After Race 14: Korea

The bizarre (and dangerous) moment when a fire car took to the track mid-race
Source: FOM TV images

1. Sebastian Vettel (last week: 1^st, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 4^th)

Did anyone really expect a different outcome from the Korean race? Sebastian Vettel continued his Asian dominance with a second consecutive Grand Chelem and can clinch his fourth title in Japan if Fernando Alonso fails to finish in the top eight.

Not for the first time this season...
Source: Infiniti Red Bull Racing

2. Fernando Alonso (last week: 2^nd, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 13^th);
3. Kimi Räikkönen (last week: 3^rd, no change) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th);
4. Lewis Hamilton (last week: 4^th, no change) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 9th)

Vettel’s dominance was enhanced by the erratic weekends for his three closest rivals although the three world champions provided us with some outstanding wheel-to-wheel racing. Fernando Alonso clings onto his second position in the F1 Power Rankings despite a hugely mediocre weekend as the Ferrari was off the pace. Kimi Räikkönen endured another tough quali session but rebounded superbly in the race to defeat team-mate Romain Grosjean to P2 while Lewis Hamilton, who started on the front row, suffered from inexplicable incompetence from his Mercedes team as they acknowledged his tyre wear but kept him out on track losing bundles on time mid-race. This trio have been well-matched this year but nowhere near Vettel/RBR. 

The Hulk had a superb race
Source: Sauber F1 Team (Facebook)

5. Nico Hülkenberg (last week: 7^th, up two spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 19^th)

Simply outstanding from The Hulk: a second top-five finish in three races saw him elevate Sauber above Toro Rosso in the standings and, once again, raise question as to why he is not yet in a ‘top’ seat. His calmness in the battle against the Alonso and Hamilton was superb and he fully utilized the improved late-season Sauber and its excellent traction to hold them off throughout the race. It will be a shame if he is not in the Lotus next season. 

Smiles all round at Sauber as they move up in the Constructors' standings (Hulk & Monisha Kaltenborn)
Source: Sauber F1 Team (Facebook)

=6. Mark Webber (Season high: 1^st, low: 15^th) & Nico Rosberg (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th) (both were =5^th last week, down one spot); Romain Grosjean (last week: 9^th, up three spots) (Season high: 6^th, low: 22^nd)

Sparks for Nico Rosberg, fire for Mark Webber: the unlucky pair drop down a spot solely due to Nico Hülkenberg’s performance. It’s almost somewhat fitting that Webber’s dreadful luck continues right up until the end of his career; he was having a fine race as he recovered from his grid penalty before  suffering a puncture and then was the victim of Adrian Sutil haplessly losing control of his car, resulting in the Aussie’s day, literally, going up in smoke. Rosberg was also in the mix for a podium until his front wing spectacularly failed down the main straight. Grosjean, meanwhile, matches his season-high F1 Power Rankings of sixth after notching his third podium of the season (coincidentally, in all three races, the VET-RAI-GRO podium has been identical). 

The surreal thermal imaging camera showing Webber's fire
Source: FOM TV images

=9. Sergio Pérez (last week: 11^th, up two spots) (Season high: 8^th, low: 17^th) & Jenson Button (last week: 10^th, up one spot) (Season high: 5^th, low: 16^th)

The two McLaren drivers once again find themselves locked together in the F1 Power Rankings, moving up to ninth place having both bounced back from adversity during the race. JB required an early pit-stop to replace his front wing while Checo saw his front right tyre spectacularly explode down the main straight after a poor strategy call from the team. As I mentioned last week, McLaren seem to be treating Sergio Pérez quite harshly with their comments, there was nothing to separate the two drivers all weekend (Checo outqualified JB by 0.003 secs) and deserves more concrete assurance about his future.

11. Esteban Gutiérrez (last week: 12^th, up one spots) (Season high: 11^th, low: 22^nd)

It’s finally coming together for Esteban Gutiérrez. He made it into Q3 for the second race running, proving Singapore was no fluke, and made a superb start (up to sixth in the first two corners) but lost out in the Turn 3 mêlée through no fault of his own. He agonizingly came up just short of scoring a point, finishing eleventh, matching his F1 Power Rankings position this week – a season-high.

12. Daniel Ricciardo (last week: 13^th, up one spot) (Season high: 5^th, low: 18^th)

After his disappointing Singapore exit, Daniel Ricciardo bounced back with a strong Sunday drive in Korea. A mediocre team qualifying saw both STRs drop out in Q2 but Ricciardo was one of the big gainers in the aforementioned T3 shuffle and he held his own in the top ten all day long – having been the only gambler to start the race on the harder tyre. Brake failure eventually saw both Toro Rossos retire in the dying stages, robbing the Aussie of his point(s).

13. Felipe Massa (last week: 8^th, down five spots) (Season high: 3^rd, low: 15^th)

Korea perfectly summed up Felipe Massa’s season: consistently inconsistent. Having lined up alongside Alonso on the grid, he proceeded to throw away his decent quali effort in Turn 3 – almost wiping out both team cars in the process – causing absolute havoc. Aided by the safety car, Massa battled back to score points but he lost ground to Hülkenberg in the battle for the 2014 Lotus drive. 

Massa found himself at the back of the field in the opening stages
Source: Caterham F1 Team (Facebook)

14. Jules Bianchi (last week: 15^th, up one spot) (Season high: 6^th, low: 15^th)

Another solid weekend from Jules Bianchi (his penalty for blocking Paul di Resta in qualifying was extremely harsh); he has re-signed with Marussia for 2014 and will look to build on a promising rookie campaign.

15. Giedo van der Garde (last week: 14^th, down one spot) (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd) & 16. Charles Pic (last week: 19^th, up three spots) (Season high: 7^th, low: 19^th)

Charles Pic equalled his best result of the season (fourteenth) as he edged Giedo van der Garde in the Caterham battle. VDG had an eventful race, which included picking up a drive-through penalty amidst the first lap mayhem, but still managed to finish on the tail of his team-mate – enough to keep him ahead in the F1 Power Rankings.

17. Jean-Eric Vergne (last week: 18^th, up one spot) (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th) 

JEV moves up one spot despite a hugely underwhelming weekend (mainly due to others having even worse performances) which saw him bottom of Q2 and retire late on with brake failure. Outperformed by Ricciardo, he said it best, “I just want to get to Suzuka…”

18. Pastor Maldonado (last week: 20^th, up two spots) (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd)

Credit Pastor Maldonado for a solid race – although he still ended up behind his team-mate. The Venezuelan gained massively from the turn one shenanigans and ran strongly until the safety cars bunched the field up and he was powerless to defend those behind him due to his tyre-life.

19. Paul di Resta (last week: 16^th, down three spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 19^th)

Wow. Nineteenth in the F1 Power Rankings is a far cry from his outstanding first half of the season. Unfortunately for PDR, as crunch time for 2014 contracts commences, those performances have almost been forgotten as Force India flounders in the midfield battle. Even worse for Paul, it was his own mistake that ended his race.

20. Max Chilton (Season high: 17^th, low: 22^nd) & Valtteri Bottas (Season high: 10^th, low: 21^st) (both were =20^th last week, no change)

No change for either driver this week. Both were solid, if somewhat unspectacular.

Story of the season at Marussia as Bianchi leads Chilton
Source: Marussia F1 Team (Facebook)

22. Adrian Sutil (last week: 17^th, down five spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th)

Oh dear. The less said about Sutil, the better. He was rightly branded a ‘clown’ by Martin Brundle during commentary after his incident with Webber. His Melbourne heroics have long been forgotten and, unlike Webber, if he’s not in the F1 paddock in 2014, he won’t be missed.

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