Setting the scene for Korea

With the battle for the drivers' world championship officially over, as opposed to effectively over as it had been for some time prior to the Japanese Grand Prix, the Formula 1 circus washed up in the city of Mokpo for the second Korean Grand Prix.

It's fair to say that this small industrial city in the south-west of the country, with a population of just 250,000, isn't a place that anyone in the paddock would find themselves were it not for the F1 calendar. It's an incongruous location for a race, a feeling that isn't counteracted by the track, which was completed in great haste at the eleventh hour last year. It's barely been touched since the inaugural grand prix 12 months ago, save for the odd change of kerbing here and there. As for the hotels, the less said about them the better, although AUTOSPORT's experience suggests that they have at least been cleaned up since 2010

In some ways, Sebastian Vettel's drivers' championship triumph has knocked the stuffing out of the season, even though Red Bull still hasn't quite clinched the lucrative constructors' crown. There's only so many times that the German can be asked how it feels to win the world title and, save for the revelation that his Sunday-night karaoke repertoire included Yellow Submarine, Hey Jude and My Way - but no Japanese songs - there was little more for him to add today.

On a worrying note, there is still no evidence of Vettel having sung We Are the Champions, although a detailed search of F1's sporting regulations reveals that such an action is not mandatory on pain of disqualification. That said, it seemed to be going against tradition to spare us this predictable triumphant ballad.

Elsewhere, the increasingly tiresome Lewis Hamilton v Felipe Massa spat continued. Hamilton opted to stake a claim to the moral high ground, but was careful to note the Brazilian's complaints, saying, "I have always had respect for Felipe and still do today, regardless of the negative comments that he's constantly coming up with."

Hamilton is eager to put the Massa spat behind him © sutton-images.com

Massa, for his part, continued to come up with such comments when asked. You can't blame him, for Hamilton admitted that he was at fault for the Suzuka clash because he couldn't see the Ferrari on his outside and the stewards were very clear in holding the McLaren man responsible for the Singapore collision two weeks earlier. That said, he has obviously had enough of having to field such questions.

"I have nothing to say," Massa explained. "I saw many mistakes from him and that is it. I tried to speak to him, he didn't want it and to be honest I don't care any more."

More interesting is how the pair will fair on-track this weekend, even if they do steer clear of each other (or, at least, Hamilton doesn't steer towards Massa). While the McLaren man is desperate to find some form after what he described as "one of the slowest races I've ever hard" in Japan, Massa is on the verge of going a full year since last standing on a grand prix podium. Both are under pressure, both are in the shadow of their team-mates and both would get a huge boost from a top-three finish on Sunday, making their progress this weekend a big talking point.

Hamilton also still has second in the world championship to fight for, a 'prize' that Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Mark Webber are also battling for. While it's not an honour that any of the quartet started the season with designs on, thanks to the feeling that next year's world championship fight starts here, whichever driver has the strongest end to the season has reason to go into the winter with a huge amount of optimism.

And that's why, even though the drivers' title is long gone, the last four races are going to be worth watching.