Formula 1: Korean GP Overview

Vettel celebrates winning his third straight race

Vettel passes Webber on lap 1

Sebastian Vettel stamped down his authority on the title after dominating the Korean Grand Prix from start to finish.

With his third win in a row, Vettel snatches the title lead from rival Fernando Alonso with just four crucial races to go.

Starting in second, Vettel scythed ahead of team-mate Webber by Turn 3; from there, he didn't look back, stretching out a lead that was never reined in by Webber.

Mark meanwhile must be a little downtrodden about being so convincingly beaten by Vettel. Ever since he resigned with Red Bull in June, Mark has been something of an oddity, his form wildly fluctuating. He does serve a good purpose at Red Bull right now however; taking points off Alonso and being the perfect wingman for Vettel. Christian Horner may have remarked there are no team orders at Red Bull, but right now, it doesn't seem like that really matters anyway.

Lewis Hamilton concedes defeat
after finishing 10th at Yeongam

Completing the podium was Fernando Alonso. Given the pace of the Red Bull's, it was most definitely the best he could have hoped for. He'll need to pick up the pace however if he has any chance at beating Vettel; whilst Seb has won three races in a row, Fernando hasn't won since Germany in July; he needs to win again, and soon. Felipe Massa finished fourth, underlining his and Ferrari's improved pace as well as solidifying his position at the team for 2013.

Meanwhile, McLaren had an absolutely dismal afternoon. Starting third, Lewis Hamilton had hoped of challenging Vettel and Webber but he suffered from lack of balance for most of the race, a broken anti-roll bar compounding a dismal race for the Briton. He eventually finished a distant tenth, trailing the Toro Rosso's and with chunks of astroturf lodged in the side-pod of his car. Post-race, Hamilton conceded defeat, admitting his title challenge is as good as over; 61 points behind and only 100 points on offer, it's hard to disagree with him.

Hulkenberg dukes it out with Grosjean for sixth 

Likewise, Hamilton's soon to be ex-team-mate had a short-lived race. Starting tenth, Jenson Button was in danger of a mid-field tangle and that's exactly what he got; he was taken out by Kamui Kobayashi, the young Japanese driver going from the hero of Suzuka to the zero of Yeongam in a mere seven days.

My driver of the day was Nico Hulkenberg. The young German proved his worth by scaling the dizzy heights of sixth for Force India, comprehensively beating Romain Grosjean's Lotus in the process. If recent reports tying him to Sauber are true, he'll make a valuable asset to the Swiss team in 2013.

The Toro Rosso duo of Vergne and Ricciardo also had a good race, finishing eighth and ninth respectively. They beat both Sauber's, Williams' and Mercedes on a day with no rain, safety cars and stoppages, underlining the improvement of both drivers.

Disappointment reined supreme at teams like Williams and Mercedes, both of them leaving Korea pointless. For Mercedes, Nico Rosberg was a first lap casualty of Kobayashi whilst Schumacher's afternoon plodded along with oh so familiar mediocrity. For Williams, their car seemed to lack the fundamental pace of other teams like Force India and Lotus, Maldonado and Senna finishing a disappointing 14th and 15th respectively.

With four rounds left then, it seems as though F1 2012 has descended into a two horse race between two of the absolute greats of our modern era; Vettel and Alonso. After three straight wins, you'd be inclined to say Vettel will make it three titles on the trot but as Murray Walker once said, in F1 anything can happen and usually it does.