Fernando Alonso wins 2010 Korean Grand Prix

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

File photo of Fernando Alonso (2010)
Image: Morio.
Korean International Circuit

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso won the first ever FIA 2010 Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam, South Korea. With two races to go, Alonso now leads the drivers' championship, closely followed by Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton.

As Typhoon Megi reached China, heavy rain hit Yeongam on Sunday afternoon and the race was red-flagged for about half an hour, before conditions improved. Both Red Bull drivers failed to finish despite starting first and second from the grid before and after race restarted. Webber ran wide and hit a wall, hitting Nico Rosberg's Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel’s engine blew up during his spurt to the finish line leading the race.

Fernando Alonso driving at the previous GP
Image: Morio.

Hamilton changed places twice with Alonso behind Vettel, but finished second for McLaren. Alonso's teammamte Felipe Massa closing the podium on third place. Michael Schumacher drove his best race in this season for Mercedes overtaking Robert Kubica's Renault after the restart following the red flag. Schumacher finished fourth and Kubica fifth.

Vitantonio Liuzzi placed his Force India on 6th place after his teammate, Adran Sutil, crashed in lap 47 after coming into contact with Kamui Kobayashi's {{w|BMW Sauber|Sauber}. Rubens Barrichello's Williams gets passes by both Kubica and Liuzzi to finish 7th ahead Kobayashi. The two German drivers of Sauber and Williams—Nick Heidfeld and Nico Hülkenberg closed the top ten.

The situation in the season's standings has now changed in favour of Alonso—the Spaniard leads the driver's championship with 231 points, 11 more than Webber, who is in second place with 220 points. Hamilton and Vettel are third and fourth in the rankings with 210 and 206 respectively. Jenson Button has admitted he now has little hope of winning the title—he is in fifth with 189 points. The constructors' standings list is still dominated by Red Bull, who have 426 points, McLaren with 399 and Ferrari with 374. There are two races left until the end of the season, the first in Brazil, and the second a week later in Abu Dhabi.


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