It seems the story of this and the last 4 races are going to be the Drivers and (possibly) Constructors Championships and if I say that with a sigh I’d much rather see some exciting racing. Yeongam is fast enough, but like so many of the newer tracks with the current cars lead changes will only happen at the start, through accidents and mechanical failures, and through tire strategies.
Softs and Super Softs are on offer, most teams blew away 2 sets of the Super Softs during Qualifying (Ferrari saved a set) and all of the first five rows are on the Supers BUT… depending on how used up they are it’s just barely possible that some drivers will try and stretch them out long enough before the first pit to run a one stop. They will be aided by the fact that the track is so new and smooth. Will this make much of a difference? There is about 0.2 to 0.6 seconds lap time difference between the two compounds.
On the start everyone, particularly the even gridders will be looking for a fast one to keep Vettel from running away in the distance. Look for any Team Order strategies at Red Bull to be designed around getting him in front of Webber in the first lap.
As far as mechanical failure goes, Pic had to accept a 10 Grid penalty for exceeding his engine allotment for the season and almost every team is on their last new one.
Schumacher can’t stay away from trouble. After being reprimanded for impeding HRT (HRT!) in practice Mercedes will have to pay a 10,000 euro fine for unsafe release in front of Hamilton during Qualifying.
Interactive Track
Yeongam
Official Sites
Pretty tables below.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:37.242 | 17 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:37.316 | 13 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:37.469 | 16 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:37.534 | 19 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1:37.625 | 17 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:37.884 | 16 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:37.934 | 20 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:38.266 | 18 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.361 | 17 |
| 10 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:38.513 | 18 |
| 11 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:38.441 | 11 |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:38.460 | 13 |
| 13 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:38.594 | 14 |
| 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:38.643 | 15 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:38.725 | 16 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:39.084 | 13 |
| 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:39.340 | 14 |
| 18 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1:39.443 | 9 |
| 19 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:40.207 | 7 |
| 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:40.333 | 10 |
| 21 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:41.371 | 8 |
| 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:42.881 | 7 |
| 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | No time | 1 |
| 24 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:41.317 | 8 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 194 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 190 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 157 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 152 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 134 |
| 6 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 131 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 93 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 82 |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 69 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 66 |
| 11 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 50 |
| 12 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 44 |
| 13 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 43 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 37 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 33 |
| 16 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 25 |
| 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 8 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 7 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull | 324 |
| 2 | McLaren | 283 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 263 |
| 4 | Lotus | 239 |
| 5 | Mercedes | 136 |
| 6 | Sauber | 116 |
| 7 | Force India | 81 |
| 8 | Williams | 58 |
| 9 | Toro Rosso | 15 |
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Red Bull excluded from FOTA meeting!
Lotus drops DRS!
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Vettel
Webber
Alonso
Hamilton
Massa
Raikkonen
Hulkenberg
Grosjean
Perez
Schumacher
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Full course green.
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For hitting Button and Rosberg.
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Vettel
Webber
Alonso
Hamilton
Massa
Raikkonen
Hulkenberg
Grosjean
Perez
Schumacher
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