Formula One: Practice sessions for the top three teams
It’s Red Bull on the top once again. All the three practice sessions for Singapore Grand Prix have seen them stronger than all the other teams.
The fifteenth round of the season is scheduled to take place this Sunday at the newly built Marina Bay Street Circuit of Singapore. This weekend marks one of the most celebrated and anticipated races of the season for a number
of reasons. Firstly because the flamboyance and exhilaration of the ever festive island is unmatched, secondly this is the only night race of Formula One calendar. Lastly, and most importantly because the current situation of the season is so nerve tickling
and jaw dropping as such a contention for the title has not been witnessed in decades. The top five drivers of the charts stand at just a difference of twenty four points while only five more races are left.
In such a situation, every single move of the top teams and drivers is very crucial, and pressure and tension keeps mounting with every passing minute.
The qualifying session, ready to be held later tonight under the flood lights of the tricky track of Marine Bay, is already drenched with awe and excitement as fans keep their fingers crossed to see their super stars book front
places on the grid.
Although, the season has evolved so uncertainly that making any prediction is hard yet a few small things are evident from these three practice sessions. Of all, the most obvious fact is ‘the unmatched pace of Red Bull’. Their
drivers have managed to stay at the top in all three sessions as Mark Webber occupied the top place in first session while Vettel did that in the later two. This is for sure a good enough dose of threat for their competitors as Red Bull already stands at the
top of Constructors’ Championship while Webber took the throne of Drivers’ Championship with his one hundred and eighty seven points.
The two times world champion, Fernando Alonso had also been very quick in all the three sessions demonstrating great pace in his Ferrari, which has performed very well at high downforce tracks earlier this season as well. He packed
his first session at eleventh place due to a mechanical problem however the second and third sessions saw him at fourth and second places respectively. Alonso had been showing an excellent form and pace since the German Grand Prix, and is one of the biggest
threats for the title.
As already expected the third strongest team during the practice sessions was McLaren. Both its drivers did a pretty good job, though practices have never been their strength. The team has been seen performing much better on the
final race weekends than how they do at practice and qualifying, but this time Lewis Hamilton ended the three sessions at eighteenth, fifth and third places respectively while his teammate Jenson Button marked sixth, third and sixteenth places.
The other strong player during the sessions was Nico Rosberg of Mercedes GP, who did pretty well on the track during the last two seasons as well. Felipe Massa of Ferrari, who currently holds sixth place in the Drivers Championship,
after being deprived of a race win due to team ordering, also showed good pace.
A very consistent performance was demonstrated by the Renault driver, Robert Kubica who ended two practices at ninth place while the third saw him at eighth.
Despite all the predictions and prophecies one knows that Formula One is full of surprises and this season is fully concentrated with them. So keep wishing the best to your super racer as Formula One caravan unwinds its next circus.
Tags: