MOTOR SPORT FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP:FERNANDO ALONSO took his third win in five races to close to within 11 points of Formula One drivers' championship leader Mark Webber with a flawless victory in Singapore under race-long pressure from Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
After the high-speed Monza straights had a fortnight ago disadvantaged the lower-powered Red Bulls, allowing Alonso to claim his second win of the year and clamber back into title contention, the status quo was expected to be restored on the streets of Singapore and in Friday’s practice sessions Sebastian Vettel had confirmed the form guide by lapping over a second quicker than anyone else around the Marina Bay circuit.
By Saturday, though, things had changed. Alonso matched the pace of the Red Bulls throughout the first two qualifying segments and in the final session, when Vettel made small errors and Mark Webber failed to hook up a tidy lap, Alonso burst through, claiming his second pole in a row. Victory in the race, however, would be hard won.
As the lights went out, second-placed Vettel made the sharper start and dived inside for the better entry into turn one. Alonso responded aggressively, forcing the Red Bull driver towards the wall, so much so that Vettel had to back out of the challenge and try around the outside of the Ferrari. Again Alonso responded, planting his car in the middle of the track to prevent a clean line for Vettel’s attack. He held the lead.
That sparked an intense game of cat and mouse that lasted for the remainder of the 61 laps. If Vettel pushed, sending the timing screens purple to indicate a fastest race lap, Alonso responded, lighting up the boards himself.
Ahead of their first and only pit stops the suspicion was that Red Bull might attempt a pass in the pitlane, either pitting Vettel before Alonso to lap quicker on fresh tyres, or leave him out longer in the hope he would pick up valuable seconds. It didn’t happen. On lap 29 Alonso dived towards the pit entrance, and Vettel followed.
“We were going to undercut (bring Vettel in early),” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horrner, “but Ferrari covered us, which meant we had to try to overtake on track.” And that proved impossible. In the closing stages, following a safety car period brought out by Kamui Kobayashi hitting the wall on the entrance to the circuit’s bridge section, Vettel had the chance to make a move as the pair weaved through traffic but the German chose to hold off, banking 18 points which now put him fourth in the title standings, just 21 points off the lead ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, where last year he cruised to victory.
“You need to look at the risk, whether a move is possible or not, and if it’s not possible you don’t try,” said Vettel. “The final two laps were the only chance I had but with the old tyres the car was sliding all over the place, it was difficult. In the end we go away with second place. We got good points.”
For Alonso, the win was justification of his assertion in Monza that he had a car not just suited to the Italian track but with which he could challenge until the end of the season. “This win means a lot,” he said. “We know Singapore is a unique track and we could confirm the car is performing well. This win means a lot to stay in the fight for the championship. It now seems we can be competitive on any track.”
The top two in Singapore though still have to find a way past Mark Webber. While Alonso and Vettel were tussling at the front yesterday, a different championship battle was taking place behind them.
An early race exit by Vitantonio Liuzzi brought out the safety car and Webber, who had held his fifth pace starting position took the gamble to pit and move onto the harder tyre on offer. He would try to run the whole race on that set and as others ahead pitted he would be boosted up the order.
The strategy worked perfectly. By the time those who had remained out during the safety car pitted, Webber had vaulted from 11th to third, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. But then came the Kobayashi accident. The cars bunched and on the restart, with two back-marking Virgin cars complicating matters, Hamilton made his move. It was ill-judged. The championship rivals collided and Hamilton was out, his title chances severely compromised. “There are still four races to go. I’m 20 points behind Mark, and that’s a reasonable gap, but it’s not an insurmountable one,” Hamilton said.
“I’m not going to think specifically about the world championship now, I’m just going to try to enjoy the rest of the season – and whatever happens happens. But I’ll keep fighting to the end, it’s the only way I know.”
Webber, by contrast, was thrilled with the third place that keeps him 11 points clear of Alonso. “It has been a pretty difficult weekend here for me, probably the toughest weekend of the year,” he said. “I didn’t feel mega comfortable this weekend, so I’m very happy with how the race went. Getting out of bed this morning I would have taken third. (Alonso) is hanging in there but we need to get rid of him soon!”
Singapore Grand Prix
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1hr 57mins 53.579secs
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:57:53.872
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:58:22.720
4 Jenson Button (Brit) McLaren 1:58:23.965
5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:58:42.973
6 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:58:49.680
7 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:59:20.138
8 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:59:45.995
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1:59:46.370
10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:59:46.876
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
DRIVERS:
1 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 202pts
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 191
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 182
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 181
5 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 177
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 125
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 122,
8 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 114,
9 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 49,
10 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 46,
MANUFACTURERS:
1 Red Bull 383pts
2 McLaren 359
3 Ferrari 316
4 Mercedes GP 168
5 Renault 133
6 Force India 62
