Formula One world championship leader Lewis Hamilton extended his title advantage after an extraordinary pit lane incident scuppered the hopes of his main rival Felipe Massa in the inugural Singapore Grand Prix. Hamilton finished third behind Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg to open up a seven-point lead over Massa with just three rounds remaining. Ferrari's Massa had been comfortably leading the first-ever night Grand Prix when the safety car was deployed following a crash which saw Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr. hit a trackside wall.Massa and the other leading contenders took the opportunity to refuel but the Brazilian attempted to pull away while the gasoline rig and hose was still attached to his Ferrari. A pit crew member took a nasty tumble in the ensuing chaos and Massa was forced to come to a halt further up the pit lane. His support team desperately fought to pull off the trailing hose but by the time they had succeeded he was in 18th spot and dead last. The Brazilian was given a drive-through penalty for unsafe release because he almost collided with another car while leaving the pit with the hose. The mechanic who was brought down by the snaking hose was carried away on a stretcher for a check-up at the on-track medical center. Hamilton, who also slipped back in the confused situation, picked his way through to a distant third behind Alonso and Williams driver Rosberg before the race was given yet more added drama when Adrian Sutil crashed his Force India car to set up another safety car situation. Alonso, who had the good fortune to come in for an early pit stop before the accident involving his Renault team-mate Piquet, drove peerlessly away after the second safety car delay, with Hamilton content to settle for third place.
It was the 20th win of former world champion Alonso's Formula One career. Toyota driver Timo Glock was fourth with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel following up his win in Italy this month with fifth. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld took sixth. Hamilton had gone into the Singapore round with a slender one-point lead over Massa having failed to overturn his demotion from first to third in the Belgian Grand Prix. He was making little impression behind the pace of the polesitter until the incidents that changed the course of the race and possibly the world championship race. The six points claimed by Hamilton also took McLaren into first place in the constructors' championship with Massa's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen carelessly colliding with the wall while in fifth place. [End of report]
Well, if you didn't watch the race yesterday, then I think you have missed a lot of things. What a great race it was and Im not saying this because Im a Singaporean myself, but as a Formula 1 fan and Im sure other fans watching the race throughout the world did enjoy it too unless of course you're a Ferrari supporter. As you all know already, it was the first ever night race in the history of the sport and I have to agree with Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 supremo when he said that it was a success and he even went on to describe that it is the new jewel in the sport's crown. I wont go that far as to say it is the new jewel in the sport's crown yet, but it definitely has the potential to do that. Let's focus now on the race. Who would expect, at least at the start of the race itself that Fernando Alonso would have win it. I certainly didn't. If you know me well enough, you should know that Alonso is my favourite driver and Renault is my favourite team. It was because of Alonso that I started supporting Renault, well before he decided to join McLaren last season. During that time however, things were going very well for Renault. Alonso became the world champion and Renault won the constructor's championship, but after he left, everything started to go down. I was sad to see him leaving the team but I still supported him but as a driver only, so when he decided to come back to Renault this season, I was really happy.
This season though hasn't been what I had expected. The car hasn't been competitive enough and as the driver, you can only do what the car is capable of. I think everyone knows Alonso is probably one of the best drivers in the sport, and he still is despite the poor results this season. I dont wish to talk about his teammate Piquet though. Before the start of the race on Sunday, even before during the qualifying and practise session, I didnt expect much from Renault or Alonso, but he did well during practise and qualifying as well until the car failed him once again. He started in 15th position, and being a street circuit, there is limited chance of overtaking. So I thought that there was no chance he would get anything from the race, much less a first place finish! How wrong I was! Not only did he finish the race, but he also won it although I have to say luck was on his side. And ironically, if it wasnt for Piquet's incident, he probably wouldnt be where he was yesterday after the race. If you look at the entire duration of the qualifying and practise sessions, it was Alonso who had dominated, so I think he deserve the win, adding to the fact that he had try his best with the car throughout the entire season so far, he deserve to get something out of it so it was a sweet thing for me to see him winning. Its been a long time coming, I cant remember when was the last time he last stood on the podium as the winner.
There has been a lot of talks on whether he will stay with Renault for next season. The situation is still unclear, even after the win. He has been linked with a possible move to BMW Sauber. There was talks that he might move to Ferrari or even go back to McLaren but both the drivers from the two teams have confirmed that they will remain at their team for next season. For me personally, I really hope to see him staying at Renault but given the state the team is currently in, I will understand if he decides to leave. Renault needs to have a big improvement if they want to have any chance of keeping Alonso for next season. Well, that is about it. It was a great race with great results as far as I am concerned. Right now, Im not particularly concern about who will win the driver's championship because Im not a big fan of neither Ferrari nor McLaren, so I dont really care who will win it. I just hope that Renault can finish the season in fourth position. That would be a nice way to end the season after all that we have gone through. The night race has been very successful and Im glad that Singapore is the first ever country in the world to host it. That doesnt mean that there wasn't any problems though. The track for example is very bumpy, so maybe the organisers can do something to improve the situation for next year's race.
Im sure after our success, other countries in the world, particularly in this region, will want to have a night race as well. This would ensure the race was televised during the all-important Sunday night prime time in Europe. The organisers of the Malaysian Grand Prix had plan to hold a night race as well for next year, but they have decided to push back the starting time of the race to 5pm instead for the same reason that the night race was held, as they say it would cost them too much for the lighting and stuff. However, there might still be other night race in other parts of Asia. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has already hinted he would like the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka next year to be held under lights. I have also just heard today that the organisers of the Abu Dhabi race, which is to make its debut as the season finale next year, had taken note of the impact made by this event and would also run their race at night. I just hope that there will not be too many night races in the future because it might lose its novelty. One thing that will continue to remain the same is the fact that the first ever F1 night-race was held in our beautiful country of Singapore. Till then, drive safely.
*The report was taken from CNN.
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