Report 2010 Singapore Grand Prix

1 report

1.1 background
1.2 practice , qualifying sessions
1.3 race
1.4 post-race

report
background

the 2010 singapore grand prix fifteenth round of 2010 formula 1 season after taking two-week break previous race in italy. event held @ marina bay street circuit in marina bay, singapore on 26 september 2010. grand prix contested twelve teams 2 drivers each. teams (also known constructors) were: mclaren, mercedes, red bull, ferrari, williams, renault, force india, toro rosso, lotus, hispania, sauber , virgin. tyre supplier bridgestone brought 4 different tyre types race: 2 dry compounds (super soft options , medium primes ) , 2 wet-weather compounds (intermediate , full wets). soft compounds denoted green stripe on side-walls; wet compound tyres identified green line @ bottom of central groove. rules of 2010 grand prix races stipulated cars should use both types of tyre during race unless driver used 1 of 2 wet-weather compounds. each driver limited eleven sets of dry tyres weekend.

before race, red bull driver mark webber led drivers championship 187 points. ahead of lewis hamilton in second 182 points , fernando alonso in third on 166 points. hamilton s teammate jenson button fourth 165 points, , sebastian vettel fifth on 163 points. red bull leading constructors championship 350 points; mclaren , ferrari second , third 347 , 290 points respectively, while mercedes on 158 , renault 127 points contended fourth position. red bull, mclaren, , ferrari had won previous fourteen races of season (with victories being taken alonso, button, vettel, hamilton , webber). felipe massa (twice), robert kubica had finished in second place, , nico rosberg (three times), massa (twice) , kubica (once) had finished in third.

singapore critical race in championship 5 drivers had chance take lead victory. situation made difficult alonso had used allocation of 8 engines following italian grand prix, , replace 1 incur ten-place grid penalty. rivals each had @ least 1 untouched engine in reserve; webber had two. nevertheless, alonso set himself target score points in singapore. acknowledged car not fastest in field , felt needed 5 podiums in season s 5 remaining races. webber stated expecting singapore tough weekend him after had retired event in 2008 , 2009, felt there still time before driver clinched championship. after crashing out of first lap of italian grand prix, hamilton said push hard stay in running championship: ll take each race comes, ll making sure finish of next 5 races, s more important anything. go singapore win. hamilton felt alonso favourite win singapore grand prix , viewed spanish driver main rival drivers championship shared red bull team principal christian horner. button himself believed alonso have advantage spaniard s teammate massa out of contention title.

the fifth turn of marina bay street circuit, 1 of areas resurfaced in effort reduce bumpiness

the marina bay street circuit resurfaced between turns 3 , seven, along turns thirteen seventeen, after drivers complained bumpiness following 2009 singapore grand prix. singapore sling chicane adjusted allow more gradual curve exist enabled safer exit drivers. outside wall @ turn 21 brought closer towards race track cover half of drain exposed cars, , pit lane resurfaced allow smoother exit drivers rejoining circuit. hamilton, vocal critic of circuit s condition, described dangerous because had remained uneven, , said singapore sling chicane worst corner have ever driven in formula 1 despite safety modifications made it. organisers of singapore grand prix introduced new machine clean surface of track after drivers had problems dusty , slippery track surface in previous year s race. 2 days before first practice session, drivers expressed concerns on low visibility caused rain showers combined glare circuit lighting.

there 2 driver changes heading grand prix. hispania racing announced sakon yamamoto, 1 of team s drivers since tenth race of season, replaced weekend team s reserve driver christian klien because suffering food poisoning. several journalists noticed seemingly healthy yamamoto in paddock, suggesting had been dropped sponsorship reasons instead. team principal colin kolles confirmed arrangement 1 race , yamamoto return cockpit @ suzuka. pedro de la rosa summarily dropped sauber , replaced pirelli test driver nick heidfeld, last drove sauber team in 2009. change made because of de la rosa s poor performance relative of teammate kamui kobayashi, , heidfeld s knowledge of marina bay street circuit , yas marina circuit.

several teams made modifications cars in preparation event. mclaren, red bull, , williams revised front wings. mclaren s revision designed separate airflow 2 separate channels, both directing airflow around outside of car s front tyres. red bull s design, used in friday practice sessions, had 2 vertical slots rear of endplate along avoid creating vortex when operated planes , endplate. previous design, debuted @ british grand prix, used both in qualifying , in race. in addition, team used revised diffuser allow better management of airflow top of diffuser s side section. williams s design debuted first time , designed make tyre act diffuser took air in improve efficiency.

practice , qualifying sessions

adrian sutil, damaged force india s suspension in crash during second practice session.

three practice sessions—two on friday , third on saturday—were held before main sunday race. friday afternoon , evening sessions each lasted ninety minutes. third session held on saturday afternoon , lasted hour. first practice session held on wet track clear sky after rainstorms earlier in day left standing water on parts of circuit, , high humidity slowed drying process. these conditions meant drivers used intermediate tyres first before dry tyres utilised in session s closing minutes. webber set fastest time of first session late lap of 1 minute , 54.589 seconds, one-tenth of second faster michael schumacher in second briefly quickest before webber set lap. adrian sutil, lap of 1:58.827, third fastest, ahead of vettel , jaime alguersuari. button, vitantonio liuzzi, sébastien buemi, kubica, , vitaly petrov rounded out session s top ten fastest drivers.

in second practice session, when track still damp in sections, vettel set fastest time of night, lap of 1:46.660 on super-soft tyres; webber finished second fastest lap. button drove aggressively , battled vettel fastest time throughout before ended third quickest lap, half second off vettel s pace. alonso, fourth fastest, ran wide @ turn 17 while on quick lap , slid down access road @ next corner; stalled while attempting rejoin track , abandoned car requiring marshals push ferrari away track. hamilton fifth, barrichello , massa in sixth , seventh places. 2 mercedes drivers eighth , tenth; nico rosberg ahead of schumacher, separated kubica. sutil s force india launched air when hit kerb @ singapore sling chicane , front-left suspension broken upon landing requiring him miss half session, , alguersuari s left-rear tyre made contact barrier avoided major damage car. sutil fined us$10,000 (£6,300) stewards because attempted drive pit lane in damaged car , did not stop @ safe position on circuit.

rain hit circuit on saturday afternoon, ending 3 hours before session started, resulting in several damp patches on circuit though air temperature remained hot. different sections of circuit dried out @ different rates making difficult drivers tell precisely how wet or dry corners were. teams ran intermediate tyres before switching super-soft tyre session progressed. drivers ran deep turn five. vettel fastest driver of session time of 1:48.028 set in last twenty minutes of one-hour period. time four-tenths faster championship rival alonso. hamilton third fastest, two-thousandths of second in front of massa. rosberg fifth, ahead of webber , nico hülkenberg. kubica, sutil , buemi completed top ten ahead of qualifying. hispania racing driver bruno senna s right-rear tyre got onto white line @ singapore sling chicane , spun. senna later brushed wall entering esplanade bridge in final minute , stopped car, causing yellow-flags shown; drivers unable improve on lap times because of limited time available.

saturday evening s qualifying session divided 3 parts. first part ran twenty minutes , eliminated cars finished session eighteenth or lower. second part of qualifying lasted fifteen minutes , eliminated cars finished in positions eleven seventeen. final part of qualifying determined positions first tenth , decided pole position. cars competed in final qualifying session not allowed change tyres before race; these started race fitted tyres set quickest lap times. held in dry weather conditions. alonso fastest in first , third sessions, , clinched second consecutive pole position lap time of 1:45.390 set on first run of third session. restricted 1 timed lap in second session because of engine mapping problem, meant ferrari re-programmed alonso s engine upon discovering issue. alonso joined on front row of grid vettel, recorded lap 0.067 seconds off alonso s pace, , felt have taken pole position misjudged gap while following schumacher , brushed wall exiting singapore sling chicane. hamilton qualified third , happy starting position despite losing downforce on track s final sector while running in teammate button s tow. button secured fourth , pushed hard in final session meant had slight damage rear tyres on first run, , not optimum tyre temperature in first section on second run. webber managed fifth , admitted struggling find rhythm when driving circuit. barrichello qualified in sixth. 2 mercedes drivers took seventh , ninth; rosberg ahead of schumacher. rosberg believed should have performed better in qualifying in practice session, felt soft tyres lacked grip; schumacher satisfied qualifying performance. mercedes drivers separated kubica, in faster renault, happy lap time despite car sliding lack of grip. kobayashi rounded out top ten qualifiers.

felipe massa used ninth engine of season after gearbox failed in qualifying.

alguersuari, qualified eleventh, fastest driver not advancing final session. best time of 1:47.666 1.8 seconds slower vettel s pace in second session. alguersuari s time followed hülkenberg, backed sutil on first run in second session, , described car s balance night , day . however, hülkenberg demoted 5 positions on grid after williams team changed gearbox after race @ monza. consequence, petrov inherited 12th position having pushed hard on set of option tyres. had lost control of car after went deep, under braking, heading turn 5 (a corner damp earlier rain shower), right-rear wheel hitting wall. petrov s crash meant took no further part in qualifying. ahead of buemi, in slower of 2 torro rossos, lost large amount of grip , got stuck in traffic. heidfeld took 14th ahead of fellow countryman sutil in 15th. liuzzi had problem front brakes on first run of second session , managed 16th. timo glock, heikki kovalainen , lucas di grassi quickest drivers unable advance beyond first part of qualifying. eleventh row of grid filled jarno trulli , klien. senna took 23rd. massa unable set timed lap gearbox seized without warning forcing him stop on circuit; ferrari chose replace engine , gearbox precaution. massa s engine change ninth of season incurred ten-place grid penalty, since started 24th position, penalty nullified.

race

fernando alonso won fourth race of season in singapore , achieved first formula 1 grand chelem since 2004.

the race began @ 20:00 singapore standard time (utc+8). conditions on grid dry , cloudy before race; air temperature ranged between 29 32 °c (84 90 °f) , track temperature 31 °c (88 °f); no rain predicted during race. drivers started on super-soft compound tyre. alguersuari started pit lane team discovered coolant leak in car. 5 red lights went out signal start of race, alonso maintained pole position advantage heading first corner , withstood vettel s attempt pass him. button got advantage on teammate hamilton, hamilton fought him retain third place. barrichello fell sixth eighth place. kubica passed rosberg @ start german regained sixth position in same lap. further down field, momentum broken when heidfeld, attempting overtake both force india cars @ turn seven, hit sutil s rear, damaging front wing. liuzzi subsequently went heidfeld s rear-end after latter squeezed him towards wall, causing front wing damage car. heidfeld made pit stop replacement front wing @ end of lap one, while massa made pit stop of race medium compound tyres.

liuzzi pulled on inside of circuit on third lap, @ turn ten, left-rear suspension damage resulting contact wall. retirement triggered deployment of safety car marshals required push car away track. webber top running driver pit medium compound tyres during safety car period on lap four. red bull had told webber enter pit lane, assuring him right decision, though questioned move. several drivers towards rear chose pit. racing resumed @ end of lap 5 when safety car pulled pit lane. webber pushed hard , passed glock tenth position , line of cars began form behind glock. alonso began pull away vettel set consecutive fastest laps. webber passed kobayashi @ turn 5 move ninth on lap seven, , withstood attempt kobayashi reclaim ninth heading turn seven. hülkenberg , petrov s wheels made contact , both drivers went off circuit on same lap; hülkenberg managed move ahead of petrov massa taking advantage pass petrov. webber caught schumacher on lap 11 , passed latter on same lap @ turn 5 after schumacher ran wide. vettel told team cool brakes on same lap alonso continued extend lead. sutil got ahead of glock eleventh place 3 laps later , started pull away queue behind glock. hülkenberg ran wide @ turn 7 on same lap did not lose positions. hülkenberg passed glock in first sector of track twelfth on lap 16.

sebastian vettel finished second , moved fourth in drivers championship.

vettel , alonso traded fastest laps pushed hard in efforts build sufficient lead on webber maintain first , second positions after pit stops. massa, petrov, buemi , alguersuari passed glock on lap 17 eliminating queue of cars. lap 20, alonso leading vettel 3.2 seconds; in turn further 11 seconds in front of hamilton. button in fourth, 20 seconds behind alonso, rosberg 3.3 seconds behind world champion in fifth. webber changed engine settings give him higher top speed in attempt past barrichello , decrease time gap hamilton on lap 22. avoided colliding armco barrier @ entry of turn eighteen 1 lap later. hamilton told increase pace on 24th lap try stay ahead of webber after pit stop phase. car had large amount of oversteer, rear, super-soft, compound tyres began deteriorate, causing lap times drop off leader s pace. trulli drove pit lane , pushed mechanics lotus garage retire hydraulic issue on lap 28. hamilton made first scheduled stop tyres on lap 29 , re-emerged in eighth position behind webber. alonso , vettel made simultaneous pit stops on following lap; alonso retained lead despite vettel s pit crew completing pit stop first; vettel avoided stalling , drove away in second gear. newer tyres provided more grip, vettel recorded faster lap times alonso close time gap 2 came across slower cars.

kobayashi attempted pass around outside of schumacher on lap 31 2 made contact schumacher subsequently hitting barrier. kobayashi damaged sauber, losing control of rear-end, , crashed @ exit of turn 18 after front wing knocked off entering corner. senna slow react , buried hispania nose-first barrier alongside kobayashi. these incidents called race s second safety car period allow removal of both cars circuit on racing line. klien pushed garage retire hydraulic problem on lap 34. safety car pulled pit lane @ end of lap 35 , race resumed alonso leading. hamilton got run on webber caught behind di grassi , lined overtaking manoeuvre on webber, , overtook him on raffles boulevard straight. webber s front-right tyre hit hamilton s left-rear tyre @ turn seven. escaped without significant damage, while hamilton had punctured tyre , pulled off circuit retire second consecutive race. however, webber did feel vibrations on front-end of red bull. tyre, made contact hamilton s, had been pushed 5 millimetres (0.20 in) off normal mounting on rim, , button drew closer webber managed maintain pace. on lap 37, schumacher went heidfeld s rear-end , limped pit lane replace damaged front wing creating sparks dragged along surface of track, while heidfeld retired after hitting barrier. button urged mclaren mechanics on lap 42 push webber tyres older, while vettel gradually closed gap alonso. hülkenberg, in ninth, made mistake on lap 44 allowed massa momentarily take advantage, fought , retained ninth position. kubica sustained right-rear puncture on lap 46 , made pit stop on same lap, rejoining in 13th.

mark webber finished third after stopping tyres , increased championship lead.

upfront, vettel had reduced gap between himself , alonso 1 second lap 50 pair continued trade fastest lap time. glock started slow on circuit , drove pit lane retire. later confirmed retirement result of issue car s hydraulic system. advantage of having newer tyres gave him more grip, kubica able make short work of alguersuari, buemi, teammate petrov, massa, hülkenberg, , sutil (who holding queue of 5 cars) in space of 9 laps. vettel continued pressure race-leader alonso in closing laps pair began encounter slower cars. kovalainen , buemi made contact in final sector of lap, latter spinning around in front of toro rosso, quick avoid head-on collision. kovalainen s car suffered cracked fuel tank pressure release valve , limped pit lane, rear of lotus catching fire during final few turns. kovalainen aborted pit entry, did not make further car consumed fire. kovalainen stopped on main straight , got out of car extinguish fire himself after members of williams team handed him fire extinguisher. kovalainen off racing line, yellow flags waved in final corners instead of safety car deployment.

vettel drew within two-tenths of second behind alonso final lap started, , came across sutil, hülkenberg, petrov , massa; both drivers managed past petrov, , alonso maintained first position heading final sector of track. yellow flag kovalainen s car meant vettel s final chance of overtake, final corner, denied, , alonso took checkered flag on lap 61 win race, 0.293 seconds ahead of vettel. alonso secured first, and, of 2015, grand chelem (leading entire race pole position fastest lap) of career first since schumacher achieved feat @ 2004 hungarian grand prix. webber third, 1.2 seconds ahead of button in fourth. rosberg, barrichello , kubica took next 3 positions. sutil held off hülkenberg in final sector of track eighth , ninth on line massa in tenth. petrov, alguersuari, schumacher , buemi finished 1 lap behind alonso, di grassi , kovalainen (despite retirement) last of classified finishers.

post-race

the top 3 drivers appeared on podium collect trophies and, in later press conference, alonso said victory meant lot him remain in contention drivers championship , thanked team efforts during weekend. alonso added ferrari give 100 per cent in season s 4 remaining races , said battle remained tight despite scoring points out of drivers in previous 5 races. vettel said hoping alonso make mistake acknowledged difficult overtake on circuit. said attempting overtake alonso in final stages of race chance had of winning race , hoped remaining tracks suit red bull car. webber stated happy third-place finish , said entire race weekend toughest of year on him. said did not feel comfortable throughout weekend , staying composed through sections of race.

alonso s win has been regarded 1 of best of formula 1 career. former formula 1 driver martin brundle described as: 1 of races in 2 drivers elevate on separate plane rivals. reminded him of 2000 japanese grand prix schumacher won year s world championship main rival mika häkkinen. saunders of crash.net said in 2014 alonso: had little right wrestle performance of such magnitude out of either himself or ferrari, yet found level day. after eventual conclusion of championship in vettel s favour 4 points, saunders said: alonso s performance in singapore showed have been equally deserving championship victor. espn listed 1 of alonso s top ten races while driving ferrari.

the stewards investigated accident between webber , hamilton on lap 37 and took no further action. hamilton later reviewed incident on video , adamant not @ fault saying unlucky second consecutive grand prix. webber stated contact forced him retire , compared accident hamilton s collision massa @ italian grand prix. brundle felt hamilton should have given webber more space , agreed stewards decision. bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development hirohide hamashima stated webber lucky make finish , if left hand high-speed corners installed on track, tyre have moved more , lost pressure. horner had admitted webber had been lucky tyre lasting long distance.

schumacher , heidfeld s accident on lap 37 investigated stewards took no further action after deciding racing incident . heidfeld felt schumacher had braked late , hoped have had better finishing position. schumacher himself said not happy first race in singapore enjoyed second half of race. bbc pundit, , former team principal, eddie jordan highly critical of schumacher arguing latter should have been sacked mercedes prevent him being slaughtered in event unable win race. mercedes team principal ross brawn came schumacher s defense , said team happy contribution. motorsport pundits criticised kovalainen s decision stop car on pit straight after had caught fire , argued irresponsible . kovalainen defended action arguing had not been safe drive lotus pitlane. nevertheless, kovalainen s fire voted moment of year readers of autosport magazine in december 2010 @ autosport awards held in london.

sutil given 20-second time penalty stewards deemed gain advantage taking outside line @ turn 7 on first lap. demoted him eighth tenth, , promoted hülkenberg ninth eighth , massa tenth ninth. following protest force india, hülkenberg issued 20-second time penalty after stewards deemed him have gained advantage corner cutting. ruling meant hülkenberg demoted tenth while massa moved eighth , sutil inherited ninth. force india withdrew appeal of sutil s penalty following decision, , williams technical director sam michael said team had accepted stewards judgement. stewards elected not penalise senna after examining video of collision stationary kobayashi. kobayashi admitted @ fault retirement , senna believed marshals late reacting kobayashi s accident , felt own accident unavoidable.

as consequence of race, webber s third-place finish allowed him increase lead in world drivers championship. alonso s victory allowed him move second place, eleven points behind webber. hamilton s retirement meant slipped third place, 9 points behind alonso. vettel s second-place finish resulted in him moving fourth place ahead of button. in world constructors championship, red bull s strong finish allowed them draw further ahead of mclaren twenty-four points behind. ferrari remained in third on 319 points, forty points behind mclaren. mercedes increased points advantage on renault thirty-five 4 races remaining in season.