With the drivers’ title already decided, the only question before the red lights went off to signal the start of the Korean Grand Prix was whether Red Bull would manage to snag the constructors’ championship as well or if McLaren, the only team with a shot at the title, could keep its (admittedly slim) chances alive for yet another race.
As it turned out, McLaren couldn’t. Despite Lewis Hamilton securing pole position on Saturday and Jenson Button taking third place on the grid, it took two-times world champion Sebastian Vettel less than half a lap into the race before overtaking Hamilton on the fourth corner.
From this point on, it was business as usual for the young German who built a comfortable lead and crossed the finish line first, with a 12-seconds difference from Hamilton.
The McLaren pilot raced side-by-side with the second Red Bull of Mark Webber, thankfully without the two cars coming into contact. Further back, Button squandered his good starting position by falling behind the Ferraris at the start of the race. He managed to overtake them during the first round of pit stops, and came very close to Webber and Hamilton, but was never fast enough to pass either.
Fernando Alonso didn’t have an easy race as for its most part he couldn’t get past his teammate, Felipe Massa. He did it in his final pit stop and then picked up his pace by 0.5 seconds a lap.
But the Spaniard found overtaking Button’s McLaren impossible, and after the race admitted defeat by saying “I just give up”.
As a reminder of who is the boss this year, despite having already secured his 10th win of the season, Vettel posted the fastest time of the race during the last lap…
Therefore, Red Bull bagged the constructor’s title, too, three races before the end of the season. “It’s phenomenal” was team’s boss Christian Horner comment on his team walking away with all the silverware for the second year in a row. “Phenomenal for the team, phenomenal for every single member of the Red Bull Racing / Red Bull Technology Group and for everyone working for Red Bull.”
Still, for the rest of the drivers and teams the championship is far from over, as they will fight for the best results in the three remaining races starting from India on October 30.