Formula 1: Kimi Raikkonen tops Singapore practice as Sebastian Vettel toils

SINGAPORE—Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest practice time for the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday but the Finn's teammate, Sebastian Vettel, suffered a frustrating start to the weekend in his bid to overhaul championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton opened a 30-point cushion over Vettel with a surprise win in Monza two weeks ago and while Ferrari are regarded as having a superior car, the Briton set the second-fastest time of the day just 0.011 seconds back in his Mercedes.

Vettel has been criticized for dropping points due to some poor tactical driving this season but there was little he could do looking on from the Ferrari garage after his car suffered a radiator fluid leak midway through the second practice session.

Raikkonen lapped the 5.063 km Marina Bay Street Circuit in 1:38.699 seconds, with Hamilton just behind as the rejuvenated Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished third and fourth respectively half a second further back.

Vettel's troubles began during the frantic middle sector of the second session as drivers looked to set their fastest laps on the high-grip hyper-soft tires before switching to slower compounds for race simulations.

The German was on course to challenge Raikkonen and Hamilton's best times before he clipped the wall on the final bend, causing him to abort his lap and dart into the pits with a fluid leak. He sat out the remainder of the session.

Valtteri Bottas was fifth fastest in the second Mercedes, ahead of Renault's Carlos Sainz, Haas' Romain Grosjean, McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Vettel down in ninth place after completing just 12 laps.

RED BULL JOY

In the first session of the day, Red Bull enjoyed a welcome return to the top of the timesheets after a few quiet races with Ricciardo and Verstappen securing a one-two for the team in the baking afternoon heat.

The demanding 23-turn circuit has traditionally favored the Red Bulls and Ferraris, so it was no surprise to see Vettel and Raikkonen clock the next quickest times as Mercedes opted to concentrate on long runs instead of qualifying simulations.

Ricciardo has failed to finish the last two grands prix since Formula One returned from its summer break but the Australian again showed his street circuit prowess by clocking one minute, 39.711 seconds in the scorching Singapore sun.

Dutchman Verstappen lapped in 1:39.912 to edge out Vettel by 0.085 seconds but the German will be looking for an improved third practice session and qualification on Saturday as he seeks to rein in Hamilton with seven rounds remaining.

"We can recover most of it tomorrow so we are not that worried," Vettel told Sky Sports. "It looks like being close but we won't really know until Sunday."

Sauber's Charles Leclerc continued to show the sort of form that encouraged Ferrari to sign him as Raikkonen's replacement for next season by finishing ninth in an opening session that ended on a sour note when he crashed into a wall at Turn 13.

The 20-year-old apologized to his team on the radio as he left his car stranded in an escape road with two minutes left in the session, a sight that will disappoint his future employers, who will hope he does not make similar mistakes next season. (Reporting by John O'Brien Editing by Keith Weir and Toby Davis)

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Vettel wins tense Bahrain Grand Prix for Ferrari

MANAMA - Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel held on by the skin of his teeth to win a tense Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix in his 200th race start on Sunday.

His tyres fading, the championship leader took the chequered flag only 0.6 seconds clear of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who piled the pressure on in the final 10 laps.

Bottas's team mate and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who had started ninth after a five place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, finished third.

Vettel now leads Hamilton by 17 points after two of the 21 races.

The win under the floodlights was the 49th of Vettel's grand prix career and an unprecedented fourth at the Sakhir desert circuit.

It also made the 30-year-old, who won in Melbourne two weeks ago, the first Ferrari driver since compatriot Michael Schumacher in 2004 to win the first two races of a season.

"These tyres were done, done, in the last 10 laps," a jubilant Vettel told his team over the radio after crossing the line.

He had earlier told his team that everything was under control but that, he recognised later with a smile, was not at all the reality.

"With Bottas' pace I thought he would catch me. I tried to keep it as clean as possible. Our plan worked but just, Bottas had a bit of a sniff but ran out of laps," said the four times champion.

INJURED MECHANIC

Vettel had led from pole position, with Bottas slotting into second place at the start from third on the grid, but ended up having to battle the Mercedes pair alone.

Mercedes’ decision to go for the more durable medium tyres and a one-stop strategy, compared to Ferrari’s move to bolt on softer rubber in anticipation of a two-stop race, brought the evening alive.

Drama in the pits, when team mate Kimi Raikkonen was brought in to test the strategy, decided Ferrari in favour of keeping Vettel out.

Raikkonen was given the green light to exit before his left rear tyre had been changed, with the Finn's car then hitting a mechanic who was taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg while the driver retired.

Hamilton could take some consolation in equalling Raikkonen's all-time record of 27 successive points finishes.

"I started ninth so third is not bad at all," said the Briton. "It's damage limitation."

Both of the Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo retired within the first five laps.

Verstappen suffered a rear-left puncture after making contact with Hamilton as he tried to pass the Briton, and limped back to the pits.

"Going into the corner I was ahead and then of course you always try to squeeze each other a bit," said the 20-year-old.

"But I think there was still enough space on the left. He drove into my left rear and gave me a puncture and also destroyed the diff."

GASLY FOURTH

The energy drink company's other team Toro Rosso celebrated a remarkable day, however, with fourth place for French driver Pierre Gasly.

That represented a stunning turnaround for Honda, Toro Rosso's engine partners after three nightmare years at McLaren.

Danish driver Kevin Magnussen was fifth in the Haas ahead of Nico Hulkenberg for Renault.

Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne gave McLaren, now with Renault engines, a second successive double points finish in seventh and eighth respectively to lift the team to third overall. But they finished a lap down.

There were also celebrations at Sauber, with Sweden's Marcus Ericsson finishing ninth for his first points since 2015 and the Swiss team's first of the season, but gloom at Williams whose drivers finished last.

The former champions are now the only team yet to score points this season after Force India's Esteban Ocon secured 10th place.

(Editing by Alan Baldwin/Pritha Sarkar)

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Vettel holds off Hamilton to win Australian GP thriller

MELBOURNE, Australia - Sebastian Vettel won a thrilling duel with world champion Lewis Hamilton to steal the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday.

The four-time world champion got the jump on the Mercedes ace off a miscalculation on the pit stop under Virtual Safety Car conditions and held off Hamilton for his second straight win in Melbourne and third overall.

Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen resisted a challenge from Australian Red Bull racer Daniel Ricciardo to take third and join Vettel on the podium.

"Obviously we were a little bit lucky today," Vettel said at the victory ceremony.

"Lewis did a great lap yesterday and deserved pole and he drove a very good race, controlling in the beginning.

"We got a bit lucky but we will take it. We're not yet where we want to be, I don't quite feel the car, but it gives us a good start, good wind and fresh motivation."

It was Vettel's 48th win in his 200th grand prix and follows his earlier wins in Melbourne in 2011 for Red Bull and last year for Ferrari.

Vettel, 30, is in a duel this season with Hamilton as they chase 1950s Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio's mark of five world titles -- second only to Michael Schumacher's seven in the all-time list.

'What just happened?' 

Hamilton, who had started from pole position, got out his car and looked a bit bewildered as he removed his helmet, wondering how exactly that race got away from him.

"Today they did the better job. We have to go back to the drawing board and work on it," Hamilton said.

"We still have great pace and during the race I could apply pressure at the end but it is so hard to overtake here.

"At the end it was live to fight another day and save the engine."

Vettel had led after Hamilton's early tyre stop and when mid-race the German changed to a new set of soft tyres he emerged still ahead, gaining around 10 seconds in the pit lane thanks to the Mercedes driver having to slow on track once the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) had been deployed.

"What just happened guys? Was that my mistake?" a confused Hamilton said on team radio as he saw Vettel come out of the pit lane in front of him before a full safety car was sent out with marshals struggling to remove the stranded Haas of Romain Grosjean.

"We thought we were safe, but there's obviously something wrong," the team told Hamilton. Mercedes potentially miscalculated the VSC minimum speed during the phase Vettel claimed the lead.

Vettel retained his lead as the race was restarted and built a lead of seven-tenths of a second.

Alonso back in the fight 

Hamilton made an error as he locked up at turn nine and fell 2.8 seconds behind Vettel with 11 laps remaining.

Vettel proved too resilient and held on as Hamilton backed off over the final laps realising he could not pass the flying German.

Team-mate Raikkonen, bidding for his third win in Australia, kept Ricciardo and Red Bull off the podium.

"It was OK. We didn't have the most luck but what can you do," he said.

"Luckily it was Seb who got the luck and it was our team at least. I think I had decent speed all day long, it's just difficult to pass."

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was fifth in his McLaren ahead of Red Bull's young Dutchman Max Verstappen.

"Well done guys, very proud of you. Long winter, long seasons in the past but now we can fight, we can fight," Alonso said over the team radio.

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Vettel wins Brazilian GP, Hamilton fourth from pits

SÃO PAULO, Brazil -- Sebastian Vettel bounced back from his world championship disappointment in fine style on Sunday when he won a sunlit Brazilian Grand Prix for Ferrari.

The four-time champion took the lead at the start and, apart from a period after his pit-stop, controlled an incident-packed race to finish 2.8 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes.

Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, resisted late challenges from newly-crowned four-time champion Lewis Hamilton to hang on to third ahead of the second Mercedes driver, who had started the race from the pit lane.

Dutchman Max Verstappen came home fifth ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Australian Daniel Ricciardo and retirement-bound local hero Felipe Massa, a rousing seventh for Williams in his final home city race.

The Brazilian emerged triumphant in his own private scrap to the line with two-time champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren Honda, who finished eighth.

Sergio Perez finished ninth for Force India and Nico Hulkenberg 10th for Renault.

It was Vettel’s first win in eight outings since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July and his fifth of the season. It was also Ferrari’s first win in Brazil since 2008.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks for us, but it’s nice to get both cars on the podium here,” said Vettel.

“I had a good getaway and then I had wheelspin, so I thought I missed my chance but I think Valtteri had the same so I surprised him.

“I wanted to pull out a gap and then to control the race from there and it worked out.”

Bottas admitted: “My goal was to win so it was very disappointing. We lost it in the start. After that it was very close. I tried to put some pressure on Sebastian, but it didn’t happen. Lewis did a great comeback to score points.”

- Massa farewell -

Raikkonen admitted: “Lewis got close to me at the end, but it’s impossible to overtake here if you have close speed between the cars.”

Massa gave the home crowd something to cheer about as the Williams driver heads to retirement.

He won the race at Interlagos in 2008 when he was pipped to the title by Hamilton.

“I feel so emotional today,” admitted Massa. “All you guys, thank you very much for everything that we passed together and for all the support and energy.”

On a hot blue-skied day, with a track temperature of 60 degrees Celsius, the key action took place on the first lap when, following a multiple collision at the first corner, the Safety Car was deployed.

This incident saw Ricciardo spin on a kerb, hit luckless Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren and, in turn, Dane Kevin Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

 The latter two were forced to retire as, in a separate incident, Frenchman Romain Grosjean lost control of his Haas and slid into compatriot Esteban Ocon’s Force India, taking the pair of them off into a gravel trap.

It was the first retirement of Ocon’s career after 27 races and Grosjean was handed a 10-seconds penalty.

In the chaos that ensued, Hamilton took advantage and rose to 14th before the Safety Car pulled off and racing resumed.

The world champion, who had clinched his fourth title two weeks earlier in Mexico, made the most of his rebuilt car, powered by a new engine, following his crash in qualifying on Saturday.

While Vettel pulled clear by 1.9 seconds ahead of Bottas, it was Hamilton setting the fastest laps as he sliced through the field. By lap 21, of the 71, following an immaculate demonstration of speed and passing moves, he was up to fifth before settling for fourth place.

“It was fun,” said Hamilton. “Just like my karting days when I started from the back. But I messed up yesterday and I know I was quick enough to win from pole to flag, but I made the job a lot harder.

“When I woke up this morning my goal was to do the team proud and score points. I tried, but ran out of tyres at the end.”

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F1: Vettel wins while sporting Hamilton keeps his word

BUDAPEST - Sebastian Vettel won a tense Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday in a Ferrari one-two that stretched his championship lead to 14 points after Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton sportingly surrendered third place to his team mate.

The German, savouring his fourth win of the season and 46th of his Formula One career, took the chequered flag 0.9 seconds ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn had looked faster than Vettel for most of the afternoon.

"I'm over the moon, that was a really difficult race," said the winner, who had to wrestle with a skewed steering wheel on a sweltering afternoon at the Hungaroring and had no room for error.

Hamilton finished fourth after slowing down on the last lap and allowing Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas to go past, despite the loss of vital points to the Briton's championship challenge.

Bottas had let Hamilton through on the 45th of the 70 laps, on the assurance that his team mate would hand back the place if he could not overtake the Ferraris, and the triple champion duly kept his word.

"Really thanks to Lewis for keeping the promise in the end and letting me by," said Bottas.

"I don't think every team mate would have swapped back."

   
Hamilton, whose radio was malfunctioning for some of the race and would have had more of a chance had he got past Bottas earlier, said he had done what he had to do.

"It's tough in the championship but I'm a man of my word," he said. "I did say that if I can't overtake them I would let him back through."

On a circuit where overtaking is notoriously hard, the top five all finished in their starting order with Max Verstappen fifth for Red Bull.

The Dutch teenager was handed a 10 second stop and go penalty for colliding with his Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap.

The impact ended Ricciardo's race, with the car stranded on the track and fluid leaking from the broken radiator, and brought out the safety car.

"It’s not on. It was amateur to say the least. It’s not like he was trying to pass -- there was no room to pass," said an angry Ricciardo.

"I don’t think he likes it when a team mate gets in front. You’ve got the whole race to try and repair the mistake but the pass was never on. It wasn’t even a pass, it was a very poor mistake."

Fernando Alonso, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Saturday, gave struggling McLaren their best finish of the season so far by taking sixth place and also setting the fastest lap of the race.

Belgian team mate Stoffel Vandoorne was 10th in a double points finish for the former champions, who moved off the bottom of the table and ahead of Sauber.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz was seventh for Toro Rosso with Mexican Sergio Perez eighth and Force India team mate Esteban Ocon ninth.

Britain's Paul di Resta, replacing unwell Brazilian Felipe Massa at Williams, retired.

The last Ferrari driver to win from pole position in Hungary was Vettel's compatriot Michael Schumacher, who was dominant in 2004 and went on to win his seventh and last championship that season.

Hungary was the last race before the August break, with nine of the 21 rounds remaining.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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Vettel ends Mercedes streak with Ferrari pole

SOCHI, Russia - Formula One frontrunner Sebastian Vettel stunned Mercedes to take Ferrari's first pole position since 2015 on Saturday with team mate Kimi Raikkonen completing a front row lockout at the Russian Grand Prix.

The pole, Vettel's 47th, ended a run of 18 in a row for once-dominant world champions Mercedes, who had Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton right behind the two red cars in third and fourth places.

The German, a four-times world champion with Red Bull, has won two of the first three races and leads triple champion Hamilton by seven points in the championship.

As a measure of Ferrari's achievement in breaking the Mercedes stranglehold and returning to form, the pole was only the Italian team's sixth since 2008.

It was also Ferrari's first front row sweep since Brazilian Felipe Massa, now with Williams, and Raikkonen qualified first and second at the French Grand Prix -- a race no longer on the calendar -- in June 2008.

Statisticians would have to thumb back to the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, 31 races ago, to find the last time Mercedes had no car on the front row.

"The first run was not really tidy, so I left it to the end, and I improved some time in the last sector," said Vettel, who had to wait before confirmation came over the radio that Mercedes were beaten.

"I immediately opened the radio 'tell me about the others, tell me about the others!'," he said. "When I got the message we got it I was over the moon. The car was phenomenal this afternoon."

Bottas was fastest in the first two phases of qualifying, with the choice of tyres coming into play, and those who had suspected the champions were hiding their pace in practice appeared to be justified.

But that too was a false dawn, with glum looks and shaking heads in the Mercedes garage as the reality of the situation emerged.

"I just wasn't quick enough today, it was all in the last sector... so there's some work to do," said Hamilton, who had racked up six poles in a row before Bottas took his career first in Bahrain two weeks ago.

"Ferrari are quickest in qualifying and generally in race trim, so it will be interesting to see where we stand tomorrow," added the Briton.

Bottas, who has yet to win a grand prix and joined from Williams in January, recognised Mercedes had expected far more from a circuit where they have led every lap since the race first appeared on the calendar in 2014.

"For sure they have a very good car and we are struggling to compete with them," he said of Ferrari.

"Personally, and as a team, coming into this weekend probably we were thinking that it's going to be better than Bahrain. So far it's turned out to be not so good and Ferrari seems to be doing something better here than us.

"So for sure it's disappointing for us not to be on pole," added the Finn.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth with Massa sixth and between the two Red Bulls with Max Verstappen behind in seventh.

Renault, who have struggled to score points, again had a car in the top 10 on the grid with Germany's Nico Hulkenberg qualifying eighth.

Hulkenberg's British team mate Jolyon Palmer compounded a miserable day, after an overnight chassis change and then a replacement engine, by crashing out of the first phase.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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F1: Ferrari prancing as Vettel wins in Australia

MELBOURNE -- Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday to dash Mercedes' hopes of extending their dominance into a fourth successive season of Formula One.

The German cruised to his 43rd race victory with a 9.9 second gap to Mercedes' runner-up Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton's new team mate, Valtteri Bottas, finishing third on a glorious afternoon at Albert Park.

The victory was Vettel's fourth for Ferrari but his first since the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2015.

That triumph was also the last time Ferrari had topped the podium but Vettel's victory underlined the huge leap in performance made by the glamour team, whose cars showed impressive pace and reliability in winter testing.

"For all of us, it is a positive surprise," a beaming Vettel said at the post-race media conference.

"The big difference was being able to deliver a really good car... I think the new car in general obviously is fantastic and is a great reward, a big relief for everyone."

For the first time in the V6 turbo hybrid era, which started in 2014, there is a non-Mercedes driver at the top of the championship standings.

Vettel's 2007 championship-winning team mate Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen one behind.

On the front row next to pole-sitter Hamilton, Vettel got off to a sluggish start and his British rival broke clear to avoid Albert Park's usual messy log-jam at turn one.

But Hamilton was soon complaining on the team radio about his car's grip and was first to pit on lap 18 to change tyres.

It proved a turning point as he rejoined behind Verstappen and was unable to pass the feisty Dutch teenager.

As Hamilton vented on the team radio, Vettel forged ahead.

The German pitted at lap 23 and exited the pit-lane just in front of Verstappen, who was still gamely holding off Hamilton while riding his tyres thin.

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff was enraged. Television pictures showed him pounding his fist into a desk in the team garage.

Vettel showed the reigning constructors' champions a clean set of heels and quickly established a six-second gap, which only got wider as the race progressed.

After crossing the finish line, Vettel howled in ecstasy and thousands of red-clad Ferrari fans flooded onto the lakeside circuit to share in the German's triumph.

Fans of home racer Daniel Ricciardo were left disappointed, however, after the Australian's race ended midway through at turn three, his Red Bull stopping with smoke billowing out.

He had earlier started from pit-lane two laps behind, after suffering a sensor problem with his gearbox that prevented him from taking his place at the grid.

It was a better day for Felipe Massa, who came sixth in his 'comeback' race following his short-lived retirement from Williams last year.

Force India also enjoyed a strong race, with Sergio Perez coming seventh and French newcomer Esteban Ocon also in the points after running 10th.

Reliability problems were rife in other teams, however, with seven cars failing to finish, including McLaren's twice champion Fernando Alonso and Williams' Canadian debutant Lance Stroll.

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Vettel wins for Bianchi and Ferrari on emotionally-charged day

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- German driver Sebastian Vettel delivered an emotional high-speed tribute to his late colleague Jules Bianchi on Sunday when he stormed to victory for Ferrari in a dramatic and incident-filled Hungarian Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion claimed his second victory of the season and 41st of his career -- drawing him level with the late Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna in equal third on the all-time list -- after leading from the start to dominate a thrilling and unpredictable contest.

The Red Bull pair of Russian Daniil Kvyat and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished in second and third respectively.

The ferocity of the contest, lit up by Vettel’s blazing speed and tenacity, served as an appropriate tribute to Frenchman Bianchi, who died on July 17 from injuries sustained when he collided with a recovery vehicle in torrential rain at last October’s Japanese Grand Prix.

A minute’s silence for Bianchi, a Ferrari academy protégé, before the race created an emotional atmosphere that was reflected in the action and in Vettel’s speech to the Ferrari team on his triumphant slow-down lap.

"Merci Jules, c’est a toi," said the winner. “Thank you Jules, You will always be in our hearts This win is for you."

It was Vettel’s first victory in Hungary, and 21-year-old Kvyat’s first career podium – the best ever by a Russian driver -- as Red Bull produced a reminder of their pedigree. It was the first podium this year without a Mercedes driver.

"Yes, an incredible day, but this victory is for Jules," said Vettel, mindful the Frenchman’s family were in attendance.

"It has been an incredibly tough week for all of us and, for all the people at Ferrari, who know that, sooner or later, he would have been part of our team."

Kvyat said he owed his podium to his own determination.

"After Turn One, I thought my race might be over because I had a massive flat-spot, but my team told me to keep pushing and today I learned what it means to never give up," said Kvyat.

Ricciardo said: "It was a crazy race. I had a contact at the restart with Lewis and thought my race might be over. I had contact with Nico and thought my race was over

"I left it all on the track today. I gave it everything and I owe my race to Jules. I gained extra strength today and I owe that to him."

Dutch teenager Jos Verstappen finished fourth for Toro Rosso -- on a track where his father Jos finished on the podium in 1994 -- ahead of two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso who delivered the troubled McLaren Honda team’s best result of the year in fifth place.

Series leader and defending two-time champion Briton Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, after starting from pole position, for Mercedes to enlarge his advantage in the title race after an afternoon of incidents, mishaps and penalties.

Inspired, perhaps, by the team’s call for total commitment to racing in a signal of respect for Bianchi, Vettel surged from third on the grid to pass Rosberg into Turn One.

Behind him, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen followed closely as both Rosberg and Hamilton attempted to defend, but just as at Silverstone three weeks previously, the two Mercedes men were out-started comprehensively.

Hamilton was relegated to fourth on the opening lap during which, in an attempt to pass Rosberg, he ran wide across a gravel trap at the chicane.

He returned to the track in a spray of stones, re-joining in 10th place. "Nico crossed my line there, he pushed me wide," said Hamilton, a claim not supported by video replays.

After closing the gap behind Rosberg to five seconds, Hamilton lost time in traffic while Raikkonen, suffering more bad luck, lost power and slowed before Hulkenberg, after losing the front wing on his Force India car in a frightening incident on the straight, crashed directly into the barriers at Turn One.

A virtual safety car was deployed immediately followed by the Safety Car as debris was cleared. As the field closed up, both Rosberg and Hamilton pitted for harder medium tyres for a final rush to the flag.

More drama erupted at the re-start on lap 49. Sensing his chance, Rosberg attacked and passed Raikkonen for second while Hamilton, on harder tyres, struggled against Ricciardo and collided with him at Turn One, the Briton losing a front wing end-plate.

It was his final significant act. He pitted on lap 52 for a new front wing, re-joined 13th and was then given a drive-through penalty for his part in the incident.

Hamilton was admirably frank about his performance.

"I was all over the place," said Hamilton, who had been fastest in every session on Friday and Saturday.

"I don't have any words to explain what happened today. It was a really bad performance from myself.

"I pushed and never gave up, but when I had two different choices I chose the wrong one very time. It was weird

"Do I deserve any points? I didn't give up and drove as hard as I could.

"To come away from one of the worst performances I've put in in a long, long time... it shows we are human."

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Straight eight puts Vettel ahead of Schumacher

AUSTIN, Texas -- Sebastian Vettel promised he would never get used to winning, even as he celebrated a record eighth victory in a row at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.

Asked whether he felt like pinching himself at what he had achieved, Red Bull's quadruple world champion grinned: "Not just step back and pinch. I think step back and hit hard. That's more like it."

Amid the back-slapping and champagne being sprayed in the Red Bull hospitality, Vettel and team principal Christian Horner struggled to come to terms with a season that continues to rewrite the record books.

Red Bull, like their 26-year-old driver, has won every title for the past four years but this year has set a new level of dominance.

Having clinched a fourth consecutive drivers title last month in India, and become the youngest ever quadruple champion, Vettel had managed to find fresh motivation where others might have eased up.

He showed the same hunger and zeal at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday as he did two weeks earlier when he had equaled Michael Schumacher's 2004 record of seven wins in a row in a single season.

"I think the moment you are not hungry any more and are asking yourself what are you doing, it's time to move on and do something else." he said. "I jump into the car and I just want to be fastest. It's still there, same as a couple of years ago.

"Obviously it (winning races) was more the case lately than many years back, but still I think you should not allow yourself to get used to it."

With just one race remaining in Brazil next weekend, Horner said the team will keep their foot on the gas all the way to the checkered flag in Sao Paulo, where Vettel can equal Schumacher's record of 13 wins in a season after collecting his 12th of the year in Texas.

"I think when we reflect at the end of the season on what we have actually achieved this year, it's very remarkable," Horner told reporters.

"He (Vettel) was quite emotional at the end of the race because he has beaten the record of one of his idols when it seemed likely that kind of record would not be beaten.

"To have won every race since July is mind-blowing, especially against the quality of opposition that we are up against. I think it will take a while to sink in."

Speechless

Vettel had said earlier in the week that he was not driven by records but he was well aware of the magnitude of what he had achieved the minute he crossed the finish line in Texas.

"I'm speechless," the German told his team over the radio. "We have to remember these days. There is no guarantee they will last forever."

Later, talking to reporters, Vettel was still trying to put it all into perspective.

"I think you should never lose the passion and the joy and always remember the days when you were just dreaming of these things to happen," he said. "So therefore I think it's important for all of us to just enjoy the moment.

"There's more time later in our lives to realize what it meant."

With massive changes to the cars coming next season that could turn the sport on its head, or at least threaten Red Bull's supremacy, Horner agreed that it was important to make the most of present success.

"In sport whether it is Roger Federer or Ferrari, or Williams or McLaren there are phases of sportsmen being dominant and at some point that does come to an end and then you have to regroup and you have to go again," said Horner.

"Sebastian is right, it's important to savor moments like today. It's easy to become complacent but you have to appreciate every single moment.

"It never gets boring because you have to remember the days when we weren't winning," said the principal, who marked his 40th birthday on Saturday.

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Vettel wins to seize F1 lead from Alonso

YEONGAM, South Korea - World champion Sebastian Vettel won the Korean Grand Prix in a Red Bull one-two finish on Sunday to take the overall Formula One lead from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with four races remaining.

Vettel's third win in a row, fourth of the season and 25th of his career, left him on 215 points with third-placed Alonso now on 209.

Australian Mark Webber, who had started on pole position but was overtaken by his team mate off the grid into the first corner, finished second to anchor the first one-two of the season by any team.

South Korea's 'Gangnam Style' rapper Psy waved the chequered flag as Vettel crossed the finish line and thanked his team for a "great race, great job on the pit wall" before screaming in delight.

"The start was very important. we started from the dirty side," said Vettel. "I had a very good launch and could see that Mark was struggling a little bit. I was able to get side by side and then had the inside into turn one.

"It was a perfect start for myself," added the German, who spent the closing laps fretting about the tyres and making sure they held up.

With no need to attack his title-chasing team mate in the closing stages, Webber finished 8.2 seconds behind Vettel.

Starting fourth, Spaniard Alonso got ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton at the start but could not close the gap with the Red Bulls on an afternoon where the outcome was effectively decided in the first few seconds. He crossed the line 13.9 seconds behind Vettel.

"I think we have to be happy with the performance today," said Alonso, whose Ferrari team (290 points) overtook McLaren (284) for second place in the constructors' standings behind Red Bull (367).

"We are moving in the right direction. We just need a little last step to be as competitive as Red Bull."

Button out

Brazilian Felipe Massa continued his late season resurgence with fourth for Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen chalked up his 13th successive points finish with fifth in the race for Lotus to consolidate third place overall and stay in the reckoning.

McLaren's Jenson Button was an early casualty, his race ending on the first lap when Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi sideswiped his car and smashed the front right suspension as well as puncturing the tyre.

Kobayashi, who also ended the race for Mercedes' Nico Rosberg in the same incident, made it back to the pits on three wheels and a rim.

The Japanese, who finished a memorable third at home last weekend, collected a drive-through penalty for causing the collision and retired in the pits on lap 18.

Button, now 84 points off Vettel, declared his remote title hopes to be defunct.

"No, definitely not," said the Briton when asked whether he could still win the championship. "I'm going to enjoy myself over the next few races. Points for the team would have been really important, but it's out of our hands."

Germany's Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Force India with Frenchman Romain Grosjean, steering well clear of trouble after a spate of first lap smashes, seventh for Lotus.

Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne was eighth for Toro Rosso, with Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo ninth.

Hamilton, who had a ripped off strip of astroturf trailing from a sidepod in the closing laps, just kept off Sauber's Mexican Sergio Perez - the man who replaces him at McLaren next season - for 10th place after starting third. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Patrick Johnston)

source: abs-cbnnews.com