2012 Korean GP - Yeong-Am

[Cylinder]

I think since the summer break, Vettel has been on fire, driving to the same standard Alonso is and getting the maximum of his machinery, except for that Monza penalty.

No, Red Bull introduced an upgrade package which made them the fastest car in F1 again, basically now Red Bull have the quali pace from 2010/11 back, he is able to run and hide at the front and avoid actually racing other drivers, which we all know is his weak point. When the Red Bull wasn't as fast as the Mclaren, he struggled badly.

Ironically, and I say this as an Alonso fan....Hamilton has driven very well this season, for me, he is so clearly faster and a better racer than Vettel, but Hamilton has had some of the most ridiculous luck iv'e seen for years, repeated team mistakes, car failures, the boy is cursed at the moment, he would have been the main contender imo had mclaren got their act together, but I think he has driven well, if you look at some of the defensive driving he did today against Kimi was different league stuff, that impresses me.....not some bloke in a rocketship running off into the distance and that's what people need to look at, when he gets a mega car with a reliable team, im telling you, vettel wont be able to live with him....F1 works in cycles, and eventually time exposes who the true greats really are.

[WhiteBlue]

Man of the race for me Hülkenberg for this double move on Hamilton and Grosjean.

[stefan_]

The bulls are strong. If they keep it like this and improve a little bit they are unbeatable in the final rounds of the championship. Ferrari are there, can keep up the pace but they are one step behind every time. Another very good race for Massa - if he has a good car that it is working with him he is still very strong, this season for him was all about bad luck and a bad car.

Great race from Ricciardo (again) and Vergne (I see them much more competitive if they have a better car). The same for Grosjean - very clean, sometimes overprotective just not to get in trouble and overall a great job for him. Probably people will just say "Yeah, he finished" but if he had even a small contact again it would have been WW3. Kimi was consistant as always, but you need to win in order to have a shot at the 1st place in the drivers' standings. Nice drive for Hulkenberg too.

Seems like Lewis made some special aero testing at the end I think there's a crack in his side of the garage as big as The Great Canyon and he will probably look for the nearest exit door from McLaren after the checkered flag in Brazil.

That Psy guy is simply horrendous.

[Shrieker]

I think something drastic has to be done concerning people taking others out.

What about this: If you crash into someone and put them out, next time you score any points they go to the driver you took out.

[myurr]

I think since the summer break, Vettel has been on fire, driving to the same standard Alonso is and getting the maximum of his machinery, except for that Monza penalty.

No, Red Bull introduced an upgrade package which made them the fastest car in F1 again, basically now Red Bull have the quali pace from 2010/11 back, he is able to run and hide at the front and avoid actually racing other drivers, which we all know is his weak point. When the Red Bull wasn't as fast as the Mclaren, he struggled badly.

Ironically, and I say this as an Alonso fan....Hamilton has driven very well this season, for me, he is so clearly faster and a better racer than Vettel, but Hamilton has had some of the most ridiculous luck iv'e seen for years, repeated team mistakes, car failures, the boy is cursed at the moment, he would have been the main contender imo had mclaren got their act together, but I think he has driven well, if you look at some of the defensive driving he did today against Kimi was different league stuff, that impresses me.....not some bloke in a rocketship running off into the distance and that's what people need to look at, when he gets a mega car with a reliable team, im telling you, vettel wont be able to live with him....F1 works in cycles, and eventually time exposes who the true greats really are.

Have to agree. For me Alonso and Hamilton have been the consistent stand out drivers this year. I say that as a Hamilton fan and usual Alonso critic, but credit where it's due. Vettel has had a couple of really strong performances earlier in the year but at other times has put in very average performances. It's only been since the Red Bull started dominating that his championship challenge has really come alive. He's still probably best of the rest for me, but in my view he's a step below Alonso and Hamilton.

[LHamilton]

Hulkenberg shows his skill. A personal favourite behind Lewis, obviously.

Looking at the Kobayashi incident, it looked totally his fault. He claimed that he was hit from behind and lost the control of the car, but what I could see there were no one near him.

[RB7ate9]

Today was definitely a race bent on team orders and tire conservation. Massa, literally, had to give back time to Alonso because he was too fast (you could hear the thinly-veiled dejection in Smedley's voice) to provide some damage limitation for Alonso because....

...there was no way that he was going to get past either of the Red Bull's on the track based on merit. Vettel was gone and away and, based on the timings between Webber and Alonso, Webber was pretty much sitting on his hands. Every time Alonso got up to a "danger-close" margin of sub-2s, Webber, somehow, bangs out a personal best to keep the gap at ~4s. Keeping Webber in the middle with a 10s gap to Vettel with that stored potential pace meant that both RB8s could nurse their tires at the end, as was shown.

All in all, *conspiracy hat on* this was the exact Red Bull plan they had begged for. I'm sure the original strategy was for Vettel to lead from pole. It couldn't have been any better by Red Bull's efforts, bar slashing Alonso's tires.

Makes one wonder what would've happened had Webber made it into the lead out of turn 3. Would the fight be on? Would the same 1 - 2 strategy been used? I, personally, think there would have been a major fight between Vettel and Webber and eventually, Webber would be pulled back. *conspiracy hat off*.

Otherwise: great results for Toro Rosso, HULKENBERG! the Lotuses (Lotii?) and Ferrari - particularly Massa, who now has shown the pace; pace that's had to be reeled back!

[RB7ate9]

And, Korea really needs to step up their game if they want a respected GP. 10 lap Yellows? Can't move a disabled car? Lifted astro-turf stuck on cars? And not to mention that piece of Merc that was left out there (albeit on the dirty side) of the DRS straight that appeared to have never been picked up? C'mon!

[myurr]

Personally probably when Massa was first told "Fernando is faster than you". However if they'd let Massa through, he'd gotten ahead of Webber, and then had to give up two places to let Alonso back through - a scenario you have proposed - then that would have been the latest one I did not like.

There's one thing switching places when only one driver has a shot at the title and it's a title battle where every single point still counts. It's something altogether different if you have to start giving up positions to other drivers in order to then let your team mate through.

because the first one would not have happened (okay they would have told Alonso to let Massa past, so also team order).

I argue for this "crazy" theory because it would have been the dominant one and it would have brought some action.

I was referring to Hockenheim!

You keep saying it would have been the dominant one but have yet to demonstrate how it would have benefitted Alonso. The only suggestion that has been made is that Massa could have managed to get past Webber and then slowed him down or somehow destroyed his tyres and helped Alonso in that way. A strategy that has never been successfully executed in modern F1, and that with DRS would have been very unlikely to succeed. Had that never before successful strategy not worked then they were left with a whole host of negative scenarios and possible PR disasters. Hence me believing it to be crazy!

[raymondu999]

I think since the summer break, Vettel has been on fire, driving to the same standard Alonso is and getting the maximum of his machinery, except for that Monza penalty.

No, Red Bull introduced an upgrade package which made them the fastest car in F1 again, basically now Red Bull have the quali pace from 2010/11 back, he is able to run and hide at the front and avoid actually racing other drivers, which we all know is his weak point. When the Red Bull wasn't as fast as the Mclaren, he struggled badly.

I hear what you're saying. Overtaking has never been a Vettel strength, I agree. But getting P2 in Spa, and P5 in Monza (before the penalty, which was entirely his fault) was, on pace terms, probably the maximum of the car. Winning the race - well it doesn't get much more "maximum" than that...

Maybe the car is indeed the quickest again. I'm not disputing that. But I don't think there was (other than avoiding the Monza penalty, and avoiding an alternator booboo in Monza) any other place he could have gained at any race since the summer break - ie the maximum.

[Cylinder]

Have to agree. For me Alonso and Hamilton have been the consistent stand out drivers this year. I say that as a Hamilton fan and usual Alonso critic, but credit where it's due. Vettel has had a couple of really strong performances earlier in the year but at other times has put in very average performances. It's only been since the Red Bull started dominating that his championship challenge has really come alive. He's still probably best of the rest for me, but in my view he's a step below Alonso and Hamilton.

It's clear as day....and that's why I have a real problem with Vettel being a 3x WDC, it's just a bit too much, where was "Super Seb" when he was getting outqualified by webber, missed Q3 at least twice, he look nothing like dominant, he has 0 answer to Lewis on the occassions when Lewis had a fast and reliable car.

Come on now, he's a top driver, but 3X Consecutive WDC is a bit much now and so are people who are making out like Vettel has suddenly found speed out of nowhere.....it's called Adrian Newey and the Red Bull development team have pulled another rabbit out of the hat.

Hamilton has had the most ridiculous bad luck but like I said, Alonso is not a moron, there is a reason he says Vettel isnt in the same league as Hamilton and that's because he can see the difference between the car and driver.

[Guisson]

Boring GP wasn't it ?.. ( NO Button NO party )
At least there were some "little" fights between the STRS , Lotus and FI .. ( Strangely when RB are back on the top , each race becomes boring xD )
Great Drive from Vettel , Massa and JEV
Really Looking Forward to India !
Anything Can Happen Btw this season is so unpredictable

[RB7ate9]

.....it's called Adrian Newey and the Red Bull development team have pulled another rabbit out of the hat.

I'd have to agree that a lot of the results of the WDC/WCC came from the extreme ingenuity from Newey and the intense dedication by the Red Bull team.

Of course, if we wanted to just purely compare drivers, we wouldn't be watching F1. I may think Alonso is the best driver out there on the track, but there's no beating the complete Red Bull Team.

If this race is any indication, Vettel will build a comfortable lead with victories in India, Austin, and Abu Dhabi; Webber will cover Vettel's six, only to get the nice consolation win in Brazil.....

[RB7ate9]

Boring GP wasn't it ?.. ( NO Button NO party )
At least there were some "little" fights between the STRS , Lotus and FI .. ( Strangely when RB are back on the top , each race becomes boring xD )
Great Drive from Vettel , Massa and JEV
Really Looking Forward to India !
Anything Can Happen Btw this season is so unpredictable

A little boring, true. Especially since they kept on cutting away from the action, because the broadcast director always wants to show RB. I'm glad to see FI and STR getting in the mix. I hope FI can pull a Sauber and get the "local" team on the podium in India!

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

Hulkenberg shows his skill. A personal favourite behind Lewis, obviously.

Looking at the Kobayashi incident, it looked totally his fault. He claimed that he was hit from behind and lost the control of the car, but what I could see there were no one near him.

Rosberg hit Kobayashi it's seems