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Felipe Massa
was thirteenth and Kimi Raikkonen retired because of an
accident, in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. For the
first time this season, Scuderia Ferrari failed to score
a single point in a Grand Prix. A Safety Car period
early on did nothing to help the situation and a mistake
at Felipe's pit stop effectively ended any chance he had
of a good result having started from pole position. His
result was further compromised by a drive through
penalty and then a puncture.
The surprise winner was Fernando Alonso in the Renault,
with Nico Rosberg taking a second place for Williams and
Lewis Hamilton third for McLaren-Mercedes. This results
makes the championship situation much tougher with just
three races remaining as McLaren-Mercedes moves ahead of
the Scuderia to lead the Constructors' by a single
point, while Hamilton's lead over Felipe in the Drivers'
classification goes from one point to seven.
When the lights went out the front of the grid
maintained position, with Felipe leading Hamilton and
Kimi, followed by Kubica, Vettel and Glock these last
two moving up a place at the expense of Kovalainen who
had banged wheels with Kubica. Felipe and Hamilton were
separated by just over a second, while Kimi was trailing
by a further 4.4 on lap 3. In the early stages the best
battle was for ninth place as Rosberg was desperately
trying to pass Trulli, the Finn finally getting the
Italian on lap 6. On lap 7 the cameras showed Felipe
running over a piece of debris but it did not seem to
have any effect.
On lap 10 of 61, the order was Massa, Hamilton,
Raikkonen, now upping his pace and closing on second
place, Kubica, Vettel, Glock, Kovalainen, Heidfeld,
Rosberg, Nakajima completing the top ten, followed by
Alonso, up from fifteenth, Trulli, Webber, Button,
Coulthard, Bourdais, Barrichello, Piquet, Sutil and
Fisichella last. Kimi had picked up the pace and was now
3.2 behind Hamilton, while Felipe's lead over the
McLaren man was 3.4 seconds.
Lap 12 saw Alonso the first man to pit, which would be a
key to the final outcome and then on lap 15, Piquet
crashed his Renault heavily into the wall bringing out
the Safety Car. Barrichello had pitted along with
Rosberg at this time but the Honda driver then stopped
for no apparent reason out on track. Kubica, Webber and
Coulthard also stopped, all before the pit lane was
officially open. When the pit lane opened Massa and
Raikkonen came in together for a double stop, but it
went wrong as the Brazilian was released by the team
while the fuel line was still attached to his car and he
had to stop at the end of pit lane. Raikkonen came in
right behind him and had a normal stop, but obviously
lost time having to wait his turn. After what seemed
like an eternity, the mechanics finally managed to
remove the fuel line from Felipe's car and he continued
out on track, not losing a lap but running at the back.
The order on lap 18, still behind the SC was now Rosberg,
Trulli, Fisichella, Kubica, Alonso, Webber, Bourdais,
Coulthard, Hamilton and Vettel completing the top ten.
Kimi and Felipe were 17th and 18th. On lap 19, the SC
came in and the race was on again. However, there was
much confusion as Race Control was expected to impose
penalties on those drivers who stopped before the pit
lane had been officially opened. Massa would also be
penalised with a drive-through for "dangerous release
from pit lane."
On lap 27, Kubica came in for a 10 second stop go
penalty. One lap later it was Rosberg's turn to do the
same thing, dropping him from the lead to fourth,
promoting Trulli to leader ahead of Fisichella, followed
by Alonso, Coulthard and Hamilton. Fisichella finally
refuelled on lap 29. Mark Webber retired in the garage
on this lap. Kimi and Felipe were twelfth and fifteenth
at this point.
So at the halfway point in this extraordinary race, the
order was Trulli, Alonso, Rosberg, Coulthard, Hamilton,
Glock, Vettel, Heidfeld, Nakajima, Button, Kovalainen,
Raikkonen, Sutil, Bourdais, Kubica, Fisichella and Massa
seventeenth and last. Alonso then moved into the lead as
Trulli pitted and Kimi was up to tenth. An exciting
battle was brewing in the fight for third place, as
Coulthard was being closed down by Hamilton.
Rosberg came in from second for his final stop on lap
40, dropping to seventh, and one lap later, race leader
Alonso made his final refuelling, coming out just ahead
of the battle between Coulthard and Hamilton. The slight
loss of momentum allowed the McLaren driver to get ahead
of the Red Bull. These two men then came down pit lane
together on lap 42, with the McLaren staying out ahead,
as the Scotsman tried to leave his pit before the
refuelling line had been removed. Kimi was now up to
eighth and fourth a lap later, but the Finn had yet to
make a final pit stop.
A second safety car period was prompted by Sutil hitting
the wall and when it was over, for the final sprint to
the flag, Kimi had got himself up to fifth place, while
out in front, Alonso had a healthy lead over Rosberg who
was being chased down by third placed Hamilton. Felipe
was fourteenth. Then with just three laps remaining,
further bad news as Kimi clipped the wall, damaging the
right front corner of the car to retire. After this poor
showing, Felipe is now seven points down on the leader
of the Drivers' championship and the team drops to
second place one point behind the leader of the
Constructors' classification.
Stefano Domenicali: "A black day, there's little
else to say. We had the potential to finish first and
second but we didn't even pick up a point. We are very
disappointed but that doesn't mean we are downtrodden.
We have always shown our ability to react, especially at
the most difficult times and we will do it again this
time. The situation in the two championships has become
more complicated but there are still three races to go
and a lot of points up for grabs. We know what we have
to do to reach our objectives. The first part of the
race showed that today our car was the quickest on
track. The Safety Car came out at the worst possible
moment, but we are not looking for excuses because this
uncertain factor must always be taken into account. Then
the team made a mistake at the pit stop during the
Safety Car period, which cost Massa the race. I am very
sorry for Felipe because he was driving a very strong
race following on from a great pole yesterday. I want to
point out that it was Felipe himself who went to console
the mechanic who made the mistake, which shows the team
spirit that we have between us: we win together and we
lose together. Kimi managed to get into the points but
then he ended up in the barriers at one of the many
tricky points around this track. A shame, as it would
have meant precious points for the Constructors'
classification. We must look ahead and prepare ourselves
as well as possible for the remaining three races."
Felipe Massa: "It's hard to deal with losing in
this fashion a race that was within our grasp, with a
car that was just the way I wanted it. We had a good
strategy and all the signs were there that we could get
a one-two finish. But things can change in a moment and
that's what happened today. At the pit stop, one of the
guys made a mistake. But we are only human. Each one of
us always tries to do our best and these things can
happen. With the Safety Car still on track, I didn't
lose a lap, but then I got a drive-through and later I
also picked up a puncture in the left rear. On this
track it is almost impossible to overtake and ending up
at the back meant I had not chance of getting into the
points. Seven points to make up in three races? That can
be a lot or it can be a little. We have the potential to
do well, as we saw today and we will give it our best
shot. We mustn't give up and I'm sure we won't."
Kimi Raikkonen: "I was trying to attack Glock in
case he might make a mistake, but I went slightly wide
at the chicane, jumping over the kerb and when the car
landed, I lost control and ended up in the barriers. My
situation in the championship was already rather
compromised, so this doesn't really make that much
difference but I am unhappy because the team has lost
precious points in the Constructors' classification. In
the opening laps, the car was a bit difficult but then
it improved a lot, to such an extent that I was able to
close right up to Hamilton. When the Safety Car came
out, I know my race was compromised given that I had to
pit behind Felipe. I was able to get back up to fifth
but then the incident I described earlier happened.
Clearly, morale is not high today. But I am not used to
giving up and will do my very best to try and help the
team reach its targets."
Luca Baldisserri: "It's hard to put into words
today's disappointment. We had everything in place to
get the best possible result and unfortunately we ended
up with nothing. Felipe was controlling the early stages
of the race, while Kimi, after a few difficulties at the
beginning, was running at a great pace. The Safety Car
threw our plans into the air. First and foremost, we had
to go for a double pit stop - the best choice in this
situation - but it penalised Kimi. Then we made a
mistake in letting Felipe go and that ruined his race.
We could have made a significant step forward in both
championships but we ended up going backwards. Now we
must roll up our sleeves and prepare as well as possible
for the coming races. There is still plenty of time to
recover but there is no more room for error."
Race
Details:
F. Massa: 13th 1:57.51.474 + 36.170 61 laps chassis 269
K. Raikkonen: 15th 1:50.11.975 DNF 57 laps chassis 271
Weather: air temperature 29/32 °C, track temperature
29/31° C, overcast.
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