2013 Korean Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Sebastian Vettel won again in Korea, keeping both Lotus drivers behind him through safety-car interruptions. Nico Hülkenberg delivered a standout fourth place for Sauber after resisting repeated pressure from faster cars.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Pole time	1:37.202
Fastest lap	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Fastest-lap time	1:41.380 on lap 53
First	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Second	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1
Third	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
4 October 2013	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
4 October 2013	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
5 October 2013	Practice 3	11:00 – 12:00
5 October 2013	Qualifying	14:00
6 October 2013	Race	15:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Sebastian Vettel arrived at round 14 leading the 2013 F1 World Championship on 247 points, with Fernando Alonso on 187. Red Bull Racing headed the constructors’ standings with 377 points.

Race entries

The 11 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Korean Grand Prix. James Calado, Rodolfo Gonzalez also took part in practice.

Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton led FP1 despite a spin at Turn 10 that brought him close to Mark Webber. Felipe Massa lost running to a puncture, while Rodolfo Gonzalez damaged the nose of his Marussia against the wall. Kimi Räikkönen then crashed heavily at the final corner in the closing moments, leaving Lotus with repairs before the afternoon session.

Lewis Hamilton remained quickest in FP2 as Kimi Räikkönen returned in his repaired Lotus after the morning accident. Teams compared both compounds over longer runs, with Lewis Hamilton finding encouraging life in the supersofts. Esteban Gutierrez recovered from a spin, while late lock-ups showed the effect of worn tyres as programmes continued.

Sebastian Vettel moved ahead in FP3 after teams began on medium tyres and saved supersoft qualifying simulations for later. Jules Bianchi spun at Turn 9 but continued. Red Bull’s two cars finished strongest in the final runs, reversing Friday’s Mercedes advantage and sharpening the prospect of a close qualifying contest.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2013 Korean Grand Prix FP1, 4 October 2013

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:39.630	20
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.037s	20
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.186s	19
4	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.487s	20
5	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.585s	22
6	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.744s	18
7	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.766s	19
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+1.047s	15
9	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	+1.230s	20
10	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.250s	13
11	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+1.269s	20
12	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.802s	18
13	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.852s	22
14	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	+1.996s	21
15	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+2.294s	19
16	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+2.372s	20
17	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+2.413s	18
18	14	James Calado	Force India	+3.378s	21
19	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	+4.030s	20
20	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	+4.253s	19
21	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	+4.470s	14
22	22	Rodolfo Gonzalez	Marussia	+7.180s	10

Free Practice 2 Classification

2013 Korean Grand Prix FP2, 4 October 2013

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:38.673	31
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.108s	30
3	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.124s	32
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.171s	35
5	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.441s	30
6	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.553s	34
7	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.771s	31
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+1.084s	33
9	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.101s	29
10	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.333s	34
11	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.334s	34
12	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	+1.479s	31
13	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	+1.513s	33
14	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+1.537s	34
15	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.773s	30
16	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.879s	26
17	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+2.444s	35
18	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+2.616s	34
19	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	+3.788s	36
20	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	+4.125s	35
21	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+4.435s	31
22	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	+4.768s	29

Free Practice 3 Classification

2013 Korean Grand Prix FP3, 5 October 2013

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:37.881	17
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.137s	17
3	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.437s	16
4	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.451s	15
5	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.605s	13
6	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.820s	19
7	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.935s	14
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.976s	17
9	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+1.080s	16
10	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.233s	14
11	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	+1.247s	15
12	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.315s	16
13	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.323s	17
14	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	+1.393s	15
15	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.446s	17
16	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.490s	19
17	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.784s	15
18	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+2.247s	17
19	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	+3.479s	19
20	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	+3.733s	20
21	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+3.765s	14
22	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	+4.386s	17

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel headed qualifying for Red Bull Racing, with Lewis Hamilton second and Mark Webber third.

Sebastian Vettel took pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Mark Webber‘s ten-place penalty for accumulating three reprimands dropped him down the grid, while Jules Bianchi was penalised for impeding Paul di Resta.

Qualifying Classification

2013 Korean Grand Prix Qualifying, 5 October 2013

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:38.683	1:37.569	1:37.202	13
2	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:38.574	1:37.824	1:37.420	16
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:39.138	1:37.840	1:37.464	13
4	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	1:39.065	1:38.076	1:37.531	14
5	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:38.418	1:38.031	1:37.679	16
6	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.520	1:37.978	1:38.038	17
7	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:38.884	1:38.295	1:38.223	16
8	11	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber	1:38.427	1:37.913	1:38.237	17
9	12	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber	1:38.725	1:38.327	1:38.405	15
10	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	1:38.341	1:38.181	1:38.822	17
11	6	Sergio Pérez	McLaren	1:39.049	1:38.362	—	14
12	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:38.882	1:38.365	—	14
13	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:38.525	1:38.417	—	14
14	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:38.988	1:38.431	—	15
15	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:39.185	1:38.718	—	15
16	18	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:39.075	1:38.781	—	13
17	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:39.470	—	—	8
18	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:39.987	—	—	8
19	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	1:40.864	—	—	6
20	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	1:40.871	—	—	6
21	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	1:41.169	—	—	6
22	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	1:41.322	—	—	6

What happened in the 2013 Korean Grand Prix?

Vettel led from the start as Romain Grosjean moved into second. The Red Bull controlled the pace, while the battles behind brought Hamilton, Hülkenberg and the Ferrari drivers into close competition.

A tyre failure for Sergio Pérez brought out the safety car. Further disruption followed when Adrian Sutil spun into Webber, whose Red Bull caught fire; a recovery vehicle entered the circuit during the incident.

Kimi Räikkönen moved ahead of Grosjean to take second, but Vettel handled the restarts and remained out of reach. Hülkenberg used strong traction and straight-line speed to protect his position from Hamilton’s attacks.

Vettel won the 55-lap race ahead of Räikkönen and Grosjean. Hülkenberg finished fourth, followed by Hamilton and Alonso. The result moved Vettel closer to a fourth consecutive championship with five rounds still remaining.

Further down the points places, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Sergio Pérez completed the scoring positions. Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2013 rules.

After the race, Sebastian Vettel headed the drivers’ standings with 272 points, followed by Fernando Alonso on 195. Red Bull Racing led the constructors’ table on 402, with Ferrari on 284.

2013 Korean Grand Prix race results

The 2013 Korean Grand Prix was held on 6 October 2013, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	55	1:43:13.701	25
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	55	+4.224	18
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	55	+4.927	15
4	11	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber	55	+24.114	12
5	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	55	+25.255	10
6	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	55	+26.189	8
7	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	55	+26.698	6
8	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	55	+32.262	4
9	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	+34.390	2
10	6	Sergio Pérez	McLaren	55	+35.155	1
11	12	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber	55	+35.990	0
12	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	55	+47.049	0
13	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	55	+50.013	0
14	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	55	+1:03.578	0
15	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	55	+1:04.501	0
16	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	55	+1:07.970	0
17	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	55	+1:12.898	0
18	18	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	53	Brakes	0
19	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	52	Brakes	0
20	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	50	Collision damage	0
Ret	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	36	Collision/Fire	0
Ret	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	24	Accident	0

Jean-Éric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Adrian Sutil failed to finish the race but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race.

2013 Korean Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	53	1:41.380	199.388
2	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	46	1:41.936	198.300
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	51	1:41.975	198.225
4	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	54	1:42.471	197.265
5	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:42.539	197.134
6	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	53	1:42.608	197.002
7	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	54	1:42.709	196.808
8	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	55	1:42.744	196.741
9	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	52	1:42.947	196.353
10	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	47	1:42.954	196.340
11	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	47	1:42.973	196.303
12	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	45	1:43.073	196.113
13	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	27	1:43.863	194.621
14	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	44	1:43.869	194.610
15	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	52	1:44.090	194.197
16	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	43	1:44.095	194.188
17	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	43	1:44.136	194.111
18	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	55	1:44.375	193.667
19	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	54	1:44.477	193.477
20	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	54	1:44.991	192.530
21	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	48	1:45.408	191.769
22	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	10	1:46.411	189.961

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2013 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2013 Korean Grand Prix.

2013 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	272
2	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	195
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Lotus F1	167
4	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	161
5	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	130
6	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	122
7	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	89
8	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus F1	72
9	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	58
10	Paul di Resta	British	Force India	36
11	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Sauber	31
12	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India	26
13	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	McLaren	23
14	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Toro Rosso	18
15	Jean-Éric Vergne	French	Toro Rosso	13
16	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams	1
17	Esteban Gutiérrez	Mexican	Sauber	0
18	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams	0
19	Jules Bianchi	French	Marussia	0
20	Charles Pic	French	Caterham	0
21	Giedo van der Garde	Dutch	Caterham	0
22	Max Chilton	British	Marussia	0

2013 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Red Bull Racing	402
2	Ferrari	284
3	Mercedes	283
4	Lotus F1	239
5	McLaren	81
6	Force India	62
7	Sauber	31
8	Toro Rosso	31
9	Williams	1
10	Marussia	0
11	Caterham	0

2013 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2013 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	17 March
2	2013 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	24 March
3	2013 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	14 April
4	2013 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	21 April
5	2013 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	12 May
6	2013 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	26 May
7	2013 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	9 June
8	2013 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	30 June
9	2013 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	7 July
10	2013 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	28 July
11	2013 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	25 August
12	2013 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	8 September
13	2013 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	22 September
14	2013 Korean Grand Prix	Korea International Circuit, Yeongam	6 October
15	2013 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	13 October
16	2013 Indian Grand Prix	Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida	27 October
17	2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	3 November
18	2013 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	17 November
19	2013 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	24 November