Korean Grand Prix 2012: live Lap 20 Hamilton is stil ojn the radio complaining about something but is not clear about what is troubling him but he is losing speed and in the first sector is already 7 tenths off the pace. Lap 19 Hamilton on the radio saying his tyres are not going to last. Right to give you an idea of where everyone is: Vettel continues to lead with Webber second and Alonso third. Hamilton is holding fourth from Massa who is chased by Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. Maldonado has got himself in front of Grosjean and that could well spell trouble for 8/9th place! Lap 18 no sooner to I write that but Kobayashi has retired from the race, his car has just been backed into the Sauber garage. It's got worse for Perez who's lost a position now to Raikkonen so is now back in seventh. His team have also just pitted him so it looks like the one-stop race is off. Lap 17 If you're just rubbing the sleep out of your eyes and joining me, Button and Rosberg's races came to an end on the first lap of this race due to the Sauber of Kobayashi. The Japanese driver has since been handed a drive through penalty and is last and a couple of laps behind the leaders. Ian Caldwell has emailed me his thoughts: Unless there's a mechanical or tyre issue the Red Bulls will hold station with Alonso third. The WC is between Vettel and Alonso. Hamilton and Raikkonen are out. Lap 16 and now we have a great battle with Alonso and Perez! The Ferrari just had the edge coming out of the pit lane and now it's gone wrong for the Sauber as Hamilton takes advantage of the young driver going wide and takes the position on the exit of turn 4. Fantastic move from Hamilton, really well worked and his patience paid off. Lap 15 Webber pits from second so Alonso now chases Vettel. Perez is yet to pit as he is on the hards, he's 4th and has done well to stay in front of Hamilton. Vettel set to come in now and Ferrari react and bring their man in too Lap 14 All the top 10 now coming into the pits and most going on to the harder tyres. Hulkenburg's done well to break away from Grosjean coming out of that break and that looks like it was a slow release from the Lotus team while the Frenchman's waving his hands around to suggest an unsafe release from Force India. Lap 13 Schumacher is driving wonderfully in 10th place holding off a persistent challenge from Di Resta who now has a Toro Rosso on his tail. At the front Vettel has pulled out with have a 3.5 second lead on Webber. Hamilton the first of the front runners to pit and it's very very fast from the McLaren team. Lap 12 Asked if he thought he was still in with a chance of winning the title, Button added, "No, definitely not. I'll enjoy myself over the next few races. It's out of our hands. Here's what Jenson Button has had to say about his race ending: I think you missed something I said. It's two corners long. I got a good start and I was able to get past both Mercedes and then Sergio went late, he didn't hit me he hit the car in front and broke something so I had to run wide. Sauber's over the back of me and I don't know what happened then. I don't know what's going on. It's pretty disappointing and there's so much opportunity here as well. It's a great race circuit and that's why its so surprising people are driving like that. Lap 11 Williams confirming that the problem Senna is experiencing with his car is in fact due to debris fromt he track getting inside. They confirm he will be pitted shortly. Hamilton meanwhile being told he "is on target" Lap 10 incredible straight-line speed from the Toro Rossos and this time Ricciardo takes a place from Senna. They're in fantastic form so far today! A little further ahead there's a good duel building between Hulkenberg and Grosjean with the Frenchman chasing the Force India for 7th place Lap 9 Rosberg's car is finally being lifted off the track which means DRS will be re-enabled again shortly. Another great move from the Toro Rosso's and this time it's Jean Eric Vergne to take 12th place. Lap 8 the Red Bulls now pulling away from Alonso and Hamilton but well done to Webber who really is not letting his team-mate pull off here. Kobayashi has been handed a drive-through penalty for that incident with Button so that will put him even further behind in this race as he currently is last. And he honours it immediately. Lap 7 both Toro Rossos makes a delightful move on Maldonado who looks to be struggling in his Williams. Lap 6 Ricciardo on the radio saying he is losing time as he sits stuck behind his team-mate. They're all stuck in a mini jam behind Maldonado. Button and Rosberg have made their way back to the pits and the helmets are on which loosely translates as "do not approach." DRS disabled Here's abhishek406 predictions for today: Vettel changed the championship scene with 2 straight victories. Surely Lewis or Kimi can do something similar? I'm hoping it's Kimi who does ! Lap 5 Vettel fastest out there at the moment but is struggling to pull away from Webber at the moment. Alonso and Hamilton follow the Red Bulls and Massa is 5th with Perez, Grosjean, Hulkenburg, Raikkonen and Schumacher completing the top 10. Lap 4 So Button was in a "Sauber sandwich" and he was right to brand Kobayashi and idiot after that. The Sauber hit Rosberg first and then Button so he is responsible for both retirements to a degree. Alonso has moved up to third which will not please Hamilton. Lap 3 replays of the start then showthat Hamilton was very lucky not to hit the Red Bulls who spotted the gap that the McLaren was going for. Button was hit by KObayashi as I said and he sustained too much front right damage to continue. Another busy weekend for the stewards already then. Lap 2 right so there will be no Gangnam style from Rosberg as his race just ened too. Vettel is leading this race then with Webber behind. Kobayashi has pitted following that collision with Button. Great get away from Senna who is up to 12th now having started 18th. Lap 1 Button's race is over. "Kobayashi hit me, what an idiot," the McLaren driver says as he pulls up. What a shame because on the tyres he was on he had such a good race strategy. Just awaiting a replay of that but it sounds as though the Sauber driver will be handed some form of penalty for that. First corner: Lights out and the Red Bulls went off well and as expected Vettel has taken P1 into the first turn but GREAT racing between the front two and they go wheel to wheel out of the second turn while just behind Hamilton and Alonso charged down side by side! No incidents, so much going on by breathe a sigh of relief. Right, here we go...race time! Just touching back on the gangnam style video I mentioned, here's Nico Rosberg enjoying a live performance earlier in the week, he's also promised to perform it if he makes the podium. 6:59 OK it's almost time for lights out, so let's make some predicitons. I think the podium will consists of three of the front four cars, who'll miss out? I'm going for Vettel as he's had car problems this morning, many will shake their heads at this but my gut instinct is suually wrong so I'll go against it this week. Much has been said about the speed Red Bull have shown in the last few races but for one man, their resurgence is nothing his team can't match apparently. Alonso yesterday hailed Ferrari as a stronger team and said he is confident of snatching victory today. I have confidence we will do a good race, the long runs normally are good for us, yesterday they were good and in race pace there are many factors. In qualifying it is just about the quickest car getting pole position, in the race it is not only about the quickest car. You need to have good strategy, good tyres, good pit-stops and a good start... so many things. On that in general, I think we are the strongest team with all these factors. Thanks to this strength we are leading the championship. We need to show our good points and hide a little bit our weakness, which maybe is qualifying. Today we did a good qualifying and we need to use our strong point tomorrow. 6:50 Outside the top 10 there has been a penalty handed out and that was to Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo who's dropped five place for an for an unscheduled gearbox change. The Australian had qualified in 16th place, one ahead of French team mate Jean-Eric Vergne. 6:47 You all saw what happened last weekend, with Alonso retiring on turn one the title race was blown open...well it allowed Vettel to get right back in so today's race it pivotal to the championship with just four races left after this weekend. Red Bull dominated at this track last year and as such Ferrari cannot afford any errors this afternoon. While Hamilton, Raikkonen and Button remain in with a mathematical chance of the title they'll need a huge swing of fortune to catch the front runners. With that said, here's a little more information about the Yeongam track: Circuit length: 5.615km/3.489miles Laps: 55 Race distance: 309.155km/192.099miles Lap record: One minute 39.605 seconds (Sebastian Vettel 2011) 2011 winner: Sebastian Vettel 2011 pole position: Lewis Hamilton 1:35.820s 2011 fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel 1:39.605s Tyre compounds to be used: Soft/supersoft Overtaking chance: Mainly into turn three Average speed: 205kph (127.38mph) Gear changes per lap: 51 Number of corners: 18 (11 left/7 right) Number of safety cars deployed last year: one We only have 20 minutes to go before lights out, so here's what out columnist David Coulthard has had to say about Korea this week: Who to watch: Sebastian Vettel is going for a hat-trick of wins in Korea and he was fastest in free practice. Where the race will be won and lost Once again tyre degradation will be important, as it is a long circuit 6:38 This is by far and away my favourite images from the weekend so far. Webber and Vettel dancing 'Gangnam Style' with Psy. If you're not familiar with him then I'll bring you a video of the track shortly but I'm sure you can expect to hear it numerous times today, particularly at the end of the race as he'll be waving the chequered flag. 6:32 Now I am not sure when I last wrote this but there are NO penalties for any of the top 10 runners this morning...that makes a nice change doesn't it but who do you reckon will be the first to cause some trouble? Grosjean as we saw last week courted some harsh criticism for his error on the first turn and the Frenchman's been involved in a flurry of incidents this season. A word of warning really must be issued then for the front six cars as today's race gets started...Grosjean is starting 7th. What do you think can be done to help him out? Has he got a special awareness problem? Has he simply had a huge run of bad luck and on a number of occasions been in the wrong place at the wrong time? I think he is a phenomenal driver, lacking in experience perhaps, but definitely one that will succeed in years to come. 6:20 Good morning/afternoon/evening F1 fans and welcome to what is another unnaturally early Sunday morning wake up time for myself and other UK viewers. As ever I am armed with a bucket of coffee and am ready and raring to go for today's race. Just 24 hours ago I awoke to news that one Mr Mark Webber had snatched himself pole position, that was my first prediction of the weekend wrong then, I had his team-mate Sebastian Vettel down for prime position, but no matter, we still have ourselves a Red Bull front row lock out. Behind the Red Bulls are Lewis Hamitlon (3rd) and Fernando Alonso (4th) so Webber on pole could really play into Hamilton's race plan...at least so says Martin Whitmarsh. Asked about the prospect of Webber moving aside to allow Vettel to clear off and win, he thought it was unlikely. "I don't think he will willingly, it is possible," he said. Here's how they start: 1st row Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) 2nd row Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) 3rd row Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus) Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 4th row Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus) Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India) 5th row Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes) 6th row Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren) Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber) 7th row Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber) Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India) 8th row Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams) Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso) 9th row Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams) Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham) 10th row Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham) Timo Glock (GER/Marussia) 11th row Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso) Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT) 12th row Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT-Cosworth) Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia)