Grand Prix 2011 Singapore Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Getting closer and closer

Every time we say that Vettel won't win, he comes up trumps with a flawless performance and Monza was no different, taking pole, won the race and put a smart move on Alonso which won him the race.

Ferrari have pretty much admitted defeat and are stopping development on their frankly dissapointing 2011 car which so far has only taken one win at the rain affected British Grand Prix which was also the only track where the EBD was banned which was negatively affecting McLaren and Red Bull more than it was Ferrari. It means that Fernando Alonso will have gone 5 years without adding to his 2 world championships which he took at Renault in 2005 and 2006 and he will be more determined than ever to fix that soon. Felipe Massa looks to be just going through the motions and is a shadow of his pre 2009 self.

Jenson Button continued his strong second half of the season with a podium at Monza to further assert himself as the number one driver at McLaren, indeed his performances recently have been putting his team mate in the shade and a series of overtakes in Spa and Monza have showed that he has the mantle to be the leading driver at McLaren.

In contrast Lewis Hamilton has been somewhat troubled recently, after a crash in Spa, a spin in Hungary and just 1 podium in 8 races, he was notably less agressive in Monza, particularly when trying to overtake Schumacher who arguably should have been penalised for agressive defending which other drivers have been penalised for recently.

Apart from over agressive defending Schumacher has been driving a lot better recently and has been up at the front on a more consistent basis and surely he must be close to a podium now? Rosberg has been very unlucky recently, a good strategy in Monza was ruined when he was t-boned by the missile that was Liuzzi who was given a penalty for his spin, he claimed that he was pushed off by Kovalainen but this wasn't true and the stewards took a dim view of him.

Toro Rosso have enjoyed a very strong second half to the year with another double points finish in Monza with Alguesari continuing his Lazarus act from near expulsion to take his season total to 16, 3 ahead of his team mate Buemi who took a solitary point in the sister Toro Rosso, both will be looking to get the upper hand on each other as the season draws to a close and Riccardo in the rear view mirrors when the 2012 contracts get drawn up.

Renault showed a resurgance in Monza with Bruno Senna taking his first F1 points in 9th, he might have finished higher but he was caught up in the first corner crash which forced Petrov to retire after both cars had made it into Q3, but with Singapore being a totally different track, it will be a good test on whether the last upgrades for the car have worked.

Singapore is the first night race in F1 but apart from 2008 which was affected by deliebarate crashing and race fixing, the races have been rather dull with little action throughout the race and many fans criticising the circuit despite decent overtaking figures.

For Galahads superb write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/marina-bay-street-circuit/
 
So does anyone think Seb will win the WDC this weekend? Or want him to win it this weekend?
Id personally like him to have a couple of DNF’s just to make him sweat a little and create some excitement.
 
I think he'll be a point or so away from it.

wdc.jpg


Let's face it though, he won it several races ago.
 
The FIA state differently, although they don't exactly say it's on track...

The WMSC received positive reports on the on-going situation in the preparation of the Indian Grand Prix from the Indian representative of the WMSC and the Formula One Commercial Rights Holder.

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2011/Pages/wmsc-230911.aspx

If India doesn't go ahead then Vettel just needs 3rd tomorrow and he can take the rest of the season off.
 
Considering Bernie supposedly made it a night race to suit European audiences I find myself sat waiting around for it so start. Normally qually coverage would be coming on the tv in a few minutes yet we still haven’t had morning practice yet, its just about to start.
So ya recon the night thing is just a gimmick? Or am I just a cynic? Ps I am a cynic regardless of the answer lol

I tell you what, one thing is said for later qualifying, its been a long while since ive got up has late as 11:30 :)

Im hoping for Vettels engine to blow up, just to give some hope for the title its the only thing this season has missed is a good title fight.
 
I would rather Vettel win the title in Singapore, so, as John Watson said, there can be pressure - free racing, so drivers don't have to be too conservative in these races. Even though the likes of Alonso and Hamilton have conceded the title to Vettel, but if it is still mathematically possible, I bet they would have held something back just in case things fall their way. So, without the shadow of the championship over the drivers, hopefully they can race more freely, and lead to (even more) exciting racing.

Also: great tyre feature on BBC1 now.
 
I think Watson is wrong because the championship was over when RBR came out and took an unexpected 1-2 in Belgium and there was that type of (pressure-free) racing in Italy.

Hamilton was the only driver who was being mindful...but that was an entirely different situation. He simply wanted to finish the race without any contact.
 
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