The inaugural Korean Formula 1 Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel win again and has also given his team, Red Bull Renault its second Constructors' Championship title. Two titles in a row for both Vettel and Red Bull. I suppose it must be a record in someways. It is also his 10th race win for the 2011 season and his 20th win overall. And win after win keeps on happening. But what of the race itself?

Well, the 2011 Korean Formula 1 Grand Prix was pretty interesting. From a point of view that is. Ferrari and McLaren seem to be doing pretty well. Lewis Hamiton, who started on pole position, in the McLaren came in second after Vettel and team mate Jenson Button came fourth after third placed Mark Webber of Red Bull (a good drive from Webber as he always kept Hamilton in sight throughout the race). Ferrari's Fernando Alonso rounded up the top five with a storming drive. He drove a fantastic race and was constantly hounding Jenson Button till the very end, when his tyres basically surrendered and he nearly hit a wall during the penultimate lap or so.

There was a racing incident that resulted in the safety car coming out. I seem to enjoy this safety car incidents as I get to watch the Mercedes Benz AMG SLS Safety Car in action. This happened on lap 17 of the race where Viataly Petrov collided into Michael Schumacher's Mercedes the amazing thing is that Vettel, and that Red Bull F1 car he was driving must have been really hooked up pretty well. One would note that when a safety car comes out, the race pack gets bunched up. This would enable all the cars to be close together and when the safety car peels into the pitlane, racing re-starts. You can tell that Vettel is one of those drivers who, with a fantastic car underneath of him can actually pull away from the other competitors and finish the race 12 seconds or so ahead of second place Hamilton. That combination of Vettel and the Red Bull Renault car must be on another place.

I supppose it could be said that with three or so races to go, Red Bull has shown us that they hold the key to being fast this year. McLaren seems to be second and Ferrari third throughout the season. Things did get better mid-season as it seemed Red Bull were untouchable prior to this.

There is one more interesting thing about the Korean Grand Prix worth mentioning. It cost the Korean GP organisers £52 million to host the race but they only collected £16 million. According to sources, the Korean F1 Circuit is built in a locale where there are many poor Koreans who work and toil as farmers. Most wanted subsidies instead of a multi-million Pound racetrack in their backyards. This fact was made clear as you could see empty grandstands. It seems Koreans aren't too interested in attending an F1 race whether its because of this protest by locals or whether they aren't bothered with Formula 1 in general. Whatever the case, the Indian F1 Grand Prix comes next. I wonder how it'll be in an even 'poorer' country.

Results
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:01.994
02. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 12.019
03. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 12.477
04. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 14.694
05. Alonso Ferrari + 15.689
06. Massa Ferrari + 25.133
07. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 49.538
08. Rosberg Mercedes + 54.053
09. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:02.762
10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:08.602
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:11.229
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:33.068
13. Senna Renault + 1 lap
14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
17. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap
19. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 1 lap
20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap
21. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
DNF
Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 31
Petrov Renault 17
Schumacher Mercedes 16

Photo credit:planetf1

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