The post-race rundown (Part 1)
After an exciting and historic race at the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore, the course of the drivers’ championship took another direction as the Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso took the victory after holding back Sebastian Vettel in 2nd place
just a second behind him.
Red Bull finished strong as Mark Webber finished in third place to complete the podium followed by Jenson Button in 4th place. One wonders; 4 of the 5 top drivers’ standings leaders are in the top 4, but where is Lewis Hamilton? Well the British
driver ran into his second retirement in a row after trying to make a move on Mark Webber. This was quite similar to the move he tried to make on Felipe Massa before retiring at the Italian Grand Prix 2 weeks ago. However, the race was full of action and the
spectators enjoyed every driver’s performance in their respective ways.
The race winner Fernando Alonso was at it again at the streets of Singapore pushing the rest of the drivers to the limit when he needed to keep it consistent and avoid any sort of mistake to give Vettel a chance to taste victory. It was expected to be a
Red Bull weekend but after a flawless qualifying performance by the Spaniard and his supreme race, craft earned himself a second consecutive victory, making him the favorite driver for the title. However, he has just one more Ferrari engine left in this season
and will be given a 10-pace grid penalty if he requires an extra engine. That will be worse than a retirement for the Ferrari driver.
Sebastian Vettel did everything he could but he was just not fast enough to take on the two-time world champion. He was inches away from the sidewall during his attempts to overtake the Spaniard pushing the brakes to the very limit but Sebastian cleverly
did not take any vital risks as he wanted to secure at least some points and the 2nd place is not bad at all. However, it is believed that if Sebastian pitted earlier or later than Alonso, his chance of winning would have increased vitally.
The current championship leader finished in 3rd place and these sorts of drives will help him win the title. This was an impressive driver from the Aussie as he was clearly off the pace during the qualifying session and for him, beating the McLarens
was the main target. It was a clever decision by Red Bull to pit him early enabling him to run comfortable through the rest of the pack confidently. His magnificent overtaking was the key to his performance this weekend and yes; he was not the one to be blamed
for his collision with Hamilton. These things happen in the Formula 1. If the Singapore Grand Prix lasted for another lap, the tyres of Mark Webber’s Red Bull would have exploded.
The reigning world champion Jenson Button should have been a thorn in the side of the Australian driver during the last stages of the race but was struggling to get rear-end grip once again. Button was clearly not able to push his McLaren to the limit but
took a decent 12 points. We can call it a safe performance but this will not be enough for him if he wants to win the title this year.
Nico Rosberg finished in an impressive 5th place. Nico loves driving on a clear track with no one to pressurize him. The German driver was consistent throughout the race and produced another outstanding performance for team Mercedes finishing
ahead of his teammate Michael Schumacher once more.
Rubens Barrichello scored an impressive 6th place in his Williams and this performance should ensure his stay in the team for the 2011 season. After an incredible qualifying session, the Brazilian drove bravely during the race and managed to give
Mark Webber a hard time behind him around the mid-way marker of the race.
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