Alonso wins inaugural Korean Grand Prix
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Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on Sunday won the inaugural Formula One Korean Grand Prix at the Yeongam circuit, some 400 kilometers south of Seoul, as heavy rain delayed the race and forced the temporary suspension after four laps.
The Spaniard started third on the grid in newly-constructed truck in Yeongam, and finished first with a time of 2 hours, 48 minutes and 20.81 seconds, soaring to the top of the championship drivers standings.
Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren came in second in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 35.809 seconds and Felipe Massa of Ferrari finished third in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 51.678 second. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was fourth for Mercedes GP.
Mark Webber of Red Bull, this season's championship leader, who came in second in Saturday's qualifying race, hit the wall and crashed out on the 19th lap, just a lap after the safety car gave clearance for the race to restart after a 40-minute delay.
Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel, who took the pole position in Saturday's qualifying race, withdrew from the race after his engine blew up as he was leading on the 46th lap.
With the victory, Alonso, a two-time F1 world champion, won 25 points, which puts him into an 11-point championship lead over Webber, 231 to 220, with just two races left. It is his fifth win of the season.
"It's one of the best races of the year for us, for the team, both cars on the podium, fantastic achievement for Ferrari. We were competitive all weekend," Alonso said at the press conference after the race.
"It is the first wet race that I have won, so I am even happier," he added.
But he thought that nothing changed really even he is 11 points clear of Mark Webber and 21 clear of Lewis with just two races left in this championship.
"We know that with the new points system anything can happen in one race... Here it was bad luck for Mark (Webber) and Sebastian (Vettel) but anything can happen in the next two races," he said.
It was the first time for South Korea to host an F1 event since the races started 60 years ago. A total of 24 drivers from 12 teams competed in the Korean Grand Prix, the 17th race of this year's 19-race season.
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