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Singapore GP - A Pointless Night |
 Felipe Massa thirteenth and Kimi Raikkonen retired,
because of an accident. For the first time this season, Scuderia Ferrari
Marlboro failed to score a single point in a Grand Prix. A Safety Car
period early on did nothing to help the situation and a mistake at
Felipe's pit stop effectively ended any chance he had of a good result
having started from pole position. His result was further compromised by
a drive through penalty and then a puncture.
The surprise winner was Fernando Alonso in the Renault, with Nico
Rosberg taking a second place for Williams and Lewis Hamilton third for
McLaren-Mercedes. This results makes the championship situation much
tougher with just three races remaining as McLaren-Mercedes moves ahead
of the Scuderia to lead the Constructors' by a single point, while
Hamilton's lead over Felipe in the Drivers' classification goes from one
point to seven.
When the lights went out the front of the grid maintained position, with
Felipe leading Hamilton and Kimi, followed by Kubica, Vettel and Glock
these last two moving up a place at the expense of Kovalainen who had
banged wheels with Kubica. Felipe and Hamilton were separated by just
over a second, while Kimi was trailing by a further 4.4 on lap 3. In the
early stages the best battle was for ninth place as Rosberg was
desperately trying to pass Trulli, the Finn finally getting the Italian
on lap 6. On lap 7 the cameras showed Felipe running over a piece of
debris but it did not seem to have any effect.
On lap 10 of 61, the order was Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen, now upping
his pace and closing on second place, Kubica, Vettel, Glock, Kovalainen,
Heidfeld, Rosberg, Nakajima completing the top ten, followed by Alonso,
up from fifteenth, Trulli, Webber, Button, Coulthard, Bourdais,
Barrichello, Piquet, Sutil and Fisichella last. Kimi had picked up the
pace and was now 3.2 behind Hamilton, while Felipe's lead over the
McLaren man was 3.4 seconds.
Lap 12 saw Alonso the first man to pit, which would be a key to the
final outcome and then on lap 15, Piquet crashed his Renault heavily
into the wall bringing out the Safety Car. Barrichello had pitted along
with Rosberg at this time but the Honda driver then stopped for no
apparent reason out on track. Kubica, Webber and Coulthard also stopped,
all before the pit lane was officially open. When the pit lane opened
Massa and Raikkonen came in together for a double stop, but it went
wrong as the Brazilian was released by the team while the fuel line was
still attached to his car and he had to stop at the end of pit lane.
Raikkonen came in right behind him and had a normal stop, but obviously
lost time having to wait his turn. After what seemed like an eternity,
the mechanics finally managed to remove the fuel line from Felipe's car
and he continued out on track, not losing a lap but running at the back.
The order on lap 18, still behind the SC was now Rosberg, Trulli,
Fisichella, Kubica, Alonso, Webber, Bourdais, Coulthard, Hamilton and
Vettel completing the top ten. Kimi and Felipe were 17th and 18th. On
lap 19, the SC came in and the race was on again. However, there was
much confusion as Race Control was expected to impose penalties on those
drivers who stopped before the pit lane had been officially opened.
Massa would also be penalised with a drive-through for "dangerous
release from pit lane."
 On lap 27, Kubica came in for a 10 second stop go penalty. One lap later
it was Rosberg's turn to do the same thing, dropping him from the lead
to fourth, promoting Trulli to leader ahead of Fisichella, followed by
Alonso, Coulthard and Hamilton. Fisichella finally refuelled on lap 29.
Mark Webber retired in the garage on this lap. Kimi and Felipe were
twelfth and fifteenth at this point.
So at the halfway point in this extraordinary race, the order was
Trulli, Alonso, Rosberg, Coulthard, Hamilton, Glock, Vettel, Heidfeld,
Nakajima, Button, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Sutil, Bourdais, Kubica,
Fisichella and Massa seventeenth and last. Alonso then moved into the
lead as Trulli pitted and Kimi was up to tenth. An exciting battle was
brewing in the fight for third place, as Coulthard was being closed down
by Hamilton.
Rosberg came in from second for his final stop on lap 40, dropping to
seventh, and one lap later, race leader Alonso made his final
refuelling, coming out just ahead of the battle between Coulthard and
Hamilton. The slight loss of momentum allowed the McLaren driver to get
ahead of the Red Bull. These two men then came down pit lane together on
lap 42, with the McLaren staying out ahead, as the Scotsman tried to
leave his pit before the refuelling line had been removed. Kimi was now
up to eighth and fourth a lap later, but the Finn had yet to make a
final pit stop.
 A second safety car period was prompted by Sutil hitting the wall and
when it was over, for the final sprint to the flag, Kimi had got himself
up to fifth place, while out in front, Alonso had a healthy lead over
Rosberg who was being chased down by third placed Hamilton. Felipe was
fourteenth. Then with just three laps remaining, further bad news as
Kimi clipped the wall, damaging the right front corner of the car to
retire.
Stefano Domenicali:
"A black day, there's little else to say. We had the potential to finish
first and second but we didn't even pick up a point. We are very
disappointed but that doesn't mean we are downtrodden. We have always
shown our ability to react, especially at the most difficult times and
we will do it again this time. The situation in the two championships
has become more complicated but there are still three races to go and a
lot of points up for grabs. We know what we have to do to reach our
objectives. The first part of the race showed that today our car was the
quickest on track. The Safety Car came out at the worst possible moment,
but we are not looking for excuses because this uncertain factor must
always be taken into account. Then the team made a mistake at the pit
stop during the Safety Car period, which cost Massa the race. I am very
sorry for Felipe because he was driving a very strong race following on
from a great pole yesterday. I want to point out that it was Felipe
himself who went to console the mechanic who made the mistake, which
shows the team spirit that we have between us: we win together and we
lose together. Kimi managed to get into the points but then he ended up
in the barriers at one of the many tricky points around this track. A
shame, as it would have meant precious points for the Constructors'
classification. We must look ahead and prepare ourselves as well as
possible for the remaining three races."
Felipe Massa: "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."
Kimi Raikkonen: "I was trying to attack Glock in case he might
make a mistake, but I went slightly wide at the chicane, jumping over
the kerb and when the car landed, I lost control and ended up in the
barriers. My situation in the championship was already rather
compromised, so this doesn't really make that much difference but I am
unhappy because the team has lost precious points in the Constructors'
classification. In the opening laps, the car was a bit difficult but
then it improved a lot, to such an extent that I was able to close right
up to Hamilton. When the Safety Car came out, I know my race was
compromised given that I had to pit behind Felipe. I was able to get
back up to fifth but then the incident I described earlier happened.
Clearly, morale is not high today. But I am not used to giving up and
will do my very best to try and help the team reach its targets."
Luca Baldisserri: "It's hard to put into words today's
disappointment. We had everything in place to get the best possible
result and unfortunately we ended up with nothing. Felipe was
controlling the early stages of the race, while Kimi, after a few
difficulties at the beginning, was running at a great pace. The Safety
Car threw our plans into the air. First and foremost, we had to go for a
double pit stop - the best choice in this situation - but it penalized
Kimi. Then we made a mistake in letting Felipe go and that ruined his
race. We could have made a significant step forward in both
championships but we ended up going backwards. Now we must roll up our
sleeves and prepare as well as possible for the coming races. There is
still plenty of time to recover but there is no more room for error."
Source - Ferrari Media |
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