Thursday, October 02, 2008 What a night for Alonso and F1 By Steve Slater Special Contributor
AS Fernando Alonso slept late on Monday morning (assuming he like many other drivers is still using the excuse of keeping European time to justify a late start), he may be wondering whether his win in Singapore was just a dream. Yet, the dream came true, as Alonso made history by winning Formula One’s first night-time event.
After a fuel pump failure in practice forced him to start from 15th on the grid, Alonso’s storming drive through the field really was the stuff of dreams. Even though other front runners suffered crashes and penalties, Fernando won the race on merit. The Spaniard’s pace and commitment, as well as the Renault team’s strategy gave them a well-deserved victory.
As much as Alonso’s prowess behind the wheel, Renault technical boss Pat
Symonds should also claim some of the credit. It was he, who with Alonso, gambled on the likelihood of an accident triggering a safety car period early in the race.
The normal strategy with a car starting near the back of the grid, is to load the car with fuel and run as long as possible, hoping to make up ground during the pit stops. Renault in fact took the opposite strategy, a huge gamble. It paid off.
The team gave Alonso a light fuel load and the ultra-soft “option” tires for the opening stages of the race, allowing him to make up four of five places before he pitted early, on lap 12.
The stop dropped him to last place, but when his team-mate Nelson Piquet junior hit the wall and brought out the safety car on lap 15, the cars ahead of him were all now low on fuel. As they dived into the pits, Alonso steadily rose to the head of the queue behind the safety car.
Ultimately the only cars in front of Alonso were those carrying loads offuel on a one-stop strategy and Kubica and Rosberg, who had run low on fuel, made pit stops when the pit lane was closed, and were due to make a drive-through penalty.
Once those cars had cleared out of his way, the Spaniard was un-catchable.
If this was a fortuitous race for Renault, the opposite was clearly true for Ferrari. They had the fastest cars on the track and should have trounced Lewis Hamilton and McLaren. They blew it.
It is the first time the team has failed to score any points in a race since Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa both crashed out of Australian Grand Prix in 2006. What a time to get a no score.
Kimi Raikkonen’s demise was at least a normal racing accident. The Finn had an odd race, with a slow start, then suddenly a series of fastest laps. It seems that it could have been due to his tire pressures being slightly wrong at the start. When the tyres warmed up and the pressures increased, the car was flying.
Then, with just four laps remaining, Kimi simply overstepped the limits at the Turn 10 chicane in his pursuit of Timo Glock’s Toyota. Into the wall, out of the race, sadly not for the first time this season.
Also not for the first time, Ferrari’s pitstop discipline deserted them with catrastrophic results for Felipe Massa. Having led from pole position, the Brazilian led the field into the pitlane during the safety car period—and the pressure of the situation seemed to get the better of a member of the crew.
Hamilton’s seven point lead means he can now finish second to Massa in the remaining three races and still win the title. That puts yet more pressure on Ferrari and the Singapore race could have settled the fate of the 2008 title.
Surprisingly, we’ve got all this way without talking about the race itself. It was simply phenomenal.
The Marina Bay street circuit and of course, its unique night-time illumination were amazing. The spectacle of the cars running under the perfect lighting, with the spectacular backdrop of the city was a three night-long TV commercial for Singapore, delivering an unprecedented level of global TV coverage.
It was everything that the Grand Prix organizers promised and then some.
For Singapore, Formula One and for Alonso....It worked like a dream.
