As the season edges ever onwards, once more I aim to take a look at each race in the detail that I've become known for now, so let's see how things unfolded at the Korea International circuit.
For this one, it was all about whether the race would take place as a tropical storm had been blighting the nearby area in the build up to the race. Luckily, it passed by meaning the race could go ahead as scheduled.
Q1. Pretty much from the get go, Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was the star attraction setting an early pace for the other drivers to match up to with the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez giving an indication that maybe, just maybe, the car would turn up to the races this time with something to deliver (which is a hint at what's yet to come, bro's!). Behind those two was Mark Webber, who must surely still be stinging after that penalty handed down to him meaning that though he could very well take part in all three segments of qualifying, he was effectively ruled out of the first ten places!
Next came Seb Vettel, Fernando Alonso & Nico Rosberg before a rather surprising thing happened and Nico Hulkenberg actually went fastest!
I thought it was some fluke until you saw the way he was handling that car and it definitely looked like they were on it this time around as were the McLaren's of Jenson Button and "Checo" Perez who bumped Rosberg backwards to claim 5th and 6th respectively, before Rosberg went around faster still than Hulkenberg.
From out of nowhere almost, Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was next to strike hot and he hit 3rd place with some ease before the only controversial moment of this period saw Jules Bianchi appear to hold up Paul Di Resta on the final corner. This was a move that afterwards, Bianchi defended saying it is taken flat out so if he as the Marussia driver was flat-out, then Di Resta should have been so no harm no foul basically. A final note saw Valteri Bottas outdo his team-mate Pastor Maldonado.
Q2. The highlight for Q2 was definitely Checo out-qualifying his team-mate again, shaving off three one-thousandths of a second from Button's time even though they missed out on Q3. Once again the usual suspects went through with only the exception of the two Force India's, Button & Perez as I've mentioned along with the two Toro Rosso's of Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
Q3. Going into the final part of qualifying, both Seb Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have five poles apiece this season so it was odds on that one of these would be the ones to take it... and take it they did as Seb nicked it again in confident fashion, his time of 1:37.202 more than enough to beat Hamilton's 1:37.420 allowing him to once again take his car back into the pit and just wait as if he was saying 'I dare you to beat that time!'.
This all took place after Mark Webber had clocked in at 2nd position, before Hamilton overhauled his time as he sought to chase down the then pole-sitter, Vettel meaning that he (Webber) would start Sunday's race in 13th position; a damn sight further back than he would have liked, but that's what happens when you're penalised rather unfairly as I've already covered in the last review!
So, with qualifying finishing with a Red Bull lockout looming until Hamilton overturned it, you could bet that all eyes would be on Red Bull as once again that beast rears its ugly head that suggests Red Bull are somehow cheating... I'll quote Homer Simpson here, "that's pure grade-a bullplop"!
Right then, the top ten is Vettel, Hamilton, Grosjean (who crept up rather unsuspectingly even if he has been improving over the past few races), Rosberg, Alonso, Massa before, and for the first time ever, both Saubers and Kimi Räikkönen...
Coverage of the race continues in part two of my unswerving and at times unnerving coverage of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship race in Korea after the jump ===>>
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