Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa
By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
This weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix was more or less the end of the season. Sebastian Vettel has for all practical purposes clinched the title. Yes, there is a mathematical chance that Button could catch up, but it would involve the Brit winning every race and the German gaining no points. And quite possibly, requiring a particle to move faster than the speed of light.
Fernando Alonso
Vettel drove another dominant weekend and really made it look easy. It was another all Red Bull front row and the rest of the grid told the rest of the story. The second row was all McLaren, the third all Ferrari, the fourth all Mercedes and the fifth row all Force India, a highly correlated result with the way the championship tables would fill up. The results would have made the win look even more dominating had Herr Schumacher not crashed out trying to do a wheelie, bringing out the safety car. Vettel’s lead was over 20 seconds at that point.
Fernando Alonso
Jenson Button tried as hard as he could to spoil the race, but second place was all the McLaren chassis was good for. It can be summed up that he is the faster of the two McLaren driver’s this year, but the only battle is now for runner up. Mark Webber still hasn’t figured out how to launch a F1 car on the start, he slid back in the field and could only come up with third. I’m sure that his bonus for Red Bull winning the constructor’s title will make up for any feelings of inadequacy as a driver.
Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso was the quicker of the Ferrari drivers and finished in fourth place. Grumblings in Spanish indicate that the driver isn’t exactly happy with this predicament and the team needs to be more aggressive in the car’s development for next season. Hopefully that is just random venting, seeing as we haven’t seen the car on track yet, it’s a wee bit early to write off its chances.
Massa and Hamilton tangled again, with the Brazilian getting the short end of the stick and finishing in ninth with the Brit in fifth. Nothing more than two also rans generating a few lines of press. Neither of them will likely see the top step any time the rest of the season.
Felipe Massa
The Force India cars sandwiched the remaining Mercedes of Nico Rosberg with Paul di Resta ending in sixth and still on the lead lap. For a privateer team, they have been delivering consistent results lately.
The last points paying position went to Sergio Perez in the Sauber. But the remainder of the field was littered with once great teams of the past: Williams, Lotus and Renault. Even the Renault camp said this season has been an embarrassment.
Racing continues in two weeks with the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Assuming past performance is indicative of future results, Vettel will wrap up the championship then. Let’s just hope the race isn’t a washout.
Race Results
| 1 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 1h59m06.757s |
| 2 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 1.7s |
| 3 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | + 29.2s |
| 4 | ALONSO | Ferrari | + 55.4s |
| 5 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 67.7s |
| 6 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | + 111.067s |
| 7 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 8 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 9 | MASSA | Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 10 | PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 11 | MALDONADO | Williams-Cosworth | + 1 lap |
| 12 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 13 | BARRICHELLO | Williams-Cosworth | + 1 lap |
| 14 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | + 2 laps |
| 15 | SENNA | Renault | + 2 laps |
| 16 | KOVALAINEN | Lotus-Renault | + 2 laps |
| 17 | PETROV | Renault | + 2 laps |
| 18 | D’AMBROSIO | Virgin-Cosworth | + 2 laps |
| 19 | RICCIARDO | HRT-Cosworth | + 4 laps |
| 20 | LIUZZI | HRT-Cosworth | + 4 laps |
| 21 | ALGUERSUARI | STR-Ferrari | + 5 laps, accident |
| 22 | TRULLI | Lotus-Renault | + 14 laps, gearbox |
| 23 | SCHUMACHER | Mercedes | + 33 laps, accident |
| 24 | GLOCK | Virgin-Cosworth | + 52 laps, accident damage |
| Fastest Lap |
BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m48.454s |
Note – Liuzzi qualified 24th, but had a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision at the previous round.
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 309 Points |
| 2 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 185 Points |
| 3 | ALONSO | Ferrari | 184 Points |
| 4 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 182 Points |
| 5 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 168 Points |
| 6 | MASSA | Ferrari | 84 Points |
| 7 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | 62 Points |
| 8 | SCHUMACHER | Mercedes | 52 Points |
| 9 | PETROV | Renault | 34 Points |
| 10 | HEIDFELD | Renault | 34 Points |
| 11 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | 28 Points |
| 12 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | 27 Points |
| 13 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | 20 Points |
| 14 | ALGUERSUARI | STR-Ferrari | 16 Points |
| 15 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | 13 Points |
| 16 | PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | 9 Points |
| 17 | BARRICHELLO | Williams-Cosworth | 4 Points |
| 18 | SENNA | Renault | 2 Points |
| 18 | MALDONADO | Williams-Cosworth | 1 Point |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | RBR-RENAULT | 491 Points |
| 2 | McLAREN-MERCEDES | 353 Points |
| 3 | FERRARI | 268 Points |
| 4 | MERCEDES | 114 Points |
| 5 | RENAULT | 70 Points |
| 6 | FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES | 48 Points |
| 7 | SAUBER-FERRARI | 36 Points |
| 8 | STR-FERRARI | 29 Points |
| 9 | WILLIAMS-COSWORTH | 5 Points |