Formula One Highlights: Singapore Grand Prix 2010 – Part 4
Things were heating up, cars and driver patience alike. Kobayashi and Schumacher had a tangle on turn 7 and the seven time champion subsequently headed straight into the pits for an unscheduled stop.
Lap 32 saw the safety car being deployed. Kobayashi lost control and hit the barrier making it increasingly difficult for an oncoming Bruno Senna, who got caught up with the Sauber parked on the racing line. However, the pace was
quite slow and the accident was not too dramatic.
The rest of the field, taking advantage of the safety car race pace, dived straight into the pits for a new set of tyres. Robert Kubica and Rubens Barrichello came out in 7th and 8th – anything can happen
in a Grand Prix these days, making it increasingly difficult to predict for Formula One Pundits. Who said Formula One was a boring sport?
After the first and only round of pit stops, the order was as such: Fernando Alonso, Sebasitan Vettel, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. The safety car was still on track after lap 35. With most of the cars pitting
in the period, and it was expected to be an on track race from thereon in. The drivers weaved their cars to get heat into the tyres.
The race resumed as the safety car was called off. Webber and Hamilton immediately made contact and Hamilton’s suspension was wrecked! The Red Bull Racing driver tripped on one of the back markers and the two cars were running
side by side and made contact going into a left turn. While Hamilton’s race looked over, it remained to be seen if there was any damage on Webber’s car.
The drama didn’t end there as there was another incident involving cars getting too close for comfort. Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld made contact too. Both their races appeared to be prematurely concluded. The Mercedes driver
tried an over ambitious overtaking attempt on Heidfeld. However, the next lap saw Michael Schumacher able to drag his car into the pits, taking on a new nose, and rejoining the race.
Meanwhile, at the front, Alonso was able to survive the initial scare of the post safety car period. The Spaniard had opened up a 2 second lead over second placed Sebastian Vettel.
However, coming back to the overall championship picture, this was Hamilton’s second retirement in succession – a huge blow to his championship campaign. At their positions with respect to lap 40, Webber led the championship with
202 points with Fernando Alonso jumping up to 2nd on 191 while Lewis Hamilton dropped to 3rd on 181 and Button on 177. On the other hand, anything could happen in the 20 laps that remained – the safety car period was proof of that.
Coming back to Singapore, the stewards looked to investigate the incident between Michael Schumacher and Heidfeld. Jenson Button was 1.9 seconds behind Webber. The McLaren radio buzzed once again, this time reminding their only
remaining car that Webber might have been struggling with his tyres – remember, Webber pitted during the first safety car period very early in the race.
At the front, Vettel was able to set the fastest lap, bringing the gap down to just 1.1 seconds between him and Alonso. Mark Webber, taking a leaf out of his team mate’s book, responded to the McLaren charge as he was able to increase
the gap to 2.7 seconds from 4th placed Button.
Lap 44 saw Fernando Alonso setting his personal fastest lap along with Webber and Button. The gap between the 3rd and 4th placed car was now 3 seconds. Vettel posted the quickest time again, a lap later as
he was fastest in each of the 3 sectors. The Red Bull was able to close the gap by 6 tenths on the lap but remained 1 second behind Alonso still.
It was becoming a constant power struggle. The Red Bulls had suddenly shifted a gear – something only a few of their title contenders could manage. Was there a dramatic ending in store?
Stay tuned…
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