Good morning and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the Korean Grand Prix.
Mark Webber starts on pole today ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton third.
Championship leader Fernando Alonso starts fourth on the grid and is in dire need of points.
Jenson Button will begin in 11th, sandwiched between Michael Schumacher and Sergio Perez.
Two-time champion Vettel triumphed here last year, and you can follow all the action from the Korean International Circuit with us below.
9.02amJoin us for live coverage of that race on Sunday, Ocrober 28. Goodbye for now!
9.01amWell that brings to a close our coverage of the Korean Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel is back at the top of the standings and has title-winning momentum. He will be the one to beat at the Indian Grand Prix, where the F1 season heads off to next.
8.49amThe German is beaming with delight as his national anthem is being played and the flags are hoisted.
8.47amAlonso is on the podium but he has seen his lead completely wiped out by Vettel, who has won the last three races.
8.46amThat's Sebastian Vettel's 25th career victory. He is now top of the championship. He does the now-customary stroking of the Red Bull on his car.
FINAL POSITIONS:Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Massa, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Vergne, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Perez, Di Resta, Schumacher, Maldonado, Senna, Petrov, Kovalainen, Glock, Pic, Karthikeyan
Lap 55But Hamilton hangs on! He finishes 10th and in the points.
Lap 55Perez is trying to get by Hamilton, who is still carrying the astro turf!
Lap 55SEBASTIAN VETTEL WINS THE KOREAN GRAND PRIX!
Lap 55Perez is gaining on Hamilton...
FINAL LAPVettel, Webber, Alonso, Massa, Raikkonen
Lap 54Vettel is almost there. He looks destined for the top of the championship.
Lap 53Unbelievable! There is astro turf on the edge of the track that has been causing havoc for the past ten laps and now Hamilton has some caught on his car! It has slowed him down quite a bit!
Lap 52Vergne moves past Ricciardo and is now in eighth. The Australian now appears vulnerable to Hamilton. He is struggling with his tyres.
Lap 51Alonso is gaining on Webber...
Lap 49Felipe Massa sets a new fastest lap.
Lap 48Hamilton is all over Vergne! He tries to get past three times on the first couple of corners but the Frenchman holds him off!
Lap 47Hamilton is lurking behind Vergne, Ricciardo goes wide and loses time to both men. The McLaren man might have his eye on eighth place.
Lap 45Ten laps remaining!
TOP TEN:Vettel, Webber, ALonso, Massa, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Vergne, Hamilton
Lap 42Hamilton is still holding Grosjean off, but the McLaren garage is readying for another pit stop.
Lap 41WOW! Great driving by the German! He jumps two places in on Grosjean and Hamilton. Great driving!
Lap 41Grosjean has a go at Hamilton, he is trying to get around the outside... but can't get beyond. It's not over as Hulkenberg is launching an offensive now...
Lap 39Di Resta takes Schumacher into 11th place.
Lap 38Vettel is coming into the garage having seen Webber cut his lead by five seconds. He locked up into the corner and lost time. His tyres are also worn down.
Lap 36Webber posts a new fastest lap.
Lap 36WOW! Some steering issues for Grosjean and he nearly careens into the wall on the final turn! He picked up some dust as he went wide of the track. Close call!
Lap 35Alonso pits and he re-emerges behind Webber.
Lap 34And Grosjean also posts the fastest lap of the race. No first-lap drama today and he is going well.
Lap 33Finally, Grosjean gets by Hulkenberg. His perseverance has paid dividends.
Lap 33Webber comes in for new tyres. They're going through the rubber today. Every driver seems to be having problems, especially with their front tyres.
Lap 30Grosjean and Hulkenberg go wheel to wheel, but the Frenchman cannot get by the German.
Lap 30Massa posts a new fastest lap time.
Lap 29The Toro Rosso drivers are performing brilliantly.
TOP TEN:Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vergne
Lap 28Vettel is nine seconds in front now.
Lap 27Hamilton has been forced to pit due to the state of his tyres. It's a poor stop though.
Lap 26Hamilton and Raikkonen are having an almighty battle for fifth place.
Lap 26At the front, it's smooth sailing for Vettel and Webber.
Lap 24Smart driving by Hamilton, who used his KERS to get back ahead of Raikkonen. A stay of execution?
Lap 24... and there you go, Raikkonen gets past his man... but Hamilton re-takes him!
Lap 23Raikkonen attacks Hamilton around the hairpin, but can't quite get around. Superb defending by the McLaren but it's seems it is just a matter of time before the Lotus Renault suceeds.
Lap 23The McLaren man now has Raikkonen on his shoulder.
Lap 23Hamilton seems to be having a lot of trouble with his tyres.
Lap 22The Brazilian goes by Hamilton as if he wasn't there.
Lap 21Massa is now hot on Hamilton's tail in the battle for fourth.
Lap 20... and he sails by the Venezuelan in the DRS zone.
Lap 20Grosjean is sizing up Maldonado for eighth place.
Lap 18Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi retire. So after the high of finishing on the podium at his home grand prix, Kobayashi's Korean race ends in disappointment.
Lap 18Vettel's lead over Webber at the front is up to five seconds.
Lap 17Massa breezes past Perez and moves up into fifth place.
Lap 16Meanwhile, Hamilton has posted the fastest lap.
Lap 16Vettel makes his way into the garage. The harder compound tyres are going on.
Lap 15Hamilton pits as well.
Lap 15Webber pits first for Red Bull. New tyres are going on for the drivers now.
Lap 14Jenson Button clearly unhappy.
Lap 14Button: "I got a really good start, then [Kobayashi] came from nowhere and drove into the car in front. I had to move out the way but it was too late. It's poor driving, especially as this is supposed to be the pinnacle of motor sport."
Lap 13Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Perez are battling it out for seventh at the moment.
Lap 12Paul di Resta is going well in his Force India. He is currently in ninth and having a good look at Michael Schumacher.
Lap 12Vettel now goes fastest around the circuit.
Lap 11You can get a sense for the extremity of the tyre degradation by looking at the track. Already there is rubber strewn across it.
Lap 11Webber sets the fastest lap time.
Lap 10Ricciardo gets past Senna. The Toro Rossos are flying.
Lap 10Vergne gets by Senna and into 12th, while Ricciardo goes past Maldonado and is now trying to replicate his teammate.
Lap 9Vettel and Webber have stretched their lead over Alonso at the front. They look like the fastest cars on the track, certainly.
Lap 8There is debris from Rosberg's car still on the track. The yellow flags are out and have been since the second lap. It's in the DRS zone, and so race stewards have disabled the DRS into turn three.
Lap 8Vergne has passed Maldonado now. Ricciardo is sizing the Venezuelan now.
TOP TEN:Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Perez, Schumacher
Lap 6Maldonado is battling to hold off Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo for 13th position. All three cars are bunched and in a bit of a dogfight.
Lap 3Sergio Perez has also damaged his wing in a small collision with Hulkenberg.
Lap 3Tremendous driving by Vettel on the first corner to overtake his teammate. Alonso has his work cut out to get ahead the Red Bulls.
Lap 2Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button are forced to retire.
Lap 2Bruno Senna is the biggest mover, coming from 17th to 12th.
Lap 1Button has damage to his wing courtesy of Kobayashi.
LIGHTS OUT!VETTEL TAKES WEBBER AT THE FIRST CORNER! ALONSO SURGES PAST HAMILTON AND INTO THIRD!
7amThe drivers embark on their formation lap ahead of lights out.
6.57amChampionship leader Fernando Alonso is fourth, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa. Then comes the "first-lap nutcase" Romain Grosjean.
6.56amLewis Hamilton starts in third, with his title hopes seemingly hanging by a thread.
6.55amIt's another front-row lockout for Red Bull, this time with Webber in front.
6.54amWe're moments from the start of today's race. Just time for a quick look across the starting time.
6.53amGood morning! Welcome to SPorts Mole for our live coverage of the Korean Grand Prix.
Written by
Michael Penkman
Michael Penkman
