Fernando wins an epic battle in Singapore

Who said you need rain for an exciting race in Formula One? Singapore delivered an absolute cracker on the occasion of Formula One's 800th race. A packed house watched a sensational contest under lights with Fernando roaring away to win(and banish the despair of Saturday and, indeed a difficult season) from Nico and Lewis. Fernando becomes the seventh driver to win this year.

A great result for Lewis who kept out of trouble which hit Ferrari in every way imaginable. Utter despair for Felipe after he was wrongly released early from his stop while Kimi eventually piled it into the wall. The turning point was Nelson's smash on 15 which brought out the safety car. I'll leave you guys to do the rest. Championship-wise, Lewis now jumps into a seven point lead going into Japan. It was great to be here - the atmosphere at the start was electric...

Will this result help Renault in their quest to keep Fernando or make it more likely that he will head elsewhere(BMW or Honda)? 

PS Hello Spain, you have been away for a good few months. Let's hear from you now Fernando has returned to the top of the podium...

Comments

[Gordon]

Well done Fernando, it has been tragic watching him struggling for fourth or fifth all season.

[Gary M]

Great win for Alonso, yes he had a big slice of luck but he took it well and still had to deliver and he managed to do that brilliantly. Well done to his fans too, especially JavierVivaEspana, hope you enjoyed tonight.

Nico? Well, yes you can say he drove a great race, another who benefited from the safety car, but my only issue would be that he should not have benefited from the safety car. I cannot understand that as it was clear to everybody that he made his pit stop after the pitlane closed and would have to serve a stop and go penalty that the stewards allowed him to build up such a gap before making his stop. In the end his penalty was not even a penalty at all as he still managed to get out in front of DC. It is amazing that the stewards could allow him to build such a gap.

And talking about the stewards, is it now clear that the punishment for a dangerous pitlane exit is a drive-thru penalty now then? Well maybe not. I will need to read the rules but maybe they say "If the Ferrari is leading the race then it shall be a $10,000 fine. If the Ferrari is at the back and out of contention then it might as well be a drive-thru penalty as it will make us look fair by giving the penalty" Anyone know, do the rules say that?

Why on earth are Ferrari allowed to keep using that stupid release system? After the last time when a mechanic could have been seriously hurt FIA allowed them to carry on and risk the same thing happening again.

Nice race from Lewis, did his job well, was very unfortunate that the safety car came out but still managed to get 3rd and increase his lead. In fact one could say that he got his Karma from the lost points at Spa.

McLaren ahead of Ferrari in the constructers!! Wonder if they will stay there? Well it would help if McLaren had two drivers in their team instead of relying on Lewis to win the constructers single handedly. McLaren should sign Glock for next season.

Right, off to bed. Let's see if Lewis has still got his points when I wake up. I am sure there is still a good night ahead in Spain. Enjoy.

[Peter]

There's been seven winning drivers and five winning teams in 2008. Is this a record?

[Tomas in Stockholm]

Did anyone notice that Ferrari used the lollipop during (at least one) later stop.

The problem with the light system Ferrari uses is that it doesn't seem to allow for any errors. If a car is released to early the Lollipop Man can bang the drivers head as a last resort to make him stop.

[Derek Smith]

I can't see Alonso's win changing anything. His quality as a driver was never in doubt. There must have been other reasons why there wasn't a battle royale for him. This win is no surprise.

The most surprising thing today was the dreadful result for Ferrari. You'd think they were trying to shoot themselves in the foot. Mind you, given how poor they've been at most other things, they'd probably miss.

The fastest car and they got nothing.

I'm never going to trust traffic lights again, I can tell you.

Thrilling race, though. I was standing up near the end as the pace car pulled in.

I feel real sorry for Massa though. But after the dabacle earlier this season, the Ferrari pit system should have been substantially modified.

But I feel even sorrier for the injured mechanics. How long before someone is seriously injured? They should be given protection by the regs as the teams don't seem to care.

[willy]

After "36" grand prix, renault gets back on the top of the podium, and with the one and only Fernando Alonso.
They've been getting better and better ever since Fernando got back, and that electrical incident in Q2 yesterday didn't allow him to be in the top three for the start.
I think he should stay at renault and kick Hamilton's butt from there just to make it more humiliating!!!
This is the type of track that shows who is the real best driver in formula 1...And Alonso just proved he is!!!

[Carlos]

Well deserved win for Fernando! Another slew of first to add to his belt, 1st Winner of a night race, and 1st winner of the Singapore Grand Prix. And he did it in a banana colored taxi. Go Alonso!

[DannyJ]

Well done Fernando, you lucky bloke! Well done to every team who managed not to knock their mechanics over, drive off with fuel hoses attached to the car, drive into walls, spin in corners and, I almost forgot, loose miserably. Today the prancing pony got hobbled. Try blaming all that on Mclaren!

[K Rosberg]

Flavio strategy was for Piquet to crash 2 laps after Fernando fuelled. Safety car deployed and voilá!!

Kimi showed today that he is the most overrated F1 driver ever. He should drive a Toro Rosso. Massa showed that he does not have what it takes under pressure. He ain't championship meat!!

Banco Santander may pay Kimi's contrac clause and we may still see Alonso in red next year!!

Watch out for a few surprises!

[Erik]

I feel bad for Felipe, they gave him the green light so he went. Even without the mishap he still would have gotten a drive trhu. The team messed up badly, again. I would not be surprised to see some heads roll over this one.

[willy]

I think Kimi should be in nascar or something lower!!!
I mean, seriously...This guy is pathetic.
Felipe Massa not only is out-qualifying him but also he's not making all this stupid mistakes.
Ferrari needs to give Felipe the number one spot at this very moment if they want to have a chance to win the championship.
And as far as next year, they should buy out Kimi's contract and get Vettel or Kubica to drive that second car.

[ELCROWLEY]

Alonso to Renault. If anyone saw him when he got down of the car wil now the reason.

All britons went crazy with Ham in Monza. Well, I suppose all these guys must be allucinating with Alonso.

[Richard]

Congratulations to Fernando, I'm sure he's pretty happy to have had his problem in qualifying. Considering the season he's had, I'm sure he'll take a win however it comes.

Congrats also to Nico, I'm always happy to see a Williams do well after the slump in form this great team has suffered over recent seasons.

Ferrari dropped the ball again, could this be the defining point in the championship?

Odd that Felipe got a drive-through penalty for exactly the same breach of the rules as he committed earlier in the season, when he only received a fine previously. The only difference seems to be that he wasn't going to score any points today regardless, so the penalty was irrelevant whereas the earlier incident would have lost him a victory.

Kimi lost Ferrari the lead in the constructor's championship today. I'd love to know what di Montezemolo is going to be saying to the team this afternoon.

I was disappinted that Lewis didn't attempt to overtake Rosberg towards the end, and maybe put some pressure on Fernando. Is this a turning point in his career when he just drives for points? I sincerely hope not.

Why do McLaren bother with Heikki? He isn't doing much to help the team at the moment.

It was great to see the spectacle of an F1 night race, but once the novelty has worn off, I'm concerned that the lack of overtaking opportunities will produce dull races in the future.

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

YAHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I said I'd only come back if Fernando did something cool or if the championship changed! Two things in one race!

Fernando! Score! During the last laps I thought I was going to have a heart attack. That was great! His start after the safety ar was amazing, he got like six seconds over them in three laps. Really, a great drive. First winner of a night race, first winner of the Singapore GP, first winnner to win outside of the top ten since 2006, first victory for Renault since 2006, gosh.

Great to see Flavio up there too.

2.) Nico! Nico wins the "coolest speaking voice" award. Great drive, nice scuffle with Jarno.

3.) Lewis- I guess he got sorta blinded by all of the stuff that was going on. He drove well, smartly, and ha nothing to do as Ferrari blew themselves up. Solid, and ready to win the championship soon.

4.) Timo- nice work! Clear cut, gets one on Jarno.

5.) Der Seb- a lot of Gemrans in the points! Vettel takes four on the track that Berger said would suit them the least because of the downforce level (they are going to CREAM people in China and Brazil).

6.) Heidfeld- solid. Another Geman.

7.) DC! Great drive defending Lewis, he probably made Lewis unable to get second or first with that. A great drive from a guy who has retired from like every race,

8.) Nakajima- what a day for Williams!

Dead- Felipe Massa. Poor, poor Felipe. That's two engine failures and one botched pit stop. I think he should reserve the right to flog anybody in the team at will.

Also dead- Kimi. WTF!??!?!?!? FOUR RACES w/o a point. Fernnado has amassed 25 points on him!!! What is the guy thinking? He doesn't deserve to drive a Ferrari, let alone a Renault! Ferrari must rue the day they signed him again!

Piquet- I really felt like crying for him when I heard him on the radio whimper "I'm sorry guys". Well, now I guess he feels a bit better, but what a disaster his season has become. After Germany he was only three points off Fernando but now he is nowehere... what a poor, hapless fellow. It's incredible that somebody could be so good in GP2 but then so weak in F1... it makes you wonder about what is going wrong.

McLaren- will win both championships.

Ferrari- will throw both championships out the door and will then keep on with one good driver being screwed over by the time and super-bad driver whom they didn't replace with the most decorated driver in F1 that is currently active.

BMW- become the only team to have scored points in every race.

Bravo, Fernando. Bravisimo. We all love you. He's shown himself to be just what we think he is: an all-out driver, a charismatic team leader, but, above, "EL MATADOR"!!!!

[javiervivaespania]

Thou, almighty Fernando Magic Alonso Díaz, hast won again, bringing back hope and joy for all of us, thine supporters.

I was speaking about the Spanish Reconquista after the last Grand Prix, and now it seems my words were prophetic, or perhaps just something that was too clear after Magic's outstanding performance and manners in the last race.

If I spoke about the start of the Spanish Reconquista, I can speak openly about the D-day today.

The 100th race was won by Stirling Moss, the 200th by Jackie Stewart, the 400th by Lauda, the 500th by Nelson Piquet and now the 800th by Fernando the Greatest, our Spanish Gladiator.

Many ordinary people will be talking about the safety car, but Fernando won because of his unbelievable and unstoppable pace. He has engineered a great car out of a lot of scrap. It is just amazing, what he has done has never been done before. I also know he is one of the most intelligent persons in the planet.

All in all, the best race of the year, the most challenging both for technology and drivers. Fernando has proved that he has even night vision powers, ha, ha, Ha, Ha, HA, HA!!!

I am happy, and every good F1 fan should be happy as well with me.

PS: I hope Anon send us some message too! Pleaseeeee!

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

Javiervivaespania- I await your comments with eagerly!

[Prasoon]

Well, calling Alonso a great driver after this would be a mistake. Felipe in Valencia was great and Vettel in monza was great - Alonso was just pure lucky and he should thank his teammate for this.

FIA should also have better laws for refuelling under SC - what could Nico and Kubica have done - stopped on track and not entered pit lane if say they were drying out?

[Daniel]

Congratulations Fernando. Your still the best.

[Phil H]

Congratulations to Fernando, great drive. Great Strategy by Renault as well, thinking outside the box again and getting another good result.

Nico had an absolute blinder in second too, to get far enough ahead of DC and Lewis in 5-10 laps to stop for 10s in the pit lane and still come out ahead is pretty stunning stuff.

Lewis had a solid race, nothing spectacular, which is exactly what he needs in the last 3 races. Three second places and the championship is his.

Massa and Ferrari though? That light system needs to go now, I thought it was stupid the first time I saw it. It brings absolutely no advantage at all and only causes trouble.

And nice to see the FIA making him take a drive through penalty for being released into Sutil in a race where it makes no difference, but when it actually counts (Valencia) he gets a fine. What a joke.

[ALEX B]

Fantastic Fernando is all I can say. A brilliant drive after the despair of yesterday's qualifying. Rosberg did very well considering the penalty and its another dark day for Ferrari. Apparently there are a few rumblings that there is a clause in Kimi's contract that allows him to leave through his own wishes or Ferrari's. After today's wall bashing exercise and Alonso's win, I wouldn't be surprised if Fernando gets a call from Mr. Montezemolo. Ferrari lack direction and a solid leader, its costing them big time. What is the point in developing a super fast car if the driver/s and team can't put it all together on race day. Alonso gives 100% every day, not for 10, 20 laps a race.

[F1-Insider]

What a bizarre race, a race like this just shows how crazy the rules are with the team responsible for the safety car which ruined so many drivers planned races to be the beneficiaries of he same is just crazy, the whole safety car rule is crazy, there has to be a fairer way.

As was asked after the race on ITV 'what was the difference between Massa's unsafe pit exist punishment and the race where he didn't receive any punishment'? Of course the question could not be answered by anybody.

Looking at the race forgetting all the funny goings on, I find it sad that in 2008 a new race track can be added to the leading motor racing series in the world where it's all but impossible to pass, this is just madness and it's not what we all want to see. Just imagine for a moment if the same circumstances happened as happened but it were possible to overtake slower cars, we would have seem for fantastic driving from a number of drivers which would have been great for us all. I still can't get over that a new track in introduced where overtaking is all but impossible - will somebody tell whoever is in charge that the track layout must be wrong - Doh!

Observing the body language between Alonso and Hamilton it appeared to me three times Hamilton made a gesture to Alonso and three times he was rebuffed, obviously some deep wounds there.

what is going on with Ferrari, the pressure seems to be getting to them as a team and what on earth is wrong with Hamilton's team make, I'm sorry but he is not good enough to warrant one of the 4 top seats in F1 and it wouldn't surprise me if he were not at McLaren next year - you heard it here first (contracts mean little in F1).

So, on to Japan with Lewis Hamilton leading Massa by 7 points (even with the FIA doing their utmost to stop him). Reading Ron Dennis's comments about McLaren tactics it shows us all how weary they are of the FIA and will do their utmost not to give them an opportunity to influence the results.

What's this? News flash on the BBC - Alonso disqualified, Renault car found to be underweight ......... (let's hope not eh)!!!!

[David Hodge]

Well done Fernando - he drove the car beyond its capabilities. I think he deserved the win, albeit with some luck but he still took his chance. Nico Rosberg also - even including the stop and go, he pulled off a great result.

Just one thing sticks in my throat and spoils again a fantastic race. Stewards! See if you can figure out a difference between these two situations.

Valencia. Felipe is unsafely released by his crew (not of his doing) into the path of Adrian Sutil. The incident is investigated and two hours after the race, Felipe is hit with a slap on the wrist of 10,000 Euro fine.

Singapore. Felipe is unsafely released by his crew (not of his doing) into the path of Adrian Sutil. The incident is investigated within a few laps and Felipe receives a stop and go penalty.

The difference? In Valencia, he was in the points and on for the race win. In Singapore, he was 18th and out of the points. And the FiA does not favour Ferrari?

[JoseBelgica]

Finalmente!!!

First night race, Alonso wins.

[Stelmara]

Alonso is a great driver when he's on song but no way did he deserve this win today but good luck to him anyway, he must be feeling like he's won the lottery tonight.

I found it amazing Massa didn't seem to know the hose was stuck in his fuel filler, could he not see this in his mirrors?

Kimi crashes again, not a good example of a world champion is it and as for Heikki (both Finnish, not what's going on there) , he is so lucky to still have a drive at McLaren, surely they will have to look at him if they want to contend the constructors title both this and next year as there are so many drivers that would do a far better job in a McLaren than him.

Ed could you tell us if anything else will be happening about that email?

Stella

[Big Phil]

Brilliant!!!!

Shame on Ferrari, you have to feel sorry for Massa...

[Nick Caulfield]

I can tell I read this blog too much when my first thought was "Javier will be pleased!"

13th is worse than DNF for poor old Massa unless this was already his second race with this engine - anyone remember?

Good for Lewis though

Wish I'd seen it live!

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

HAHAHA and to think that not long ago I was saying that Italy '07 was going to be Fernandop's last win!

This is really great. I watched the race because Tuesday was my birthday and this was the closest race to to my birthday! Thank you Fernando for my big birthday present!

Italy- loses two records

Singapore- gains two records- first night race winner, first Singapore GP winner.

If Lewis wins the championship this year, you can bet Fernando will get the oldest champion award!

I am really so happy for him. I really, really thought he would end up in the wall. Don't know why, but I had to see him cross the line to celebrate.

Some might say he was lucky, but remember that his car is much slower than the Ferraris and McLarens and that he had a big problem in qualifying, which everybody said was THE thing to get right here. So this race win is fully deserved in my eyes.
Plus, we know he had the pace to win (3rd fastest lap) and he governed the race lead really well. That start on SC was amazing. It's like he was equipped with rockets.
As he built a six second gap in no time, David Hobbs said, quite rightly, that Fernando was pouring out all of this season's frustrations. Wow.

I'm starting to think that Fernando must be really happy that he didn't join Ferrari. He has outraced Kimi in the last three races and has amassed 20 points to Kimi's zero in four races.

Ferrrari have mismanaged everything so badly it is incredible. Force India and Super Aguri do a better job of pit stops. The lighting system in their pits is ridiculous.
Ri-di-cu-lous. As time goes on, I think they really should have signed Fernando, a clear team leader. Felipe is good, but he needs to give his team the big, public whip-lashing Fernando would not hesitate to give.

BTW, the race must have been horrible to watch from the trackside. I remember in Germany I was absolutely lost because Piquet was leading the race. The Singaporeans must be thinking that F1 is overtaking, minus the overtaking.

Today was national "overtake Jarno" day, which everybody did.

Kimi- Kimi is really showing his weaknesses in every, EVERY domain.

His quali pace is miserable, his concentration is flawed, his technical skills non-existant, his input to the team minimum, etc. He is not driving well and Ferrari need to give harsh commands.

I am really happy for Fernando. The season sarted as a disaster but with this he must feel better. He obviously could not/ would not stay at McLaren, so winning a race with such limited options is great.

Nice to see Flavio there.

Championship- Felipe could still be leading the championship after Japan. Lewis will win the championship, but Felipe is definitely not out. And I'm still waiting for an error on Lewis's or Lewis's car...

Really happy! Go Fernando!

[Prof Plum]

Very pleased to see Fernado pull this off, he's done plenty enough to deserve the podium this year, and 1st is great.

Obviously, the moves pulled by Fernando during lap 1 were not something that Lewis could have got away with if he'd been in the same position - quite a lot of advantage gained by corner-cutting. But good for Fernando for giving it a go.

Not a good day for Finnish drivers.

[A Parker]

Alonso only won because of the safety car and strategy, just like Piquet in Hockenheim. Also notice he got away with cutting the chicane at the start and gaining 2 positions - funny how he forcefully thought Lewis deserved the penalty in Spa - shows what a hypocritical cheat he is.

As for Ferrari, this was poetic justice after Spa.

[ELCROWLEY]

To PRASOON:

Alonso was the best driver today, and probably the best of the grid. Maybe you know more than Ross Brown or other engineers...
Renault has had the best car in Singapore. Yes, te best car. De la Rosa told that. De la Rosa told that "if no SC out ALonso will be fighting for the podium between a Ferrari and McLaren car".

Alonso has been the only to race on 1:45 and low 1:46 for a lot of laps. Only Raikkonen did it. Ham, Massa, Rosberg, Kubica...didn't.

Alonso got a 6 sec. gap in just ¡¡2 laps!!

Alonso strategy was GOOD. He said "I didn't want a 1 stop strategy because I would suffer all race, brakes won't survive and first laps will be horrible." He decide to have some risks and won.

Anyway, a lot of people say Ham is the best on rain tracks. Well, in Silverstone 08 won thanks to select the right tyre, and Alonso and Kimi didn't. That's the reason to Ham won. No skills drivings, just LUCK to get the right tyre. Similar happened in Monaco 08. LUCK to select the right tyres when his enemies failed on that.

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

Nice to see you give me a nice smile, Javier, I love your comments. =)

Felipe/Valencia/Singapore:

the only difference, and this is the only one, is that Felipe had a big heavy fuel rig attached to his car as he spead through the pits (ALl of them).Maybe, just maybe, that is what prompt the stewards to penalize him.

I think the decision is right. In fact, the Singapore stewards were probably the best all year. They do not make the decisions about Valencia, and they applied the rules. And considering that w/ penalty Felipe finished 13th, I could have seen him score a point or two w/o it because of the 2nd safety car.

Overall, I think that Felipe today "deserved" punishment (nothing he could do about it) and that ni Valencia he didn't. In Valencia, there was no chance that he hurt somebody. Even if he collided w/ Adrian in Valencia, what would have happened? nothing. We saw a three-car pitlane pile-up in Canada and nothing ahppened.

Here, though, with the fuel rod, a mechanic could have been hit with it, which would have been pretty bad. So here I think it was just.

But I'm probably just feeling pity for poor Felipe who's seeing Ferrari chuck his championship hopes out the window. THere is nothing he can do about it.

Lewis and Fernando- definitely we saw some wounds there- Leis tried to talk to Fernando, but really nothing happened. At least Fernnado leaned over to hear him on the podium. Some can say Lewis is more sportive, but he's not the one who had to go drive a crap car for a whole season,.

But who cares! Fernando won! YAHOOOOOOOO!

I can't get over the fact I actually said that Italy '07 might have been his last win. HAHAHAHAHA I am so retarded. Never have I been happier to be wrong.

1.) Fernando- yippeee! Think I dissected his performance enough. Considering his bad luck season long, you have to give him this one.
Drove like a champion seizing an opportunity. Some guy called Kimi would have done well to do the same.

2.) Nico- fast!Great job holding off Lewis, no nonsense.

3.) Lewis- solid. I always envisioned a podium w/ Fernnado 3rd and Lewis 1st, not the other around! Still, a good drive. His fight with DC was cool.

4.) Timo- very good. He's catching up on Jarno fast- Jarno better be careful.

5.) Der Seb! Scores points on the circuit Berger said he feared most. THey weren't able to use there horsepower as much. Boy, are they going to cream in China and Brazil. I wonder if Vettel can outsprint Fernnado to the coveted 7th place in the championship. Seems difficult.

6.) Nick- Yet another German in the points. Solid.

7.) DC! Funny that on the one circuit he has never ever driven before, he delivers one of his best result (considering his experience, that is hilarious).

8.) Nakajima- the only team to get two cars in the points is Williams. Not bad! Tartan trousers everybody!

9.) Button- ouch.

A lucky 13th- Felipe. Owwww. He has the right to flog his mechanics at will.

Dead- Kimi- what an awesome champion! Has committed every error in the book. Nick is only one point behind- can Nick actually overtake him for fourth in the standings!?

Renault- Nice to see Flavio again.

McLaren- strong,m consistent, will win the titles.

Ferrari- weak, inconsistent, will loses both titles. Really easily.

BMW- only team on the grid to have scord points every race (and Nick the only driver to have not yet retired from one race).

Championship-

Driver's- Felipe could still be leading after Japan. It's close, and I think it wil still go to the wire unless nothing happens to Lewis's car. I don't know why, but I have the feeling Japan will be to Singapore as CHina was to Japan last year. But who knows. Lewis will win.

Constructor's- BMW are so close its insane. THey will utterly rout the championship next year. Ferrari need to get there act together fast. They will lose. The articles tomorrow in the Italian press will be historic.

Ahh- am so happy for Fernando. On the week of my birthday!

I promised I would be back only if Fernando did something cool or if the championship changed. Well, I'm back I guess. I'll try to keep quiet a bit more though!

Wonder how many comments were going to get. Let's aim for 150-200 guys!

[Third eye]

Congrat Alonso!
Staying away from the yellow pages, with respect to your plan for next year`s GP and the question about who-will-be this year WC, is the secret to be at the right place at the right time.
I hope you keep that up.

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

One last post for today.

The sportsmanship of Massa is beautiful. He says this:

""It's hard to deal with losing in this fashion a race that was within our grasp, with a car that was just the way I wanted it. We had a good strategy and all the signs were there that we could get a one-two finish. But things can change in a moment and that's what happened today. At the pit stop, one of the guys made a mistake. But we are only human. Each one of us always tries to do our best and these things can happen. With the Safety Car still on track, I didn't lose a lap, but then I got a drive-through and later I also picked up a puncture in the left rear. On this track it is almost impossible to overtake and ending up at the back meant I had not chance of getting into the points. Seven points to make up in three races? That can be a lot or it can be a little. We have the potential to do well, as we saw today and we will give it our best shot. We mustn't give up and I'm sure we won't."
"

What a guy, as he was in Hungary. This is the second race win that has been stolen from him. How can anybody be angry at him for accepting the one in Belgium? Really, a great sportsman. If it had been me,I would have probably said something like

"%$^#&@* Ferrari! How could they do something so $#@!%^(*! I HATE YOU ALLL!!!!!!!"

But nope. He really deserves another shot at the championship and I have to say I feel that if Lewis had a car problem it would be fair to Felipe, whose had a ton.

(Now that I've said that, we can be sure to have at least 150 coments, right?)

Ahh, time to celebrate

(by probably posting again in five seconds).

[Pau]

To F1-Insider:

I think it is more crazy that one driver of a team triggers an investigation against the team for holding him back (Lewis in Monaco 07).

I also think it is more crazy that one driver's father triggers a five position penalty on his team mate for breaching no article of the FIA (Hungary 07)

I also think it is quite crazy that this driver claims to be a good team mate.

I do not think it is crazy, given all this, that Alonso was not friendly to Lewis in the podium.

Talking about teams being responsible .... what about team orders in McLaren in Hockenheim 08?

[El Ponso]

THE RETURN OF THE JEDI
(Well, for the time being at least)

Luck let a gentleman see
Just how nice a dame you can be
I know the way you’ve treated other guys you’ve been with
Luck be a lady with me...

Good old Sinatra knew damn well how to sing to Lady Luck. Not even the most ‘femme fatale’ from those Hollywood classics would behave in such unpredictable manner.
It’s been so long since we had heard the spanish anthem at the podium that for a moment I thought that we were back at the Euros and that Casillas, Xabi and Fernando Torres would make their entrance at any moment. And then the lovely notes of La Marseillaise. This one and the italian anthem are my favourites. Not disrespect on the others though, for I think they are all beautiful.
So, F1 is dead, isn’t? Yeah, like football, motorbike and all the sports in which the unpredictable can happen. Even on those boring circuits in which is ‘impossible to overtake’, where we are seated watching the ‘endless procession’ of cars, anything can happen.
‘Unbelieveable’, said Fernando afterwards, ‘All the bad luck that I had yesterday in the quali turned into good fortune today’. He also said that because he started on soft rubber to do an agressive first stint and preserved the hard ones for the rest, he had some advantage towards the end on Nico, as this was on soft and Fernando was on hard. He also said that the car was, at least for this race, very well setup. Does not sound arrogant to me, quite the contrary. I’m sure he’s going to savour this one win more than the previous ones. Also, he’d go down in history as the first winner ever in Singapore. Well, at least that’s a record that no one could take from him.
Lewis did a good race considering all that he had to go through. And at the end he did play for the points instead of risking going for the win. He drove with the champ’s mentality and I think he’s going to pull it through.
Ferrari? God knows what’s going on there right now. So many incidents on the pitch cannot be put down to ‘bad luck’, in spite of Sinatra. That invention of the lights is the greatest thing since the wheel. It wasn’t Felipe’s fault as you can see on the replay, for the light was green. Pedro de la Rosa said that although you could gain about a tenth with the light, it’s too risky and he’d rather use the old fashion lolipop.
Anyway, it was great to see Fernando again winning a GP, sitting there talking to the press. Pity that he looks really ugly, doesn’t he?
Ah well, there was only one Paul Newman (RIP). God bless you Paul, you’ll be always in our hearts.

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

Ed! You ask three questions and none to Fernando? Why didn't you tell him the blog thought he was the best driver in F1? Or maybe you should hae asked him how to start a car- seems to be good at doing that.

It is incredible how crazy this season is. It is so much more loose than last season. We've seen exactly 14 drivers finish on podium and seven win. A majority of races have been won not from pole, and this one won from fifteenth on the grid. 5 different teams have won- since when has that happened? A ton of them have been on podium. It's a season in which it seems like every driver has had unbelievable highs, with the exception maybe of Jenson and Force India.

It keeps evolving too. The guy who started with four retirements to the season has won a race, for example. It's great.

There were a ton of stuff that people thought of over the season which were really, really wrong. The funniest one is that Piquet would beat Fernando who would not take the pressure. Fernando has literally eaten Piquet alive. I really feel sry for Piquet. His dad went gung-ho about Fernnado in the first practice and he literally cannot do anything. Maybe he is good but the car bad and Fernnado super good. Or maybe he is bad, the car OK, ad Fernando good. Who knows. Anyway, Piquet is having one horrible season. He should be so happy Fernando won and that the headlines are off of him. I saw an interview of him on the grid and he was asked about his starting next to Fernnado. He said he'd try to do something special. Guess he did.

In other news, Heikki is officially out of the championship contention. He is more than thirty points off of Lewis and really unlucky. He had no pace and the safety car did not help.

OK, I've got to get to work. Just so happy for Fernando. Every race I've been thinking of him winning. Even as he failed in quali yesterday, I thought how awesome it wuold be if he pulled a Hungary and won. Really happy for him.

He's won:

the 800th F1 GP
the first night race of F1
the first Singapore GP
his 20th victory
his 50th podium.

all on his 120th race start. Not bad, huh?

[Antonio]

Go go Fernando! He was lucky, but he put an impressive drive after that, and really fast laps. Massa is really unlucky this season. I hope for a tight championship in Brazil.

[Sergio]

Well done Fernando... and Flavio!, who ordered Piquet to crash in the strategic lap.

That is in fact the "agressive strategy" told by FA in the begining.

Piquet was not going to take points in any case, so... better a win for Fernando!

[Gary M]

Ed, I am sure I wrote a post after the race last night???

Congratulations to Alonso, he may have had a big slice of luck (from his own teammate strangely enough) but he made the most of it and after his performances in practice it was clear how fast he was around here anyway. Well done to Renault for being daring in the strategy and well done to Alonso's fans who have kept the faith all this season too.

It seems everybody thought the race was a success. I personally cannot see it, maybe at the track there was a level of excitement and anticipation but them where I was watching the track was a disaster and needs much work for next year. Without the safety car and the Ferrari woes it would have been an incredibly boring race. I mean, what are you thinking Bernie? Is this really the future of F1?? No thanks.

Nico had more luck that most really and although drove well I am not sure he really deserved the 2nd place. He went into the pits under the safety car and was given a stop and go penalty but the stewards took so long before giving out the penalties that by that time he has managed to build up such a huge gap (with everyone else struggling behind much slower cars) that he could serve his penalty and still get back out in front of LH. So it turns out that the stop and go was not really a penalty at all. Why would the stewards take so long to decide something that was clear as day to everyone else immediately?

And talking about stewards.

Well, it seems plenty of others have picked up on this already which is good as I thought the journo's may have forgotten this one with all the excitement.

But c'mon, what is the penalty for an unsafe pit release? a fine or a drive-thru? Is it not time for FIA to make up their minds? At the moment it looks like it depends where the Ferrari is in the race. If a Ferrari is leading the race then just a fine will do. There is no other explanation for this.

Oh, sorry Max, I am just being one of those "stupid" fans for thinking that there is more to that.

Lastly, again, why is Heikki Kovalainlen driving the McLaren again next year? same could be said for Kimi too. I think there are some twists yet to come. Alonso to Ferrari? To be honest maybe, if he can convince he has matured in the last year then maybe Ferrari could take a chance on him. They need him. As for McLaren then anybody, and I do mean anybody has to be better than Heikki. Glock? Button? even Mark Webber. Just signing someone who can drive a car would be a start. McLaren are leading the constructers and it is LH doing all the work.

Anyway, 3 races to go, Lewis in the hot seat. A lot can happen yet but looking good.

[stuart]

Well done Fernando....12 months since his last win. As for Ferrari...it's called Karma baby..what goes around comes around!! Not even the FIA could help them today.

[Anon]

@EL CROWLEY

You are so bitter. Even on a day your hero wins you are still bringing up the old stories and talking about 'enemies'.

Anon

[Pierre]

Great entertainment - I had been expecting another Valencia yawn-fest...

Congrats to Alonso, a brilliant drive making the best of circumstances.

Re the Massa pit incident: the ITV commentators said that as the Ferrari engineers ran past the McLaren garage, the McLaren team were cheering them on! Now that is footage I'd pay serious money to see. I've searched You Tube but have only seen the televised broadcast. Has anyone else found maybe a specators film of it? Must be hilarious!

On a serious note, I hope no-one was badly injured from the Ferrari team.

[Jordi]

Alonso was unlucky Saturday with a unusual tech. problem and lucky Sunday, so breaks even. He was one of the fastest Friday and Saturday until the problem. It was clear to many that he was going to be in the front if he didn't have that problem. I'm happy for him.

Lewis is not risking everything like he did last year, he drove a very intelligent race and might well give him the WDC if he keeps his head cool. I'm glad he congratulated FA, nice gesture.

I enjoyed the night race, perhaps next year with new regulations they will have more chances to overtake.

why not night races in Europe?

[Tunde Uche]

What about Fernado's chicanery.. I suppose that's alright.. Please FIA sort out your officiating it!!

[Marco]

Elcrowley, talking about rain, in youtube you can watch Fernando´s last lap in Spa...simply amazing if only Ham had done the half of that he would have been in almost every journal since then.

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

Sorry guys, I realize I posted essentially the same thing twice.

A Parker- one compliment I'll give to Lewis freely- he has a ton more sportsmanship than you do!

If Fernando had won because of the SC, then wonder why Lewis and Nico didn't get him when he was right there. Right there.

Instead, they fell six seconds back in two laps.

Bah, but Fernando won because of the safety car, because he practises voodoo and told Piquet to crash, because he cut chicanes at the start (so unimortant not even by Hamiltonist commentators back at SPEED would show them to me.

And you have to decide yourselves- do you want them to cut the chicanes or not? In Belgium, Lewis is lauded for his wheel to wheel fighting. Why doesn't Fernando get the treatment? Why don't you say "I'm happy Fernando won even though he cut the chiance on lap 1, it proves Lewis should have won as well".

Really, you just hate the guy.

But we win so ha-ha!

[Jordi]

A Parker

"Alonso only won because of the safety car and strategy, just like Piquet in Hockenheim."

Is not the same Ms Parker, Piquet qualified 17th in Germany because he couldn't do any better, Alonso qualified 15th in Singapore because a tech problem (after been one of the fastest all weekend).

It’s clear that you don't like Fernando Alonso, and that's fine, but I can't help but to remember when you couldn't understand why people didn't like LH and the only reason that you could think of was race. Now, assuming that you are black (as you assumed that we are white) and been very difficult for me to understand why you don't like FA. If I had the same reasoning than you, I would think that you don't like Alonso because of his colour.

Ridiculous? Yes, is what I thought.

[Dean Rodrigues]

I'm just going to say something short and simple. F1 is like life - what goes around comes around. Lewis was robbed of his victory in Belgium, so Ferrari's awful luck today could fairly be seen as a balancing of the scales.

Hats off to Singapore. Great circuit - especially the bumps. More of them next year would be good.

[david-br]

Congratulations Fernando!

F1-INSIDER - I noticed Hamilton trying to interact with Alonso several times too. It must be hard for him to have been winning and contending all of last year (and before) and yet so distant this. I think he was mostly wrapped up with that emotion.

Ed and others: was the race really that good? It seems to have been popular with people actually there (like yourself) and the team managers etc. but less so the drivers and a lot of the public. If everyone had managed to stay on track, it would have been just as tedious as Valencia. To be honest, I hate both tracks. They appeal to F1's corporate/promotional side, and leave racing a distant second. I'm sure Singapore is great for its hotels, food, exotic setting, etc. but mere mortals on the other side of the world would maybe actually prefer to see some actual motor racing rather than more prime corporate PR opportunities. In which case, much better designed circuits are needed.

[Joeypharris]

I read this blog all the time and just want to say to all those that post on it, what a pleasure it is to read compared to the dross that gets posted on the BBC forum.

Well done Alonso, took the opportunity.

Hamilton just needs to drive sensibly now, hopefully he will bag the title with a race to spare!!

[Vincent]

FA cutting the chicane...

I think he lets another driver "overtake" him just after cutting the chicane. I'm not quite sure, but I remember this little detail.

That's the wise move in that case, and you avoid any penalties.

[Anon (but who is not here and in denial that he is still posting. He shall stop now.]

Obivously, the other Anon frothing at Elcrowley is not me. (I'm the one with a paragraph at the end of my name).

Anon, either change your name or say really smart stuff so I can say that I said them.

[David Hodge]

Just watched the tape again so I could prove my eyes did not deceive me... Kimi's second stop. There was a guy with a traditional lollypop rather than using their automatic "save 1/10th second but lose the race" lights system.

Do you think the lights will be left behind in a skip when they depart Singapore?

[Jose M. Doval]

Well done Fernando. Yes, the Safety Car helped a lot, but the 2nd. one not so, and he had again the best pace in race
Well done Lewis. I don't like you but yesterday you drove maturely, thinking on the W. Title and not only on you.
Williams, wonderful to see again an historic team fighting bravely
Vettel, what a future you have, guy!!!!
Ferrari... no comment. Very sad, actually!
Heikki WHO???? Or he's the worst ever driver riding a Mc or the Team is working only FOR ONE DRIVER (Equality politics...HELLO!!!!!)
At last, again passion and controversial on race.... and HERE!

[Derek Smith]

Anon with the epic paragraph following his name:

Re: you list of Alonso's achievements at Singapore.

Please indulge me with a bit of a qualification. I like Peter Gethin. He took me out on a fast run around Sussex at speeds which were frightening. Going around a blind corner in a Sierra 4x4 on full opposite lock is an experience that proved to me that having teeth extracted isn't such a problem.

Given that I been out with many Grade 1 police drivers, trying to do their best on a teast, you can see that my view that PG mandled a saloon car better than anyone else i've been with has some justification.

To get to my point: Peter won the fastest GP. Some feat eh? Further he also won the closest ever GP at the same time. Again some feat. This did not stop him being just an average GP driver.

That's not the criticism it might appear. Average in this case is still very, very high.

[David Jones]

david-b
Well said mate looking through the corporate gloss and the rolling of the dice with the stupid safety cars the track is just another Valencia and wee know how boring that race was.
Too many (mostly Spanish)people got so excited that their man won they cannot see beyond that.
My position is this: F1 should not be about luck and I want to see races on tracks that allow the bold and the late brakers to prosper (of course this does include Alonso).
I am sorry but watching Hamilton stuck behind much slower drivers (Alonso too at the beginning of the race) is not my idea of entertainment.
Had Singapore not had the lottery of the safety car it would have been every bit as boring as Velencia and is that what any of us want? I think not! Not that Ecclestone of Mosley will listen for a second.
Bottom line, only known racers tracks should be on the F1 calender for heavens sake how can we have a world championship at the top end of motor sport where probably the best track (together with Spa) is not on the calender (Suzuka) and from 2010 Silverstone?

[Marco]

Great Massa on the losing side, I consider Alonso by far the best driver in nowadays F1 but if his team had given ML the championship away as Ferrari has done this year...imagine Alonso´s reaction

Actually Ferrari is giving back what it has been given last year by ML and Ham.
Two exciting seasons, perhaps even more biased by "others errors" than "own successes" than previous.

[Tim]

Peter - wins by seven different drivers and five different teams isn't a record, I'm afraid. Without doing a full check through the records I couldn't say for certain which year set the records in this respect, but I suspect 1982 comes pretty close to the top.

If I remember rightly, in '82 eleven different drivers won races - Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Didier Pironi, John Watson, Ricardo Patrese, Nelson Piquet, Rene Arnoux, Patrick Tambay, Elio De Angelis, Michele Albereto and Keke Rosberg (the eventual champion). Seven different teams won races - Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, Brabham, Lotus, Williams and Tyrrell.

1982 was a dramatic, tragic and politically turbulent year for F1 - it even saw the Tifosi applauding a Renault victory at Monza! (Arnoux won the race but the crowd knew he was Ferrari bound by this point)

The likes of spygate, pitlanegate, Mosley-gate and Spa-gate pale in comparison really.

There have been several books written about the season, most recently by Christopher Hilton, which may be worth a read.

[David Jones]

Gary M
Great post, very astute. The track at Singapore is awful and beneath the safety car and the pit chaos by Ferrari it was rubbish - get real Ed!
The point you make about Massa penalty is of course correct but lets not forget that the FIA blatant fiddling in the first example cost Lewis points and gained Massa points.
If Lewis and McLaren do win any of the championships this year it must be one of the hardest ever as many forces have and are acting against them from even before the start of the season.
Go Lewis, make sure you stay so far out of trouble that that even the long sticky wiggly hands of the FIA president can't touch you. I suggest you (Lewis) just count to 10 every time something happens (as it will) till the end of the season and then when you are the rightful F1 champion you give a Sennaesk like interview telling the world's media (not just the sport hacks) what has really been and is going on with the way F1 is governed.
If you did this you. us and all of F1 would be winners as even Mosley would find it very difficult to pay you back.

[Richard]

ANON - the other anon does have a point. On a day when so many people are celebrating Alonso's unlikely win, elcrowley is still taking the opportunity to put Hamilton down - it's pretty sad behaviour, but not entirely surprising given the nature of previous elcrowley posts.

[Nick]

While not wanting to add insult to injury, or fan the flames of Ferrari/FIA conspiracy mongers, I thought if you worked on a car outside of its pitbox it was a black flag dismissal ? Surely this would apply to the Massa fuel line removal. We only want to see a level playing field. Best Nick.

[Daniel]

Hallo England,it has been a good few months since i saw last time LH driving as a champion, i think since british GP.....7 races????.
Can this guy be a real champion???. Like schumacher or alonso???. i dont think so. Hamilton, Massa,Raikkonen,Rosberg,Vettel,Kubica.... just drivers, but not champions.
Poor season, that will have a poor champion.

[Richard]

No-one can take anything away from Fernando for winning, he took advantage of the situation given to him, and converted it into a comfortable victory. I hope this gives him and the team added motivation to produce a competitive car next year so we can see a great champion back fighting at the front.

However, some people have, understandably, become rather carried away by the victory. Fernando has had many great wins, but this wasn't really one of them when judged against his high standards.

There are those who say his bad luck in qualifying was cancelled out by his good luck in the race. However, if he'd had a trouble-free qualifying, he's probably be no higher that the third row of the grid, and he'd have had a more conventional strategy. Where would that have left him in the race given the safety car issues?

Then there are those saying he won because he is such a superior driver to the rest, and this track accentuated the difference. But if the cards didn't fall in his favour, it could just as easily ended up with him being out of the points.

And some people are saying he won due to brilliant strategy by Renault. The strategy was only adopted because of the poor grid position Fernando had after his car failed in Q2. Had there been no safety car at that point in the race, where would he have finished?

So, without wishing to take anything away from Fernando, this victory is not one of his finest, and it's only being talked up so much because no-one was expecting a Renault win this season.

There have been a few people criticising Martin Brundle's commentary for being so pro-Hamilton, but he said at the end of the race that Alonso is probably the best, most complete driver on the grid at the moment. I would have hoped to have seen some acknowledgment of that on this blog, but I haven't as yet.

[Angus the Bull]

Stella - "I found it amazing Massa didn't seem to know the hose was stuck in his fuel filler, could he not see this in his mirrors?"

Thanks for this comment. I can now ignore any of your future comments safe in the knowledge that you know nothing.

Look in the mirrors! When given a green light to go!

What a comedienne.

AtB

[Tim]

Congratulations to Fernando Alonso and Renault - a great drive and a great strategy. The timing of the safety car clearly played a part but it would be wrong to write this off as a result brought about purely through good luck. Fernando drove extremely well all weekend - he certainly isn't the first (and probably won't be the last) F1 driver to benefit from a caution period. In Alonso's hands, the Renault had its best showing all year in terms of out and out performance. Not one of Fernando's greatest drives, but a well deserved victory nonetheless. In many ways, the victory was comparable with Lewis Hamilton's victory at Monaco earlier this year, where a convenient safety car allowed Lewis to recover from a self-inflicted puncture to win.

A very good drive from Nico Rosberg to finish second, despite taking a ten second stop go penalty. Nico's race could have been completely destroyed by the penalty for pitting under the safety car but, such was his pace at the front of the field, he was able to establish a decent gap before pitting and emerged in second place. Rosberg also did a good job holding off Hamilton after the second safety car period, even taking into account that Lewis had clearly settled for third place in the last couple of laps.

Nico was the one of the first drivers (along with Fernando) to be penalised under the present set of safety car rules at the 2007 Canadian GP. For both drivers it completely ruined their race chances - Rosberg lost any chance of finishing in the points, Alonso managed a top eight finish but lost points which could have proved decisive at the end of the year. There have been various other safety car penalties since then, including in Singapore this weekend, and on each occasion the closed pitlane system still feels arbitrary and wrong. The system was introduced to prevent drivers racing back to the pits when a full course yellow was initiated - clearly an undesirable and dangerous situation which effectively gave drivers an incentive to throw caution to the wind when they should have been doing exactly the opposite. But the present solution, which still allows teams with the fastest reactions to benefit (Red Bull and Honda in Singapore, for instance) but penalises those who had long planned to stop for fuel (Rosberg and Robert Kubica) cannot be right. The FIA was working on a system that used driver-acknowledged cockpit signals to ensure cars slowed down sufficiently once the safety car was released, but this seems to have disappeared off the radar. Ultimately, Nico was able to salvage a good result despite the penalty but Kubica wasn't - there has to be a better solution.

Lewis had a fairly quiet race but managed to extend his title lead significantly, effectively regaining the points he lost at Spa. I understand that McLaren advised him to back off following Kimi Raikkonen's shunt but Lewis hadn't appeared to be in a position to challenge Rosberg for second prior to that anyway. Together with an indifferent showing in Q2 and the loss of pace towards the end of the Italian GP, is this a sign that McLaren's tyre wear issues have still not been fully sorted? During the first stint at Singapore, Hamilton was initially able to peg Massa but then started to fall back. If it rains, McLaren still appears to hold the upper hand but will tyre wear in normal race conditions be a factor in the remaining three races, especially on the softer compounds? As I've said before, the title remains Hamilton's to lose but McLaren clearly need to resolve this issue.

Clearly, a pretty dismal weekend for Ferrari but not without its upsides. Without a disastrous first pit stop, it seems likely that Felipe Massa would have rejoined still ahead of Hamilton's McLaren but behind Alonso and the Red Bulls. Whether Felipe would have been able to go on to challenge Fernando is open to debate (I suspect he wouldn't have come any closer than Lewis did), but he should still have been looking at a reasonable points haul. Following a stunning pole lap and a good opening stint, it was galling to see Massa's race going awry for for reasons that were completely outside of his control and in a manner that saw various Ferrari mechanics involved in an extremely dangerous situation. After qualifying, Raikkonen looked set for another difficult weekend but was homing in on Hamilton when the safety car was brought out. Ferrari may have come away from Singapore with no points but, if nothing else, they showed that their car is still extremely quick, especially in race conditions. The title is now a much bigger ask for Felipe, but Ferrari's pace in Singapore (which could have been a one-two finish) means McLaren can't assume the title is in the bag.

[Jon T]

@Anon(with the paragraph): Welcome back! You know you can't stay away, surely with rain looking likely for Japan you're stuck here for at least another fortnight over the prospect of another Renault podium like Heikki's last year?

Luck inevitably came into the equation but I think the misfortune Fernando's had all season means he deserves a break. How many drivers can put their hands up and say they didn't win partly down to their own fortune or misfortune? The Renault was on form anyway and there's no doubt he had race-winning pace so I'm enjoying the spectacle of another topsy-turvy race with a deserving winner at the top. Top marks to Renault for playing their joker on strategy and walking away looking very clever to boot. Further proof that the teams should kick out their strategy computers and run wild to create some kind of differentiation between drivers on track!

Fantastic trickery by Rosberg, it's not really in the spirit of it but he took the regulations at face value and capitalised on it to the absolute limit by being mighty quick after the first restart and also deserved a strong result.

Lewis drove solidly; Ferrari looked a real threat and he was staring down the barrel of falling behind so he must be mighty relieved coming into the final races with a 7 point lead.

Ferrari: oh dear. I don't know whether to be entertained, amazed, horrified, sympathetic...I think it's hard not to at least remark on how quickly they judged Felipe's release was unsafe and penalised him compared to Valencia. As was said elsewhere, what IS the correct penalty for unsafe release?

I'm getting tired of the inconsistency but for those still looking for logic and reason, the two offences are not technically the same. Valencia was Felipe's first offence whereas with Singapore he had already incurred their wrath once. From that viewpoint it's not unexpected that the penalty should be stricter than the first. The only real argument is whether the penalties should be fixed and judged solely on the incident itself or escalate for repeat offences in these situations.

Anyway, to recap, congratulations to Fernando for a great win that kept me nervously watching to the end (even though it was a recording and it had already happened! on a side note, it stopped after he crossed the line so I never got to see him and Lewis on the podium, which I was looking forward to, stupid DVRs) and I only hope Lewis can go from here to clinch the title now.

Hard to think that just a few weeks back I'd written off F1 as a processional farce run by clowns and my point is immediately rebutted by two of the most exciting, hard-fought and unpredictable races in a long time! Roll on Japan.

[richard]

To be fair with everybody I don't think that A Parker needs to insult Alonso either.

[HIGGS]

did i here james allen say that a chicance had been introduced to force the cars to drive over the bridge in single file?

F1 CARS BEING FORCED TO RUN IN SINGLE FILE?

i hope this was a joke by james

[Antonio]

@RICHARD

Alonso said that he was expecting to qualify as high as 3rd. Probably they were thinking in an aggressive strategy, but Alonso made the 3rd fastest lap in the race (after the Ferraris). He had the fastest time in the 2nd stint on Friday. In a normal race, he would have been seeking the podium.

Renault has improved, and this was one of the tracks that best suited his car (not like Monza)

[Mika Kimi Fernando]

We were in the stands for qualifying. Fernando was very strong in practice. That explains his 'hair pulling' when his pump hose failed. If he had qualified from Q2, then Lewis will be biting dust and missed the cut. Anyway, a gauge of populatiry in Singapore.
When Kimi managed P2 and nudged Lewis down P3, there was applause. When Lewis managed P1, there was more joy & applause but the loudest was for Felipe when he nailed it.

THe biggest tinge of sour grapes was when Steve SLater mentioned the possibility that Felipe was fueled lighter.

Anyway, my joy is that Fernando won. Everyone said he had luck - yeah bad luck in P2. ITV said : The Best Pound for Pound F1 driver on the circuit. That sounds about right. Didnt he kick Lewis butt unlike Heikki now - he lost it when it was evident that Ron was not giving him any support.

These comment shows just how popular the Spaniard is.
I thot he was on the podium once this year before

[Richard]

DANIEL - you were either not watching the Italian GP or you're very hard to please. Had Lewis been able to go 3 laps further, he'd have put intermediate tyres on and he'd probably have won the race. Had it rained again whilst he was on the full wets, he probably would have won the race.

The cards fell very badly for him, but that didn't stop him racing through the field, and putting himself in a position where he would have been poised to take any advantages that came his way. Unfortunately, they didn't.

Had he won, his drive would have been hailed as something truly exceptional, and so the quality of his drive should not be diminished just because he was unlucky with the weather.

[Derek Smith]

Nick,

The rules are that they cannot work on a car outside the pit area, which is up to the white lines at each end.

I think the only caveat is that if you are not in a Ferrari, rules are made up after the incident to ban you.

(Sorry! It was that temptation thing again. So difficult to resists when there's so much ammunition around.)

[Bore]

Must read article http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3265_4210509,00.html as posted on Planet F1 (Ed you should read it too).

Beneath the hype the race was rubbish and not what I want to spend my time watching.

[James B]

Firstly I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday and it was great to see Alonso back. He is a class act and it's a shame seeing him with inferior equipment.

Unfortunately there does seem to be a lack of perspective though. Daniel in particular is getting rather carried away and seems to forget about LH drives in Monza or Germany for example. I was also wondering where I saw a rookie ever match Schumachers pace?

[Big Phil]

Jordi, couldn't agree more about A. Parker. The only one to be really bitter towards Alonso's victory. Even Gary M managed a congratulations.

A. Parker, I recommend you to lead by example and stop preaching about our lord Hamilton.

[IDR]

Was Fernando Lucky? Yeeeesssss

Was this race his best one? Nooooooo

Did He deserve this victory? Of course

Nice to see British/Spanish "barra brave" much more relaxed. For different reasons obviously.

And just for those few still coming here just to say, how lucky was Fernando, you should remember how lucky Lewis was in Q2.

You should give a "warm thank you" to Fernando when his fuel pump went off. If not, Lewis would have been out of Q3.

In any case, a pleasure to see Fernando on the podium, hearing Flavio Briatore telling him: "Bravo Fernando!"

2005 & 2006 scenes come to mi mind...

Anyway, congratulations to all Lewis Hamilton truly fans, your hero is practically WDC, thanks to his extraordinary performance this year, and Ferrari mistakes (to put it mildly).

Finally, I never imagined to have to say, Felipe Massa is having an extraordinary consistency in the last races; as much as bad luck with the team errors and mechanical failures.

One last thing, the fifth youngest F1 podium ever. Four of them have been this year. Incredible!

[rony]

Ed, in a previous story, about Hamilton, you wrote that, he is "thrilling his fans with his driving".
I agree; my admiration to Hamilton began when he drove in GP2. Yes, he was thrilling.
So how can you now praise McLaren for being "sensible"? We do not want to see a driver wins the championship by scoring deffensive point, like we do not like to watch deffensive football.
Hamilton drive in Singapore was worse than deffensive. It was coward. Twice he was stuck behind slower drivers and did not make THE MOVE.
If he wins the championship in such a way, it worth nothing for the F1 fans.
You are still young at F1, Ed. May I suggest that you watch some Gilles Villneuve videos before encouraging boring, "sensible", driving?

[Big Phil]

Richard, two things. I was gobbed smacked when on Hamilton TV they called him the best driver out there... utterly gobbedsmacked. But I wanted to celebrate the happy moment.

And regarding Renault, great strategy, you can't fault the team orders, getting Piquet to ram the wall at just the right time...

And yopu mentioned El Crawley criticising Hamilton... what about people criticising Alonso while he won? why don't have a go at them?

That was three points... anyway, I'm very happy for Alonso, and the for the first good fortune he has finally had this year. However great it was.

I was annoyed by Hamilton tv criticising Massa... what could he have done? he did nothing wrong and the race was ruined by his team, and maybe his championship bid. People say that's not how a champion reacts... well that's really harsh. He was driving like a champion until his race was destroyed... He has been proving detractors wrong all season, and it's been the car and the team not his driving that has failed him!!!

I actually never thought he could be champion, but this year he's really impressed me. He started really badly and he's just got stronger and stronger. Liked I've mentioned before, if there hadn't been so much rain this year (Ferrari really struggles, not just him) he would be a clear and deserved leader.

[Elizabeth Broderick]

I am a huge Alonso fan, so naturally i believe he deserved the win. Alonso himself knew that the safter car helped in securing his win, but Hamilton could have very easily of overtaken Nico just as he did DC, but i doubt very much that he would have overtaken Alonso because at one point Hamilton was 23 seconds behind Alonso. Alonso showed real pace in the Renault as we saw after the second safter car left, he shot off so quickly.

Some people have said that Alonso didn't show Hamilton any respect but if you were actually watching they shook hands in the room where they get weighed and Alonso leaned down towards Hamilton on the podium as he was talking to him. So they do show respect to one another, i just doubt they will ever be team-mates again.

Congrates to Alonso that win was a long time coming... It was well deserved.

[Alonso's miracles]

What a feeling! Feels good seeing Fernando on top of the podium again. It was quite a race. Safety car or whatever. Safety car was there for all and in other races this season Fernando has suffered from safety cars too. He is a master and Ron Dennis made his biggest mistake last year.

[Bruce McFarland]

Congrats to Singapore for a wonderful F1 event. Here's some beautiful pictures of the event:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_singapore_grand_prix.html

[higgs]

Does A Parker actually follow F1? Parker's knowledge of F1 seems to be based on the sources of information provided by a Hamilton-themed RSS feed.

[Elizabeth Broderick]

I agree with you " Alonso's miracles", Ron Dennis made a huge mistake last year... and again well deserved Alonso... Safety car or not, it was a fabulous race with a great world champ on the top podium :)

[david-br]

IDR and others

I'm not sure it's wrapped up for Lewis and McLaren if they keep out of trouble. Ferrari are looking better - outside the pit-lane, obviously - and Raikkonen looks like he's keen to prove something still. Actually he strikes me as a bit insanely keen - I'm not sure if he'll actually pull over and let Massa win if that's what's needed! But seriously, dry hot weather and Ferrari could pull off three 1-2s. Wet weather and nobody is guaranteed anything, even Lewis. Perhaps he's due for a spin and DNF in the rain, just on the law of averages. The fact is too that Kovi offers Hamilton zero protection. Something tells me Massa still has the edge.

[Kathryn S]

Some fabulous pictures from the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_singapore_grand_prix.html

Some of the captions are a bit amusing, but what a visual treat.

[F1-Insider]

Derek Smith
Naughty (re post to Nick), you really should wash those thoughts from your mind! as if the FIA would treat any team different another? Perish the thought.

Bore
The planet F1 article sums up the race well for me. Disappointed in rank Williams for his comments, age and a second place obviously clouded his mind.

Changes need to be made to both Valencia and Singapore before next years races if we want to see proper racing. Regardless to all the Alonso hysteria on the thread this was not a proper result or proper racing, the whole safety car element needs to be looked at again, why can so few of us see this?

Stella
Please ignore Angus the Bull (bull most certainly). I got it and having read most if not all your posts please do continue to contribute as you see fit.

Ed, I must disagree with your discretion of this being in any way epic. Please tell me how this race was epic?

[David Jones]

I have just read autosport where they advise that the teams and the FIA are looking again at the safety car rules.
We all know that the present system is nothing but a lottery so I expect most if not all of us would like to see it changed to a fair system.

I would like to make this suggestion, maybe 'Ed' can pass it on: As the safety car is only employed to control the speed of the F1 cars during an incident why can't all the cars be fitted with a safety car button which limits their speed to that of the current safety car?
All the cars use the electronic control unit and it would be relatively simple for a system to be employed where drivers were alerted of the safety car period where they would be given a period of time to activate the system button and hence slow down to the required speed. This system would ensure that fluke results no longer happen in F1 and that no team is disadvantaged or advantaged by the employment of safety car conditions (after all it's only about safety isn't it?).
As hard as I try I cannot see a problem with this other than by not having the current safety car lottery it would show tracks like Singapore for what they really are which would then force the hand of the FIA and commercial rights holder (hold on never seen anything happen in Hungary) to force changes that would benefit us all.

Having an in car system I'm advocating would also remove any suggestion that a safety car had been employed wrongly or to just spice up the racing etc making F1 visibly fairer and less open to all sorts of accusations. Obviously these are just my outline thoughts but I am sure it could work without too much effort.

Any thoughts anyone?

[Richard]

IDR - "You should give a "warm thank you" to Fernando when his fuel pump went off. If not, Lewis would have been out of Q3"

I'm not sure Lewis would have thanked Fernando for keeping him in Q3 - after seeing how Fernando's race turned out, maybe Lewis wishes he'd started the race from further down the grid!

[Richard]

RONY - I've made the same point before. There are plenty of people praising Lewis for driving sensibly! It's no wonder F1 has failed to improve the excitement if the fans these days think a great drive is one where a driver happily follows another all afternoon.

Sadly, Lewis seems to have now accepted that the boring way is the best way. Don't read this if you're easily upset:

http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=44131

I think it should be compulsory for every driver to watch some footage of Gilles Villeneuve before they are granted a superlicence. Some chance, they're more likely to be shown footage of chess tournaments!

[Mrs Bishop]

It wasn't really that great a race, the lack of overtaking was a total disapointment...and to think me and my friend were getting so excited!

He did a good job of managing the tyres towards the end, it's not his fault it's a terrible overtaking track, and unlike Massa he has a pit crew that aren't trying to sabotage his WC chances!

Alonso drove a good race, and i'm not going to say he was lucky, because luck plays a part in every race!
And just because it was his team mate that conviently crashed straight after his pitstop...means nothing! naaah...as i said completely deserved.

Although I will look upon it suspiciously if Kimi takes to crashing at convenient times in the next few races!

Does anyone know when Lewis' new engine is due??? PLEEEASE, i'm very forgetful :D

[Richard]

RICHARD - "To be fair with everybody I don't think that A Parker needs to insult Alonso either"

I don't know if my name has been used to create some conflict, but if not, some differentiation between Richards would be a good idea.

Maybe I'll have to copy Anon and sign my name "Richard - the real one" from now on.

[STEPHEN]

marco, yep fa was far quicker then lh on the last lap in spa but thats because fa pitted for wet tyres. silly.

[Pau]

Was Alonso lucky? Yes of course.

But was Kubica lucky in Canada? Yes, he had a good strategy, he was lucky with the safety car and MOREOVER Hamilton crashed against Kimi.

Was Heikki lucky in Hungary? Do I need to answer this one?

Was Vettel lucky in Monza? He was great driving but there was some luck in qualifying involved (it started raining at the right time).

So yeah, if you don't have the best car (BMW, Toro Rosso, Renault) or you are not a talented driver (Heikki) you need a lot of luck to beat Kimi, Felipe or Lewis in normal conditions.

Having said that, after being "lucky" in an average car how many drivers can bring the car home at the top? If you look at those winners: Fernando, Vettel and Kubica.

So you really need some talent to win a race!!!

Having said that, McLaren cannot have it both ways. If you want an average driver who cannot challenge Lewis then you will have a hard time winning the constructor's championship. The big question is, therefore WHY HEIKKI AND NOT DE LA ROSA?????????????????????????????

[MAXIMVS]

WHERE WAS RENAULT LAST YEAR? WHO IMPROVED THIS CAR? WHO IS THE MASTER?

No bad feelings but, I remember... I remember DENNIS and McLAREN and the FIA/MOSLEY and the British MEDIA... and how they all treated the two times World Champion... and how they managed to spoil his third successive championship, for nothing.

FERNANDO 'The Gladiator' ALONSO will prevail, in this team or the next.

Ed, fratres, what you do in life echoes in eternity!

[Gary M]

"Even Gary M managed a congratulations."

Big Phil, Just to be clear on this, I have never, ever questioned Alonso's ability behind the wheel and would never take anything away from any driver who has won a race on merit. Despite the safety car lucky break that Alonso got he still had to win the race and did it brilliantly.

You said "Even" as though it is something you would think me incapable of. There has been a theory on this board for some time that to be a Lewis Hamilton fan means you must hate Alonso. Absolutely flawed logic but it does not stop some people believing. Please do not fall into that trap yourself.

My only criticisms of our friend Mr Alonso have been for non racing reasons. And this week is neither the time or the place to dig those back up again.

It would be nice if all the (admittedly small) grumbles of our long standing Anglo/Spanish battles petered out and we allowed the Alonso fans to enjoy the moment.

Maybe this could be what everyone wanted to finally move on from last seasons events.

[Pau]

To A Parker and all the Alonso haters:

please review the start in Monza 07. Lewis first pointed his car at Massa. Then he cut across the first chicane when he was third, managing to pass Massa and almost crashing into Alonso who was first. Where was the penalty then? The problem is that he got used to it ... and you cannot abuse the rules forever

Now you say Alonso did cut across one chicane in the first lap. He did give away a couple of positions, otherwise he would have overtaken Trulli.

Now what about Rosberg being given the "stop and go" penalty so late? Wasn't it obvious that he was the first one to refuel under SC? This allowed him to drive three or four extra laps while everyone else was stuck behind Fisichella. Again another British team (Williams) being favored by the rules ....

As usual the British double standard!

[Alston]

I notice a few comments regarding hamiltons poor qualifing in q2. can someone please explain why stewards need to "randomly" weigh cars during such a brief time slot? and why Hamilton was "randomly" tested in consecutive races. It is blatantly obvious to even a novice racewatcher, that any driver is going to be affected by such nonsense!! More FIA shenanigans!!!?? P.S. Has Alonso still got his points?

[Anon (and his big paragraph)]

Richard: caught yourself with the A Parker comment; I wasn't going to miss it!

I wasn't defending Elcrowley as much as I was defending my identity though :)

The degree to which Alonso deserved his win is really hard to figure out.

He definitely had great pace, and I see it this way:

Lewis would have been knocked out of Q2, barring chances of victory

Ferrari went crazy with the pits

Kimi crashed

Heikki had a bad start and got caught in traffic

Same for Nick, except he had a good start

Everyone of these guys would have been screwed over without the safety car. Only Robert can fully blame the SC but even he sad he was hurting by the end.

So I think Fernando would have had a shot had the engine not blown.

You also have to realize he was not the only one to capitalize from the SC. I thought Jarno would win, honestly. He did have a hydraulics problem but was running fifth

Same for Giancarlo, but if he won.... wow..

Lewis didn't suffer that much. He lost his first set of flyers, so he was at a slight disadvantage v. Fernando.

But then Fernando did start fifteenth, so it gets more even.

And even by the last SC, he had like an 18 second lead, large enough to easily win hugely. He lost it all but then gained a third of it in two laps.

Lucky? You bet. But considering he is driving one very slow car (look at Piquet, not a great driver but really, really struggling with it) and had a mechanical failure in qualifying, I think he largely deserved it. Unlike Valencia, he got on his feet fast and had the best setup.

Certainly not one of his best wins (Nurburgring '07 or
the lost Hungary '06 were much better) but still a cool one. I mean, the day before it he was saying the race was over and that he was just going to lap the circuit! Talk about emotional rollercoasters.

On another subject, the guys at Planet F1 are hilarious. They give Lewis overtaking move of the race pretty much every race now. Lewis on DC was good, but think about the time it took ad the fact that Lewis has a much, much faster car. I preferred Nico on Jarno (Jarno had more fuel but a much better car).But oh well.

The thing that really made me laugh is them mentioning a conspiracy theory where the stewards took time with Nico's decision in order to wreck Lewis's race! They of course said it was wrong, but the fact that that makes the news is ridiculous. Imagine the thought they would have had to put into it.

Quote of the weekend: Renault to Fernando during the race:

"We have no ideas where you are, so... just push like hell, mate."

Simple. Push like hell and you win, right? =)

Take care all of you!

[Jordi]

ok, in my opinion the SC lottery this time helped FA, other times helped other drivers.

The second SC helped LH to get closer to Rosberg and Alonso, it was like starting a new 7 laps race, still no one got even close to challenge Alonso. And please don't tell me that's imposible to overtake in Singapore, ask trully!

[Anon (and his big paragraph)]

Hee hee! This is fun!

Richard: OK, so you ask me about a quote coming from a fake Anon. I then say you're right provided that you apply the rule to everyone. Only then do I realzie that the RIchard I saw weren't the same one.

AHHHH!

Again, wasn't particularly defending Elcrowley as much as my identity, but in any case I think you should also criticize A Parke for criticizing Alonso, etc.

But who cares.

David Jones: Obviously it needs reform. A few suggestions.

First, your idea seems simple and should work but it would still be a lottery. Reason is, if you are on low fuel, you are in the middle of belching out your flyers, i.e. trying to set your fastest laps of the race, laps you could never do on heavy fuel or even normal fuel. Witht he SC out, you waste fuel but don't get the fast laps.So one-stoppers would be really helped out by this.

I've wondered about setting every car on the pit-lane speed limiter when there is a SC. You wouldn't veen need an SC. THat would be ridiculous though.

Another thing is that when an SC comes out, it sucks for the spectators. I remember being an Germany and thinking wow, this sucks, all I see are cars that can't even overtake each other. I think that laps under SC should NOT count. Who cares if the race goes over 2 hours? I think that that is a travesty also. If a race goes over 2 ours, so what? It's not like engines will go popping. Half of them have to go on to do another race, sooo... I also want races to be able to go over two hours because you could be sure the BMWs would win. When was the last time they had a mechanical failure? THey're really tanks.

It is in fact a complicated problem. I'm in favor of having a rule were pitting under saefty car meant having to pit for a minimum of ten seconds.

So if you want to take advantage of the SC to pit fine, but you have to spend a few seconds more. If you work on the car for 8 seconds, great, but you then have to wait two more to be able to go. (HAHAHAHAHAHA imagine Ferrari managing that- oh boy, a pitstop and a stopwatch! They'd probably send their cars out with the engineers still holding on to the wheels...)

You might point out that that stills screws over the guys with low fuel- the have to wait some time in the pits. But if they have low fuel they probably will be using more than ten seconds.

But then surely that is still unfair because they are still losing their flyers?

Yes and no. THey lose their flyers, but they also pit when everybody is moving slowly around the circuit. Instead of moving slowly around the track, they can do stuff (pit) at a speed that they would still be using during racing time. In other words, when you pit, you always pit at the same speed. So pitting under SC is useful even if you miss out on flyers. See Felipe in Germany.

Of course, it's not perfect. I encourage everybody on the blog to think about SCs. It's like an intellectual challenge- half the stuff I wrote down I thought off the bat. It's amazing how complex it is and you can easily see why it turns the F1 race into a lottery.

Alston- strange, isn't it? Alonso almost got stuck in Q2 in Italy because of it.

Lewis gets checked twice- maybe a conspiracy. Who knows? Maybe the FIA does check cars twice in a row because they are scared that a team might cheat thinking that they got checked last race so they could do anything in this one. Which begs the question: should the FIA check thrice in a row? Because then obviously teams are thinking: after two consecutive checks, I can do what I want. How 'bout for in a row? It's a slippery slope.