Ferrari's Fernando Alonso emerged from the chaos in Korea to claim his third victory in four races and move to the top of the Formula One world title standings.

In a rain-hit inaugural Korean Grand Prix, for the first time this season Red Bull suffered a double retirement.

Mark Webber surrendered his championship lead when he crashed out on lap 19, whilst Sebastian Vettel's engine blew nine laps from home when he was on course for the win.

It allowed Ferrari star Alonso to take the chequered flag and move 11 points clear of Webber, with Lewis Hamilton - second on the day - now 21 down on his former McLaren team-mate with two races to go.

After lifting the winners' trophy and spraying the champagne in the dark, a beaming Alonso said: "I'm absolutely delighted.

"It was one of the best races of the year for us, one in which we have been competitive all weekend.

"We knew it was going to be a tricky race, but it's the first time I've won in the wet, so I'm very happy."

Vettel, who would have led the championship for the first time this season if he had held on for the win, now finds himself down in fourth, 25 points behind Alonso.

As for reigning champion Jenson Button, his title reign is all but over as he could only manage 12th and trails Alonso by 42 points.

Massa joined team-mate Alonso and Hamilton on the podium, with Michael Schumacher equalling his best finish of the season with fourth in his Mercedes.

Robert Kubica was fifth in his Enstone-built Renault, followed by the Silverstone-based Force India team's Vitantonio Liuzzi, the Grove-based Williams team's Rubens Barrichello, the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Nick Heidfeld, and with Williams' Nico Hulkenberg tenth.