2012 Korean Grand Prix The Korean Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel has Christmas come early. He wins the Korean Grand Prix and takes the lead in the 2012 title race.

The race was shaped right at the start when Webber bogged down at the lights. Vettel held his line on the left and easily took the lead into Turn 1. From then on the two Red Bull drivers had to spend the next 54-and-a-half laps defending their car advantage from Hamilton and Alonso.

Hamilton's race went south when he picked up some problems in the early stages, which changed the balance and he chewed numerous sets of tyres. Alonso came home to score another podium, but he must be wondering how big his chances are in the championship race now.

Further back, there were good drives from Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso pair. A noteworthy performance as well today from Romain Grosjean. Despite all the talk he was able to keep out of trouble on lap one and bring the Lotus home.

This was the 2012 Korean Grand Prix on AUTOSPORT Live. Thanks for joining us over the last three days of track action. We will be back to do it all over again for round 17 - the Indian Grand Prix - in two weeks' time.

Ferrari takes over second place in the teams' standings after finishing third and fourth while McLaren slip behind following a difficult day

A maximum score for Red Bull cements the team's position at the top of the constructors' order.

Another terrible afternoon for Hamilton, who remains fourth in the standings but with Webber now just a point behind.

Vettel takes control of the points race with a margin of six over Alonso, with that pair moving well clear of third-placed Raikkonen.

Three-time grand prix winner Johnny Herbert is on hand to interview the podium trio.

The top three and Newey stand atop the podium for the traditional end-of-race photocall.

But Newey has a plan up his sleeve and dons a pair of goggles in an entertaining moment.

The champagne sprays on the podium and Vettel decides Adrian Newey is getting a face full of bubbly.

Alonso adds a ninth trophy to his 2012 collection after another damage limitation race to third.

Mark Webber receives his award for second place. He is pleased and raises the trophy above his head.

Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey collects the constructors' prize for the team's first one-two of the season.

Delight for Vettel as he picks up the winning trophy and the advantage in the title race with a third successive victory.

That is followed by the Austrian national anthem for this afternoon's winning constructor - Red Bull Racing.

The top three drivers walk out onto the Yeongam podium and the German national anthem rings out for today's winner - Sebastian Vettel.

Adrian Newey compares notes in the cool-down room with Vettel and Alonso, as they discuss the wear rate of the tyres during the race.

Four drivers retired from this afternoon's race:

De la Rosa pulled into the pits and the team called it a day, while Kobayashi was retired by Sauber and it will be interesting to get to the bottom of that one.

Rosberg stopped with a problem very early in the race, causing a yellow flag that lasted an age, while Button was the first casualty. He was rammed by Kobayashi on the run to Turn 3 on the opening lap.

Pic was 19th in the other Marussia entry and Karthikeyan is the final finisher in 20th position.

Petrov finishes 16th with Caterham team-mate Kovalainen 17th. They pulled clear of Glock, who finished 18th for Marussia.

Vettel's tyres make it the final mile back to the pits and he steps out of the Red Bull as the crushing victor of today's Korean Grand Prix.

So Perez is out of the points in 11th with di Resta 12th, Schumacher 13th, Maldonado 14th and Senna 15th.

Hamilton continued losing pace and was under attack from Perez round the final corners, but the Briton hangs onto the final point.

Vergne comes home eighth with Ricciardo ninth to seal a positive race for the Toro Rosso team.

A battling drive for Hulkenberg to take sixth, while Grosjean keeps it clean today for seventh place.

Raikkonen ends up a distant fifth in his Lotus.

Alonso does his best with another third place, while Massa drove brilliantly but was held back by the team for fourth.

Webber lost out to his team-mate at the first corner but makes it a Red Bull one-two.

Another dominant victory from the world champion as he grabs the points lead and marches on towards a third crown.

Sebastian Vettel wins the Korean Grand Prix!

Lap 55: Plenty of nerves on the Red Bull pitwall but Vettel is half a lap from victory in Korea.

Lap 55: Senna sends a move up the inside of team-mate Maldonado for 14th, but the Venezuelan gets the switch-back exiting Turn 3 and retakes it.

Lap 55: Webber takes away the fastest lap and is now 6.8 seconds behind leader Vettel.

Lap 55: Vettel makes it to the pits with only one lap to go on his worn rubber.

Lap 55: That should leave the Toro Rosso pair in the clear now (eighth and ninth), as Hamilton drops to 5.2s behind Ricciardo.

Lap 55: Vettel is definitely heeding the warnings from his pit but remains the comfortable leader as he heads around the penultimate lap.

Lap 54: Replays show that Hamilton predictably ran wide at Turn 13 and picked up the debris.

Lap 54: Hamilton has picked up a huge piece of the astroturf and it is flapping around wildly off the right air intake.

Lap 54: Vettel is told his right front may now be in the same state as when he was struggling before the second stop.

Lap 53: This leaves Ricciardo now fighting to stave off Hamilton in a battle for ninth. Behind them, Perez has caught di Resta.

Lap 53: Three laps to go for Vettel as he nurses his rubber to the flag.