I found this to be a good breakdown of the Korean GP from PlanetF1:

Lewis was brilliant in a slow(ish) car. But Fernando was even better...

There Are Some Things That Just Don't Sound Right
Such as Fernando Alonso laughing.


And There Are Some People Who Never Sound Right
Jonathan Legard's worse race yet? There was confusion over the location of a bridge, frequent interruptions of Martin Brundle - a disobedience of rank as well as decent manners - and, most inexplicably of all, the failure to spot Nico Rosberg overtaking Lewis Hamilton. Something about a different colour of helmet? Cringeworthy.


Lessons For Korea...
Though it suffered a few teething problems, and the pit entrance is a ridiculously flawed piece of the design, F1's latest newcomer receives an enthusiastic thumbs up. The concrete walls hindered drainage of the race track, but their presence offers a distinctive visual feature to picture and remember in the mind's eye. Of all the many tracks added to the F1 calendar in recent years, this might be the most memorable.

However, a few improvements are urgently required, and not just to the curbs, drains and pit-lane entrance. Korea is, we're reliably informed, the fifth-largest manufacturer of road vehicles in the world. So here's hoping that by this time next year, they've also succeeded in finding a few cranes.


Coulthard's Weekend Was Wasted
The BBC can be applauded for trying something different over the weekend by sending David Coulthard to cover the weekend from McLaren's nerve centre in their Woking factory. As an idea, it was commendable. But this wasn't the time for the Beeb to redeploy their chief pundit. Not the time at all. If this idea had a place then it was at the start of the season.

Nor did it work in practice. Coulthard was an anonymous figure for the three key hours of the weekend and offered little insight when he did speak up. The impression was peddled that Coulthard was privy to information ahead of the track commentators, yet those same bits of information were available 'as live' on McLaren's race website along with all of Hamilton's frequent assurances that it was safe to race.


An Absence Of A Clear Picture From Whiting
One radio transmission from Hamilton that Coulthard failed to relay was this call from the McLaren driver made three laps before the end of the race:

"It's too dark now. I nearly didn't see the car coming back onto the track in the last corner."

No radio pit-to-car transmissions were broadcast during the final ten laps but it's safe to assume that Hamilton wasn't alone in believing that conditions had become too dark. Television always adds artificial light to its footage but it was evident from the lone on-board camera shot broadcast during Hamilton's slowing-down lap that the race essentially finished at night.

Paradoxically, that lack of clarity clearly contradicted the decision made earlier by Charlie Whiting to keep the Safety Car on track for another two laps after Hamilton insisted that the conditions were so placid that he could use intermediate tyres and the spray was an inconvenience rather than a danger. It's an easy judgement to make devoid of responsibility, but it looked from here that the race started three laps too late and ended three laps after it ought to have done.


...And Hamilton Was Vindicated By His Go Slow
There was some irony in Hamilton being jumped by Nico Rosberg when the race did belatedly begin in proper fashion given that he had been so vocal in calling for its start. But his relative struggle actually proved his point. The McLaren wasn't attuned for the conditions any more than its rivals. Hamilton might have had a vested interest in the race beginning because a non-result would have all-but terminated his title chances, but the point to stress is that he still believed the conditions were race worthy even though they offered no competitive advantage.

"To me, it felt no different to any other wet race," Hamilton reported afterwards. "There was no aquaplaning at all." Indeed, the only apparent danger was to F1 itself. The sport lurched towards embarrassment as it continued, for no apparent justification, to trundle behind the Safety Car. One more lap and it would have reached a farce.

Arguing against a safety-first approach is itself a dangerous undertaking, but a duty of care towards the sport itself shouldn't be ignored either. F1 is both in the entertainment industry and an inherently risky sport. For better or for worse, that risk is part of the appeal. It's also one of the reasons why its participants are among the highest paid sportsmen in the world. They can't have it both ways.


Jenson Must Do The Decent Thing
From the sounds of it, the soon-to-be-dethroned World Champion was using new parts on his McLaren during his miserable afternoon and, unless Jenson's bafflement was a convincing act, they contributed significantly to his struggles. His McLaren ended the race as the slowest car on track.

Once again, therefore, it would appear that McLaren have lost a battle in the development war. The team excel at making new parts and rolling them off the production line but the failure of those new parts has been a theme of the season. It's why Ferrari have caught the Red Bulls and McLaren haven't.


McLaren Still Losing Out
Hamilton's title prospects advanced substantially in Korea but barring a sudden pace injection in Brazil that advance will not be maintained for long. In a three-car title race, the McLaren is a distant third.

Red Bull have lead the way since April but the team sprinting to the line are Ferrari. Momentum is a critical matter in sport and, with Fernando Alonso winning four of the last seven races, Ferrari have exclusive rights to its feel-good factor. Hats off. The team have timed their sprint perfectly.


Fernando Drove At The Peak Of His Considerable Powers
So, too, has their number one driver. As remarked a few months ago, the number of mistakes made by Alonso during the first-half of the campaign was remarkable given that the Spaniard prides himself on his consistency of performance. But since Silverstone, when he confidently predicted a title triumph, he has been better than his word. Only in qualifying in Belgium has he been anything other than outstanding.

Even this weekend, the mistake of Hamilton and failure of Vettel's Red Bull were gifts he probably didn't require. He certainly had ample pace to retake the position lost to Hamilton at the pit stops - just look at the distance between their two cars at the chequered flag. We'll never know if Vettel could have been trumped but it shouldn't be overlooked that the Spaniard had closed the gap to 1.5 seconds at the time that the Red Bull's engine blew and Vettel was being reeled in despite Alonso protecting his tyres.

What we do know, however, is that Alonso drove with a touch of genius.

In a race that was scarcely green for forty laps, and was interrupted by three subsequent safety-car deployments, the Spaniard beat his team-mate to the line by 30 seconds. Thirty. In F1 terms, the difference is a lifetime. In driving terms, it's the difference between being very good and possessing the devil of genius.

 

And watch out for snakes

 

Yes! That was the funniest bit about the race to me. Because of all the rain and flooding, poisonous snakes were coming out of the swamp and into the area around the track.

I wonder if anyone was bitten!

 

Don't they eat snakes in Korea? Or just in Thailand

 

Jonathan Legard really annoyed me this last race, at least Murray Walker did his gaffe's in a charismatic way.