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/
 
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One thing that is clearly important here is pole position, so clearly Vettel has won this already. The winner has been on on pole every time bar the stupid 2008 race where Massa would have won if not for Alonso and Ferrari's dodgy fuel hose.

I also think Nico Rosberg will get a podium here or a even a win if he gets lucky, he was the first finisher in 2008 that didn't have help, was nearly in pole in 2009 and would have had second if not for a careless mistake and got a solid result in 2010.
 
One thing that is clearly important here is pole position, so clearly Vettel has won this already. The winner has been on on pole every time bar the stupid 2008 race where Massa would have won if not for Alonso and Ferrari's dodgy fuel hose.

Every time? Its only been run two other times.

On a serious note, what was induced in 2008 could happen by accident in 2011, the Safety Car jiggering things up for everyone. I think there have been accidental Safety Cars in all three races here.
 
Yes I know it's a small sample size but the point still stands. Grid position is very important here as there is only one real overtaking opportunity and that's the braking zone for turn four where Hamilton and Webber came together every year. Then again at what track is qualifying position unimportant with the lack of overtaking in recent years...
 
I think there have been accidental Safety Cars in all three races here.

And not only that, in 2009 Barrichello affected the grid when he crashed with 30 seconds left in Qualifying. Lewis ended up taking pole with a heavier fuel load than Seb and Rosberg put the Williams in P3.

So my point is that on a street circuit anything can happen and the fastest car doesn't even always end up on Pole.
 
That is (without getting into the rather tedious debate) again what happened to Lewis in Monaco as well. Theres an unpredictability about who is going in the wall and when*.

*Unless it is Nelsinho!
 
And for an early weather report:
Saturday: 1400-Patcy rain possible 2000- Patcy rain possible
Sunday: 0800-Moderate or heavy rain showers 1400-Same 2000-Patchy rain possible
 
Alonso, Hamilton and Rosberg for the Podium, all three seem to have done well in Singapore since it came to the calendar.

Some people might not like Singapore thats they choice but i do like Singapore. I love seeing the cars go around the circuit in the dark, it may not produce brilliant racing but the sparks that come off the cars is just WOW. I think we're due a classic here and i really think why'll get it this season.

Really hope DRS isn't used in Singapore as it wouldn't work anywhere on the track IMO. Plus the cars have KER'S which will come in handy between turns 5 and 7.

Lets hope Seb fails to score points just for this weekend and let the championship carry on for at least another race.

Anyways looking for a good race and think we're due one!
 
Every week some one says Vettel will slip up or he's due an engine failure and every week Vettel increases his points lead. Vettel will get pole, race win but not fastest lap.

Also why should rain affect the race anymore than another track? Having seen onboards of the cars it is just as bright as it would be in Catalunya and certainly not as dark as Malaysia or Abu Dhabi. Then again look what happend with the safety car in Montreal.
 
I think if anyone wants to stop Red Bull Vettel this weekend then they have to accept the fact that they simply cannot compete for pole position. They should set the car up expecting to be using the DRS for a significant amount of the race and set appropriate gear ratios. Then again they could just do a 'Nelsinho'.
 
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