Alonso it is again!

The race started seeing Jaime Alguersuari starting from the pit lane and no great action was witnessed as the five lights illuminated for the Singapore GP 2010. Vitantonio Luizzi retired from the race in the second lap due to suspension failure. The safety car set in right away. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa took an early pit stop in the race. Red Bull driver Mark Webber pulled in the slow pit lane too to switch to hard tires. Felipe Massa dominated the tail end of the line up by grabbing the 14th position in the 15th lap. Right in the 16th lap, Juarno Trulli entered the pit lane entered the pit lane after a tire puncture and retired from the race when it was a quarter way through. Nico Rosberg collided in the 16th lap which resulted into a yellow lap board for the viewers. He ended up damaging the rear suspension of his car. Race leaders, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel were trading fastest lap times which were a delight as they clocked fastest than their counterpart every alternate lap. The team radio of the Red Bull team was heard that Vettel’s car had braking problems which were heating abnormally. In spite of that, Little Schumi responded to his engineer that he wasn’t “pushing!” Now that was quite some astonishing racing from the championship contender of this season. The track saw a lot of debris flying which painted our lap boards yellow again. This waved yellow flag was a boon to all the drivers who were running on option tires as the tires cooled down from their first heat cycle which eventually increased the life of the Bridgestone rubber during lap 16. The race carried on and in the laps, 29 to 33, the pit lane was busier than the track as most of the line up pulled in. this helped the race as it reset and set out on a new pace, filled with energy. Mark Webber gained in the race due to his early pit stop strategy. Lap 32 saw Brunno Senna crash into Kamui Kobayashi which again made our lap board yellow. Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton go into some wheel to wheel action out of which the former came out victorious. Hamilton being run wide tried to get back in the racing line but crashed out of the race. There were high expectations from the one time world champion as he had crashed out of Monza too in the first lap. Michael Schumacher landed in trouble when he collided into Nick Heidfeld  and damaged the front wing of the car and entered in the not-so-fast pit lane again in lap 38. Back into F1 racing after being the test driver for Pirelli tires, Nick Heidfeld crashed and retired. Lap 46 saw Robert Kubica retire from the race as he had damaged the right rear tire. Timo Glock also retired from the race at lap 52. There was great wheel to wheel action for the 7th position in the race. The stewards worried about the 10:00p.m deadline so the race could have been called off without completing 61 laps but that was not the case. The 60th lap ended in disaster for Lotus Cosworth driver Heikki Kovalainen’s car’s bodywork caught fire due to the heat off the exhaust pipes. This event immediately saw the yellow flag being waved. The last lap gave a last chance to Sebastian Vettel to overtake Fernando Alonso who was trailing by only 0.233 seconds thanks to the yellow flag in the earlier lap. Fernando Alonso finished the lap in first place leaving the crowd delighted and celebrated his victory as soon as he got out of the cockpit. He finished the race in 1:57:53:579seconds.
                      All in all, indeed the race was a real cracker except for some monotony in bits and pieces, here and there. A bumpy race and loads and loads of yellow flags accompanied by the blue flag was Singapore GP 2010. It was real bad to see the flying carbon fiber components of the tummies of the car for all the enthusiasts. (Trust me, it sure was!). All the podium finishers showed tremendous fatigue post the race due to the immense heat. That proves how these drivers push themselves at every race.   Fernando Alonso’s triumph, Lewis Hamilton’s crash reset the driver’s champion. It sure is heating up!

Starting Grid For Singapore 2010

Grid	Driver	Constructor
1	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
2	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren-Mercedes
4	Jenson Button	Mclaren-Mercedes
5	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing
6	Rubens Barrichello	Williams
7	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
8	Robert Kubica	Renault
9	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes
10	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber
11	Jamie Alguersuari	Toro Rosso
12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault
13	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso
14	Nick Heidfield	Sauber
15	Adrian Sutil	Force India
16	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams
18	Timo Glock	Virgin
19	Heiki Kovalainen	Lotus
20	Lucas Di Grasi	Virgin
21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus
22	Christian Klein	HRT
23	Bruno Senna	HRT
24	Felipe Massa	Ferrari

Nico Hulkenberg recieved a 5 place penalty for changing his gearbox after the Italian GP.
Felipe Massa falied to set a lap time after stopping on the middle of the circuit in round 1.

Fernando Alonso grabs Pole position in the nick of time!

Fernando Alonso secured the pole position at Singapore on Saturday night ahead of Sebastian Vettel at 1:45.390 while the latter clocking 1:45.457 ahead of one time world champion Lewis Hamilton who grabbed the third place at 1:45.571. With the front line up separated by a mere thousands of seconds, this weekend promises to be a cracker. We will get more action if it rains as predicted so grab your couches and take over the remote control of your TV sets fellas!

Singapore GP 2010

SINGAPORE 2010

Venue.- Marina Bay Street Circuit

From Monza in Italy the F1 World Championship heads to the Marina Bay Street Circuit in the city-state of Singapore. The only night race as of now in the F1 Championship this race always has something special in it. The race will also be the first race of the season for Nick Heidfield who replaces Pedro de la Rosa at the Sauber team.

The weather forecast at Singapore says that we will be having a wet F1 weekend. Will the rain add to the toughness of driving at night under lights? Only time will tell.

Circuit Map.-

Last winners.-

Year	Driver	Constructor
2009	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren-Mercedes
2008	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari

Driverwatch.-

1.    Mark Webber (187 points)

Last five races.-

GBR  GER  HUN  BEL  ITA

  1^st     6^th     1^st      2^nd   6^th

He didn’t get onto the podium at Monza but Hamilton retiring in the first lap meant that a sixth place finish for Mark Webber was enough for him to get to the top spot in the Drivers’ standings. The last two races at Singapore haven’t had much luck for the Aussie as he has failed to finish the race on both occasions (braking problems in ’09 and transmission problems in ’08). He must keep going his good form as he leads Hamilton by just 5 points.

2.    Lewis Hamilton (182 points)

GBR  GER  HUN  BEL  ITA

  2^nd    4^th    Ret    1^st  Ret

After winning at Spa and getting the 5^th place in the starting grid at Monza it was like a dream recovery for Lewis Hamilton after facing gearbox problems at the Hungaroring. However, a collision on the opening lap of the race turned the dream sour for the Brit. Singapore has always been a good race for Hamilton as he finished 3^rd in 2008 and won the race last year.

3.    Fernando Alonso (166 points)

GBR  GER  HUN  BEL  ITA

  14^th   1^st      2^nd  Ret   1^st

The Spanish driver gained a lot of ground on the leaders with a win at Monza. He also replaced Sebastian Vettel for the 3^rd spot in the Drivers’ rankings. He won the inaugural Singapore GP in 2008 controversially and came on the podium last year where he again created a mild stir when he dedicated the 3^rd place finish to Flavio Briatore who was involved in the 2008 Crashgate scandal. Alonso will also have to use his engine wisely as he has used up all the engines available to him. A decision to replace one would mean that he faces a 10-place grid penalty.

Teamwatch.-

1.    Red Bull Racing (350 points)

Red Bull had a fine race at Monza with their drivers finishing 4^th and 6^th, fine enough to extend their lead over Mclaren by 3 points. Singapore has had mixed luck for the Austrian outfit as Webber has never finished the race but the other driver has always made a points finish.

2.    Mclaren-Mercedes (347 points)

Hamilton’s early exit from the race put up the question ‘Will Mclaren fall way behind Red Bull?’ However a second place finish for Button ensured that Red Bull don’t go out of the reach of his side. Within touching distance of Red Bull, it may just be a case of who blinks first.

3.    Ferrari (290 points)

After getting two on the podium on front of their home fans Ferrari will be having high hopes for Singapore. A third place for Raikkonen was all that the Prancing Horse could manage last year. Massa will be hoping to get a good race this year as he missed out on the Singapore GP last year due to his injury.

What about Force India?

No points gained at Monza means Force India will have to do better at Singapore if they wish to remain ahead of the Williams team. Force India are also yet to win a single point at the Marina Bay Street circuit. Also on both of the last two occasions at Singapore only one Force India driver has finished the race.

    What’s special at Singapore?

·        It is suggested that this would be the least demanding circuit of this season with less than half track being run at full throttle.

·        The only night race in the F1 season, this race has a different feel to it as it is not usual to see F1 cars race under lights.

·        In the around the raceday, many entertainment shows are being organized on the stages around the track. The highlight event is a concert by Mariah Carey which will take place on raceday.


TV Listings.-
Qualifying.- 
Saturday 22:00 Race Local Time
Saturday 19:30 IST (Will not be telecast in India)
Raceday.-
Sunday 16:00 IST LIVE On Star Sports
Main Race.-
Sunday 20:00 Race Local Time
Sunday 17:15 IST LIVE On Star Sports
Chequered Flag.-
Sunday 19:15 IST LIVE On Star Sports

Codemasters F1 2010 to come to India tomorrow

One more reason for the motorsport enthusiasts in India to rejoice

Earlier we got the confirmation of the Indian GP to be held next season i.e. F1 World Championship 2011.Even Lewis Hamilton expressed his excitement to race in India when he had been to the Chennai circuit. And now on the 24^th of this month, Codemasters Inc. is all set to launch F1 2010. Codemasters has given us other great simulation and arcade titles like F1 2009, the Colin McRae Rally series, DiRT 1, 2 and 3 and Grid, so this will be one title to look forward to. The good thing is that the game will be available on XBOX, PS3 and PC platforms. As Codemasters has the rights from FIA (the same way as EA Sports has from FIFA and FIFPro), gamers will be able to choose drivers from the current line-up. That means users can drive around the famous circuits like Monza, Spa, Monaco and the lot in the F1 car of their choice- everything from a Ferrari to a Toro Rosso. A title you must watch out for.   

Check out the trailer on the official website of the game.-

http://formula1-game.com/en_GB/index.php

It’s official: Pirelli to supply tires to all F1 teams from the 2011 season.

                     Italian tire manufacturing firm, Pirelli will

provide all F1 teams with four dry weather tyres in varying compounds

one wet weather tire and one intermediate tire from the nest season,

i.e. 2011. Founded in 1872 in Milan Pirelli isn’t new to providing

tires to Motorsports (World Racing Championship, Rolex Sports Car

Series, World Superbike Championship and Motocross World

Championship). It has been competing in F1 too earlier in three

distinct periods between 1950 and 1958, 1981 and 1986, and 1989 and

1991, winning 44 Grand Prix from 200 starts. Their last F1 victory

goes back to the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix when Nelson Piquet (Senior)

took the chequered flag while he was driving for Benetton. On November

2, 2009 the Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone announced that they will

not be renewing their contract to supply tires to Formula One teams

after 2010. The company said it was "addressing the impact of the

continuing evolution of the business environment." Bridgestone

provided tires to F1 since 1997. Pirelli have hired Roman Gosjean

(Former GP2 and Renault F1 driver) as the test driver which will begin

by the latter half of the 2010 season. High expectations will be from

the Italian manufacturer as the current F1 format boasts of longer

tire life with almost no pit stops or a single pit stop strategy. That

will be a challenge for Pirelli as they enter the Motorsport after 19

years. Albeit, the returns will be high for Pirelli as regards to the

marketing strategies that will spread their name in the F1 racing

destinations. Not only F1 but Pirelli will also be the sole supplier

to GP2 series for a three year contract (2011-2013) and to the GP3

series that commenced this year.

Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	Winner	1	25
2	1	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	53	+2.9 secs	2	18
3	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	+4.2 secs	3	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	53	+28.1 secs	6	12
5	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	53	+29.9 secs	7	10
6	6	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	53	+31.2 secs	4	8
7	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams-Crossworth	53	+32.8 secs	8	6
8	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	53	+34.0 secs	9	4
9	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	53	+44.9 secs	12	2
10	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Crossworth	53	+64.2 secs	10	1
11	16	Sebastian Buemi	STR-Ferrari	53	+65.0 secs	14
12	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	53	+66.1 secs	19
13	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	53	+78.9 secs	20
14	22	Pedro De la Rosa	BMW-Sauber Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	16
15	17	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	15
16	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	52	+1 Lap	11
17	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	24
18	19	Heikki Kocalaiene	Lotus-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	18
19	20	Sakon Yamamoto	HRT-Cosworth	51	+2 Laps	23
20	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	50	+3 Laps	21
Ret	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	46	+7 Laps	17
Ret	21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	11	+42 Laps	22
Ret	2	Lewis Hamiton	McLaren Mercedes	0	+53 Laps	5
Ret	23	Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	0	+53 Laps	13