A detailed look at the three races held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit so far – Formula 1
The Singapore Grand Prix became a part of Formula 1 back in 2008 as the 15th round of the Formula 1 season of that year.
The race took place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit and since then, the circuit has been a part of the sport and has held three successful Formula 1 Grands Prix.
Back in 2008, things were quite different as Red Bull Racing used to be a mid-running team and the top running teams of the sport were just McLaren and Ferrari with minimal damage from Renault’s side as well.
The Singapore Grand Prix played a major role in the championship as Fernando Alonso won the race out of nowhere ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Williams and Lewis Hamilton who finished in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
Hamilton increased his lead in the process and by then, he was 7 points ahead of Felipe Massa.
The 2008 Formula 1 season was Massa’s best run in his career up until now as he challenged for the title until the very last race of the season at Interlagos for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Massa thought he had it won until the very last corner of the season at his own soil but Lewis Hamilton ruined the party for Ferrari and took the 5th place before making an overtake at the very last corner of the track.
The following year, things changed a lot and Red Bull Racing Team’s performance improved massively. The Kinetic Energy Recovery System was introduced to the sport in 2009 as a result of which Ferrari and McLaren were unable to produce good cars and RBR and
a new team by the name of BrawnGP benefited the most from these rule changes.
Surprisingly once again, McLaren pulled off a victory out of nowhere and this race win did not affect the championship much as Jenson Button was comfortably leading the drivers’ standings ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello. Meanwhile, the young Sebastian
Vettel was 25 points adrift of the championship leader.
Hamilton finished ahead of Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso who finished in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
The 2010 Formula 1 season on the other hand was a very competitive season for the top running teams as McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing team challenged for the titles until the very last race of the season.
The Singapore Grand Prix of 2010 was a very important race for Ferrari as Fernando Alonso secured the win and closed in on the championship leader of that time, Mark Webber of the Red Bull Racing.
Alonso moved on to take the lead away from RBR a couple of races later and led the championship until the final race of the season where he lost his lead to Vettel.
In 2011 however, Vettel is leading the championship dominantly and the Singapore Grand Prix will not affect the championship much in terms of statistics even if the reigning world champion retires out of the race.
Either way, it is expected to be an exciting event and in Formula 1, one can expect anything to happen and according to the statistics, Vettel can even close the championship run by winning the race this coming weekend.
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