The Singapore Grand Prix was, in many ways, a crucial race for Formula One, being the first race since the blockbuster film Rush, which has grabbed plenty of press coverage for the sport, was released in cinemas.
I suspect that a considerable number of people, many of whom probably had never hitherto thought twice about sacrificing two hours of their Sunday afternoon watching some motor race, will have tuned in today off the back of having seen Ron Howard's depiction of the classic 'Hunt v. Lauda' story.
For the first 25 laps, I was fearful that, as Sebastian Vettel effortlessly cruised towards his seventh victory of the year, many of these first-time viewers would switch off their TV and never watch F1 again.
Then, Daniel Ricciardo turned what was becoming a rather soporific affair into an intriguing, if not thrilling, spectacle by nestling his Toro Rosso into the crash barriers and bringing out the Safety Car.
Up until that point, it was only at the first corner that Vettel was even remotely threatened. The champion-elect didn't make the cleanest getaway from pole position, offering Nico Rosberg, who started alongside on the front row, a fleeting chance to jump his compatriot at the first corner.
The Mercedes driver went for the inside but misjudged his braking and ran wide, allowing the Red Bull to slip back past. That was essentially it as far as the battle for the win was concerned, as by the end of the first lap, Vettel had established a cushion of 1.9 seconds over Rosberg.
Five laps later, he had pulled out his advantage to 6.6 seconds, demonstrating the same kind of crushing superiority over the remainder of the field that saw F1's TV ratings take a knock at the peak of the Schumacher era.
Behind Rosberg, Fernando Alonso was already up to third place from a disappointing seventh on the grid. The Spaniard made his customary excellent start, sweeping around the outside of his competitors to haul his Ferrari up to where it had no real right to be.
Next up were Mark Webber, Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, who was ordered to surrender his position to the Brazilian having passed by gaining an advantage by running off-track. Behind the second Mercedes were Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.
This is how the order in the top 10 remained until the first round of pit-stops was initiated by Kimi Raikkonen, who was lurking just behind Perez having grabbed a couple of positions after starting a lowly 13th on the grid. The Finn had been complaining of back pain prior to qualifying, but this didn't seem to affect his performance during the race.
Raikkonen headed for the pit-lane at the end of lap 10, equipping a fresh set of the option tyres. His early stop saw him jump ahead of Hulkenberg and Perez, whilst the only other change in the top 10 during the pit-stop sequence was that Massa lost a place to Hamilton.
Vettel continued to lead by eight seconds from Rosberg, with the yet-to-stop Force India of Paul Di Resta up to third place and holding up Alonso. The Scot finally pitted on lap 20, by which time the Ferrari driver was eight seconds behind Rosberg and 17 off the race lead.
Prior to the Safety Car period, the only other change for position inside the top 10 was Hulkenberg letting Perez through into the final points-paying position after defending his position by running beyond the confines of the track at turn 7. The Sauber driver felt hard done by, trying to plead his case over the team radio, but, to Hulkenberg's credit, he didn't let this setback faze him.
Ricciardo's incident saw a welcome re-shuffling of the pack. The majority of the field took the opportunity to make a second stop, with the notable exceptions being Vettel, Rosberg, Webber and Hamilton. This quartet duly assumed the top four positions ahead of Alonso, Grosjean, Di Resta (who didn't stop having only just been in the pits five laps earlier), Massa, Button and Raikkonen.
Anybody anticipating that the Safety Car would re-ignite the fight for the lead quickly saw their hopes dashed. Vettel, told by race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin to "use the tyres", escaped at even brisker rate upon the restart on lap 31 than he had done at the start of the race.
The German edged around 2.5 seconds further away from the opposition each lap, his lead standing at 13.3 seconds by lap 35. By this stage, Grosjean had been ordered into the pits to address a pneumatic issue with his engine, which, after an agonising wait in his pit-box, led to the Frenchman's retirement.
It was a mighty shame for the Frenchman, who up to that point was enjoying his most convincing race of the season yet. You could tell that he most likely knew as much when he cried "no!" over the team radio after being informed of his car's problem.
Webber, one of the group of drivers to not pit under the Safety Car, came in for his second stop at the end of lap 40, followed by Rosberg the following lap, Di Resta and Massa on lap 42, Hamilton on lap 43 and Vettel on lap 44.
Vettel's advantage was so gargantuan that he was able to re-join the track without so much as relinquishing the lead. From there, it was a simple case of looking after the car for the remaining laps.
Up to second now was Alonso, still showing decent pace on the prime tyres he equipped during the Safety Car period. Having used both tyre compounds, there was no obligation for the Spaniard to stop again; he therefore set about trying to eke out his rubber until the chequered flag.
Trying to do likewise were Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen, who had both pitted during the Safety Car period and were up to third and fourth places. It was abundantly clear however that the Lotus was more effective at nursing its tyres than the McLaren.
Button did well to frustrate his rival for as long as he did, Raikkonen finally seizing third place on lap 54 with a bold move around the outside at turn 15. In the meantime, those that had stopped recently were carving their way back through the order.
This group, now led by Webber following a slightly slow stop for Rosberg, managed to see off Esteban Gutierrez, Hulkenberg, Perez and finally Button, all of whom were struggling badly with degradation, in the final dozen laps.
All the while, Vettel was cruising to an inevitable 32nd career victory, Alonso hanging on for second but a massive 32 seconds down on his adversary at the chequered flag. Having dispatched Button, Raikkonen managed to bring his car home for an unlikely podium finish in third.
Webber ought to have finished in fourth place, but with a couple of laps to go was instructed by the team to short-shift to preserve the car, which was suffering from a water pressure problem. The Aussie began to haemorrhage places on the final lap before finally having to park the Red Bull as it spectacularly caught fire.
Webber caught a ride back to the pits with Alonso on the slowing-down lap, but this breach of the regulations earned both men a reprimand. As it was Webber's third of the year, he will take a ten-place grid drop for the next race at Korea.
The late drama gifted fourth place to Rosberg, with Hamilton next up in fifth. Di Resta may have finished sixth, but instead undid his good work with a trip to the barriers at turn 7 with just six laps remaining - his third successive retirement.
That gifted sixth place to the three-stopping Massa, with the McLarens of Button and Perez limping home in seventh and eighth places. Hulkenberg banked two more valuable points for Sauber, though Gutierrez, who made his first Q3 appearance on Saturday, slipped behind Adrian Sutil and Pastor Maldonado in the closing stages and finished 12th.
Valtteri Bottas and Jean-Eric Vergne both had subdued races, coming home 13th and 14th, with Webber classified in 15th ahead of Giedo van der Garde, who impressively ran ahead of Bottas in the early stages, Max Chilton, Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic.
So, with a 60 point advantage now in Vettel's pocket, most bookmakers are no longer taking bets for this year's championship. Now, the question is where, rather than if, the German will be crowned.
It's impossible for Vettel to wrap things next time out at Korea, but if he can extend his cushion to 100 points by the end of the Japanese Grand Prix, it would be enough to seal the deal. More likely, however, particularly given Alonso's consistency as of late, is that the coronation would take place in India.
There's always next year, I suppose. I just hope that those that tuned in for the first time today can be convinced to give F1 another try in March.
No comments:
Post a Comment