Guess what? Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are involved in a titanic scrap atop the World Championship. Guess what else? The pair are the only drivers who have won the Korean Grand Prix. It really is a ‘game on’ situation…
We should learn a lot this weekend. Most eyes will be on Lotus, as their Coandă-style exhausts hope to shift Kimi Räikkönen back towards the sharp end of the grid. I’ll also be following Red Bull’s progress very closely. Since Singapore, the RB8 has run with Super DRS, negating what was previously their only weakness: top speed. If Vettel and Webber are as quick in qualifying this Saturday as they were last, then perhaps this title will be out of reach for Alonso and co sooner than we thought.
On the other hand, it’s not just all about technical innovation. The weather can throw all sorts of variables into the mix (just think of Yeongam 2010) and Alonso knows only too well that good qualifying is necessary to move you out of the danger zone (just think of Spa…and Suzuka). But it must also be said that second place on the grid should not have been a danger zone for Mark Webber in Japan. I can see how Romain Grosjean slid into him, but under the circumstances he would be safer to lift off and lose a couple of places than to keep crashing into people and risking something worse.
Let’s do the maths. Five times 25 is 125. That is the maximum amount of points left on offer this year, statistically meaning that any driver down to ninth-placed Felipe Massa can still become World Champion in 2012. In reality, of course, we probably have (at most) a four-driver scrap developing. It is unlikely Mark Webber or Jenson Button will be able to close up the deficit and Lewis Hamilton’s car setup u-turn at Suzuka proved to be very costly indeed, as Alonso retired from the race and Lewis could still only manage fifth place. It was his decision and he got it wrong, very much like the silly comments he made about Jenson on Twitter earlier this week.
So, how can a superb duel between two double World Champions fighting for a third title (just like Schumacher and Häkkinen in 2000) become a triangular shootout? With the infamous Double DRS ‘device’ pretty much shelved for the rest of the season, Lotus are very much pinning their hopes on the new exhausts. Taking advantage of the Coandă effect, they will be directing air upwards, knowing that airflow has a tendency to find the closest surface - which happens to be the all-important diffuser. If this works for Kimi and Romain, they could really attack over the closing races. If not, then we have a battle royale on our hands between Vettel and Alonso.
On the other hand, if that Red Bull remains so rapid for the rest of the season, Vettel’s winning margin could be fairly sizable by the time the chequered flag comes down in Brazil. Should that turn out to be the case, Alonso’s 40-point championship lead after Hungary will be all but a distant memory. This weekend – as always, actually – it’s about what has been done off the track. On it, what the drivers must do is make the most of their package and any unforeseen circumstances in the Grand Prix. We still have a quarter of the season to run and a hell of a lot can happen in five races.
At a glance:
- Yeongam pole position sitters
- Yeongam Grand Prix winners
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The facts: Korea International Circuit
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Laps 55
Direction Anti-clockwise
Corners 18
Length 5.615 km / 3.489 mi
First championship race 2010
First winner Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
Lap record 1:39.605 / S. Vettel / Red Bull-Renault / 2011
Local start time 3pm (BST +8)
Slick Pirelli tyre compounds
Soft (yellow markings) & Super Soft (red markings)
DRS zone
Detection: Before Turn 1
Activation: Straight between Turns 2 and 3
- Activation zone 80 metres longer than last year
FIA driver steward
Martin Donnelly
2011 pole position sitter
Lewis Hamilton – McLaren-Mercedes
2011 Grand Prix winner
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault
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Circuit changes for 2012
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- Several verges around circuit laid with asphalt and painted with green non-slip paint
- Higher debris fences installed on the right-hand side between Turns 7 and 9
- On exit of Turn 13, AstroTurf has been extended to end of tarmac run-off area
- ‘Sausage’ kerb on apex of final corner, Turn 18, lowered by around 30 millimetres
- Drainage improved in pit lane entry
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Gregory Haines
GPUpdate.net Editor
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