The post-race rundown (Part 3)
The Singapore Grand Prix had to witness 9 retirements in the 61-lap race. The race was quite frustrating for most of the drivers as it was the longest race of the season; 2 hours long. Many cars suffered from some hydraulics problems followed by some collisions
as well. The race was overall quite intense as it was expected to change the direction of the current championship situation and the drivers were expecting a rainy floodlit race making the Singapore Grand Prix the first wet night race in the history of Formula
1, but sadly, that did not happen. Team strategy played a huge role in this race as Mark Webber’s pit strategy earned him third place on the podium.
Heikki Kovalainen made an extra-ordinary exit from the race as his Lotus engine caught some fire and Hekki decided to grab an extinguisher to put out the fire. Until then, the Fin drove nicely behind Buemi. It was reported that a ruptured fuel tank lead
to the car catching fire.
Nick Heidfelt was very excited to return to the grid but retired after his collision with Tonio Liuzzi in the first lap setting him back before he was hit by Schumacher later on, to take him off the track for good.
This can be called the most disappointing finish for the British driver Lewis Hamilton as he could not finish the race again even though he was in a strong 4th place. The two-time champion had to retire after colliding with Mark Webber’s Red Bull
almost exactly the way he did with Felipe Massa at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago.
Christian Klien suffered from a hydraulics failure but was able to outperform Bruno Senna as he was looking good before retiring around the 32-lap marker.
Kamui Kobayashi had a very slow start and battled hard to overtake Schumacher. The Japanese driver pushed a bit too hard and burst his worn tyres before losing control to smash into the wall.
The pressurized Bruno Senna was the 3rd driver to retire in the Singapore Grand Prix. Senna is not helping his slow HRT at all and loitered near the back before crashing into Kamui Kobayashi.
The experienced Jarno Trulli had a decent start as he was heading the Virgins in the battle of the tail enders but a puncture and then some hydraulics problems ended his race.
Tonio Liuzzi was the first driver to retire after a suspension failure and increased the rumours that he might lose his seat for the 2011 season. He desperately needed to perform at his best in order to impress the critics and his team but failed to do so.
He was thumped by Heidfeld on the first lap and collapsed his suspension soon after.
With Lewis Hamilton’s retirement, the drivers’ championship along with the constructors’ championship is getting even more exciting as Mark Webber is still on top with 202 points in the drivers’ standings followed by Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian
Vettel and Jenson Button in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively separated by just 25 points. On the other hand, Red Bull is leading the constructors’ standings followed by McLaren. McLaren is now 24 points
short of Red Bull as Red Bull has now increased the gap by 19 extra points.
The next race on the calendar is the Japanese grand prix and McLaren is hoping to get better results there as the top five drivers are still competing for the title equally and it is currently any man’s game. With just 4 races remaining, the drivers cannot
afford another retirement and they will have to step it up in order to challenge their rivals technologically to ensure their respective driver’s performance. Ferrari is looking very good as Fernando Alonso has won two races consecutively. The team hopes to
maintain its momentum and hopefully challenge their rivals to the very limit
Tags: