The inaugural Korean Grand Prix took place early this morning in Yeongam, South Jeolla, South Korea. The brand new track was just approved by the FIA on Oct. 12th as 'satisfactory' and is being promoted as the best track in Asia. The Korea International Circuit in its F1 configuration is roughly 3.5 miles long being composed of both permanent and temporary sections. This new circuit was built first with plans to build a city center around it later. The estimated cost of this project is 88 billion won or about 78.4 million dollars.
The race started in the rain behind the safety car with very low visibility and little to no grip. After only three laps behind the safety car the race was halted under a red flag due to unfavorable conditions. The main problem was that the track was not draining properly because of the new asphalt and oil on the track keeping the water from running off. The red flag was later lifted but the time during the suspension was still be added to the two hour time limit for Formula 1 races.
The race was resumed after almost an hour under a safety lap with a requirement of wet weather tires. With almost zero visibility the drivers were left with nothing more than their memory of a brand new track and the instruction of the their teams. The race went on with conditions slowly improving due to the cars being used to bail the water off the track.
The race was under a green flag on lap eighteen with all drivers going all out. In the very next lap championship points leader Mark Webber spun out and was clipped by Nico Rosberg taking both drivers out of the race and losing Webber valuable points. The race then continued under a series of mostly yellow laps with several retirements. Their were several odd tire choices with nearly every driver switching to intermediate tires instead of staying on the wets under caution of more rain.
After a race that required so much patience and containing an air of uncertainty it was finished after nearly three hours. The first to finish was former World Champion Fernando Alonso followed by another former champion Lewis Hamilton and in third was Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. This race was an uphill battle from the very start but when full on racing did get to happen it was a no holds bared competition. All things considered the first race at the Korea International Circuit has to be viewed as an event defined by patient waiting punctuated with brief instances of action.
Sources: Internet, Formula1.com, Formual 1 live broadcast
