Sebastian Vettel wins F1 Korean Grand Prix, coming to Greater Noida

Yeongnam, South Korea, Oct 14: With a third straight race victory, Sebastian Vettel is suddenly closing in on a third straight Formula One title.The Red Bull driver won the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday to move ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in the F1 championship standings by six points with four races remaining — having erased what looked like a commanding lead for the Spanish driver just three weeks ago.Vettel started second on the grid behind Mark Webber but overtook his teammate on the first turn and never relinquished the lead, finishing 8.2 seconds ahead of Webber. Alonso was third, 13.9 seconds off the pace."The foundation was there with a good start," Vettel said. "I wasn't sure because I was starting on the dirty side of the grid but I was able to get some good grip and get inside at the first turn."Vettel, who also won the previous races in Singapore and Japan, now looks to be the favourite for a third straight championship title — something only previously achieved by Juan-Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.Webber claimed his first second-place finish of the season but the Australian was disappointed with his start from pole."The initial launch was not good," Webber said. "There was some wheel spin and from there I knew I would have issues. It was very mediocre."Ferrari's Felipe Massa was fourth, followed by Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton finished a disappointing 10th, despite starting third on the grid.Lotus driver Romain Grosjean avoided the first-lap incidents that he was involved in at the Belgian and Japanese GP's to finish seventh ahead of Toro Rosso drivers Jean Eric-Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo.It was Vettel's fourth win of the season and the first 1-2 finish for Red Bull. Vettel leads the driver's standings for the first time this year.Vettel said it was too early to think about the championship."There is still a long way to go," Vettel said. "I'm looking forward to the next couple of races. We've seen the championship go up and down so we just have to focus on ourselves for the last four races."Alonso has not won since the German GP when it looked like he was going to run away with the championship. He was the innocent victim of first-lap collisions in Belgium and Japan but earned valuable points in Sunday's race."We're doing what we can at the moment," Alonso said. "We're trying to save points. It was a perfect Sunday for us, good start, good strategy during the race and finishing on the podium. I'm very happy with today's race and where we are in the championship."Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi made contact with Jenson Button on Turn 3 of the first lap, sending the McLaren driver to an early retirement. Kobayashi was handed a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg also went out on the first lap.Hamilton, who is fourth in the standings 62 points behind Vettel, had a rear suspension problem with his McLaren and even got a piece of astroturf from the edge of the track stuck under his car late in the race."It was pretty bad, pretty bad" Hamilton said. "It basically stalled my defuser so I didn't have any down force so it was tricky to try to even keep 10th."Red Bull also increased its lead in the constructors' championship with 367 points, 77 ahead of Ferrari. McLaren dropped to third place with 284 points.The next race is on Oct. 28 in Greater Noida near Delhi.