2011 Korean Grand Prix

Lore & Background

The 55-lap race was won by Sebastian Vettel, after starting from second on the grid. Lewis Hamilton finished in second place for McLaren, and Mark Webber completed the podium in third position. As a consequence of the race, podium finishes for both Vettel and Webber ensured that Red Bull Racing defended their World Constructors' Championship title, extending their lead to 140 points over McLaren, with only 129 points available at the final three races. Polesitter Hamilton broke Red Bull's streak of pole positions, which had started at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and continued for another 15 races. Prior to this race, the last time Red Bull failed to take pole was at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, when Nico Hülkenberg, driving for Williams, was the polesitter.

Reader's Guide

The race started with contact at the back, between a Sauber and the Toro Rosso of Sébastien Buemi. Vettel passed Hamilton for the lead at Turn 4. On lap 17, a crash between Petrov and Schumacher caused both cars to retire and the safety car to be deployed. Vettel took his tenth victory of the season, ahead of Hamilton and Webber. Buemi finished 9th, scoring his last career points, which were also the last for a Swiss driver in Formula One.

Did You Know?

• A single DRS zone was used, with the detection point 30m after turn 1 and activation point 516m after turn 2.
• Pirelli brought the yellow-banded soft compound as the prime and the red-banded super-soft as the option.