Formula One: The Singapore Grand Prix – The championship twister (Part 1)
Formula 1 returns to the high-downforce tracks as the next grand prix is set to take place in Singapore at the Marina Bay circuit. This race will reveal an individual team that will build a form expected to end strong at the last five races of the 2010 season
as the world championship fight reaches its climax.
The previous two tracks were both low-downforce, high-speed tracks that were not significantly affected by the recent strictness of the rules regarding flexible wings and under trays were minimised. However, it will be interesting to see how the teams adjust
the front end of the car, as the Singapore grand prix will be followed by the versatile Abu Dhabi grand prix.
Red Bull is expected to get back to the top and reach their aerodynamic peak once again similar to the one they reached earlier this season radically at the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Ferrari seems to be competitive in all configurations as they were able
to perform very well at Monza and Hungaroring, two completely different tracks.
“Monza for us represented our biggest challenge and the fact we have come out and outscored McLaren as a team is massively positive. There are tracks that should suit us, tracks that should be a bit more marginal between teams but hopefully not offset
all our strengths,” said Red Bull team Principal Christian Horner.
Sebastian Vettel claims that his campaign for the title is back on track after the Italian Grand Prix thanks to the retirement Lewis Hamilton had to face and Sebastian cleverly survived the braking problems he was having. Horner stated that the current championship
leader, Mark Webber was frustrated, as he was able to finish in sixth place only. He believes that Red Bull had a strong finish closing the European season as the leaders of the both constructors and drivers’ championships.
Fernando Alonso was afloat after winning the Italian Grand Prix, that is his team’s home grand prix but is still “cautiously optimistic” for the five remaining races.
“I think any good result gives you extra confidence and some good motivation for the whole team to keep working hard and try not to give up at any point in the championship,” he said.
Ferrari is aware that one race either good or bad can change the entire course of the championship after the new points system was introduced this year. The team needs to stay calm, as this was a good weekend for them and at the Spa Francorchamps, it was
a very disappointing week for them. They need to improve their car in terms of consistency in order to secure a good result in the last five races and to keep fighting for the podium. Fernando believes that will be the key to their success and Monza’s result
is a good motivation for the team however, the final five races are very important for the team.
McLaren was able to secure the win at Spa but not at Monza, as Lewis had to retire after a steering failure but Jenson Button managed to finish in a strong 2nd place. This result did not significantly affect the title chase for both drivers though
and the team is still optimistic with both drivers alive in the chase for the title. The MP4-25 is not as strong as the Ferrari’s or Red Bull’s theoretically nevertheless, McLaren hopes to perform at its best thanks to another upgrade especially for the high-downforce
track this weekend.
“The last time we were at a low-speed, high-downforce track was in Hungary back at the start of August; our car wasn't particularly competitive there, and maybe we haven't had a properly representative view of the top teams' relative pace because we've
just visited two high-speed circuits,” said the current world champion Jenson Button.
The Singapore Grand Prix is going to be intense for the top three teams and it will be exciting to see the different strategies each team applies.
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