FORMULA ONE:FERNANDO ALONSO stormed to the top of the Formula One drivers championship as he negotiated bad weather, a treacherous track and chaotic racing to take victory at the inaugural Korean Grand Prix on a day when both title-contending Red Bull cars failed to finish.

After Sebastian Vettel had claimed pole position from Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and third-placed Alonso on Saturday, the drivers arrived on Sunday morning to the sight of steady rain washing the track clean of what little rubber had been deposited on the fortnight-old surface during the early part of the weekend. With the new track deemed treacherous in dry conditions, a wet start and the possibility of a major incident was the last thing the troubled new Yeongam circuit, already the subject of bad publicity over construction delays in the run-up to the event, wanted to see.

And so it proved. The start was delayed by 10 minutes and when the cars finally got away it was behind the safety vehicle. With the bulk of drivers complaining over pit to car radio that the visibility was almost zero the red flags were quickly brought out to halt proceedings until the conditions improved.

The stoppage lasted almost an hour, a period in which the rain decreased significantly, so much so that umbrellas were no longer necessary. When the race finally resumed it was, again, behind the safety car, officials controlling the pace for 17 long laps, despite the assertion of several drivers that conditions were more than acceptable.

When the racing proper finally resumed, over one and a half hours had elapsed since the scheduled start, most of the time slipping by in rainfall far lighter than that experienced at other venues this year, where racing took place without pause.

Questions will undoubtedly be once again asked about the suitability for racing of the Yeongam circuit’s track surface but any immediate thought of those was put aside as the treacherous conditions provided one of the most unpredictable and incident-fuelled races of the year.

When the safety car peeled off at the start of lap 18, Vettel retained his lead from Webber and Alonso, the front three desperate not to cede any advantage with just 14 points separating the trio at the head of the title race.

Moments later though, Webber had given it all away, the Australian crashing out and taking out fourth-placed Nico Rosberg in the process. “Totally my fault,” said Webber. “I got a wheel on the kerb on the exit of Turn 12 and it was a very slow motion moment off the back of it. Totally my mistake.”

With Vettel controlling matters at the front ahead of Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, it seemed the worst possibly result was on the cards for the Australian, who would have dropped to third in the title trace had that order held.

Attempting to protect second as the safety car left the track Hamilton went too deep into turn one and slid off-track, allowing Alonso to pass and begin pursuit of Vettel again as the light began to fail across the circuit.

That pursuit looked forlorn as Vettel responded comfortably to any increase in Alonso’s pace. But then, on lap 46, Vettel suddenly slowed, a belch of smoke from the rear of his car signalling that his Renault engine had let go. Alonso swept past to claim the lead, his fifth win of the year and his fourth victory in seven races.

KOREAN GRAND PRIX: 1 F Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 2hrs 48mins 20.810secs, 2 L Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 2:48:35.809, 3 F Massa (Bra) Ferrari 2:48:51.678, 4 M Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 2:49:00.498, 5 R Kubica (Pol) Renault 2:49:08.544, 6 V Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 2:49:14.381

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 F Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 231pts, 2 M Webber (Aus) Red Bull 220, 3 L Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 210, 4 S Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 206, 5 J Button (Gbr) McLaren 189, 6 F Massa (Bra) Ferrari 143, 7 R Kubica (Pol) Renault 124, 8 No Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 122, 9 M Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 66, 10 R Barrichello (Bra) Williams 47

MANUFACTURERS: 1 Red Bull 426pts, 2 McLaren 399, 3 Ferrari 374, 4 Mercedes GP 188, 5 Renault 143, 6 Force India 68, 7 Williams 65, 8 BMW Sauber 43, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 11, 10 Lotus F1 0, 11 Virgin Racing 0, 12 HRT-F1 0