Vettel steals championship lead from Alonso while McLaren had a race to forget

The quickly degrading Pirelli tyres were the main Antagonist at yesterday's Korean grand prix.

There were truly some interesting moments at yesterday's race with Vettel's rapidly degrading tyres that brought spectators and viewers worldwide to the edge of their seats at the closing stages of the race. 

Astro-turf got caught onto Hamilton's car. A team management dilemma at Scuderia Ferrari as championship contender Alonso was surprisingly outpaced by Massa.

Yesterday's Korean GP was THE blockbuster race of the calendar, in terms of entertainment value, thus far that must have put a huge smile on Bernie Ecclestone's face.  

Vettel's hat trick victory after Singapore and Japan moves him to lead the championship boards - a feat defended by Alonso for the past seven race by six points. With constant performances the past few races, Vettel is getting closer to his third world title. Red Bull was also the first team this season to deliver a one-two finish.

Mark Webber's impressive pole position meant nothing on the first lap of the race, as Vettel bizarrely took the lead down the inside into the first corner, from the dirty side of the track. Alonso followed suit, depriving Hamilton of third place. 

It was a disaster race for McLaren and Mercedes courtesy of the Sauber duo.

It started with Sergio Perez clipping his next season team mate Button before Japan GP hero Kobayashi ended Button's race altogether. Sandwitched between rosberg and Button, he dived straight in causing a right-front suspension damage for Button while taking out Rosberg at the same time with a cut to his left-rear tyre.

Later Kobayashi was given a drive-through penalty but eventually retired due to damaged incurred to his car. He was nicknamed 'Kobacrashi' by an angered Button when replying on Twitter post race. 

A vivid performance by Felipe Massa who demonstrated greater pace than Alonso, and if given a go by the Ferrari team, could have challenged Webber for position, though statistically would affect Alonso's championship hunt. Nonetheless the brilliant performance by the Prancing Horse duo have allowed them to leap ahead of McLaren in the constructors' championships with 290 points to 284 while Red Bull retains its lead with 367.

Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen had a lonely race, finishing fifth overall, while Nico Hulkenberg performed well for Force India once again to finish sixth. Hulkenberg is a promising driver to look out for, and if he maintains/improves his performance, he could find a seat with a bigger team in the coming seasons.

McLaren had a utterly disappointing race, with Button retiring on the first lap and Hamilton troubled with tyre problems and hindered aerodynamic thanks to a chunk of astro-turf that clipped to his bodywork. Hamilton defended his position well from Raikkonen though, and then ultimately Hulkenberg and Grosjean, which sadly did not last long. 

He radio'd commenting "The car feels nervous" and post race admitted the car had rear suspension problems. Nonetheless the valiant driver pushed and fought hard through tough conditions to claim the last point, and in our view was the performer of this race. His final fight came from Perez all the way to the finish line finishing a mere 0.3 seconds ahead of the Mexican.

The F1 circus leaves Korea to India in 13 days where the title fight continues.