F1: Singapore Night Race Review

Alonso wins his first GP in a year.

What an amazing race. Filled with such great-driving, great tatical approaches and most of all, such drama! As a spectator, I cannot think of a better race we’ve had this season, or will have. The two hours of excitment really asked a lot of the drivers, in F1’s first ever night race, and what a success that was. However, I don’t think too many races should be at night as it will lose its unique edge!

Congratulations to Fernando Alonso, who won the race in a physically daunting task. Much credit has to be given to Renault as they tried a different stratergy from everyone else, taking a risk hoping it would pay off, and it did so. The reason for his victory though, has to be because of Nelson Piquet’s crash into the barrier. Normally, I don’t like the fact of safety cars as it messes up the race and gets really boring, but today, it added to the spice. However, take nothing away from Alonso who was immense all weekend (bar qualifying due to fuel problems) and fully deserved his first grand prix victory for a year.

This was an unforgetable weekend for most, except for Ferrari that is. Unsurprisingly, Massa had an eventful pit-stop as he drove away with the fuel pump still stuck in his car. In fairness, he was right to go as the green light flashed on the semi-automatic stop system (other teams use a lollipop). Massa then got a drive through penalty for this and ended up having to take another pit-stop for more fuel. Kimi on the other hand looked strong throughout the race and was the fastest man out there at one point. However, after a milli-second of losing concentration, Kimi lost control of the car and smashed into the wall. No points for Ferrari.

Perhaps the best driver of the day (and my favourite driver), Nico Rosberg. The Williams man was forced to pit for fuel while the pit-lane was closed. This caused a “stop and go” penalty for him which only dropped him down to fourth place. Why this guy didn’t go to McLaren when he had the chance, I do not know! He finished in P2.

Hamilton will be happy with the outcome of this weekend knowing he can finished second to Massa in the remaining races and still be crowned World Champion. I have to give credit to his sensible driving this weekend as he took risks when he needed to (e.g. the pass move on DC in turn 7) and played it safe when he had to (not trying to overtake Rosberg at stupid times). Lewis gained six points from this weekend increasing his lead to 7 points while McLaren also overtook Ferrari in the Drivers Championship.

I can’t wait for the remaining races left of this years F1. Will Hamilton win it? Or will Massa take his glory away from him? Leave your thoughts.

Links: ITV F1 Yahoo F1 BBC F1

F1: Monza Qualifying Review

Vettel wins his first F1 pole in Monza

After an incredible week in Spa, with a lot of controversy off the field regarding the stewards decision to strip Hamilton of his victory but I’ll come to that part later. Like last week, the weather played a pivitol role in the outcome of qualifying at least. Heikki was consinstently fast throughout qualifying and was actually the first person to dig into the 1.35’s. But pole position went to

the phenomenal Vettel who recently signed to replace DC next season for Red Bull.

The rainy races are fantastic to watch because anything can happen which essentially closes the performance gaps between cars and relies more on driver input. Today’s qualifying was an even contest with Hamilton, Kimi and Robert Kubica getting knocked out in Q2! This was the most surprising and eventful time during the entire day. Kimi and Kubica just struggled to find time and grip and whether that’s down to car setup or just being rubbish in the wet, I don’t know.

Lewis’ P15 start is down to one thing. His/his engineer’s tire choice. The commentators called it a risk, I just think they’re damn right insane. I can see why they tried the intermediate tire as tram lines were appearing after Q1. If they really wanted to try it, they could have for a lap to see its performance. But why after seeing that it was rubbish did McLaren not bring Hamilton into the pit (just like a pit-stop) to change his tires and send him back out again on the extreme wets to get him into at least the pole position shoot out?!?!

Take nothing away from Vettel who probably would still have got pole even if the bigger three drivers qualified for Q3 as he was amazingly quick. This kid does have a bright future ahead of him and will surely be a Ferrari or McLaren driver in the future. Other good performances this weekend was Vettel’s Toro Rosso team mate Bourdais who starts in P4. Mark Webber also had a good session starting alongside Bourdais in P3.

Quick mention on Massa who also struggled. Hamilton will be hunting him down throughout the race so he must also look to head for the top of the grid. Massa starts in 6th place behind Rosberg who was also quick in Williams’ 500th grand prix weekend. Can he capture some points?

For full qualifying times and the starting grid for tomorrow’s race, click here

F1: Hockenheim Grand Prix Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton secured pole position in with a simply phenomenal lap in a very windy Hockenheim. As Ron Dennis correctly said that being at the front with no one in front of you is pivotal at this circuit due to the high speed corners as well as straights so Lewis looks in good shape for tomorrows race.

Felipe Massa will join Hamiltion on the front row in 2nd place. The Brazilian also looked amazingly quick throughout the weekend. He did a great job considering the misery that faced him at Silverstone. However, in his post-qualifying interview, he said that “it’s not a recovery”. The sister Ferrari on the other hand, looks like it needs to be recovered. Kimi Räikkönen was slow all weekend and looks to be really struggling as he will start the race in P6.

A great day for both Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso who start in fourth and fifth place consecutively. They’ll both look for podium finishes which could happen if something were to go wrong with Hekki Kovalainen’s (who finished 3rd) car. Sebastian Vettel and DC were two others who looked good this weekend. Vettel will certainly be a great replacement for DC next year as he has both youth and pace on his side. For sure, he is one to watch for the future.

Robert Kubica was slow again this week and seems to be having real problems with his car. Despite this he managed P7 while team-mate Heidfeld will start in 12th. Both Jensen Button and Nico Rosberg looked better this week than in Silverstone and that’s probably down to the car as Rosberg couldn’t drive in a straight line and Button found it hard to get into 2nd gear two weeks ago. However, improvements still need to be made in both cars for them to restart their challenge in the mid-grid battle.

Tomorrows race will be an interesting one as it looks like there could be rain and the wind will play a key factor in addition to fuel load as stratergy is the most important thing.

For the starting grid and qualifying times click here.