Marina Bay is in the books, and even though it wasn’t an exciting Grand Prix for a neutral, for all of us hardcore fans it was fascinating on so many levels. The three team battle for the constructors is still moving on with no clear favourite, same with the driver’s title and the five contenders. Racing under the lights threw up many interesting talking points, as TGTB&TB divides up all these and more!

The Good

Fernando Alonso might have made more mistakes this year than any other, but his performance across the whole of the Singapore weekend was absolutely flawless. Granted, had Sebastian Vettel reverted to type and held on a little later on the brakes into the first corner, this opening of The Good might have had a different flavour to it. I have been critical of Alonso in the past, specifically after mistakes led him to have to make recovery drives in Australia, Monaco, etc, but after watching his pace on Sunday afternoon it’s hard to see past him for favourite now. He is the form driver and has the might of Ferrari firmly behind him while the other teams have to share their resources.

The 2010 Drivers title is so close and entertaining; it’s a great advertisement for the sport. The top five contenders qualified in the top five grid slots on Saturday, and minus Lewis Hamilton, finished in the top four places on Sunday. It is still closer than in previous years, and if I was a betting man I’d put them in the following order:

Fernando Alonso: For the reason stated above. The form driver and has been backed by Maranello since June.
Mark Webber: Experienced and motivated, and seems to get that little bit extra out of the Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton: Raw speed is putting ahead of Button, as he can adapt his style to suit the McLaren.
Jenson Button: Just hasn’t had the pace to beat the others, with the exception of Italy.
Sebastian Vettel: Lighting quick, but is just so impatient when it comes to sitting behind his rivals.

The races left will of course define the outcome, but this is my prediction, and I’m sticking with it.

If anyone wants to see a good example of how to pass on a street circuit, watch the five laps Robert Kubica put in after his impromptu pitstop. Dropping to 13th, the Pole managed a passing move a lap to move up to 7th and score more good points in the fight with Mercedes. Renault were tipped for a strong showing in Singapore, after Kubica’s podium in Monaco, but the expected pace just wasn’t there. Hopefully a return to form at Suzuka is on the cards.

The pace of Nico Rosberg and Williams was also quite impressive. Both Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenburg managed points finishes after revised parts gave them more needed downforce. Rosberg thought he had more speed and was disappointed with seventh on the grid, but he kept his nose clean and benefited from others to record fifth.

The Bad

While four-fifths of the title hunt managed points in Singapore, Lewis Hamilton walked away without any points for the second race running. Unlike Monza, Hamilton’s clash with Mark Webber was a racing incident, not a hopeful dive down the inside for a non-existent pass. Hamilton had the line and squeezed Webber and there was simply nowhere to go for the Aussie.

So why’s it in The Bad? Not for the fact that they clashed as they’re both racers and that’s what we tune in to watch each week. These racing incidents where blame can’t be placed happen, and in the past it was a case of moving on. The problem with the drivers title being so close means that when these clashes happen, like in Turkey with the Red Bulls and in Belgium with Button and Vettel, critics like to place the blame. It’s damaging for drivers to have their reputations on the line each time they race, and it can, if left unchecked, slowly alter the racer’s mindset each Sunday. No blame lies here for Webber or Hamilton.

Michael Schumacher may have quashed the rumours that he’s considering re-retirement at the end of the year, but his driving on Sunday left much to be desired. He clashed with both Kamui Kobayashi and the returning Nick Heidfeld during the race, pretty much eliminating both from the running. It’s still sad to see the man in this situation. My only question is, if he wasn’t Michael Schumacher, would he still have a job with Mercedes?

Stewards have a tough job no matter what, but the speed in which some punishments were handed out in Singapore was borderline disgraceful. On the very first lap Adrian Sutil and Nico Hulkenberg drifted onto the green run-off area at the first corner and gained a mild advantage. After the race, Sutil was given a 20-second penalty, only for Force India to protest against Hulkenberg and then for the young German to be penalised 20-seconds too. All this happening a whole three hours after the race. A poor showing from the race marshals all round.

The Backmarkers

Lotus: You have got to feel for the Lotus drivers sometimes. Here are two actual race winners toiling around at the rear end of the grid when they have the pedigree to be further up the road in faster cars. If Jarno Trulli isn’t affected by hydraulic, gearbox or engines issues then I wonder if I’m still watching F1 these days. Heikki Kovalainen had an even more eventful exit from the race after his engine caught fire. He has come under some criticism for parking by the pit-wall on the start-finish straight, but let’s face it, if he had brought it into the pit-lane somehow it would have been even more of a disaster. The lack of fire marshals was the real sore point, considering Heikki had to procure an extinguisher from the Williams team and sort it out himself!

Virgin: I have been impressed with Virgin in recent races. Although they don’t have the experience of running their own car, they do have the understanding of running a team and developing young drivers. Lucas Di Grassi shone after Jerome D’Ambrosio ran his car on Friday, setting the fastest time of all the new teams. Couple this with Timo Glock’s safety car affected run in tenth (ahead of several faster drivers) meant that the team can take a lot of positives from this weekend.

Hispania: The driver merry-go-round at the Spanish outfit continued this race weekend, with Christian Klien replacing the much maligned Sakon Yamamoto. Although the Japanese driver’s reason for not being able to race was food poisoning, I really hope Colin Kolles pulled him on safety grounds. Having a moving chicane on the road like Yamamoto is all the front runners need in an already tough race. Klien’s first F1 racein four years led to him out-qualifying Bruno Senna by nearly a second and run strongly until a hydraulic issue forced him out. Impressive considering he hasn’t had much running in the car, while Senna has had all year bar Silverstone. Have we seen the last of Senna, Yamamoto or Karun Chandhok? Not if their sponsors have anything to say about it.

Craig

Related posts: