The Korean Grand Prix wasn’t so much a race, as a marathon. Which is a type of race. But you get the picture.

The Good

• I’m never entirely sure what to think about Lewis Hamilton, but today he went right up in my estimations: the man just wanted to race. While most drivers were using their radios to complain about the wet conditions behind the safety car, Hamilton cheerily described everything as, “Good!” Later in the race he was similarly upbeat about the fading light – or not fading, from where he was sitting. His positive attitude was rewarded with a richly deserved second place finish.
• The FIA weather radar, used by teams on the pit wall, is a common sight on the TV coverage. It also describes current conditions, which for a lot of the race today was, in red text, the wonderfully simplistic phrase: “It’s Raining”. Brilliant.
• It’s not often that I’d class Michael Schumacher as a good thing, but blimey, he was fantastic at the start of the race. He tested the conditions to breaking point behind the safety car, then made a succession of passing moves with no hesitation. Great stuff.
• Adrian Sutil was the other man a bit keen on overtaking. A bit too keen, possibly. He made up and lost places at a dizzying rate, partly because he had a load of brake problems, which he failed to do anything about. He’s been fined for that, and penalised for one of his moves, but it was good old fashioned entertainment nonetheless.
• I didn’t get up for the race. I don’t think I would have been happy had I woken up at 6am, then sat through the numerous lengthy delays before racing actually got under way.

The Bad

• Instead, it took me most of the day to get through the whole race. I’d recorded the BBC One show, so watched that on my PVR. That programme was extended, so I caught the extended bit on the iPlayer. Coverage then switched to BBC Two, which helpfully wasn’t available on the iPlayer – though apparently it eventually turned up mid-afternoon. Not knowing that, I instead recorded the BBC One replay of the race, and fast-forwarded to the last part of the race.
• It was worth it though, with the back end of Sebastian Vettel’s car sort of disintegrating in a shower of sparks. After Mark Webber’s error earlier in the race, it was not a good day for Red Bull Racing.
• The same goes for Jenson Button, who seemed bemused by his many problems after the race. Poor lad.
• Which all adds up to a pretty bad day for the championship – and not just because I really don’t want Fernando Alonso to take the title. Fair play to him though, he had a near-faultless day – just that wheel nut problem, which he quickly got away with – and grudgingly deserved the win. But Vettel is now 25 points – a full race victory – off the top, Hamilton 21, and Webber 11. I have a horrible feeling that it’s all starting to go Alonso’s way.
• And let’s spare a thought for Nico Rosberg. He was having a storming time until he was the unfortunate victim of Webber’s spinning Red Bull.

The Ugly

• The circuit was a bit rough around the edges, but I don’t think it was as much as ugly. It was positively beautiful when the sun started to go down, and I thought the massive red shipyard equipment in the distance added something to the scenery. It’ll probably look entirely different next year.
• The Mercedes GP cars didn’t look as ugly today, without sunshine to highlight their matt grey finish. But most cars were looking pretty bad by the end of the race. You certainly don’t see Formula 1 cars covered in mud every week.