Alonso finished .825 seconds behind Kimi, unable to catch the Lotus in the remaining laps. His DRS was wide open but he simply did not have enough time for the much needed win. Those extra points would have come in very handy in the final total. Alonso’s been there before.

Sebastian Vettel drove the race of the season, starting from dead last in the pit row, overcoming obstacles and wing changes to finish third and retained his lead in the world championship. He still has ten point s over Alonso.

It was an amazing race in anyone’s book, one of those landmark events that will stand out among dozens of F1 races in the last few years, one that even old timers will recall. One needed coffee to stay awake during the Abu Dhabi event. The battle of the ex-world champions is creating pure excitement and entertainment like rarely before. While there have been other seasons with multiple world champions on the grid, few of the champions have had so many competitive cars under them. This year, every one of the ex-champs has a potential race-winning machine. Only the most famous of them all, Schumacher, has failed to perform brilliantly this year. He finished 11th after a good but ineffectual performance at Abu Dhabi.

It is getting late in the season. One could feel the tension, even through thousands of miles of telecommunications medium. Palpable is the word. It was a race filled with accidents and incidents, perhaps most notably Webber, who consistently found himself entangled and eventually on lap 37 did it up well enough to break the rear suspension and retire. Most spectacularly was Rosberg, who went out flying on the first lap, just about destroying the Mercedes. In total, Grosjean, Webber, Karthikeyan, Rosberg and Hulkenberg were out of the race due to accidents.

Tire strategy was crucial and among the leaders, it was Vettel who played the rubber right, changing to soft yellows mid-race while everyone was on the mediums, giving him the opportunity to pass Button for third only three laps from the finish. The question was, how did Vettel come from 19th place to third? The pace of the race and the numerous incidents (with two safety cars) was so brisk that it was hard to keep up with the changing positions. After the race, David Coulthard asked Vettel if he thought he’d see the podium after starting from dead last. “Yes, in fact I did.” Coulthard should have known better than to ask

I had to check back, but it was only two races ago that we commented that Räikkönen was now ripe to win another Grand Prix and he did, taking command of the race shortly after the unfortunate Hamilton retired from the lead with a blown engine. He held off a charging Alonso to the final lap, taking the Lotus-Renault where no man had been before, proving to everyone that he still had the right stuff. Like Vettel, Räikkönen knew it all along. On lap 25 when he inherited the lead from Hamilton, no one aside from Kimi thought that he would keep the lead. On lap 35, when Vettel had moved from last to 2nd, no one aside from Kimi thought that he would keep the lead. On lap 55, with Alonso less than one second behind, no one aside from Kimi thought he would keep the lead. Center on the podium Kimi acted as if he has always been there. Perhaps he’ll be there again, but it’s tough going.

In any event, the championship is now between Alonso and Vettel, with odds on Vettel to take his third title. We’ll be there for the final two, and Texas is up next in two weeks.

Race Results

1	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	1h45m58.667s
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 0.8s
3	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	+ 4.1s
4	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 7.7s
5	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	+ 13.0s
6	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 20.0s
7	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 22.8s
8	SENNA	Williams-Renault	+ 23.5s
9	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 24.1s
10	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	+ 27.4s
11	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 28.0s
12	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	+ 34.9s
13	KOVALAINEN	Caterham-Renault	+ 47.7s
14	GLOCK	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 56.4s
15	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 56.7s
16	PETROV	Caterham-Renault	+ 64.5s
17	DE LA ROSA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 71.7s
18	PIC	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 14 laps, engine
19	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	+ 18 laps, accident
20	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 18 laps, accident
21	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 36 laps, fuel-pressure problem
22	KARTHIKEYAN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 48 laps, accident
23	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 48 laps, accident
24	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	+ 55 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	1m43.964s

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	255 Points
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	245 Points
3	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	198 Points
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	167 Points
5	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	165 Points
6	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	153 Points
7	MASSA	Ferrari	95 Points
8	ROSBERG	Mercedes	93 Points
9	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	90 Points
10	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	66 Points
11	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	58 Points
12	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	49 Points
13	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	46 Points
14	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	43 Points
15	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	43 Points
16	SENNA	Williams-Renault	30 Points
17	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	12 Points
18	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	10 Points

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	422 Points
2	FERRARI	340 Points
3	McLAREN-MERCEDES	318 Points
4	LOTUS-RENAULT	288 Points
5	MERCEDES	136 Points
6	SAUBER-FERRARI	124 Points
7	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	95 Points
8	WILLIAMS-RENAULT	73 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	22 Points

We thought that it was unusual that the prime tire for India was the silver-labeled hard-compound and the option was the yellow. It looked at first like it would be a tire war but it wasn’t the case. In fact most of the drivers started on the soft yellows, which then turned out to last for more than 25 laps and allowed a one stop strategy. Between lap 25 and lap 31 everyone came into the pits to change to the hard primes, and with decreasing fuel loads the harder compound tires easily lasted the remaining 30 or so laps. Everyone then was even-up, i.e., Red Bull won fair and square. We can’t cry here about tire degradation issues but then again, had there not been any of that nonsense in previous races, the Ferrari team would be sitting at the top, not Red Bull. But hush, not a word about our sponsors.

Alonso did what he absolutely had to do, which was to do nothing wrong and finish a good second. Massa too, having almost out qualified Alonso, sat next to him on the grid, albeit in the third row after the two Red Bulls and the two revitalized McLarens. The first few laps were particularly exciting as Alonso challenged both the McLarens and defeated one. It took him only another four laps to get Button on the other McLaren, but he still had to get by Weber. As Vettel deftly sailed into the smoggy Indian sunset, Alonso was struggling with Hamilton and Weber throughout the race. Massa had dropped to 6th place overall; don’t ask why.

Button came in on lap 26 but Vettel was still out on the softs and turning fastest laps. Now it became a game of who will pit first, or last, for in this game, those who pit last wins. Alonso blinked first and came in on lap 30, Weber waited until lap 31, Hamilton stopped on lap 33 and changed all five wheels in 3.3 seconds, and finally on lap 34, Vettel came in for his silver streaks and did so without losing the lead. The race was as good as over if the car lasted.

Raikonnen sulked back in 6th and 7th spots, waiting for something to happen up front, unable to get up a lot of straight line speed. He waited and waited but no one blew it and he finished about where he had started.

Weber’s car may have been slowing for some reason, as Alonso finally passed the Aussie on lap 48 at the very end of the long straight, snapping the Red Bull up like a frog catching a fly, right before the corner. It was an impressive pass. How we longed to see the fight taken to Vettel. But by lap 55 Vettel had a 10 second lead that would prove insurmountable, despite a sparking chassis.

Schumacher…his run of either bad luck or a bull-in-the-china-shop syndrome continues to cause unpleasant incidents with fellow drivers. We are not sure of the cause, but on the first lap he tangled with several cars, got a puncture for his efforts and finished well down.
Maldonado went off on lap 31, De La Rosa retired on lap 45, Perez kept getting punctures, Kobayashi finished midfield in an unspectacular fashion, and once again Grosjean was a nice guy and finished that way.

Hundreds of thousands of eager enthusiastic Indian F1 fans cheered the cars and Bernie Ecclestone too—India is becoming a major market for exotic cars, and who knows, maybe old Ferraris as well as new ones.

Before the start, SpeedTV gave us a brief view of the new track at Austin Texas, which not unsurprisingly looks, well, just like any of the rest of the new breed of F1 tracks. It will premier in three weeks’ time on November 18th. We hope it succeeds.

Well, Austin anyone? You’ll love it.

Abu Dhabi is next on November 4th.

Race Results

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	1h31m10.744s
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 9.4s
3	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 13.2s
4	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 13.9s
5	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 26.2s
6	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 44.6s
7	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	+ 45.2s
8	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	+ 54.9s
9	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	+ 56.1s
10	SENNA	Williams-Renault	+ 74.9s
11	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 81.6s
12	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 82.8s
13	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	+ 86.0
14	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 86.4s
15	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
16	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	+ 1 lap
17	PETROV	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
18	KOVALAINEN	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
19	PIC	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
20	GLOCK	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
21	KARTHIKEYAN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
22	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 5 laps, gearbox
23	DE LA ROSA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 18 laps, brakes
24	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 40 laps, puncture damage
Fastest Lap	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	1m28.203s

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	240 Points
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	227 Points
3	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	173 Points
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	167 Points
5	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	165 Points
6	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	141 Points
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes	93 Points
8	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	90 Points
9	MASSA	Ferrari	89 Points
10	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	66 Points
11	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	50 Points
12	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	49 Points
13	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	44 Points
14	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	43 Points
15	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	33 Points
16	SENNA	Williams-Renault	26 Points
17	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	12 Points
18	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	9 Points

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	407 Points
2	FERRARI	316 Points
3	McLAREN-MERCEDES	306 Points
4	LOTUS-RENAULT	263 Points
5	MERCEDES	136 Points
6	SAUBER-FERRARI	116 Points
7	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	93 Points
8	WILLIAMS-RENAULT	59 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	21 Points

This led to a rather exciting first lap, with multiple passings and re-passing, sometimes four abreast. And at the beginning of lap 2, “every top ten driver to have started on the right hand-side of the grid had lost position to the driver starting on the left,” to quote Pete Gill of Planetf1. That included Vettel, of course, who quickly increased the distance between his RB8 and all other drivers, including team-mate Webber. Alonso was third giving Ferrari fans serious hopes as the Spaniard started attacking the Aussie driver. However…

Behind the leaders, it was soon mayhem just beyond second crossing of the start-finish line. Kobayashi, perhaps over-thrilled by his first podium ever in Japan, turned into a kamikaze. First, he banged Rosberg into a wall before turn one, forcing the unlucky German into yet another early retirement. Shortly thereafter, on the same lap at turn 3, it was Button’s turn, and though he hit no wall, his front left suspension was broken by Kamui’s left rear tire, which shredded on impact; game over for the hapless Brit. Same verdict for Kobayashi a number of laps later, but probably including his hopes of keeping his F1 seat with Sauber.

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At the front, meanwhile, it remained an all-Red Bull affair; memories of 2011. Vettel kept his lead until the end – even though in the last ten laps he had to very carefully nurse his right front tire at the urging of his (for once) very nervous pit crew. Webber easily finished second, as Alonso could never quite make up the difference between his prancing horse and the charging bulls, in spite of his ace driving. In fact, Massa – yes, Felipe Massa – was right behind the Spaniard during the last dozen laps and coming so close he had to be told in no uncertain terms by his engineer to “keep a distance of at least two seconds at all times” between his car and Alonso’s,” which the dutiful Brazilian did. This very strong performance in Korea, following visibly improved showings in the previous three races, now confirm a true renaissance of this able and loyal driver and – breaking news – has officially guaranteed him one extra year with Ferrari.

Behind these four drivers, Raikkonen did the best his car could and finished fifth, followed by a revived Hulkenberg who might very well end up in Kobayashi’s seat next season. What about Hamilton, you now ask. He had a miserable race, and his car never seemed to be right for him – in fact he had a broken anti-roll bar, which tortured both his tires and pace. He was the only top driver who had to change tires three times. During the last five laps, he was even seen lamentably vying to keep the two Toro Rossos behind him, while his McLaren was trailing what appeared like a long green scarf on its right side beneath the radiator pod – actually a piece of astro-turf caught in a wide corner. The strange flapping of this green swath made his final stint look even more sullen, as Jean-Eric Vergne first, then Daniel Ricciardo both passed the McLaren, leaving Hamilton with P10.

This earned the Woking team just one single driver point for the weekend and allowed Ferrari to grab the second spot in the Manufacturers Championship from them – 290 to 284 points. The humiliation!

On that last topic, Michael Schumacher finished in P13, after a fully undistinguished race, except that he avoided another spectacular mistake. Pete Gill called the German’s 2012 season “a squalid long goodbye.” P13, some will find that number symbolic. It was clearly bad luck to attempt a come back. And the people in Stuttgart are not smiling. Messrs. Brawn and Fry? Step forward, please.

And so with four races left – India is next – Vettel has now regained the lead in the driver championship over Alonso by 6 points. Red Bull is rising into the clouds. Unless Maranello can bring a wild stallion of a new trick out of its red magic bag by October 25, this season ending can be labeled “Advantage Vettel” in Red Bull Day-Glo.

Before we leave, there was a “Breaking News” announcement that concerns all American fans: F1 Management announced that it will not renew its long-running association with Speed TV after the 2012 season ends. People in the know told me that NBC Sports has the new multi-year contract. While it is sad for the always-entertaining Speed TV anchors, it marks a clear commitment by Ecclestone and the F1 teams towards expansion of their coverage in North America, where they will have three races next year between the North Pole and the Rio Grande. It’s about time.

Race Results

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	1h36m28.651s
2	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 8.2s
3	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 13.9s
4	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 20.1s
5	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	+ 36.7s
6	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	+ 45.3s
7	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	+ 54.8s
8	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	+ 69.5s
9	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	+ 71.7s
10	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 79.6s
11	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 80.0s
12	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 84.4s
13	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 89.2s
14	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	+ 94.9s
15	SENNA	Williams-Renault	+ 96.9s
16	PETROV	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
17	KOVALAINEN	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
18	GLOCK	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
19	PIC	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
20	KARTHIKEYAN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
21	DE LA ROSA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 39 laps, throttle
22	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 39 laps, accident damage
23	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 54 laps, accident
24	BUTTON	Mercedes	+ 55 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	1m42.037s

NOTE: Pic dropped 10 grid spots for unscheduled engine change; Ricciardo dropped five for gearbox penalty. Karthikeyan failed to set a Q3 time within the 107% requirement – raced at stewards‘ discretion.

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	215 Points
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	209 Points
3	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	167 Points
4	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	153 Points
5	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	152 Points
6	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	131 Points
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes	93 Points
8	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	88 Points
9	MASSA	Ferrari	81 Points
10	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	66 Points
11	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	50 Points
12	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	45 Points
13	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	44 Points
14	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	43 Points
15	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	33 Points
16	SENNA	Williams-Renault	25 Points
17	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	12 Points
18	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	9 Points

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	367 Points
2	FERRARI	290 Points
3	McLAREN-MERCEDES	284 Points
4	LOTUS-RENAULT	255 Points
5	MERCEDES	136 Points
6	SAUBER-FERRARI	116 Points
7	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	89 Points
8	WILLIAMS-RENAULT	58 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	21 Points