Singapore Grand Prix

The Spaniard made a personal appeal to Bernie that all remaining 2008 races be conducted at night as this seems to be the only time the stars have aligned themselves to Renault’s benefit.  Bernie was unmoved, but Flavio liked the idea because he could go straight from the press conference to the clubs.  The media cynics still feel that this was a one-off for the season and the former world champion.

Singapore put forth an impressive circuit with lighting that was probably better in pit lane that what was seen in Monza just a few weeks ago.  It’s amazing what a small country can do to put themselves on the world map if they remain focused towards the effort.  Even though rumors of a $200 million effort were thrown around, that’s still much cheaper than trying to host the Olympics or another major international event.  The only criticism heard was that the track may have been a little rough with the curbs just a wee bit too tall.  After taking it all in for a while, it does seem like F1 drivers aren’t happy unless there are run off spaces the size of Montana and the track has been polished by De Beers’ finest.  But, what would be the fun in that?

The other surprise of the weekend was Nico Rosberg taking a stop-and-go penalty for pitting while the pits were closed, but still finishing on the second spot of the podium.  There wasn’t any surprise with rain or bad weather; it really was Sir Frank’s team making the most of the situation, something that hasn’t been seen in quite some time.

Lewis Hamilton also made the most of the weekend, and his third place finish was enough to not only extend his lead over Massa, but move McLaren ahead of Ferrari in the constructor’s race.  The Ferrari faithful were highly critical after the race.  Massa nearly took out half the pit crew with the fuel rig when he was given the green light by an over-eager chief mechanic.  It does help to finish fueling before releasing the driver.  But the real wrath was directed at Kimi Raikkonen who seems content with a somewhat socialist view of collecting a nice salary without demonstrating real performance.  The Brazilian managed to finish thirteenth, but still on the lead lap. But, the Finn crashed out with four laps to go.  One could only imagine the wrath of Enzo after a weekend like this.  The question is, What level of ass chewing will Stefano Domenicali get from Luca.  Seeing as the latter held the former’s post under the old man, it should be interesting.

The rest of the points paying positions were filled by the also-rans.  Timo Glock managed to grab best-of-the-Japanese-makes honors for the weekend by finishing in fourth place, while neither Honda finished in the points.  Ross Brawn still has his work cut out for himself with that outfit.  Sebastian Vettel proved that he is the real deal, finishing fifth with the Toro Rosso.  This kid deserved a top ride, and he has the talent for it.

Nick Heidfeld could do no better than sixth place, and the BMW didn’t look like it was able to moved through traffic as well as those in Munich would like.  The last two points paying positions went to David Coulthard in his first (and last) Singapore GP and Nakajima-san in the other Williams, proving that Rosberg’s finish was not a total fluke.

With just three races left, it’s still wide open on both titles.  Lewis Hamilton must do well in the remaining races to clinch his first title, but Massa is well within striking distance to claw back like Kimi did last year.  The constructor’s title will go to which ever team can have both cars finish in the points for the remaining races.  It’s way too close to call, but it will go down to Ferrari or McLaren at this point.

The teams fly home to prepare the cars for Fuji in two weeks.  The back markers are praying for rain, and Bernie is hoping for a close race to keep the fans interested for all of the remaining races.  I am just hoping that it is exciting enough to stay awake through the whole thing.

Race Results

1	ALONSO	Renault	1h57m16.304s
2	ROSBERG	Williams-Toyota	+ 2.9s
3	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 5.9s
4	GLOCK	Toyota	+ 8.1s
5	VETTEL	STR-Ferrari	+ 10.2s
6	HEIDFELD	BMW Sauber	+ 11.1s
7	COULTHARD	Red Bull-Renault	+ 16.3s
8	NAKAJIMA	Williams-Toyota	+ 18.4s
9	BUTTON	Honda	+ 19.8s
10	KOVALAINEN	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 26.9s
11	KUBICA	BMW Sauber	+ 27.9s
12	BOURDAIS	STR-Ferrari	+ 29.4s
13	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 35.1s
14	FISICHELLA	Force India-Ferrari	+ 43.5s
15	RÄIKKÖNEN	Ferrari	+ 4 laps, accident
16	TRULLI	Toyota	+ 11 laps, hydraulics
17	SUTIL	Force India-Ferrari	+ 12 laps, accident
18	WEBBER	Red Bull-Renault	+ 32 laps, transmission
19	BARRICHELLO	Honda	+ 47 laps, engine
20	PIQUET	Renault	+ 48 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	RÄIKKÖNEN	Ferrari	1m45.599s

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	84 Points
2	MASSA	Ferrari	77 Points
3	KUBICA	BMW Sauber	64 Points
4	RÄIKKÖNEN	Ferrari	57 Points
5	HEIDFELD	BMW Sauber	56 Points
6	KOVALAINEN	McLaren-Mercedes	51 Points
7	ALONSO	Renault	38 Points
8	VETTEL	STR-Ferrari	27 Points
9	TRULLI	Toyota	26 Points
10	GLOCK	Toyota	20 Points
11	WEBBER	Red Bull-Renault	20 Points
12	ROSBERG	Williams-Toyota	17 Points
13	PIQUET	Renault	13 Points
14	BARRICHELLO	Honda	11 Points
15	NAKAJIMA	Williams-Toyota	9 Points
16	COULTHARD	Red Bull-Renault	8 Points
17	BOURDAIS	STR-Ferrari	4 Points
18	BUTTON	Honda	3 Points

NOTE: Super Aguri withdrew from the championship after round four.

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	McLAREN-MERCEDES	135 Points
2	FERRARI	134 Points
3	BMW-SAUBER	120 Points
4	RENAULT	51 Points
5	TOYOTA	46 Points
6	STR-FERRARI	31 Points
7	RED BULL-RENAULT	28 Points
8	WILLIAMS-TOYOTA	26 Points
9	HONDA	14 Points

NOTE: Super Aguri withdrew from the championship after round four.