Korean Grand Prix – Race

Round 14 of the 2013 Formula One World Championship.

WEB has a ten-place grid penalty as a result of the reprimand he picked up in Singapore.

My GridBids picks for this weekend are VET, ALO, BUT & SUT.

Tyre choices: prime = medium (white) and option = supersoft (red)

Air temperature 27°C; track 29°C; wind 2m/s

Provisional grid: VET, HAM, GRO, ROS, ALO, MAS, HUL, GUT, RAI, PER, BUT, RIC, WEB, SUT, DIR, VER, BOT, MAL, PIC, VDG, CHI, BIA.
Penalties reflected above:

• Webber qualified third, but penalised 10 grid places for accumulating three stewards’ reprimands.
• Bianchi qualified 21st, but starts 22nd after being penalised three grid places for impeding Di Resta in qualifying

VET leads everyone away on the formation lap
Front 10 are all starting on options – actually only RIC starting on primes
BUT is carrying the heat-sensitive on-board camera this race

01/55: Good start from VET
GRO inside HAM into Turn 3 – takes P2
MAS loses the tail – contact in Turn 3
HAM tries to fight back
MAS is now dead last

02: VET, GRO, HAM, ROS, HUL, ALO, RIC, RAI, MAL, BUT; no retirements
Radio from SUT saying he’s lost some downforce

03: VET fastest lap 1:46.386
DRS enabled
WEB around outside of PER to take P11
Radio from BUT saying he thinks he has a damaged front wing; bit of understeer
MAS takes P18 from PIC
RAI past RIC for P8

04: SUT pits
Radio for BUT – box this lap for front wing

05/55: BUT pits – new front wing and prime tyres

06: VET, GRO, HAM, ROS, HUL, ALO, RAI, RIC, MAL, WEB
WEB attacking; MAL weaving; WEB takes P9

07: BUT f/lap 1:46.266
MAS pits; rejoins behind BUT

08: MAL pits, as do DIR & GUT
Incident involving cars 21 and 22 (VDG and BIA) under investigation – forcing another driver off the track

09: VET f/lap 1:45.986
RAI blasts past ALO and takes P6
ALO fights back but RAI keeps the place

10/55: Drive through penalty for car 21 (VDG) – forcing another driver off the track
HAM pits, followed by ALO; both switch to primes

11: GRO pits – kicks up dust in the pit entrance
ROS, HUL and PER pit too
GRO rejoins just feet ahead of HAM
HAM attacks immediately but GRO stays ahead

12: VET pits from P1; clean stop
RAI pits too, so now WEB leads the race
HAM f/lap 1:45.428
PER pushes DIR wide – how is PER not being penalised for these dangerous moves?

13: WEB pits from P1; rejoins P9, behind RAI
HAM f/lap 1:45.137
Incident involving cars 6 and 14 (PER and DIR) under investigation – forcing another driver off the track

14: VET f/lap 1:44.534
ALO runs a little wide and kicks up some dirt

15/55: VET, GRO, HAM, RIC, ROS, HUL, ALO, RAI, WEB, BUT; no retirements
RIC (P4) only one yet to pit

16: Radio for GRO – look after right-front tyre

17: VET leads GRO but 4.1sec

18: ROS uses DRS to take P4 from RIC
Radio for VET – don’t over-use your tyres

19: RIC pits – rejoins P13, behind DIR
Apparently the team had to remove a pigeon from RIC’s air intake!

20/55: VET, GRO HAM, ROS, HUL, ALO, RAI, WEB, BUT, PER
ALO takes a look at HUL but can’t find a way past the Sauber
Incident involving cars 6 and 14 (PER and DIR) will be investigated after the race – forcing another driver off the track

21: Radio from HUL complaining about graining; told it’s too early for a second stop

22: VET f/lap 1:44.485
RIC takes P12 from DIR

23: BUT pits – looks like he’ll be 3-stopping today
BUT hesitates as he exits the box – problem?

24: MAS makes a forceful pass on GUT for P13
MAL and DIR pit
Radio from HAM – “right front is destroyed”; team say it’ll come back after graining phase; HAM says it’s been through that and “it’s dead”

25/55: VET, GRO, HAM, ROS, HUL, ALO, RAI, WEB, PER, RIC; no retirements
BBC report that BUT saw a red light which is why he paused on exiting the box

26: VET f/lap 1:43.986
RAI pits – earlier than expected – rejoins P10, behind RIC
DIR is off – took too much kerb, corrects it but slides off into tyre wall – he’s out

27: HUL pits
WEB makes a neat move to steal P5 from ALO
HAM losing lots of time but no sign of him pitting

28: RAI f/lap 1:42.813
ROS closing rapidly on his team-mate
Sparks from front wing of ROS as he’s alongside HAM
ROS takes P3 but still lots of sparks
Radio for ROS telling him to box
Radio from HAM asking when he’ll be called in – clearly unhappy with team’s strategy

29: ROS pits which means HAM has to stay out one more lap
ROS pits – mechanics struggle to pull front nose section off – rejoins P12
ALO pits – rejoins P8

30/55: HAM finally gets to pit for new tyres – way, way too late – poor decision by Mercedes team
MAS pits too

31: WEB pits
PER locks up, runs wide; RAI takes P3
PER’s front right tyre delaminated – tread on track
Safety Car deployed
PER still limping back to the pits

32[SC]: VET pits, as does GRO and many others
New front wing for PER
Why is WEB in the pits again? He was in on previous lap
Marshals trying to clear some of the larger pieces of debris

33[SC]: Lapped cars (20, 21, 22, 23) may now overtake SC
Replay shows a massive lock-up from PER going into Turn 1, just before the front-right let go
PIC, VDG, BIA & CHI pass SC and head for the back of the pack

34[SC]: BBC say WEB has a puncture in his brand new tyres, which is why he came back in

35/55[SC]: VET, GRO, RAI, HAM, HUL, ALO, BUT, ROS, MAL, RIC; WEB, SUT, GUT, MAS, PER, VER, BOT, PIC, BIA, VDG, CHI; retirements: DIR
Radio from WEB – why am I on options? It’s all we have left mate 🙂
RIC is on options too; everyone else on primes

36[SC]: Lights out on the Safety Car; SC in at the end of this lap
VET tries to back up the pack
SC heads into pit lane; VET opens up

37: Green flags for the restart
HUL attacks HAM – takes P4
SUT loses tail under braking – slides into WEB
WEB keeps going but quickly pulls off – Red Bull is on fire
WEB’s out of the car fortunately – no sign of marshals
Red Bull going up in flames – still no marshals
Finally a marshal arrives with a fire extinguisher but he’s not attacking the fire correctly!
Are these marshals stupid or untrained?

38: RAI attacking GRO – nearly contact between the Lotus team-mates
There’s a vehicle on track but it’s not the Safety Car!!!
SC deployed
WEB is directing the marshals on how to do their job
Course Vehicle pulls off to the site of WEB’s burned out Red Bull
What a shambles!
SC is still behind the pack

39[SC]: Replay shows GRO made very late move to defend
Fire is finally out – that’s a mess of a car
SC is at the front of the pack finally
SUT pits – long stop – broken rear wing? – finally exits the box
WEB’s car being lifted and moved off track

40/55[SC]: VET, RAI, GRO, HUL, HAM, ALO, BUT, ROS, MAL, RIC; GUT, MAS, PER, BOT, PIC, VDG, BIA, CHI, VER, SUT; retirements: WEB, DIR
SC in at the end of this lap
VET backs everyone up again
RAI does a good job keeping close as VET sets off

41: ALO attacking HAM; ALO squeaks ahead but HAM fights back to keep P5
Incident involving car 15 (SUT) under investigation – speeding in pit lane

42: VET f/lap 1:42.185
Drive through penalty for SUT
SUT serves his penalty immediately

43: DRS enabled (after the restart)
VET f/lap 1:41.996
HUL doing well to hold off HAM

44: VET f/lap 1:41.726
RIC takes P9 from MAL

45/55: VET, RAI, GRO, HUL, HAM, ALO, BUT, ROS, RIC, GUT
VET f/lap 1:41.671
Close battle over P10 between GUT, MAL, MAS & PER
Contact between MAS and PER

46: MAS comes out ahead of the P10 battle
HAM struggling to find a way round HUL
PER past GUT for P11

47: HAM is closer to HUL than ever before
ALO closing on HAM now
Incident involving cars 21 and 23 (VDG and CHI) will be investigated after the race – speeding behind the Safety Car

48: HAM past HUL but HUL fights back – reclaims P4
ALO attacks HAM, and now BUT closing on ALO

49: HAM looks at HUL again but the Sauber has some great pace
Radio for GRO telling him he is faster than RAI

50/55: VET, RAI, GRO, HUL, HAM, ALO, BUT, ROS, RIS, MAS
Incident involving cars 4 and 6 (MAS and PER) will be investigated after the race – causing a collision
There’s going to be a long gap between the end of the race and getting the final result!

51: Radio for HAM – cool right hand when you can
SUT pits – turns engine off and coasts into the box

52: VET f/lap 1:41.666

53: ROS dives down the inside of BUT and steals P7
BBC say HAM has asked his engineer for any suggestions 🙂

54: VET f/lap 1:41.380
Radio for VET telling him to be careful, i.e. don’t push unnecessarily on the final laps
RIC off track
HAM locks up the front right
VER pits

55 = final lap: HAM still harrying HUL over P4
ALO attacks HAM
HAM has to focus on defending against the Ferrari

VET takes the chequered flag
The two Lotus cars come home RAI in P2 and GRO in P3
HUL hangs on to P4

Provisional result: VET, RAI, GRO, HUL, HAM, ALO, ROS, BUT, MAS, PER; GUT, BOT, MAL, PIC, VDG, BIA, CHI, VER, RIC, SUT; DNF: WEB, DIR.
but there are a few outstanding investigations:

• Lap 20: Incident involving cars 6 and 14 (PER and DIR) will be investigated after the race – forcing another driver off the track
• Lap 47: Incident involving cars 21 and 23 (VDG and CHI) will be investigated after the race – speeding behind the Safety Car
• Lap 50: Incident involving cars 4 and 6 (MAS and PER) will be investigated after the race – causing a collision