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Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel heads into the last four races of the season knowing the momentum is with him, and his fate in his own hands, after a commanding win in South Korea, writes Peter Stebbings.
The Red Bull driver secured a third win on the trot on Sunday and in doing so leapfrogged Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at the top of the drivers’ standings, in what looks like a two-horse race now for the title.
The chasing McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button endured a dreadful weekend at Yeongam. Hamilton was 10th while his fellow Briton was dumped out of the race moments after the start by an apologetic Kamui Kobayashi.
Hamilton and Button, both former world champions, admitted afterwards that their assault on the crown was over. Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus is third in the championship but a hefty way behind the two at the top of the pack.
Vettel, who is going after a third title on the bounce, tops the charts with 215 points, Spaniard Alonso is on 209 and Raikkonen back on 167. The next grand prix is in India in two weeks.
ìFor many months it was something of a real roller-coaster ride, but we finally found our strength again and since Singapore it works,î said German Vettel, after he and Mark Webber took a Red Bull one-two in South Korea. ìToday the team did everything right, and I didn’t do anything stupid – we sure want to keep it that way.î
Singapore last month began a sequence of imperious victories for Vettel that saw him close the gap on Alonso, also a double world champion, before usurping him on Sunday. Alonso was third in the race, his team-mate Felipe Massa fourth.
Ferrari, who have now overtaken the fast-fading McLaren team in the constructors’ championship, refused to sound disheartened by Vettel’s fine run of form.
It is no secret that the Red Bulls are the quickest cars in the field, but in Alonso the Italian outfit have a highly-skilled driver who has seen and done it all before. He has consistently got the most out of his inferior Ferrari.
ìIt’s true that Red Bull was quickest all weekend, but our aim was to be right behind them and we achieved that,î said the 31-year-old Alonso. ìIt’s also true that I am no longer leading the championship, but being six points down does not mean much, just as it did not mean much being four points up going into this race.
ìThere are a hundred points up for grabs and everything will depend on how much we can improve over the coming races. Here we were much closer to the lead than we were in Singapore and nearer than in Suzuka (in Japan, the race before Korea), so we must continue in this direction.î
l The president of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo has rejected reports that double Formula One world champion Vettel was set to join the Italian outfit.
ìI’ve always said that I don’t want two roosters in the hen-house. I don’t like that and it creates instability in the team,î he told Italian radio.
Montezemolo was speaking amid reports that Vettel was set to join Ferrari in 2014 with any move dependent on the team’s results next season. Alonso had sanctioned the move after previously ruling out pairing up with Lewis Hamilton, who will move from McLaren to Mercedes next season, according to unnamed sources at Ferrari quoted by the BBC.
