Victorious Vettel Closes in on Title
A ninth victory of the year for Sebastian Vettel took him within a hair’s breadth of becoming the youngest ever double World Champion. Jenson Button leaves him as the only mathematical challenger but even if the McLaren driver won all the remaining races, a single point is now enough for Vettel. Mark Webber completed the podium.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, had an eventful race after dropping back to eighth after being squeezed out by Webber at the start. Recovering, the British driver then had a tangle with Felipe Massa which resulted in a puncture for the Ferrari and a broken wing and a drive-through penalty for Hamilton. Dropped to 15th, he thought his way through the field to eventually finish fifth.
Driver of the Day:
Starting from 10th, having not contested Q3 of qualifying, Paul di Resta ran a mature race. After exploiting a very long first stint on the prime tyres, he was able to make his final pit stop just as the safety car came out to take a career best result of sixth place. “I don’t think the safety car really helped us because I still had a lot of life left in the supersoft tyres in the middle of the race,” insisted the Force India driver, “but it didn’t really hurt us either. ”
Good Day:
The most impressive thing about Vettel this weekend was how relaxed he looked before the race – for all intents and purposes he looked like was going out for a quiet Sunday drive through the countryside. Instead he finds himself with one hand on the World Championship, underlining his class in the process.
Bad Day:
It was more of a forgettable day for Germany’s other World Champion. The race’s only Safety Car period came after Michael Schumacher was launched into the Turn 8 barriers after running into the back of Sergio Pérez’s Sauber. “He was about to go inside and lifted, and I was not expecting him to do that so early, and therefore hit him,” explained the German. “It’s probably one of those race incidents which look more impressive from outside than from inside, as I am totally OK and my impact in the end was not too heavy.” The seven-time World Champion subsequently incurred a reprimand for his troubles.
Talking Point:
Two collisions had a profound effect on four drivers’ races. Both Pérez and Massa suffered punctures in their respective battles with Schumacher and Hamilton. They didn’t escape unscathed either: Schumacher crashed out of the race on the spot while Hamilton had to pit for a replacement wing. The steward’s responded by issuing a reprimand to Schumacher but that seemed lenient having penalised Hamilton. Would a more consistent approach have been to have awarded a grid penalty to the German?
Race Rating:
An otherwise unspectacular race was enlivened by Hamilton’s overtaking exploits and the duel between Webber and Alonso. However, as far as the season goes, there was a feeling that the inevitable has been dragged out for another two weeks.
Full Result:
| 1. | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1h59:06.757 |
| 2. | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | +1.737 |
| 3. | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | +29.279 |
| 4. | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | +55.449 |
| 5. | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | +67.766 |
| 6. | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | +111.067 |
| 7. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | +1 Lap |
| 8. | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | +1 Lap |
| 9. | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | +1 Lap |
| 10. | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | +1 Lap |
| 11. | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | +1 Lap |
| 12. | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | +1 Lap |
| 13. | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | +1 Lap |
| 14. | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | +2 Laps |
| 15. | Bruno Senna | Renault | +2 Laps |
| 16. | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | +2 Laps |
| 17. | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | +2 Laps |
| 18. | Jérôme D’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | +2 Laps |
| 19. | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | +4 Laps |
| 20. | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | +4 Laps |
| 21. | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | +5 Laps |
Fastest Lap: Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:48.454
Fastest Pitstop: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes – 29.417s (entry-exit)
Not classified/retirements:
| Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | Lap 48 | Gearbox |
| Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | Lap 29 | Accident |
| Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | Lap 10 | Accident |
World Drivers’ Championship:
| 1. | Sebastian Vettel | 309 Points |
| 2. | Jenson Button | 185 Points |
| 3. | Fernando Alonso | 184 Points |
| 4. | Mark Webber | 182 Points |
| 5. | Lewis Hamilton | 168 Points |
World Constructors’ Championship:
| 1. | Red Bull-Renault | 491 Points |
| 2. | McLaren-Mercedes | 353 Points |
| 3. | Ferrari | 268 Points |
| 4. | Mercedes | 114 Points |
| 5. | Renault | 70 Points |
What did you make of the Singapore Grand Prix? Who do you think was driver of the day? Who had a weekend to forget? Was Felipe Massa right to feel so angry? Should Schumacher have been penalised more heavily? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…
Photo: Red Bull Racing/Ker Robertson/Getty Images
Not the most exciting race we’ve seen at Singapore but it did liven up a bit after Schumacher’s accident and the safety car period. I felt on balance that the Hamilton incident was a bit harsh, yes he damaged Felipe Massa’s tyres and that’s probably why they had to act, I suppose if Hamilton had retired after that he’d have been given a reprimand like Schumacher. I certainly don’t think the Schumacher incident was worth a grid drop for the next race.
As for Massa, I think this was just the fina straw to make him snap, the two have tangled before and he must be feeling under pressure for his drive as the team now openly talk about his departure… could it be brought forward to the end of this year? Lewis does seem to have done a few silly things this year but this one looked more like a racing incident.
Great drive by Button again and Di Resta was superb so I think we tend to forget just how flawless Vettel was at the front.
saltire(Quote) (Reply)
That’s not punishing drivers for what they did but for what happened to them subsequently. Why not take Hamilton’s broken wing into account – it makes as little sense?
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
It doesn’t matter about Lewis, because he committed the offence.
You get it in other sports too. In football, it doesn’t matter if the fouling player is injured, he still gets booked. But if the fouled player is severely injured then it might trigger a penalty (Yellow/red) that it might not have happened had he not been injured.
Anyway, Schumacher’s incident was odd as it did look like Perez braked early. You have to trust the stewards in that case as they have the data.
Kimster(Quote) (Reply)
Are you saying the stewards thought he’d done nothing wrong so gave him a reprimand anyway???
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
Reprimand means he was guilty.
Kimster(Quote) (Reply)
Kimster,
But they let him off since he crashed? Why even bother investigating after the race if you’re not going to punish drivers who are already out of the race?
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
Mav,
But they did investigate, and they came to the conclusion that he deserved a reprimand for future conduct as they felt he wasn’t totally at fault or wasn’t deserving of a carry over penalty as he was penalised for his mistake with retiring.
And I would hardly call a reprimand a let off given the latest rules with reprimands.
Kimster(Quote) (Reply)
Same is true of hamilton’s wing.
But is it really relevant?
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
It should be relevant because the whole point of a penalty is to pay for your mistake.
Kimster(Quote) (Reply)
the whole point is that you don’t do it again actually. but why isn’t stopping for a wing any different?
besides, you wouldn’t hold back on the red card and pointing to the penalty spot if the keeper injured himself in the course of committing the foul
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
True I suppose. But then maybe it wasn’t worthy of a red card and was just a clumsy mistake (One thinks of Suarez/Richardson against Sunderland earlier in the season). Yellow card = reprimand.
Kimster(Quote) (Reply)
Can you trust the stewards to apply the rule …
‘Any driver receiving three reprimands for driving infringements during a season will automatically receive a ten-place grid penalty for the current or next event.’
I doubt it’ll get enforced though.
Karen(Quote) (Reply)
Karen,
It’s just shifting responsibility on to the stewards of the subsequent races isn’t it?
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
Yes, but the stewards seem too scared to implement the rules fully, so rather than being targeted by the stewards, Lewis is actually being let off lightly … But then I believe Perez has had 3 reprimands, although Lewis has had 5(?)
Karen(Quote) (Reply)
Karen,
Unless I have missed any penalties, Lewis has 1 reprimand (at Spa) and one warning to his name though he has many drive through’s. He seems to always get the drive through and never the lesser penalty, is that fair? Here’s the list http://www.vivaf1.com/penalties.php
saltire(Quote) (Reply)
saltire,
Maybe you don’t get a reprimand if you get an on-track or grid penalty, which would seem strange, because as you say a reprimand is a lesser penalty, so why a 10 place grid drop for lesser penalties.
I would have thought that you’d get a reprimand after every appropriate incident, whether it results in a penalty or not, well especially if it results in a penalty.
But who knows who the stewards work, maybe they think 3 minor penalties are more severe than 3 major ones, and so deserve a 10 place grid drop
Karen(Quote) (Reply)
Firstly, they’re only counting reprimands from Silverstone onwards (which seems fair, doesn’t make sense to suddenly changing the playing field – marathon organisers take note!)
And no, you don’t get a reprimand to go with a drive-through.
For me, I have to ask if 3 reprimands is worth a 10-place grid penalty, why would a 3-place grid penalty for Schumacher be harsh?
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
Isn’t that essentially the 3 strikes law?
Kimster(Quote) (Reply)
Because of course doing something bad three times is wrong but twice is acceptable. Presumably the 4th and 5th time are not an issue either!
There are uses for reprimands, stuff that’s not quite covered by the rules but which the stewards think shouldn’t happen again – Schumacher forcing Barrichello up against the wall might be a good example. However, I think enough people have driven into the back of other cars that drivers don’t require a warning that we don’t want that kind of thing any more!
Mav(Quote) (Reply)
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