VETTEL?S CASTROL DRIVER RANKINGS LEAD
SLASHED IN KOREA



ENGINE FAILURE ALLOWS WEBBER TO CLOSE IN ON RED BULL TEAM-MATE
26th October 2010: Sebastian Vettel?s late engine failure not only cost him victory in last weekend?s Korean Grand Prix, it also put his hopes of finishing the year on top of the Castrol Driver Rankings at serious risk.
Vettel, who had led the whole race before his retirement, was defending a maximum score from the corresponding event last year, and therefore suffered a massive reduction in his Castrol Driver Rankings points, allowing his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber to slash the gap to the German.
Despite Webber spinning himself ? and Nico Rosberg ? out of contention early on, he was only defending a 17th place finish from last year?s corresponding race and so lost virtually nothing in terms of his Castrol Driver Rankings score. That means he is now considerably closer to Vettel than a week ago.
With Vettel failing to complete the race, a points finish for Webber would have taken him into the Castrol Driver Rankings top spot for the first time and ended his team-mate?s stint at number one. Instead Vettel extended his record run to a 31st consecutive week.
Sebastien Loeb?s win on Rally Spain allowed the World Rally champion to cement his third place in the Castrol Driver Rankings ahead of Fernando Alonso (4th), who took his Ferrari to victory in Korea following Red Bull?s self-destruction.
Lewis Hamilton?s runner-up spot behind Alonso kept the McLaren driver in fifth. However Will Power (6th) has reduced the margin with his driving for Ford Performance Racing in the V8 Supercar Championship at Surfers Paradise.
The closest battle in the top 10 is for seventh place with reigning F1 world champion Jenson Button (8th) just a handful of points behind NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson (7th) following the latter?s fifth place at Martinsville behind his title rival Denny Hamlin (11th).
Sauber F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi (49th) was the biggest climber in the top 100 as he finished eighth in Korea and made up 10 places, while Mercedes? Michael Schumacher (34th) climbed eight spots after equalling his season?s best result of fourth.
Jarno Trulli (107th) was less successful, dropping 17 places after hitting his Lotus team-mate Heikki Kovalainen (88th) after an early switch from wet to intermediate tyres. Kimi Raikkonen (122nd) suffered even more, with the former F1 champion crashing his Citroen on the shakedown stage for Rally Spain, missing the rally and falling 26 spots.
To see the full Castrol Rankings and register for weekly updates, please go to: www.castroldriverrankings.com