Alonso wins dramatic Singapore Grand Prix

Double world champion, Fernando Alonso, has returned to the top spot of podium with Renault at Formula One’s first ever night race in Singapore. His strategy put him to the front of the field after the race order was completely shaken up due to his teammate crashing and bringing out a saftey car, which led to Ferrari making a terrible mistake that almost certainly lost them the race.

The race started mostly cleanly, with pole sitter Felipe Massa pulling away in first and his Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, in third and catching up to Lewis Hamilton, looking likely to pass him at the first round of pit stops. That first round came early, though, after Nelson Piquet Jr crashed into a barrier, bringing  out the safety car just as the race was settling down. Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg were both forced to pit for fuel before the pit lane re-opened and were given 10 second stop-go penalties. Both Ferrari’s came into pit once the pit lane did open, taking advantage of the safety car period. Race leader Massa was given the green light to leave his pit box but the fuel hose was still attached and he drove off with it stuck in his car before stopping at the end of the pit lane with the race now lost. Raikkonen was queuing behind him and his hopes of big points were also gone. Ferrari managed to get Massa going again but he rejoined in last place.

Hamilton had a clean pit stop but was now behind Fernando Alonso, David Coulthard and Mark Webber who had all timed their pit stops perfectly, just before the safety car was released. They were now the top three runners. Jarno Trulli was also in front of him, on a one stopping strategy. Somehow Rosberg managed to come out of his stop-go penalty in second, and Alonso started to pull away from the rest of the pack. Trulli made his stop and fell back whilst Webber retired and Hamilton was now lining up to pass Coulthard for a podium position, which he pulled off. Meanwhile, Raikkonen’s recovery drive had put him in fifth. The safety car came out once again for a stricken Giancarlo Fisichella and Alonso’s 15 second lead was gone. Little changed at the front with the restart, however. A few laps later, Raikkonen made a small mistake at turn 10 that forced him into the barriers for yet another race without points. Alonso fronted the race order ahead of Rosberg, Hamilton, Timo Glock, Sebastian Vettel, Nick Heidfeld, Coulthard and Kazuki Nakajima with Honda’s Jenson Button narrowly missing out on a point.

Lewis Hamilton has increased his championship lead by seven points after Felipe Massa’s disaster pit stop, whilst Kimi Raikkonen falls back into the reach of Nick Heidfeld, now just one point behind the Finn in fifth. McLaren now take the lead in the constructors’ championship after Ferrari’s zero points race and Renault overhaul Toyota for fourth after the former world champions first win since 2006.

Read Full Post »

Heidfeld given grid penalty for pit entry

Nick Heidfeld will be penalised three grid positions for the Singapore Grand Prix after being deemed to have impeded Honda driver, Rubens Barrichello, while he was on a flying lap. The incident occurred during the first qualifying session when Barrichello was held up by the BMW who was entering the pit lane at the part of the entry on the racing line. The stewards decided he should have done more to get out of Barrichello’s way.

After being held up, Barrichello abandoned his lap and entered the pits. He has also be punished and given a 10,000 euro fine for not using the deceleration zone properly during his pit entry. Heidfeld will now start from ninth after qualifying sixth, whilst Barrichello will stay in eighteenth.

Read Full Post »

Massa storms to Singapore pole

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has taken pole position for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix by a huge margin in Qualifying at the Marina Bay street circuit. His time of 1:44.801 was a full six tenths of a second faster than McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who will line up on the front row with him.

Hamilton was lucky to get through to the third session of qualifying, after abandoning two vital laps in Q2 and scraping through in tenth. Third place for the race start goes to Kimi Raikkonen, who appears to have found some pace again, despite now being 21 points behind the championship leader. Robert Kubica lines up in fourth ahead of Heikki Kovalainen, Nick Heidfeld, Sebastian Vettel, Timo Glock and Nico Rosberg. Kazuki Nakajima made it into Q3 for the first time in his career. Jarno Trulli was off the pace in qualifying and will start from eleventh, just in front of Honda’s Jenson Button who was punching above his weight to achieve twelfth. Red Bull were hoping for more than only thirteenth and fourteenth. The biggest disappointment came from Fernando Alonso, who was one of the favourites for pole position after his stunning pace in practice, but suffered a fuel supply problem that forced him to retire from Q2.

Nelson Piquet Jr failed to get past Q1 and will start behind his teammate, whilst Sebastien Bourdais severely dropped off the pace and qualified seventeenth. Rubens Barrichello will start ahead of the Force Inidas, with Adrian Sutil being over a second slower whilst Giancarlo Fisichella failed to set a time after hitting the barriers.

The championship battle is well and truly on, with the top six in the standings starting from the top six spots one the grid. With overtaking a difficulty, how much advance does Massa have in a race that promises to be incident-packed?

Read Full Post »

Alonso continues to lead in final practice

Fernando Alonso has once again set the fastest lap in the final hour-long practice session ahead of Qualifying for this weekends Singapore Grand Prix. He came out towards the closing laps of the session and flew past the opposition, setting a 1:44.506 to become the first man into the 1:44s. He beat McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton to the top spot by a massive six tenths of a second.

Felipe Massa was right behind in third setting 1:45.246 and Renault’s strength this weekend was proved by Nelson Piquet completing the session in fourth. Nico Rosberg just managed to take fifth spot off Honda’s Jenson Button, who is also looking very strong going into Qualifying after popping up into second during the session. He set a 1:45.409. Robert Kubica, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdias completed the top ten. Nick Heidfeld sat in eleventh, whilst Heikki Kovalainen struggled even more, finishing in thirteenth. Rubens Barrichello finished ahead of both Toyotas, whilst Kimi Raikkonen ended up in seventeenth and facing the barriers after setting just one lap time. David Coulthard had limited running after a gearbox problem at the start of the session, which meant he could only beat the Force Indias.

All eyes are on what promises to be an exciting hour of qualifying, after Singapore has provided three action-packed practice sessions.

Read Full Post »

Alonso fastest in second Singapore practice

Fernando Alonso has gone fastest for Renault in the second Friday practice session at Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore. His best time of 1:45.654, which was set in the last few seconds of the session, beat McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who was just 0.09 seconds behind and otherwise would have gone fastest for the second session in a row.

Felipe Massa and Ferrari sat in third with a time of 1:45.793, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica. The sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen only managed seventh, just 0.3 seconds ahead of Honda’s Jenson Button, who continued to punch above his weight and set a 1:46.901. Kazuki Nakajima and and Timo Glock completed the top ten. Red Bull’s Mark Webber has limited running after crashing his car into the wall during the earlier practice session, but slotted in eleventh, in front of Nelson Piquet Jr, Sebastian Vettel, Sebastien Bourdais and his teammate, David Coulthard. Nick Heidfeld struggled with his BMW in sixteenth with Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli and the Force Indias sitting at the bottom.

Practice continues into Saturday with a final session before the drivers prepare for the first ever night-time F1 qualifying.

Read Full Post »

Trulli fined 10,000 euros

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli has been reprimanded and fined 10,000 euros after driving the wrong way round the Marina Bay circuit. The incident occurred during the first of two Friday practice sessions at Singapore, when the Italian spun coming out of the last corner. Instead of continuing down the main strait, he decided to come back the way he came and cut across the white line, also against the rules, so he could enter the pits.

The Stewards came to the conclusion that he had broken Article 30.2 of the 2008 F1 Regulations stating “drivers are strictly forbidden to drive their car in the opposite direction to the race unless this is absolutely necessary in order to move the car from a dangerous position.” He also crossed the white line separting the racing track and pit lane entrance, which is strictly forbidden under the sporting regulations.

Trulli will face no further punishment.

Read Full Post »

Hamilton on top at first night session

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time at the first ever Formula One practice session held at night, ahead of this weekends inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. His best time of 1:45.518 put his just 0.08 seconds ahead of his main championship rival, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

His teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, was a further four tenths of a second behind, slotting in third in front of Heikki Kovalainen in the sister McLaren setting a 1:46.463. Robert Kubica kept the pace for BMW, putting himself just behind the Ferraris and McLarens, setting a 1:46.618. Nico Rosberg placed Williams high up, beating Renault’s Fernando Alonso who completed the session in seventh with his teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr, in 9th and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld in-between the Renaults. Jenson Button landed his Honda in tenth with a 1:47.277, a full 0.3 seconds faster than Italian Grand Prix winner, Sebastian Vettel. The Toyotas struggled in 13th and 19th whilst Mark Webber became the first driver to crash an F1 car at the new circuit, and finished the session at the bottom.

Singapore appears to have lived up to the hype, with an incredible city backdrop. It was a close battle in the first practice session, but who will come out on top in FP2?

Read Full Post »

Stage is set for F1’s 800th Grand Prix

The most highly anticipated new race for years, the Singapore Grand Prix, will be underway from tomorrow with Friday Practice giving us a good idea of what to expect from Formula 1’s first ever night race. The second new street circuit of the year will have lots of pressure on it’s hands, following the last two races, and to pull off a night-time F1 race successfully. Before action begins, however, opinions about the new circuit are flooding in from the drivers and teams.

Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, likened the track to the Valencia Street Circuit, which hosted it’s first F1 race last month, saying “It’s very similar to Valencia, where you have the brick walls instead of the Monaco barriers. But it’s a little bit narrower and you’re driving through streets instead of around a harbour.” Fernando Alonso, who is currently leading Renault’s charge to take fourth in the constructors championship, has expressed concern over high kerbs that have been placed at the small chicane of turn 10 saying “It is not the best solution that they could find. We worry that if you miss the chicane or miss the line then you have to go over the kerbs – and then perhaps you damage the chassis or damage the bottom.” Meanwhile, BMW boss, Mario Theissen, has been talking about the Signapore scenery. “It is a spectacular setting with the sky scrapers, highways and parks. It is unbelievable. This event it is definitely good for F1.”

However many have worried about the lack of overtaking opportunities, a problem that was experienced at Valencia, with Theissen going on to say, “The question mark for me is the overtaking. As in Valencia. I expected much more in Valencia than actually happened and Valencia is definitely a quicker track than this one.” Most hope, though, that the new challenge of driving an F1 car at night alone will make the racing exciting enough although some have also complained that the amount of floodlighting used to light up the circuit will make racing at night unnecessary.

Safety concerns have been raised too with rain becoming a likely-hood at some point during the weekend, and a risk of thunderstorms present. Friday Practice gets underway tomorrow at a local time of 7pm.

Read Full Post »

FIA reject McLaren appeal

The FIA International Court of Appeal has rejected McLaren’s appeal of Lewis Hamilton being stripped of a win at Belgian Grand Prix and stated that their case was inadmissible and would not be looked into any further.

McLaren were appealing against the decision that Lewis Hamilton should have 25 seconds, a post-race drive-though penalty, added to his time after cutting a chicane in an attempt to pass Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The result lost him 4 world championship points dropped him further back into the reach of Raikkonen’s teammate, Felipe Massa.

To have their right to appeal against the incident accepted, McLaren put forward a precedent from last years Japanese Grand Prix, where Tonio Luizzi had 25 seconds added to his finishing time after the race. He also appealed the decision and, although he lost, the case was accepted by the FIA. In this instance, however, the appeal was rejected with the court referring to Paragraph 5 of Article 152 of the International Sporting Code, stating “Penalties of driving through or stopping in pit lanes together with certain penalties specified in FIA Championship regulations where this is expressly stated, are not susceptible to appeal.”

Hamilton remains only one point ahead of Massa in the drivers championship.

Read Full Post »

McLaren fastest on last day of Jerez test

The final official testing day of the 2008 season ended on Friday with Pedro de la Rosa topping the timesheets for McLaren with a best time of 1:18.992.  Nick Heidfeld finished runner-up for BMW, posting a time 0.3 seconds slower.

Lucas di Grassi and Renault remained in third, whilst Sebastian Vettel returned to Toro Rosso after moving aside to Red Bull to let Takuma Sato and Sebastien Buemi battle for a 2009 drive. Vettel finished fourth, posting a 1:19.470 with Buemi back testing for the Red Bull senior team and completing the day just behind. Toyota’s Timo Glock took sixth place, two seconds ahead of Honda’s Alex Wurz who was a further 0.2 seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg for Williams in the hot conditions.

Testing will now continue once the season has ended, with a three day session at the Circuit de Catalunya scheduled to start on November 17th.

Read Full Post »