A race to remember not just for Alonso and Renault but for all those F1 fans who like F1 because of its unpredictable nature. Alonso had the pace as he proved in Practice 2 and 3, but he hit the misfortune when he had fuel pump issues in second round of qualifying. Alonso started at P15 and in just one lap he had gained P11, but it had to be a very difficult task overtaking on this street circuit. He was helped by Nelson Piquet’s big accident, Safety car was deployed and he had an opportunity after that to climb to few more places.
Once in front, Alonso drove like a champion, defended his position well and increased the lead. Sometime he had to be told from pitwall that Rosberg is pretty far and he does not need to push hard. The way Alonso was using kerbs, cutting corners on this bumpy track, it was spectacular. He had a bit of scare just 10 laps to go when Adrian Sutil had a big shunt, Safety car was deployed once again and this time, Nico from P2 and Hamilton from P3 were on his back, when safety car was removed Alosno responded well and made sure he takes the chequered flag. This was his first win after he left McLaren and Renault’s first win in last 2 years.
This would be day TIFOSIs would like to forget, nothing went right after qualifying. First Massa’s car got some debris, then he had an incident in pits because of miscommunication resulting in injury to pit crew and a drive through penalty for himself. Kimi needed badly to overcome his bad form but luck was not in his favor, he was doing well at P5 and pushing for P4, but had a minor imbalance, jumped over the kerbs and hit the wall. Hamilton also drove very well, but once he knew Massa was out of points he reduced his aggression to make sure he will lead the Championship.
Magnificent View of Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore.
We cannot end the post without talking about Nico Rosberg, this is his best performation ever and its well deserved too. He drove very well and made sure was away from incidents and for last 8 laps did not allow Hamilton, who was in much faster car to overtake. Another disappointing day for Force India, they had not been able to perform as compared to what they were doing in start of the season. They might end up not scoring any points this season. Fisichella had good chance, when he was in P3 after first safety car. But he had a long pit stop, filled the car to brim and it was very hard to balance the car.
Championship run is over for Kimi, currently Hamilton is leading from Massa by 7 points and any mistake from Hamilton can turn the Championship in favor of Massa. Constructor championship is still open, first time this season McLaren is ahead of Ferrari. Kimi and Massa had to make sure they end up in points position in remaining races to win Championship.