Mark Webber registered his second retirement of the season at the Korean Grand Prix and, in so doing, lost the lead of the world championship for the first time in six races. He now lies 11 points behind Fernando Alonso, with 50 still on the table.

"It was very disappointing not to finish the race," said the Australian. "The track conditions were treacherous due to the rain and I crashed at the exit of Turn 12. I lost the rear of the car on a kerb; it was 100 percent my fault and that's the end of it. The only thing to do now is move on to the next race."

Up until that moment, Webber had enjoyed a good weekend. The RB6 was competitive around the Yeongam circuit and he'd had a good tussle with team-mate Sebastian Vettel for pole position.

"We had a fantastic fight on Saturday afternoon," said Webber. "It was nip and tuck throughout qualifying: he was quicker than me in Q1, I beat him in Q2 and he then took pole by 0.074s. That tiny margin would have given Seb a massive advantage in the race if it had remained dry because the clean side of the grid had much more grip than the dirty side. As a result, I was relieved to wake up on Sunday morning and see rain coming down because it cleaned the asphalt and levelled the playing field."

The rain lasted longer than most people expected and it resulted in a Safety Car start because the all-new Korea International Circuit didn't drain well. But that was the only criticism levelled at the circuit all weekend.

"It was an enjoyable track to drive," Webber continued. "It had three very distinct sectors: long straights in Sector 1, some fast changes of direction in Sector 2 and some tighter corners in Sector 3. It was also a good technical challenge because we weren't using maximum levels of downforce due to the long straights at the start of the lap.

"The organisers were also very accommodating. We suggested a couple of changes to the kerbs at the drivers' briefing on Friday and the changes had been made by Saturday morning."

Webber's race was over on lap 19 and he watched from the pitlane as Alonso won one of the most drawn out races in history. It eventually finished in darkness, 15 minutes after sunset.

"It was a pretty extraordinary race," says Mark, "and it's closed things up at the top of the world championship. But I absolutely believe that I can win the title. The RB6 is a great car and I'm going to relish these last two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. To be racing against guys of Fernando's calibre is very rewarding and beating them is what sport at this level is all about."