Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won a chaotic, rain-hit Korean Grand Prix on Sunday to seize the lead in the Formula One world championship as his Red Bull rivals crashed out.
The 29-year-old Spaniard took his third victory in the past four races after pole-sitter and race leader Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing was forced to retire with a blown engine on lap 46 of the 55-lap race.
The inaugural Grand Prix in South Korea finished in near-darkness after a rain-delayed start and a red flag after just three laps because of the soaked track, with the race taking almost three hours to complete.
Webber crashed out
Australian Mark Webber, the championship leader heading into the first race at the new Yeongam circuit, crashed on lap 19 when running in second position to Vettel. It was the Red Bull driver's second non-finish of the year.
Alonso's victory, 14 seconds ahead of Britain's Lewis Hamilton, was the 26th of his career, and the first in wet conditions. Brazilian Felipe Massa rounded out the podium for Ferrari.
With two races remaining and a maximum 50 points to be won, Alonso has 231 points, an 11-point lead over second-placed Webber. Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, is in third place with 210 points, while Vettel has 206.
"It's one of the best races of the year for us, for the team. We know that it was a tricky race, a race to finish," two-time world champion Alonso said after his fifth victory of the season.
"Here it was bad luck for Mark (Webber) and Sebastian (Vettel), and anything can happen in the next two races. There are still four or five contenders (for the title) at this stage, so being on the podium and being consistent is the key to win the championship."
Seven-time world champion German Michael Schumacher equalled his best result of the season with a fighting fourth place for Mercedes, while Poland's Robert Kubica was fifth for Renault.
Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) was a season-best sixth, while Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Japan's Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), his German teammate Nick Heidfeld and Germany's Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) rounded out the top 10 points-paying positions.
Bad day for Button
It was a miserable afternoon for defending world champion Jenson Button, who finished 12th for McLaren after an early pit stop compromised his race and he conceded his title defence was all but over.
The race began under safety car conditions on the rain-soaked circuit.
Drivers completed three laps in the order they qualified before the race was red-flagged, resuming after a 46-minute delay.
It re-started under safety car conditions until lap 17, and on the second lap at racing speed, Webber slid wide on the kerbs at Turn 12 and crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the circuit, rebounding across the track into the path of luckless German Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), putting both drivers out.
Webber's accident forced the safety car to be deployed again, and the Australian admitted he had simply made an error in the treacherous conditions.
"It was totally my fault, totally my mistake," he said.
Alonso, Vettel pitted
Vettel stretched his lead over Alonso to over four seconds at the mid-point of the race before another safety car intervention to clear the debris caused by an accident between Swiss Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso and German Timo Glock of Virgin Racing.
Vettel and Alonso pitted on lap 32 while the safety car was out, and the Spaniard's chance of winning the race appeared to be over when the wheel nut on his right front tyre did not attach correctly, delaying his stop and dropping the Ferrari driver behind Hamilton's McLaren.
But Alonso reclaimed second position when Hamilton ran wide at Turn 1 when the race resumed on lap 35.
The Ferrari driver and Red Bull's Vettel traded fastest laps until the German dramatically slowed on the start-finish straight at the beginning of lap 46, pulling over two corners later with smoke pouring from his Renault engine.
Alonso was untroubled thereafter, increasing his lead over Hamilton over the final nine laps to take a comfortable and crucial victory.
But Hamilton was upbeat after the race. "Everyone is really enthusiastic and is pushing as hard as they can. The championship definitely isn't out of reach -- we can still do this," he said.
The next race is the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 7.
