Vettel back to winning ways as he takes Korean GP

By Christian Hollmann Oct 16, 2011, 7:57 GMT

Yeongam, South Korea - World champion Sebastian Vettel on Sunday returned to his winning ways, securing his tenth season victory at the Korean Grand Prix.

The German, who secured back-to-back titles last weekend with a third-place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix, won ahead of Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren.

Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber finished third to give Red Bull a second successive constructors' title.

Results on Sunday took Red Bull to 558 points from 16 races, while McLaren have 418 with three races remaining.

'It is wonderful to win the constructors' title here after picking up the drivers' title last weekend,' Vettel said, while Webber added: 'Winning the constructors' title is a massive thing, it has been a phenomenal year.'

Vettel finished the 55 laps of 5.615km for a race distance of 309.155km on the Korean International Circuit in a time of one hour 38 minutes and 1.994 seconds, giving him an average speed of 189.893 km/h.

Vettel thanked the team after his race. 'It is good to see that the whole team continued pushing. The preparations were not the best as we were all a bit tipsy after the celebrations last weekend.

'But the car was fantastic and I could push when I needed to.'

Vettel, who started from second place on the grid behind Hamilton, had the better start and was in the lead by the end of the first lap, while the Briton managed to withhold pressure from Webber.

Jenson Button, who won the last race in Japan, fell back three places to sixth on the first lap.

The safety car had to come out on the 17th lap after Renault's Vitaly Petrov crashed into the back of Michael Schumacher's Mercedes, forcing both cars out of the race.

Petrov was later given a five-place penalty for the starting grid for the next race.

Vettel comfortably held onto the lead after the safety car phase and was never really in danger of being overtaken by the chasing pack.

Behind the German a titanic battle for second place developed between Hamilton and Webber, with Button having moved into fourth ahead of the two Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.

Two-time world champion Alonso managed to move ahead of the Brazilian Massa with a later pit stop, but could not move close enough to launch a serious challenge for fourth place.

Behind the two Ferraris Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari took seventh place from Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes.

The top 10 was completed by Sebastian Buemi in the second Toro Rosso and Paul Di Resta in a Force India.

Hamilton said that he struggled with under-steer. 'But it was a good weekend for me, even if the Red Bulls were massively quick.'

He said the result was not a vindication of his capabilities. 'I never really questioned the belief in myself. I am just trying to stay out of the stewards' office and out of trouble.'

Webber, meanwhile, admitted that he was not fully satisfied with his race. 'I am disappointed not to be second today. We had some good pace to pull away from Lewis, but could not get ahead of him.'

Vettel has a commanding lead at the top of the standings with 349 points - 127 more than Button, who is second on 222.

The next race is the inaugural Indian Grand Prix on October 30 in New Delhi.