Super charged Ferrari wins as Red Bulls bite dust

Alonso produces a masterful drive to win an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix ahead of a charging Sebastian Vettel.


Afp September 27, 2010

SINGAPORE: Fernando Alonso produced a masterful drive to win an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix ahead of a charging Sebastian Vettel to put the world championship title race on a knife-edge.

Starting from pole position, the Ferrari star led from start to finish for the second race in a row to take the chequered flag in 1:57.893, just 0.2 seconds ahead of the Red Bull tyro.

It was a measured performance from the two-time world champion Spaniard, who outpaced his title rivals under floodlights for his fourth win of the season and the 25th of his career.

In hot and humid conditions but on a dry track, the other Red Bull of Mark Webber came third to keep him atop the championship standings, with McLaren’s Jenson Button in fourth.

But it was another disastrous day for Lewis Hamilton in the other McLaren, failing to finish his second Grand Prix in a row after colliding with Webber on lap 36, dealing his championship hopes a potentially devastating blow.

Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes came fifth, with Rubens Barrichello in a Williams sixth, Robert Kubica’s Renault seventh and Adrian Sutil’s Force India eighth.

“It was very good stuff. The race was very long and with the safety car problems I just tried to control the gap as much as I could and not take a risk,” said Alonso.

“The win means a lot. It means a lot in the championship and means we can be competitive at any track.”

It leaves the championship delicately poised with four Grand Prix to go, starting with Japan next month.

Webber leads with 202 points ahead of Alonso on 191, Hamilton on 182, Vettel a point further adrift and Button on 177.

“I’m very happy with third place. It’s been a difficult week for me, probably the toughest of the year for me,” said Webber.

“To get third, I had to stay composed and not panic. Fernando is still hanging in there for the championship and I need to get rid of him somehow.”

Vettel also remains in contention and is confident his car can perform at the final four Grand Prix.

“We now need to keep our heads down and try as hard as we can,” said Vettel. “But it’s looking good for us. Japan, Korea, Brazil, Korea and Abu Dhabi – we have a strong car.”

It was a sensational restart after Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi and Hispania’s Bruno Senna hit the wall on lap 29 with Hamilton trying to pass Webber on the outside, and they made contact, with the Briton coming off worse.

Webber survived but Hamilton was forced to retire, throwing his steering wheel to the ground in disgust.

Minutes later and Michael Schumacher and Heidfeld collided. Heidfeld’s race was over and Schumacher had to pit for a new front wing.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2010.

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