Sunday 22 September 2013

Singaporean Grand Prix: lighting up the night...

Anybody that claims that the pace or the quality is not with Vettel but with the Red Bull Racing car, is either seriously deluded or is only attempting to be controversial. Vettel was supreme in Singapore and showed that he is the best driver out there at this time. From the moment, after the safety car period, that he was told by his race engineer that he had more fuel than he needed and that he could use his tyres and open up the gap, Sebastian began lapping over two seconds faster than Rosberg in second place.

It has become a regular feature of Formula One Grands Prix this season, that the race begins with a modicum of excitement, followed by a slightly boring and processional middle period and then finishing with a nail biting conclusion. The Singaporean Grand Prix was a perfect example of that, as Nico Rosberg squeezed past Sebastian Vettel in to the first corner. In a killer move, Vettel denied Rosberg the lead by instantly biting back, taking to the lead and then hurtling away. The middle of the Grand Prix was very tedious and then only picked up after the safety car period and the competing strategies that ensued.

On lap 25, Daniel Ricciardo had a massive lock up, resulting in him ploughing in to the barrier and forcing the safety car out. It was at this moment that all the race strategies changed, leading to the battle of attrition in the closing laps. By the end, Mark Webber and the two Mercedes cars began reeling in Kimi Raikonnen and the two McLarens. It was Webber who looked to make it on to the podium, until he ran in to trouble of his own
.

Webber passed all the way up from just outside the top ten to fourth and was in pursuit of Raikonnen for the third podium place, but with five laps to go he was told to take conservation measures. He was told to short shift, then reduce revs and before you could say 'gives you wings' Mark was losing more and more time to the Mercedes cars, Massa and then the McLarens. On the final lap he was forced to pull over with flames spilling out of the rear end of his Red Bull. Despite that bad luck for Mark, it resulted in us witnessing a sight that is always so special for Formula One fans, as Fernando Alonso gave Mark a lift home on the side pod of his Ferrari. It is most likely that Alonso will incur some sort of reprimand for allowing Mark to precariously perch on his car, however it is always such a touching sight in the sport, so it's a sacrifice we are all thankful for.