Why isn’t Nico Hulkenberg signed up for 2014 already? And in
a top seat too. Hulkenberg hasn’t had the best of seasons but that is by no
means his fault. His Sauber haven’t provided him the car to show his skills off
but like in Monza when he finished 5th, today was a day he showed he
could mix it with the top guys.
Starting from seventh on the grid he made a fine start to be
ahead of the Ferrari’s as Felipe Massa almost went spinning into Fernando
Alonso at turn three. He ran fifth in the early stages, keeping a decent
distance behind Nico Rosberg while fending off Alonso’s attacks.
The Ferrari was able to run quite close but then would wash
out in some of the slower corners which meant Alonso couldn’t quite manage to
make a move stick. At the first safety car caused by the tread on Sergio
Perez’s right front tyre ripping off and lying in the middle of the track,
Hulkenberg moved right onto the back of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
At the restart he slip streamed the Mercedes to move his Sauber into
fourth spot. Lewis didn’t let Nico have an easy ride though, he fought back
hounding the German driver for the rest of the race. Hamilton even managed to
slip through using DRS on the start finish straight. However it meant
Hulkenberg was now
perfect behind to use DRS in the longer zone after turn one.
Nico was back ahead, despite a number of attempts Hamilton
could just not get back ahead, the traction out of turn one from the Sauber was
just awesome and he always managed to pull just enough of a gap from the
Mercedes that he couldn’t be touched in that particular DRS zone. As Alonso
moved into view behind Lewis, the pressure eased slightly as the Ferrari and
Mercedes diced around the track several times. But they never left Nico alone,
he had to concentrate fully and used all his defensive skills of which there
are plenty and attacked decisively when the opportunity arose.
Hulkenberg can be quite aggressive, but still fair, he’s a
driver which should be plying his trade all the time with the likes of Alonso
and Hamilton, but unfortunately things haven’t aligned yet for him to be
promoted to a top line seat. I wonder what Fernando’s opinion of him as a team
mate at Ferrari was?
I think he would have been quite unsettled to have a young
skilled charger as his team mate, perhaps even more than he has been by Kimi’s
near arrival.
Hulkenberg still has opportunities at Lotus, and on this
performance he more than deserves a shot at the big time. A fine fourth place
finish today, and I don’t think that’s the end of this form. Sauber have put
some work in and are finally getting their car to perform as evidenced by two
cars in the top ten, another Q3 showing from Esteban Gutierrez, although a
battling but disappointing 11th place finish. I expect to see a bit
more from Hulkenberg fighting near the front in the closing races.
The duels in the pack
There was some spectacular racing going on in South Korea.
Not least some great side by side action from Alonso and Hamilton who fought
for fifth place as if they were battling for victory. Alonso had nowhere to go
at the start and dropped a place to sixth in which he finished. He was stuck
behind Hulkenberg and could never make a move. It was a resigned performance as
he knew he was falling further behind in the title race and there was simply
nothing he could do. This just wasn’t his weekend.
It looked like it could have been much better for Hamilton.
Quickest in the first two practice sessions, it then started to go downhill. He
lost out on pole position by two tenths, lost a place to Romain Grosjean at the
start to lie third then started suffering from degrading rubber and lost out in
the pit stops to let Kimi Raikkonen ahead and finally lost a place to
Hulkenberg. All in all it could have been a better day for Lewis, but the days
of challenging for victories seem a distant memory.
Further back in the pack there was more spectacular racing
as Pastor Maldonado’s Williams held up a train of four cars which all proceeded
to pass him in a matter of a couple of corners to drop him out of the points.
Mark Webber was on a charge after his ten place grid drop
and wanting to get involved in the action but after a puncture dropped him into
the pack at the first safety car restart he was hit by Adrian Sutil’s Force
India and then suffered what he thought was a KERS fire. A second safety car
was scrambled but not before the bizarre sight of a fire safety vehicle on
track with twenty Formula 1 cars still at racing speed powering towards it.
Paul di Resta through his car into the wall for a third
consecutive race; it’s really not a good time right now.
Felipe Massa recovered from his spin at the start to battle
back up to ninth. The McLaren’s were involved in plenty of scraps with Jenson
Button and Perez ending up eighth and tenth. Nico Rosberg was running strongly
but suffered a front wing failure as he passed his Mercedes team mate. He had
to make a stop for a new nose but recovered to finish seventh.
Lotus double up on
the podium
Grosjean was once again the lead Lotus driver this weekend,
and once again didn’t get the rub of the tarmac. After Mark Webber’s grid
penalty, Grosjean lined up third with Raikkonen suffering another poor
qualifying with ninth. But as usual Kimi comes alive in the races.
He was soon hounding Alonso for sixth place and made a great
move around the outside to snatch the place. He was re-passed during the first
pit stops, but strategy and safety cars worked for the Finn and he found
himself in a podium position just behind his team mate.
Grosjean hadn’t let the leader disappear, but nor could he
fight him, however he did keep the Red Bull honest. He held Lewis at bay until
the Mercedes faded but his work was undone during the safety cars. Kimi made a
move as Grosjean slid at turn 15 utilising the start finish DRS zone. Romain
couldn’t respond after turn one due to yellow flags and then a second safety
car came out. This helped Kimi keep his tyres fresh, they were seven laps older
than his team mates.
There was frantic radio discussion as Grosjean asked if he
could re-pass. It seemed like he hadn’t expected an attack from Kimi, and then
was not sure if he was allowed to have a go back. In the end Kimi kept him at
bay, but it’s an interesting situation at Lotus at the moment. You have their
star driver who is leaving to go to Ferrari, whereas Grosjean is seeking to
establish himself as the man to lead the team. I think he could, but he’s got
to control his emotions better in heated times.
There was a winner…
Fourth consecutive win, third win in Korea, another pole
position and victory double; Sebastian Vettel can do no wrong at the moment. He
was once again in a race of his own, even if the Lotus’ did give him more of a
run for his money than at Singapore.
Perfect start, perfect two second gap, little trouble with
the tyres, but nothing that would throw him off his stride. It was another
perfect performance from the star of the year. He used the Red Bull when he
needed to, kept his competitors at bay and stroked the Bull home to his eighth
victory of the year.
Make no mistake, the Korean race was a decent watch, the
fight for victory though was non-existent. Vettel now takes a 77 point lead
into the final five races ahead of Alonso. If Vettel wins and Alonso non scores
then the title is over, and we can stop pretending there was ever a battle in
the first place. A Superb display once again from the soon to be four time
champion.
Final result:
1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull
2. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus
3. Romain Grosjean - Lotus
4. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber
5. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
6. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
7. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
8. Jenson Button - McLaren
9. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
10. Sergio Perez - McLaren
11. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber
12. Valtteri Bottas - Williams
13. Pastor Maldonado - Williams
14. Charles Pic - Caterham
15. Geido van der Garde - Caterham
16. Jules Bianchi - Marussia
17. Max Chilton - Marussia
R. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - mechanical
R. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso - mechanical
R. Adrian Sutil - Force India - Accident damage
R. Mark Webber- Red Bull - accident/fire
R. Paul di Resta - Force India - accident
all photo's taken from autosport.com
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