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Lewis Hamilton reaped the benefits of an excellent defensive drive to second in the Korean Grand Prix, rising to a season-high second in the Castrol EDGE Rankings, as Mark Webber ? the man he held at bay in the closing stages ? dropped one place to third.
Hamilton has had plenty of negative headlines to deal with this season, but he was excellent from the outset in Korea, becoming the first non-Red Bull driver to take pole position in qualifying. He struggled with understeer in the race however, and after losing the lead to Sebastian Vettel on the first lap, slowly fell into the clutches of Webber. Hamilton?s defence was impeccable however, and on the one occasion Webber did find a way through Hamilton responded immediately to retake second on the very next corner. He held on for the remainder of the race, as the pair?s battle had a direct impact on the Rankings order.
Webber, who has enjoyed an almost unbroken 12 month spell at second in the Rankings, fell behind Hamilton as a result of finishing behind him on the track. In a testament to a strong season, and an excellent car, third is the lowest Webber has been all season.
For Hamilton the opposite was true, as he put negative headlines behind him ? at least for now ? to move into second, his highest spot this year. Realistically that is as high as anyone can aim this year, after Vettel?s dominance has already given him an unassailable lead in the Rankings.
Never one to rest on his laurels, the newly-crowned world champion extended that lead further with his 10th victory of the season in Korea. Remarkably he now has more than double the points of Kyle Busch in 10th overall.
Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso also joined the fight for second in the closing stages, with Button edging out a charging Alonso for fourth. That allowed Button to close on the Spaniard in the Rankings, with less than 150 points to choose between the pair heading into the final three races.
The big loser from the weekend was Mercedes? Michael Schumacher, who was an innocent victim of Vitaly Petrov ? the Russian losing his braking point for Turn 3 as he squabbled with Alonso.
Petrov wiped into the rear of Schumacher and put him out of the race, with the German dropping four places to 32nd overall as a result.
On the opposite end of the scale Paul di Resta (48) made five places as a result of his strong points finish, while Sauber?s Sergio Perez ? 16th on the road ? gained 11 places to move into 118th.
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The Castrol EDGE Rankings is based on drivers' measurable performance over the last 12 months, including everything from their grid position to fastest laps. For further information on how the Castrol Rankings scores are calculated, click here.
