way mark when Michael Schumacher made contact with the back of Sergio Perez‘s Sauber and went flying into the barrier, leading to the first safety car of the race being deployed. Many drivers used this to their advantage and came into the pits, with Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Mark Webber all making their second stops. Lewis Hamilton came into the pits for the fourth time under the safety car for a set of super-softs, in the hope a quick stint would help lift him into the higher points-paying positions.

Once the debris had been cleared, Sebastian Vettel led the field away in front of Jenson Button, with Fernando Alonso ahead of Mark Webber after pitting earlier on – the second time Ferrari had used the undercut to their advantage this race.

However, the advantage didn’t last long – the safety car came in on lap 34 and on the same lap Mark Webber took advantage of the chaos of the re-start to jump ahead of Alonso at the tricky turn 10 for 3rd place.

Meanwhile back down the field Lewis Hamilton continued his charge, catching and passing each car in front of him like a computer game. Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg and Paul di Resta were all past by the charging 2008 world champion who had worked his way up to an impressive 5th with 20 laps remaining.

On lap 48, Mark Webber made his third and final stop, and just a lap later Jenson Button came in from P2, with Lewis Hamilton also pitting from 5th. On lap 50 Sebastian Vettel came in from the lead, with Fernando Alonso from 3rd. At the end of this pit stop madness Vettel led from Button, Webber 3rd, Alonso 4th and Hamilton 5th.

Button was slowly but surely closing in on the leader in the closing laps, making the super-soft tyres super fast on his McLaren. However, he wasn’t closing down at a quick enough rate, and the chequered flag interrupted his charge. Vettel won, with Button 2nd and Webber 3rd.

Fernando Alonso took 4th, with Lewis Hamilton an astonishing 5th having pitted five times throughout the race. Paul di Resta was 6th, Nico Rosberg 7th, Adrian Sutil 8th, Felipe Massa 9th and Sergio Perez rounded off the points-paying positions in 10th.

Full results to follow…