The 2010 Korean Grand Prix is the seventeenth of the nineteen rounds in the 2010 Formula One World Championship and was held at the 5.615 km (3.489 mi) anti-clockwise Korea International Circuit on 24 October 2010. The Grand Prix was contested by twelve teams with two drivers each. Before the race, Red Bull driver Mark Webber led the Drivers' Championship with 220 points; he was ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, who were tied for second place on 206 points. Lewis Hamilton was in fourth with 192 points and Hamilton's teammate Jenson Button was fifth on 189 points. Seventy-five points were available for the three remaining races, which meant Hamilton or Button could still win the title. Both drivers would mathematically stay in contention if Alonso or Vettel won the race and neither McLaren driver finished in a points-scoring position. Red Bull led the Constructors' Championship with 426 points; McLaren and Ferrari were second and third with 381 and 334 points respectively, while Mercedes on 176 points and Renault on 133 contended for fourth place. Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari had so far won races in the previous sixteen rounds of the season. Felipe Massa (twice) and Robert Kubica had finished in second place, and Nico Rosberg, Massa (twice), Kubica (once) had all finished in third. With three races remaining in the Championship and a fourteen-point advantage, Webber said he would continue his pursuit of the title:
"I need to keep racing hard and going for victories. Clearly, if my rivals have a rough weekend it makes it a bit harder for them and it gives me a bit more scope, but I'm not looking to abuse that because it can all go pear-shaped very fast".
Vettel said his season had been fraught with car problems but he remained positive about his chances:
"I think it's normal to have ups and downs - and sometimes you have more, sometimes less - but, as I said, the expectation was probably to be in a position to fight for the championship and I think we're in a very strong and very good position".
Alonso urged his teammate Massa to help him in his title bid and said the Korean Grand Prix could become decisive for his championship rivals. He favoured Hamilton to win the Korean Grand Prix. With Hamilton twenty-eight points behind Webber and with Button a further three points behind his teammate, McLaren's team principal Martin Whitmarsh said his drivers would keep their focus in the season's remaining three races and produce consistent performances. Karun Chandhok, who raced for Hispania in the first ten races of the season, said Red Bull were the favourites to win, and that he thought the circuit's three long straights would suit the McLaren cars. Following increased hostilities between North Korea and South Korea in the wake of the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March 2010, Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said the race would be in jeopardy if political tensions continued to escalate, and it would be abandoned if the North Korean army crossed the border. The revival of the French Grand Prix at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was mooted as an alternative if the Korean Grand Prix was cancelled. Although hostilities between the two nations eventually relaxed, the race was further threatened by delayed construction. On 27 September 2010, Ecclestone said he doubted the circuit would be ready despite the laying of tarmac. A final inspection of the circuit took place on 11 October; Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) safety delegate Charlie Whiting certified that the circuit was ready on 12 October, 2010. In the meantime, Fernando Alonso is preparing for an attacking race in South Korea. And in the meantime he re-evaluates the role of Felipe Massa:
"It will also be important to be able to count on my teammate".
The Spaniard also draws a positive assessment of the race in Japan with a cool head, finishing in third place behind the two Red Bull Racing teams. Alonso focuses on the fight for the title which, according to him, is still open to five drivers. Looking ahead to the event scheduled for Sunday 24 October 2010, the Spaniard talks about a potentially decisive weekend for someone and asks Felipe Massa to help him.
"The outcome of the Japanese Grand Prix remains positive, even with a cool head. We are in a phase of the season in which a negative weekend can be very costly and coming out of a race that we expected to be difficult with a good third place was important. Of course , we hoped that perhaps the situation would have been different in Suzuka but we must not forget that that is a track that seems to have been designed specifically to enhance the qualities of Red Bull. We had already understood since Friday that it would be tough and, even if we were prepared, it remains always a bit of disappointment for not having been able to fight for the victory. Now, however, we must put this weekend aside and concentrate on the next race, where we know we will have to try to raise the level of our performance: another fifth place in qualifying would certainly not be help".
Alonso continues:
"In Korea we will have to attack because now we absolutely need to make up some points on Webber: losing further ground would make the situation more complicated. We worked for a few days on the simulator on the new track: the first two sectors are very fast with some nice straights while the last recalls the final part of the Abu Dhabi track. The road surface is wide, which should make overtaking attempts easier".
On Tuesday 12 October 2010 the Federation gave the definitive green light to the Korean race, which was put in doubt by the delays in the construction of the new route:
"I'm always curious to discover a new track, both from a personal and professional point of view. Starting from Wednesday next week I will try to find out if the simulations have been sufficiently accurate and then we will have a little more kilometers available on Friday than usual to find the right feeling with the track. I still think that the fight for the title is open to five riders. Too many times this year we have seen someone who seemed left out come back into the game and this could happen again. It is also true that perhaps the only one who can afford a bad weekend is Webber: for everyone else it would perhaps mean abandoning every chance, especially for those who are further behind today".
Before the Japanese Grand Prix the Spaniard had said that Felipe Massa's help would not be fundamental in his path towards the possible world title. Now Alonso thinks again:
"The Korean Grand Prix can therefore begin to be decisive for someone and for me it will also be important to be able to count on my teammate, Felipe. I know he will have a great desire to make up for it after two negative results and has all the ability to return to get on the podium. Furthermore, it will be very useful to work together to discover all the secrets of the new track in order to prepare our cars in the best way: in a moment like this, every detail is needed to be able to achieve our goals".
And Felipe Massa is ready to put himself at the service of Ferrari and Fernando Alonso:
"The most important thing will be to try to bring home as many points as possible to help the team in the fight for both titles".
With three races left in the season, the Brazilian driver has no individual world championship goals. His teammate, Fernando Alonso, however, is in full swing to win the World Championship. The Spaniard, with 206 points, is 14 points behind the leader of the classification, the Australian Mark Webber. The Maranello team, according to arithmetic, can still aim for the constructors' title.
With 334 points, it occupies third position in the ranking which Red Bull Racing leads with 426 points, with a large margin over McLaren-Mercedes, which has 381 points.
"First of all I want to qualify well on Saturday so that I can be on Sunday together with the drivers fighting for the title: it's the best thing I can do to help Ferrari and Fernando now that we are approaching the end of the season. The Grand Prix of Corea closes a triptych of races in the Far East and it would be nice to arrive in Brazil, at my home race, with a good result in my pocket. I know well that everyone in the team, at home and on the track, is very determined for this end of the season and I am equally ready to give my contribution".
Felipe Massa is fresh from a double retirement in the Singapore and Japanese Grands Prix. In Korea, he will seek redemption on a mysterious track, which will be inaugurated on Sunday 24 October 2010. The race is a sort of journey into the unknown.
"I worked on the simulator on the new circuit and the first impression is that it is a very long track, which is why the race distance is only two laps more than at the Japanese Grand Prix. There is a very long straight and a mix of fast and slow corners: we will need to ensure that the F10 has the most efficient aerodynamic configuration possible, with a good top speed for the straight but plenty of downforce. At first glance, it reminds me of the Shanghai track, although there are some parts, where you brake sharply to enter slow corners, which are more similar to what you see in Bahrain. Will the F10 adapt well to this new track? Well, apart from the Red Bulls which, in some Grands Prix, they were untouchable, Ferrari was competitive on almost all the circuits and there is no reason why it wouldn't be the same this time".
To aim for a prestigious position, it will be essential to start in the noble areas of the grid.
"We have seen this year how important it is for everything to go right from the start of practice on Friday morning, with no problems that could hinder the technical programme. This will be even more important this weekend because in the first laps on Friday we will begin to really discover the track and check whether the simulations really corresponded to reality. Furthermore, it will be fundamental to try to understand the real grip level of the asphalt, which is difficult to know if you don't put your wheels on the ground".
Waiting to take to the track with his F10, Fernando Alonso promotes the Yeongam track. The circuit, recently completed after weeks of rapid-fire work, will be inaugurated with the third to last race of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship.
"I must say that the first impression is positive. First of all, there are no big surprises: there is a correspondence between what we had seen on the simulator in recent weeks and reality. I arrived in Seoul yesterday evening (Tuesday 19 October 2010) and this morning (Wednesday 20 October 2010) I set off again to reach Yeongam, the venue of the first edition of the Korean Grand Prix. After lunch I went to the circuit because I wanted to see what the track is like firsthand. It seems like a very interesting circuit. and fun to drive, especially in the last sector. What track does it resemble? It's a mix of various tracks. The first sector is very reminiscent of Bahrain: long straights with sharp braking that lead to 180° bends. The second recalls Turkey , in particular turn 11 which makes you think of turn 8 in Istanbul, while the last one is similar to the third in Abu Dhabi".
The track could present particular dangers, given that the asphalt surface has just been laid. The single-seaters, therefore, could have grip problems especially in the first free practice sessions, when the trajectories will not be perfectly rubberized.
"When you arrive on a new track there is even more desire to drive, so the two days that separate us from the first lap, scheduled for Friday morning, will be very long. I think we will be able to witness a spectacular race: there are at least a couple of points where overtaking seems possible, in particular at the braking point of Turn 3 where you reach the end of a straight over a kilometer long. There will be a lot of action there on the first lap of the race, more than what we will see after the start."
The first South Korean Grand Prix will be something of a trap. Hermann Tilke, designer of the track and father of the new generation circuits, says it clearly. The racetrack is ready, although some details of the project still need to be sorted out.
“The main core will work, although here and there there will be things that may go wrong.”
None of the drivers know the track which will present additional difficulties linked to the brand new asphalt.
"The surface will be very slippery on Friday. You will probably see several spins and it will not be easy to choose the ideal set-up for Saturday and Sunday, because the track will change a lot. Some will choose the wrong solutions. The lack of grip should not be a problem because here we have the best drivers in the world. Furthermore, everyone will have to deal with the same conditions. After a few tests, the track will improve a lot because it will rubberize and this will help increase grip. But as soon as you leave the ideal line, it will become very slippery This is a big challenge for the pilots."
Then the designer goes into detail about his creation, which could also be modified in the future.
"Some parts of the track look like those of a city track, even if at the moment there is no city. The space is narrow and everything is close to the circuit. In other permanent parts, with fast corners, it will be interesting to drive. The first sector favors overtaking and spectacle, especially with braking at the end of the long straight. Transformations in the coming months? I don't know what the investments will be. This is a private project, I don't know what the process will be."
The launch of the plant, moreover, was more problematic than expected. The delays in the works, also caused by the characteristics of the site, triggered an alarm which was only rectified in recent weeks.
"Before building, it took a long time to drain the water from the ground. Then, the monsoon season was longer than expected. I wasn't always sure we would make it, but in the end everyone did great job."
On Wednesday 20th October 2010, the riders toured the track by mountain bike, in an attempt to begin to grasp some first details, some trajectories, some angles. And in the end, what was understood was that, without wanting to overdo it, the Yeongam track (the town in the south of the country, a few kilometers from Mokpo, which organizes the event) doesn't displease anyone. Fernando Alonso, in particular, is well disposed, almost to the point of optimism (border not crossed, however):
“I must say that the first impression is positive. First of all, there are no big surprises: there is a correspondence between what we had seen on the simulator in recent weeks and reality".
The credit for this, obviously, goes not so much to Bernie Ecclestone's engineers and architects, or to Korean building expertise, as to the new Ferrari simulator which, if Alonso's sensations are confirmed, has set us on the right path, not is a way of saying, technicians and mechanics of Maranello (who, in the last three Grands Prix, will fill the tanks of the Ferraris with a new bio-fuel). Returning to the circuit, the concern of being faced with a hostile track should have proven unfounded:
“It seems like a very interesting and fun track to drive, especially in the last sector. It is a mixture of various tracks. The first sector is very reminiscent of Bahrain (where this year Ferrari achieved a one-two, ed.): long straights with sudden braking that lead to 180° corners. The second recalls Turkey (where it was a disaster, ed.), in particular turn 11 which makes you think of turn 8 in Istanbul, while the last is similar to the third in Abu Dhabi (which will host the last race of the calendar , ed.). Regardless, I think we will be able to witness a spectacular race: there are at least a couple of points where overtaking seems possible, in particular at the breaking point of turn 3 where you reach the end of a straight over a kilometer long."
Beyond Alonso's sensations, however, the lights of many unknowns remain lit. Because the Korean works ended late, in fact, they are practically still in progress and if in the end the tender can be held it will only be thanks to the intervention of the army sent by Seoul (all kinds of pressure has been put on the government by LG and Samsung, the two Korean super sponsors of F1). The most fearsome aspect is that of the asphalt: the last layer was laid a handful of hours ago and this will mean that the riders will have major grip problems. Hermann Tilke, the architect who designed the circuit and who should also design the route of the future Rome Grand Prix, also says:
“There will be very little of it. There will be several spins, without considering those who get the set-up wrong...".
The Formula 1 World Championship has yet to issue its verdicts, but Fernando Alonso is already certain of one thing.
"The championship isn't over yet. But whatever happens, in terms of happiness, motivation, driving and integration with the team, this has been my best season in Formula 1."
In short, the Spaniard, regardless of the outcome of the final sprint (there are five drivers still competing for the world title), is more than satisfied with his first season with the Maranello team. Fernando Alonso says this on the eve of the Korean Grand Prix, during the usual meeting with the media:
"It would be great to be champion at the end of this year, but even if it doesn't happen, I will still have great memories of 2010."
A press conference on the eve, this time, which started later than usual (without however incurring a fine, as required by FIA regulations), given that at the Korean International Circuit the participants in the meeting with journalists were justifiably absent: the five drivers who still have the chance to win the World Championship were in fact the protagonists of a photo session. A true encore of the famous photo taken in 1986, which portrayed the four drivers competing for the title, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, together on the pit wall. This time posing in front of the cameras were the two McLaren drivers, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, the two Red Bull men, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso of Ferrari. The latter will no longer be able to change engines between now and the end of the season without incurring a penalty.
"Ferrari is ok, we're not worried. The engine problems in the second and third races of the year had put us in a difficult situation, but then we planned the season and the championship differently and so far everything is under control" .
After observing the Korean circuit, the Ferrari driver recognized that the new system is 99% ready.
"They did a really good job. I hope we can put on a good show this weekend. It's always nice to arrive at a new track and in a new country to face a new challenge. This kind of thing is welcome in the championship".
With the five contenders all in the same room, the questions focused on who will lead the championship after the last Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver, like his colleagues, obviously does not have a clear idea on the matter.
"We will do our best to compete for the title in Abu Dhabi. We are back, we have made important steps forward in the last five or six races."
As regards specifically this Korean race weekend, to those who were asking if they had a plan to get the better of the Red Bull Racing, who seem unbeatable in qualifying.
"I would rather beat them on Sunday."
Fernando Alonso will be able to count on the help of Felipe Massa. The Brazilian, left out of the title fight, is ready to lend a hand to his teammate.
"It will be difficult to fight for the title, but with three races to go to the end of the season there are still many points to score. We therefore still have a chance. We have to wait and see how we go tomorrow to get a clearer idea of where we can go, especially because this is a new track: expectations could be confirmed, but the exact opposite could also happen. There are all types of corners, including those where we know our car is at ease, but also those where we struggled a little in the past."
Catapulted for no reason into the deep south of Korea, the place furthest from its nature, Formula 1 is preparing to experience the final clash of its season immersed in a funfair atmosphere. In the snapshot taken the day before, the great rivals of this 2010 - Webber, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Button - can be clearly distinguished - staring into each other's eyes, impatiently caressing their cars, uttering decisive phrases, against the backdrop of an indifferent and inadequate town until to the naive. And maybe beyond. For one thing, having no hotels available, all the protagonists of the circus, usually accustomed to five-star hotels, ended up sleeping in the hourly hotels in Love Square (in some cases lovely alcoves, in others almost like brothels). And so the various Amor Motel, Amiga Motel, Adam and Eve 1, Adam and Eve2, Bali Motel, Cara Motel, in recent days have been populated not only by the usual clientele but also by engineers, mechanics, pilots, vice pilots, strategists, administrators , public relations and so on. At the S Motel, for example, there is Scuderia Toro Rosso and Sauber, at the My Motel, a good part of Ferrari, including some of the most important engineers, who when they were handed the keys to the room had a look that it was all a program. More or less the same as they had shown a few hours earlier when they had the first contact with the new track (indeed still under construction, until Thursday evening the pit lane looked like a narrow street in Beirut immediately after a bombing). Delays in completing the work, they call them here.
“It rained a lot”
Says the president of the organization. Apologies accepted by all but reluctantly: because now the race that can be worth a season, rather than a speed race, will be a slalom between the unknowns.
The main one will be the grip of the asphalt. Which will be completely missing. The safety car, while making a lap, almost inaugurates the wall of the last corner.
“Is there any adhesion problem? It will mean that I won't do my usual walk on the grid on Sunday, so I don't risk falling."
Says Bernie Ecclestone, who however a few moments before had challenged the architect Hermann Tilke, author of the design of a track that the boss doesn't like at all. And instead, at least in terms of design, all the pilots liked it quite a bit. In the first two sectors the track seems to benefit Ferrari and McLaren, in the third sector Red Bull Racing.
“In Suzuka we had to play a defensive race. It will be different here. There are conditions to risk a little more."
Alonso promises that he says he is also enthusiastic about his season. Whatever happens.
“This is the best year of my career, even if I don't win, in terms of motivation, driving and team, it is undoubtedly the best and I will still have excellent memories.”
Exactly the opposite of his teammate, Felipe Massa, defeated and finally tamed:
“The best result for the team is also the best result for me. I will try to do the best I can."
Some teams modified their cars in preparation for the event. Red Bull and Williams revised their brake ducts. Williams team changed their brake ducts at the front to improve airflow inside the tires and direct the duct towards their car's central section more efficiently. Red Bull's brake ducts, which had been changed for the third consecutive Grand Prix, reintroduced a small fin seen at the Singapore Grand Prix; for Korea two aerodynamic fins were fitted and a larger duct was introduced. McLaren modified a version of their front wings first introduced in Singapore. The team added a vertical gurney flap and an additional vertical slot at the front wing endplate to improve airflow outside the front tires and increase the amount of downforce and therefore grip produced by the bodywork. The team also brought a new rear wing and tested a new revision of their F-duct system that debuted at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. Ferrari revised their diffuser with curved profiles and one large middle plate designed to improve the extraction of air from the bottom of the F10. As in Suzuka, Toro Rosso ran an F-duct system in the Friday practice sessions. Friday October 22, 2010, The track was dusty when the first practice sessions were held; grip was poor and some drivers went onto the run-off areas after going off the track. Hamilton paced the first practice session with a time of 1'40"887 seconds; almost one-tenth of a second quicker than Kubica. Rosberg and Michael Schumacher set the third- and sixth-fastest times respectively for Mercedes; they were separated by Vettel and Button. Webber, Nick Heidfeld and the two Williams drivers completed the top ten; Nico Hülkenberg ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Hispania driver Bruno Senna spun at turn nine after his left rear suspension failed and stopped on the track without hitting a barrier. Grip was improved for the second practice session, in which Webber set a time of 1'37"942 - the quickest of the day - despite spinning late in the session. Alonso was second quickest and Hamilton third.
Kubica set the fourth-quickest time. Button, who was sidelined for most of the session with an overheated exhaust, was fifth. Massa, Vettel, Vitaly Petrov, Rosberg and Kamui Kobayashi composed the rest of the top ten. Sakon Yamamoto in the other Hispania car caused the session to be suspended after spinning and stopping his car at turn sixteen. The first weekend in the history of Formula 1 in South Korea begins under the banner of Mark Webber. At the end of the first two free practice sessions, on the new Yeongam circuit, the fastest is in fact the Australian driver of Red Bull Racing, leader of the world championship ranking with 14 points ahead of his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. However, it is a positive first day for Ferrari at the new Yeongam circuit. Having spent the morning getting to know the circuit and fixing some things, the Maranello cars returned in the afternoon decidedly more competitive, with Fernando Alonso setting the second fastest time of the day, 0.190 seconds behind Mark Webber, and Felipe Massa sixth.
"It's pleasant to drive on this track, very interesting and with three sectors that are different from each other. In the first you need to have an excellent top speed, in the second there are fast corners, in the third the slow ones: it will be interesting to see which The various teams will make set-up choices in view of qualifying and the race. I like turns 4 to 6, with very different trajectories and the possibility of overtaking, they remind me of the last part of the Istanbul track."
The Spaniard appears optimistic for the rest of the weekend.
"At the moment there are no particular negative aspects to report, apart from the tires which wear out quickly, as was to be expected on a completely new asphalt. There is no need to worry because by Sunday the situation will improve and, in any case, we are all more or less in the same condition. Red Bull is very competitive as always and here McLaren seems to be going very fast: after all, in Suzuka Hamilton was third in qualifying and I think he is one of the favorites to win this Grand Prix. I believe that Although the situation is not like in Japan, with the championship leaders clearly favourites, there is room here for McLaren and for us to do something interesting. There are several parameters that make the choices for the rest of the weekend complicated: l "evolution of track conditions which could also change the use of gears in certain corners, the level of aerodynamic load and the possibility of rain on Sunday. It is clear that, being a completely new circuit, we have no references, it will therefore be even more important teamwork".
Similar impressions to those of his teammate for Massa.
"I like this track. It's very long and there are all kinds of corners, with some parts that resemble traditional circuits, others that look like part of a city track. I struggled a bit to find a good set-up, especially to make it work in the right way with the tires that were deteriorating quickly, the situation will change further as the rubber settles on the asphalt. The grip level was constantly changing so it's difficult to judge where we are exactly compared to the others but the feeling is that we can be competitive."
Massa tested the car without a blown rear wing:
"But it's clear that you have to use it here, on the straights it gives you a good advantage compared to the standard one. I also had some oversteer but I think it's normal in these conditions: there's ample margin to improve the car's settings and fix this aspect It was important to try this track on the simulator, I found the references we had seen in Maranello on the track."
Felipe Massa denies the usual rumors about his possible farewell to Ferrari at the end of the season. His name has been linked to, among others, Renault and Sauber.
"Every year it's the same story, but nothing has changed. I'm still here and preparing for next season."
It is not the first time that the South American driver has been forced to deny rumors about his future:
"I remember that at the beginning of 2006 Valentino Rossi had already signed for the following year. Every year there is someone who comes in my place. Alonso replaced me three years ago, then Sebastian Vettel arrived and, again, Rossi. So there's no problem, every year it's the same and I'm still here."
In short, the relationship with Ferrari remains strong:
"I always know what I want and the team knows it too, this is important for me. But this season hasn't exactly been fantastic, I'm referring both to the results and to other problems I've had. I'm not happy because I wasn't able to achieve what I wanted and could get."
Massa, now out of the title fight, is ready to help teammate Fernando Alonso.
"I want the best for the team and that's why Ferrari is still fighting for the title with Alonso."
Finally, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali was also satisfied.
"Obviously the conditions today were very particular, with a very dirty asphalt and a level of grip that changed lap after lap. We must therefore evaluate today's results with great caution, we can certainly expect a very difficult qualifying and a race that will be very uncertain , especially if, as seems possible, it were to rain."
We are not yet at the propaganda war, but we are almost there. On Sunday 24 October 2010 a large part of the World Championship will be decided in what is perhaps the most important race of the season. But its protagonists began to clash the day before. Because Formula 1 is a sport in which the nervous aspect counts at least as much as the athletic and technical one. If not more. The ability to stay calm, not to feel the pressure, and therefore not to make mistakes, can make more of a difference than braking or an impossible overtaking. And so for two or three days now, the five remaining in the race - Webber, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Button - have engaged in a very tense war of declarations in an attempt, not at all disguised, to throw themselves on the shoulders of their most feared rivals as much weight as possible. Fernando Alonso proved to be a master in the specialty. While waiting to see how qualifying goes, the Spaniard's strategy is clear. Praising Red Bull Racing, ignoring Sebastian Vettel and fondling Mark Webber.
“Ferrari did well, it didn't show any particular problems. But I think Red Bull still remains the favorite. In the race and in qualifying, where, as we have seen throughout the season, he is always able to bring out a few tenths more than expected."
Then, the thoughts on Webber:
“We know Mark well, when Friday goes slow, Saturday flies, when Friday goes fast, Saturday flies anyway. And on Sundays too."
A concept that, again for the same reason, Fernando Alonso also projects onto Lewis Hamilton:
“He is also among the favourites.”
The Spaniard's psychological strategy, however, also involves showing himself to be very convinced of his abilities. As happens when they ask him if he isn't worried about the engine situation. Considering that each Ferrari engine is designed to do three races, Fernando Alonso has one at his disposal that has already done two and one that has only done one. And three shots are missing for three Grands Prix: if something were to go wrong, the world championship would essentially be lost.
“I don't see why I should be worried. Everything is going as we planned."
It is inevitable that opponents will try to defend themselves. Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, responds to an argument often used by Alonso, who had said that Ferrari has an advantage resulting from its habit of fighting for the title.
“No experience can help in a championship like this: there has never been such a balanced competition as this year. No one can say they know how to handle this season finale."
Words that betray some uncertainty, in reality, and which seem aimed more at reassuring himself. As Vettel also confirms when, without anyone asking him, he assures:
“Red Bull does not intend to end up like McLaren in 2007.”
When the two drivers of the English team racing each other were mocked by Raikkonen's Ferrari. According to some he is the man behind the Red Bull miracle, according to others he is someone who should already have a couple of world titles under his belt. In fact, Christian Horner is the head of the team which, starting in 2005 from the ashes of Jaguar, after just five years is driving Ferrari and McLaren, the two historic Formula 1 teams, crazy. Not even four years ago he was the youngest team principal in the history of Formula 1 and would have been ignored by everyone if on the day of his Red Bull Racing's first and only victory of the season he hadn't dived into the pool naked, wearing a Superman cape. Today, asked about how he managed to transform that small improvised team into a great team, Horner smiles:
“But what a secret. The truth is, we're not a great team. We are just an independent team that buys the engine from Renault and does our best."
Don't exaggerate now.
“Yes, in fact what we are doing is incredible. We are a new team and we have been competing with the big boys for two years now."
Here you are. A miracle, therefore. Explain it to us.
“Let's say that our results are the combination of the Red Bull philosophy, the class of the two drivers, the compactness of the team, and the amount of work”.
And Mateschitz's money.
“Well, our budget is smaller than that of McLaren and Ferrari”.
Maybe, but you have a bigger project office than theirs.
“That's not true either.”
When was the turning point?
“With the regulation change in 2008. We were ready, we had built a fantastic group, with the designer Adrian Newey, of course, but also with many other key figures. And when the regulation allowed us to start from scratch we began to impose ourselves. We didn't win, but only because there was the story of the double speakers which penalized us."
For some races the leader Webber and your favorite Vettel have been taking points away from each other. What does it mean?
“Simple: if we have two riders with the possibility of winning the world championship, we support them both, without choosing”.
Even if this could cost you the world championship?
"Yes. Other teams may disagree with this approach. But Red Bull is a sports team."
And if you lose, what will you tell Webber?
“Exactly what we would say to Vettel.”
But you yourself said that the team is built on Sebastian, while he called Webber retired.
“I was misunderstood. I just think that Mark is in the last years of his career and that Sebastian still has 10-15 years left, which I hope he does with us."
Is Vettel the new Schumacher?
“Michael's stats are incredible. And even if records are made to be broken, I fear Schumi's records will stand for a long time... But Michael was good at beating one opponent at a time, while Sebastian will find himself in seasons like this, with five top-level opponents. He has immense talent, he's young and he's growing but Alonso and Hamilton aren't joking either."
After discussions with Whiting during a Friday night drivers' briefing, the height of an apex at turn sixteen was increased and the wall in the area was moved back. A new apex kerb at turn eighteen was built to stop dirt and stones from accumulating on the circuit, which was extensively cleaned. Drivers were told they could enter the pit lane from the racing line without incurring a penalty.
Bridgestone had reported heavy tyre graining during the Friday practice sessions; its Motorsport Tyre Development director Hirohide Hamashima said drivers would face a challenge of looking after their tyres if track conditions had not changed before the race. Kubica was quickest in the final practice session; his late lap of 1'37"354 was 0.048 seconds quicker than Hamilton's in second. Alonso and Webber were third and fourth. Rosberg, who was fifth, slowed at turn fifteen during the session's closing stages; he narrowly avoided a collision with Alonso. The incident was subject to a stewards' investigation; the stewards decided not to penalise Rosberg. Massa, Button, Hülkenberg, Schumacher and Sutil completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. Vettel was sixteenth; the result of running onto the grass. Saturday afternoon's qualifying session is held in overcast weather conditions. Tyre degradation on the soft compound tyres was heavy; the drivers set their laps on the hard tyres during the first session and switched to softs for the two remaining sessions. With a lap of 1'35"585, Vettel set the fastest time in the final session on his second timed run at the end of the period, achieving his ninth pole position of the season - his first at the Korea International Circuit. Although he was delighted to get pole position, he felt he lost time in the middle sector after making a mistake. Vettel's teammate Webber was also on the front row of the grid; he recorded a lap time 0.076 seconds slower. Webber was not happy with his first set of option tyres; he chose to do two more timed laps on a new set of option tyres in the third session. Alonso qualified third; he said his starting position had realised Ferrari's maximum potential. He also aimed to ensure that he finished the race because rain had been forecast. Alonso had been the fastest driver during most of the third session until Vettel set his pole position lap. Hamilton set the first session's fastest time of 1'37"113; he almost did not challenge for the pole position because he avoided making contact with the wall at the pit lane entry. He fell to fourth overall in the final part of qualifying. In the faster of the two Mercedes, Rosberg secured fifth place; Massa in the slower Ferrari placed sixth. Massa was not happy because he would start the race on the dirty side of the grid, having encountered traffic during the third session. Button complained about the lack of grip and that he could not get his tyres to the optimum temperature; he managed seventh position but was happy to start on the clean side of the grid.
Kubica recorded the eighth-fastest time and struggled with oversteer, which prevented him from setting a faster lap time. Schumacher in the slower Mercedes took ninth place ahead of Barrichello in tenth. Barrichello was angry with Schumacher because he had blocked Barrichello during the second session. Schumacher went to Barrichello to apologise and was subsequently reprimanded by the stewards. Hülkenberg, who qualified eleventh, was the fastest driver not to advance into the final session. His best time of 1'37"620 is 1.5 seconds slower than Webber's pace in the second session. He said eleventh place was a "good position to start from" despite losing the rear of his car in turn twelve, which caused him to abort one of his quick laps. Hülkenberg was followed in the times by the BMW Sauber drivers Kobayashi in twelfth and Heidfeld in thirteenth, followed by Sutil in the quickest of the two Force India cars. Petrov, who qualified in fifteenth, was penalised five positions on the grid because he had caused an avoidable accident with Hülkenberg at the start of the previous race at Suzuka. Petrov was aiming for a top ten grid position to minimise the effects of his grid penalty but he spun on his final timed lap after hitting a kerb; he was unable to set a quicker lap time because his tyres had become dirty. Hence, Jaime Alguersuari inherited 15th position, ahead of his teammate Sébastien Buemi who opted to run one flying lap with a light fuel load for his last run of the second session but made minor mistakes which cost him time. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Trulli and Timo Glock were the quickest drivers unable to advance beyond the first session. Liuzzi complained the tyre wear on his soft compound tyres was so excessive it created a large amount of oversteer for half a lap. The tenth row of the grid was filled by Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) and Lucas di Grassi (Virgin). The two Hispania drivers completed the final two positions on the grid; Yamamoto in twenty-third was 0.8 seconds faster than his teammate Senna in twenty-fourth. A terrifying last lap, and qualifying for the Korean Grand Prix turns into a sort of Red Bull Racing parade, only missing the image girls and the free cans. The Anglo-Austrian team paints the first (Vettel) and second (Webber) positions on the starting grid blue, but above all demonstrates once again that it has an extraordinary car, elastic, very fast, capable of adapting with an almost athletic naturalness to any condition and to be able to resist the class of Fernando Alonso, his Ferrari, and any other imaginable opponent.
Sebastian Vettel, the most spoiled German in the world, went crazy with joy (more than twenty points behind his teammate, Mark Webber). He continued to get the maximum support from his team who continued to indicate him as the first guide even in moments darkest): now it will be up to him not to make any mistakes - it would be the first time in his career - and to relaunch himself in a big way in view of the last two races. Mark Webber is also smiling as from the height of his second position, and from the comfortable driving position of his Red Bull Racing, he can reasonably plan a Sunday of control and containment: the best way to manage his advantage in the general classification. He now has a 14-point lead over his pursuers, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. And it will be up to them to recover. In reality, Fernando Alonso is also smiling. Before the start of qualifying, the Spaniard had confided that he considered third position a better result than second.
"Those who start from the dirty side of the track, the one with the even positions, are infinitely disadvantaged. In fact, they risk losing a couple of positions already in the first few metres. This is because the track, which is new, has very little rubber and is quite dirty".
Furthermore, the stopwatch demonstrates with the usual clarity that Ferrari is very close to Red Bull Racing: the top three drivers are all enclosed in the tiny circle of less than 0.3 seconds. In qualifying this year, when Red Bull Racing took pole, the margin has never been lower. Fernando Alonso says:
"I'm very happy we had really good qualifying sessions, we were even faster than we thought. The car worked very well. We know that when the crucial moment of qualifying arrives, the Red Bulls become more or less uncatchable. And instead we were there. Now let's see what happens tomorrow. We also need to see the weather forecast which is very important, on this track where it is very easy to make mistakes. For the World Championship, tomorrow, there will be five of us fighting, and I think that not all five of us will finish the race , we hope to be among those who cross the finish line."
Both McLaren drivers experienced the difficulty of the track first-hand, which was a bit of a disappointment on the day. During free practice on Friday and Saturday, and then during the first two stages of qualifying, the riders showed excellent speed. Instead, a few too many mistakes by the drivers and perhaps a less than perfect set-up penalized the English team. In the end the McLarens did not go beyond fourth (Hamilton) and seventh (Button) position. Finally the usual, painful, chapter regarding Felipe Massa. He seemed in a position to finally do something good. He seemed to have become familiar with the car and the tyres, he seemed to have found himself again. But there was nothing to be done: at the crucial moment he melted like a candle in the microwave. He will start sixth, at the tail of the best group, and once again he will not be able to lend a hand to his teammate and the team. At least at the start. Maybe in the race, who knows. Sunday October 24, 2010, the track is wet before the race because rain had fallen the previous night. The air temperature is 20 °C and the track temperature is 18 °C. Approximately 80.000 people attended the race. Ferrari discovered a water leak in Alonso's car, which is repaired in the hour before the event started. While on their reconnaissance laps, Massa, Senna and Glock left the circuit but avoided damage to their cars as drivers tested wet tyre compounds. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. Korea Standard Time but rain continued to fall. A new start time of 3:10 p.m. local time is planned. Standing water on the track causes heavy spray and impaired visibility, meaning the race would start behind the safety car. All cars were required to use the full wet tyres. The Korean Grand Prix begin without a formation lap and despite the slow speed, drivers struggled for grip on the wet surface. After three laps under the safety car, conditions were unchanged; drivers reported on the circuit's condition via radio and the race is suspended. Light rain prevented the resumption of the Grand Prix for over forty-five minutes until the marshals and road sweeping trucks removed some of the excess water and dirt on the track. Resin on the newly laid track surface had prevented water from soaking into the ground. The rain have eased slightly during the suspension. Teams were allowed to change the set-up of their cars, which were largely optimised for dry weather conditions.
The race is restarted behind the Safety car with the drivers in the positions held before the suspension. The safety car remained out for fourteen laps, during which the standing water is reduced as the cars circulated the track. Schumacher, Liuzzi and Yamamoto left the circuit during this period but were all able to rejoin. Di Grassi make a pit stop for new tyres three times under safety car and Senna made a pit stop at the end of the first lap. Once the safety car drove into the pit lane, cars were allowed to overtake. Vettel maintained his pole-position lead going into the first turn with Webber close behind. Further back, Schumacher passed Kubica for eighth place. Senna and Trulli spun off onto the run-off area but both drivers were able to continue. Rosberg passes Hamilton by taking the inside line to take fourth place at the third corner. Button try to overtake Massa heading into turn four but ran wide. He momentarily lost the advantage and fended off Schumacher's attempts to pass him. At the end of the first racing lap, Vettel lead by 2.8 seconds from Webber, who is followed by Alonso, Rosberg, Hamilton, Massa, Button, Schumacher, Kubica, Hülkenberg, Sutil, Barrichello, Kobaysahi, Heidfeld, Alguersari, Liuzzi, Buemi, Glock, Petrov, Kovalainen, Yamamoto, Trulli, Senna and di Grassi. Alonso chose a cautious approach and lost four to five seconds while building up his pace slowly in the early stages. Sutil ran off the circuit but continues after losing his position to both Williams drivers. Webber lost grip on the next lap after running across the outside kerbing and spinning across the track onto the wall between turns twelve and thirteen; he slid back onto the circuit and collected Rosberg, forcing both drivers to retire. The debris on-track from the accident called the safety car to be deployed. Kobayashi, Petrov, Heidfeld and Buemi all made pit stops for intermediate tyres during the safety car period. The safety car pull off the track at the end of lap twenty-three and the race resumed with Vettel leading from Alonso and Hamilton. Vettel began to gradually pull clear from the rest of the field. On the twenty-fourth lap while battling with Senna for twenty-first place, Trulli collided with Senna after attempting a passing manoeuvre around the inside; Trulli's front wing was knocked off. Trulli drove to his garage for repairs. Button, who was in fifth, started to place Massa under pressure on the same lap.
Kobayashi passed Yamamoto on lap twenty-six but ran wide and fell down the order, while Trulli rejoined the race. Di Grassi lost control of his car at turn fourteen after trying to pass Yamamoto on lap twenty-seven; he made light contact with the wall which caused him to retire. Schumacher moved up a position as he passed Button for fifth position at turn three on the same lap. On lap twenty-eight, Trulli drove back to his garage to retire with a hydraulics failure that was caused by his power steering becoming heavy during the safety car period. Vettel set a new fastest lap of the race of 1’54”098, extending his lead over Alonso to 3.5 seconds. Button, who was under pressure from Hülkenberg and Kubica, made a pit stop at the end of lap twenty-eight for intermediate tyres and rejoined in fifteenth place. Kovalainen was sent into a spin by Buemi, having been passed by Petrov two laps later. On lap thirty-one, Buemi tried to pass Glock on the inside heading into turn three but lost control of his car under braking and rammed into the side of Glock. Buemi sustained a broken left, front suspension and front wing damage, causing him to retire. The incident called for the race's third safety car period. During the safety car deployment, most of the drivers made pit stops for intermediate tyres. Alonso, who was called in by Ferrari when Vettel changed his strategy, had a pit stop that proved problematic. He arrived into his pit box sideways after locking his tyres. One of his mechanics could not fit his front right wheel because he dropped a wheel nut; he was required to fit a spare wheel nut onto the tyre, causing Alonso to be stationary for longer than usual. He lost third place to Hamilton. Ferrari ordered Massa to reduce his car speed on his out-lap to help Alonso minimise the effects of losing second position. Glock drove back to his pit box where his mechanics examined his car for damage and decided to retire him from the race. Kubica avoided making contact with Sutil when his lollipop man stopped him before he could drive away from his pit box. It was the second time that season Kubica and Sutil were involved in an incident in a pit lane; Kubica had made contact with Sutil when the latter was driving into his pit box in the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Safety car drove into the pit lane at the end of the thirty-fourth lap and Vettel led at the restart. Hamilton ran deep, heading into the first corner and allowing Alonso to retake second position and immediately came under attack from Massa. Kubica took eighth place from Hülkenberg by taking the inside line at the third corner.
Sutil took to the inside line and passed Button for twelfth on lap thirty-six. Button was pushed wide onto the run-off area and fell to fifteenth position. As Vettel maintained his lead, the stewards informed the Lotus team that Kovalainen had been caught speeding in the pit lane, for which he was served with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty that was taken on lap thirty-nine. Alonso set a new fastest lap and closed the gap to 1.2 seconds behind Vettel at the start of lap thirty-seven. Further back, Sutil overtook Heidfeld for twelfth on the following lap. Sutil tried to pass Kobayashi on lap thirty-eight at turn three but out-braked himself, allowing Kobayashi to retake the position. He passed the Kobayashi because of his higher straight line speed, but Sutil braked later and slid off the track, rejoining in fourteenth. One lap later, Alonso was told by his team to drive less aggressively through turns seven and eight in an effort to preserve tyre life because he was spinning his tyres under acceleration. At the conclusion of lap thirty-nine, all of the drivers had made pit stops. Vettel was leading Alonso, who was followed by Hamilton, Massa, Schumacher, Barrichello, Petrov, Hülkenberg, Kubica, Liuzzi, Kobayashi, Heidfeld, Alguersari, Sutil, Button, Senna, Kovalainen and Yamamoto. A dry line began to emerge on lap forty-one as Petrov lost control of the rear-end of his car between turns seventeen and eighteen; he slid sideways into the tyre barrier at the pit lane entry. With sunset approaching, race director Charlie Whiting decided on lap 43 that the Grand Prix would only run for a further 25 minutes. Alonso had reduced Vettel's lead to 1.1 seconds as Alonso set the event's fastest lap of 1’50”257 on lap 42. By lap forty-four, fading light reduced visibility and Vettel reported he could not see the braking point in turn one, while Hamilton told his team the light level is fine. Drivers were dazzled and blinded by the gear-shift lights on their steering wheels as a consequence. Vettel lost half of his engine capacity through turn seventeen on lap 45 and felt strong vibrations. At the start of the forty-sixth lap, Vettel slowed with his engine problems and Alonso passed him around the inside to take the lead. Vettel then pulled into a gap at the main straight wall with smoke billowing from his engine, and retired. Sutil tried to overtake Kobayashi on lap forty-seven but he slid into the side of the Sauber; Sutil went off the track to retire with suspension damage.
Kobayashi continued. Hülkenberg spun off the track on lap fifty-two and made a pit stop for new tyres because his engineer on the pit-wall told him one of his tyres had developed a slow puncture. Barrichello ran wide on the same lap and fell to seventh behind Kubica and Liuzzi. Alonso opened a gap of fourteen seconds to Hamilton, who was suffering from wear on his tyres, as the drivers struggled for grip and crossed the finish line on lap fifty-five; it was Alonso's fifth victory of the season in a time of 2'48:20.810, at an average speed of 68.349 miles per hour (109.997 km/h). Hamilton finished in second place, 14.9 seconds behind, ahead of Massa in third. Schumacher, who explored the best places on the circuit for grip, equalled his best result of the season at the races in Spain and Turkey in fourth. He was followed by Kubica in fifth, Liuzzi in sixth, Barrichello in seventh, Kobayashi eighth, Heidfeld ninth and Hülkenberg passed Alguersuari on the final lap to round out the points-scoring positions in tenth. Button was the last driver on the lead lap, with Kovalainen in thirteenth. Hispania teammates Senna and Yamamoto were the last of the classified finishers in fourteenth and fifteenth, which was the team's best race finish of the season. The incredible happened: in a race full of twists and turns, Fernando Alonso won the Korean Grand Prix, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. The podium speaks for itself: neither of the two Red Bull Racing managed to see the checkered flag. The first to be eliminated, against a wall, was Mark Webber's at the start of the race. Then, a few laps from the end, Sebastian Vettel's car was forced to retire due to an engine explosion. A small tragedy for Christian Horner's team because Vettel, who started from pole, was literally dominating, despite the torment of the Safety car which forced him several times to start everything from the beginning. Yes, because the race was really plagued by bad weather. First with the delayed start, then with the awkward start in the downpour with all the drivers behind the Safety car. So with the display of the red flag after just four laps: it would not have been possible to continue even behind the safety car. The cars then returned to the starting grid, parked there for 40 minutes, before setting off again, once again behind the Safety car. This would be enough to make the first Korean Grand Prix enter the history of the most daring races, but the best was yet to come: the cars remain glued to the Safety car for an infinite amount of time and only after a long time do they start again. Vettel sprints away with anger and in still difficult conditions (the track was full of gigantic puddles) with record laps he overtakes Webber. Alonso is there chasing.
Meanwhile, Schumacher puts on a show, pulling off a series of movie-themed overtakings - the first of the year - demonstrating that he is always a champion in the wet, but the public doesn't have time to dry off and close their umbrellas before the first real twist arrives: Webber makes a mistake, puts the wheels on the edge of the track and the car crashes into the wall, spins, goes back onto the track and hits poor Rosberg who had - until then - run a perfect race, demonstrating that for Mercedes it was a great day. The World Championship reopens. Already at this stage Alonso begins to hope. And with him Hamilton. So Alonso doesn't give up and - it must be said - also thanks to the help of the Safety car which returns to the track several times because here in Korea they are not able to move the damaged cars, he gets closer to Vettel. He puts pressure on him. Vettel responds by setting record laps. Alonso is no exception. The race becomes spectacular. Then, on lap 44, the new - decisive - twist: Vettel steps aside, Alonso passes him, so does Hamilton. Then after a few meters the Red Bull's Renault engine literally explodes. In short, in the end Red Bull's crazy policy - not having a first driver but constantly pitting poor Vettel and Webber against each other - now demonstrates all its limits. Ferrari and McLaren say thank you: now, really, anything can happen with two races to go. And the nervousness of the Red Bull Racing team could be an excellent ally for Alonso and Hamilton, two drivers who seem to handle the tension much better than Vettel and Webber. It's red rain that floods everything in the deep Korean province. A rain that tastes like tears and champagne and that forces everyone, absolutely everyone, English, Germans, Austrians and skeptics to turn towards the Maranello team garage and applaud. In silence and with respect, while the Spanish anthem and that of Mameli fill the paddock and the throats of the mechanics of the Maranello team. An exhilarating run-up takes place in Mokpo which will now have to be completed in the next two Grands Prix, but which already today authorizes Stefano Domenicali, the Ferrari team principal, to utter a moving message over the radio:
"Beautiful. You and the whole team deserved it. Great."
But above all it authorizes him, the miracle man, Fernando Alonso, to respond to his team principal in the most spontaneous way of all: an exalted, crazy, almost frightening and wordless laugh. A laugh that blinds the competitors and which has only one meaning: Ferrari has reopened the World Championship, this time for real. He took the (red) bull by the horns and threw it behind him. Now, on top of the world there is him, Fernando Alonso, with his car that's a bit like this, fast but not too much, powerful but not too much, agile but not too much. Him and no one else: 231 points. A heritage to be defended in two races - Brazil and Abu Dhabi - which, however, promise to still be very complicated. Behind him, just 11 points away, Mark Webber, the angriest man in the world right now. He didn't want to compete today.
"It does not make sense".
She was screaming into the radio, as if in premonition. And, at 21 points, Lewis Hamilton, perhaps the most talented of the circus, certainly the most possessed.
"I want to run, I want to run."
He yelled, again over the radio, while his teammate complained that he couldn't even see the front wheels. Dangerous, fierce rivals who from now on will do anything to take revenge. You just need to see the eyes of the men of the Red Bull Racing team to understand it. They express something beyond imaginable, a mixture of anger, frustration, impotence, fear of ridicule. They know very well that the whole circus smiles as they pass and even if they don't say it, they think it:
"These have had a torpedo for the whole world and have not managed to achieve anything".
And it is exactly in these terms. Both drivers are still in the running but given how things had turned out, finding themselves two races from the end of the World Championship with only Mark Webber actually in the running is already a big defeat in itself, especially as the other driver, Sebastian Vettel, the man on whom the focus has been beyond reasonable since the beginning, finds himself hurled into fourth place, behind Lewis Hamilton, 25 points away. The McLaren men are also quite disappointed. On the day of the Red Bull Racing debacle, the English lose a piece - Jenson Button is now practically out of the game - and find themselves with Lewis Hamilton third, 21 points from the top: in other words: we can still hope, but we have to be rather optimistic. Winning a World Championship is tough, you know. And Fernando Alonso remains very focused on the goal:
"Nothing has changed, we know that anything can happen, given the new scores. If you finish out in a race, you lose 25 points. Here it went badly for Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Anything can still happen, because they are still missing 2 races and it will be fundamental to continue to get on the podium. We knew that it would be a difficult race to finish here. Maybe it's the first wet Grand Prix that I've managed to win."
But it is clear to everyone that it is an extraordinary result. Felipe Massa explains it well:
"These are good points for the team. I am happy for the team and for Fernando. It was a good race in difficult conditions - concluded the Brazilian - at the end it was dark, the visibility was not optimal because there were so many lights on and many reflections. At the beginning, however, with the rain, you could see practically nothing."
The analysis of Stefano Domenicali, the Ferrari team principal, is more careful:
"Okay, okay. We said it, we had to continue this path with victories and podiums. It's a team result that arrived in a difficult moment, but we remain focused, there are still two Grands Prix left."
On the opposite side, this is the bitter comment from Sebastian Vettel, forced to retire:
"What happened? You saw it, the engine blew, I couldn't have done more. World Championship gone? We'll see, there are still two races to go."
And Webber's analysis is of the same tone:
"My World Championship isn't over. It was my mistake, it wasn't my day."
The Australian is referring to the sensational off-track exit, but his class in attributing the error to himself doesn't change things. Although Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, is very disappointed by the exits in the Korean Grand Prix of the two cars of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel who were overtaken in the standings by Fernando Alonso:
“It was the worst race of the season, in a very difficult Grand Prix. With Vettel we did everything right, we saved the tyres, he was there to win then there was that catastrophic failure which denied him a certain victory and a great gift for Alonso. Webber unfortunately made one of the few mistakes this year, but there are still 50 points up for grabs and we have already run well on the last two tracks in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Webber is still second in the standings and Vettel a little further behind, but we can recover, I'm sure we can."
Phenomenon like Michael Schumacher. Facilitating like the German. But nicer, more Latin, more talkative, more team man. At the antipodes, so to speak, compared to Kimi Raikkonen, the last driver capable of hoisting the Maranello team to the top of the world. To rekindle the passion and TV of Ferrari fans, we needed someone like him, the unleashed Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard exalts the team and his men, and for this reason the Maranello team immediately liked him, who after the atrocious insult suffered by Felipe Massa in 2008 and the wrong car last year, needed a special boost. With Alonso it was immediately love at first sight and not just because he won in Bahrain on his debut. That could have been a coincidence. Great drivers can be seen in difficult moments, when they have to convey luck, serenity and trust, when the car goes badly, and he doesn't, he says he believes it, even though his rivals Red Bull Racing have a very competitive car, the gap is abysmal, you are the only one who claims that you can win the World Championship and no one has the courage to bet on it. Stefano Domenicali, the engineers, the mechanics could have run the risk of falling apart at the beginning of the summer, but with someone like him it's impossible. It could have been worse for the fans, who only hear his proclamations and not the advice and incitements to the team, but no one resigned, faith was mixed with pride and the Italy of motoring continued to cheer, even if maybe he thought he was sustaining a miracle. Now, after the triumph in Korea, after the World Championship seems so close, after seeing Sebastian Vettel holding a fire extinguisher to remove the Renault engine of his Red Bull Racing from the fire, and Mark Webber hugging the wall, they seem like conversations senseless, but at the beginning of August, after seeing his Ferrari slower by a second at every lap of the Budapest track, only a madman like Fernando Alonso could give himself a 50% victory. The Ferrari team needed this, the critics now have to admit that they were right. While the Red Bull Racing team was twisted in its conceit, with triumphs in Germany, Italy, Singapore and Korea the Spaniard was back in the running to win the World Championship. Now, with two races to go, faith is no longer needed, only hope is enough. May he continue to be like in Korea. Cynical, infallible, World Champion. Having eliminated its first opponent, Jenson Button, the big wheel of Formula 1 is preparing to grind out its next lap. From four, Fernando Alonso's opponents are reduced to three. The most aggressive of all, and also the one placed best in the standings, just 11 points behind, is the Australian Mark Webber. The Australian runs against everyone. Against Alonso and Ferrari, obviously, but also against his team, guilty of abandoning him at the best moment, preferring the younger and more glamorous Sebastian Vettel despite having earned the top position in the standings on the field. His Red Bull Racing remains, perhaps, the fastest car of the season and an eleven point gap, with a bit of luck, can be quickly recovered.
“I made a mistake, okay. But there are still two races left and you can bet, I will absolutely do my best."
But the shadow of Lewis Hamilton is also quite worrying. In Korea the Briton had something similar to a nervous breakdown, faced with perhaps unexpected pressing from Fernando Alonso. But he finished second and gained a significant margin at the top of the rankings. Now he's up there with 21 points and playing it all the way. And it was enough to hear his words on the radio to understand how much determination he intends to do so. The stewards were deciding whether or not to start the race. There was the safety car on the track, it was raining cats and dogs, it was getting dark, and you couldn't see anything. Jenson Button said he couldn't even see the front wheels of his car. Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the race, said it was the worst conditions he had ever driven in. Not him. He couldn't wait to get started.
“The circuit is good, and the visibility too, I have three cars in front and I can see everything."
Behind them, 25 points behind, the fourth man, Sebastian Vettel, who up to now can be defined as the great disappointment of the season. First driver of the team with the best car, he finds himself chasing everyone.
“There are still fifty points up for grabs, we can still do it, now let's put our heads down again and get back to work.”
What Vettel doesn't say, however, is that Red Bull Racing risks having to choose between its two drivers again. And this time without the possibility of errors. Letting them do it without giving indications could be very costly. To clarify: if it were to win both of the next races but with different drivers, the Austrian team would still risk losing the World Championship.
"Let's be clear: this year Red Bull has taken fourteen pole positions out of seventeen races. I'd say that the figure is quite clear, right?"
Until this moment, Stefano Domenicali, the team principal of the happiest Ferrari in the world, had tried to cool the enthusiasm of his boiling people with popular sayings. He had even gone to some smoky billiard room in Imola to find the ancient motto calm and chalk, whispered by expert players to beginners, before the most difficult shots. But it didn't help. His suggestion clashes with the inebriated faces of the onlookers (some even English) already ready for the celebration. And so on the night of Mokpo, poor Domenicali is forced to bring up, albeit with a bit of pain, the winning argument, the statistics.
"Fourteen poles out of seventeen, I repeat. It's a lot of stuff... It means something, right? Listen to me, let's keep our feet on the ground".
Of course, it means something: it means that Red Bull Racing are competitive, but also that just one bad race is enough to lose your advantage. Right?
"Exactly. In the end I am sure that the secret to completing our mission this year is exactly this. Staying calm, remaining clear and very, very focused, without excesses of any kind. Let's prepare the next two races in detail , let's do the best we can because listen to me, it will be very hard."
Stefan Domenicali's speech gradually becomes more and more realistic:
"The point is that despite the small advantage we have, we cannot afford any kind of problems."
So here's the secret:
"First we have to be reliable, from every point of view. And then we have to be able to manage the races without making mistakes."
From this point of view it is very important, according to Domenicali, that all members of the team, drivers, mechanics and pit wall, find the right psychological approach.
"Fernando has won three of the last four races, sending a very strong message to the whole team. But he must understand that we haven't done anything yet, and that there are many points to be awarded."
Also regarding the World Constructors' Championship.
"The Red Bull debacle also relaunches us from that point of view. That too will be very difficult, but we are there and we must do everything to bring it home. We don't want to give up anything, we will fight until the end with the knife between our teeth".
And so, the words spoken by Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, no later than Saturday evening, in the space of less than twenty-four hours, became waste paper. The vaunted Red Bull philosophy, the one that prevents sportsmen from giving team orders, from playing team games, becomes an annoying frill after just one Grand Prix gone wrong.
"We are willing to lose the World Championship to defend our way of experiencing sport".
Christian Horner had evidently lied on the eve of the Korean race, completely convinced of the unbeaten nature of his team. Well: after the disaster of the Korean Grand Prix he changed his mind and now says he is willing, as if he were a vulgar Italian and not an English sportsman, to consider the possibility of asking Sebastian Vettel to sacrifice himself to win the Championship In short, he does not rule out the possibility of doing exactly what Ferrari did in Hockenheim (when Massa was forced to let Alonso pass) and which he was the first to immediately criticise, with the hypocrisy of competition.
"I haven't had the chance to do the exact calculations yet, but it's something we have to take into consideration between now and the Brazilian match".
The exact calculations, if you look at them carefully, would suggest that he should not waste any more time and proceed immediately in that direction: even if Sebastian Vettel were to win both of the next races, Fernando Alonso would only need to achieve two third places to win the World Championship. So it's better to tell the German to pull over to the left and let Mark Webber pass, who has a few more chances (several to tell the truth). Were he to win even just one of the two Grands Prix, and with the car he has it isn't that unlikely, he would only need to not cause disasters in the other to put Fernando Alonso's title at risk. Who, however, now enjoys a certain advantage (with a first and third place he would mathematically be champion). Flavio Briatore summarizes, perhaps a little too much:
"Only a disaster can take the title away from him".
Also because Ferrari has resolved the thorny issue of internal team relations, not without a certain expenditure of energy (and some damage to its image) some time ago. From Hockenheim, exactly. And now, at least according to the considerations of the day before, which we know are worth as much as the predictions, i.e. zero, he finds himself enjoying an enormous, theoretical advantage. Because Felipe Massa, who until now has disappointed everyone a bit, regardless of what Stefano Domenicali and Luca Montezemolo say about it, is now in the optimal conditions to give a big hand to his teammate, and at the same time, give meaning to his own, otherwise useless, season. On the strength of a third place achieved with a more than dignified (though never brilliant) race, he can take the lead in what is considered by all to be his circuit, San Paolo, and finally steal some vital points from the competition. At Ferrari they matter a lot. This also explains the honeyed words uttered immediately after the race by the leaders. Those who spoke to us say that Felipe Massa, even if a little late, understood the situation perfectly. And he will do everything he can to not disappoint those who have placed their hopes on him.
"Humility, determination, it's not over yet, it's not done yet".
They, Luca Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali, try to keep the tension high within the team after the Korean Grand Prix. On Monday 25 October 2010, a quick toast takes place in Maranello to celebrate first and third place in the Korean Grand Prix and then everyone gets to work, preparing down to the smallest detail the trips to Brazil and Abu Dhabi which will close this long season. The message that the president of Ferrari, Luca Montezemolo, and the team principal, Stefano Domenicali, give to the Gestion Sportiva, gathered in the Logistics pavilion for the traditional appointment that follows each victory, is very clear: we remain with our feet on the ground because we we have won nothing yet. Stefano Domenicali says:
"Now comes the difficult part, we have to be aware of it. In the next three weeks we will have to be perfect in everything: reliability, work on the track and at home, preparation for the race. These are things we know well but it is better to repeat it once more. always said that this year the difference will be made by the head and so we must not be enchanted by praise just as we were not discouraged by criticism in the most difficult moments: let's leave easy enthusiasm outside the door".
And Luca Montezemolo adds:
"First of all I want to congratulate you and thank you because this beautiful comeback is thanks to you. In these last races I have seen a perfect Ferrari, both on the track and at home. This is the image that I want to be perceived outside, that of a team made up of competent, capable people, proud to represent an Italy that wins, as I saw in the faces of those of you who were under the podium on Sunday. I was happy to see once again a very strong and concentrated Fernando, who did not nothing went wrong and I was pleased to see Felipe on the podium again, on the eve of his home race where, I'm sure, he will have a great weekend. We weren't morons before nor have we become geniuses now: we are simply a team that he never gives up. But we haven't won anything yet. I've already told you other times: each of us must achieve pole position in our own work, putting humility, concentration and determination into it: then we'll take stock in Abu Dhabi".