Fernando Alonso and Marina Bay - the perfect match
It has happened on a number of occasions in Formula 1 history that a driver and a particular track significantly bond together in either a good or bad way. The Great Ayrton Senna described the Monaco Grand Prix as “a special place for him” where he won 6
races at that particular circuit. On the other hand, Rubens Barrichello even after 300 starts has never won a race at his home Grand Prix in Brazil.
Fernando Alonso just like his rivals had a very inconsistent season with many difficulties at various tracks. However, the Spaniard has a special relation with this week’s Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay street circuit. Alonso went through enough
drama at Marina Bay to last a career even though the race took place just three times since it was established.
Fernando won the first ever Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 followed by a podium finish last year and enjoyed both success and misfortune at this spectacular floodlit track. The Spaniard is hoping to score his 3rd consecutive podium in a row this
weekend in order to stay in the fight for the 2010 drivers’ title.
The Spaniard fell in love with the track the minute he laid his eyes on it in a practice session in 2008 and topped the timesheets for his team after leading Lewis Hamilton. He was curious even before the first Singapore Grand Prix where he liked the idea
of the first night race in Formula 1. Alonso led Saturday’s final practice session but qualified at the 15th place due to some fuel-supply problems.
This was a bitter blow to the French team as they were struggling to defend the fourth place in the constructors’ standings. It seemed that overtaking will be difficult at Marina Bay and R28’s pace was not up to the mark in 2008 either. As a result, Alonso’s
hopes of scoring some good points were torn apart. The former world champion looked worried in the post qualifying interview as he thought that it would be impossible for him to make progress in the race.
However, team boss Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds plotted a scheme in order to give the Spaniard a win. They asked Nelson Piquet Junior to deliberately crash his Renault in order to benefit Alonso’s strategy and secure the win.
Fernando Alonso was never aware of this plan at any point but was innocently granted with a miraculous win. Piquet spun his car on lap 14 and slammed into a wall that forced a safety car to be deployed, causing chaos in the pit lane and the surviving Renault
of Fernando Alonso picked up the pieces to take the lead. A second safety car was deployed later on in the race but did not affect Alonso’s lead in any way. The FIA’s investigation later painted a very different picture of his success but it was still a historic
win for the Spaniard.
Fernando Alonso returned to the Singapore Grand Prix the following year with the intention of proving a point and yes, he did that by finishing at the 3rd spot in spite the fact that his Renault R29 had many flaws. The team had just immerged from
FIA’s “crashgate” hearing regarding the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix that cost the team a two year suspended ban and the departure of Briatore and Symonds from the team’s managerial line-up. Therefore; this was a very big achievement for Renault.
Alonso started from fifth place on the grid and finished in third on the podium to give Renault their first and only podium of the season before announcing his departure from Renault a few days later. Since then, he inked a deal with Ferrari for 2010.
This time round Fernando returns to Marina bay with a different approach and goal. The Spaniard won the last race at Monza and it seems that Ferrari is in firm control of the situation at the moment. Alonso’s victory earned him some vital points, taking
him to the third place in the drivers’ standings, just 21 points behind leader Mark Webber. The Singapore Grand Prix will play a vital role in the 2010 Championship.
Ferrari fans are expecting the Spaniard to finish at the top of the podium by the end of the coming weekend but after looking at the history of the Singapore GP and Fernando Alonso, expect the unexpected.
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