Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 2010

Fernando Alonso won the Singapore Grand Prix yesterday after dominating the race from pole position in the Ferrari.

As the race got underway it was Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull that took to the front but he was quickly knocked off the front spot as he was forced out by Alonso.

The safety car was deployed on lap 3 of the race after Nick Heidfeld hit Tonio Liuzzi from behind leaving the Force India car stranded on the circuit in a dangerous place.  The usual scramble for the pit lane began although the top four drivers remained on track staying on soft tyres.

The safety car was deployed for the second time when Kamui Kobayashi slammed his BMW Sauber into the barrier at the exit of turn 18.

As the safety car left the track, Lewis Hamilton attempted to make a move on Mark Webber in the Red Bull going into turn 7.  It looked as if Hamilton would make it through but cut across the front of Webber who had nowhere to go and the two touched.  Hamilton was out of the running and the incident was investigated by the stewards who decided it was a racing incident and no further action would be taken.

A similar incident then took place between Nick Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher, resulting in the retirement of the Sauber driver and once again although the accident was investigated no action was taken.

With just two laps of the race remaining Sebastien Buemi hit the back of the Lotus driven by Heikki Kovalainen causing it to spin.  As the Lotus limped around the final sector of the lap it burst into flames and after crossing the start/finish line, Kovalainen jumped out of his stricken Lotus, grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused the flames himself as he waited for the marshalls.

Alonso crossed the line to take the chequered flag just 0.2 seconds ahead of Vettel with Mark Webber in the second Red Bull in third.

Jenson Button finished in fourth place ahead of Nico Rosberg in fifth, Rubens Barrichello in sixth, Robert Kubica in seventh, Felipe Massa in eighth, Adrian Sutil in ninth and Nico Hulkenberg in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 61 laps 1hr 57m 53.579s
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00.2s
3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +29.1s
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +30.3s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +49.3s
6. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +56.1s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +1m 26.5s
8. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +1m 53.2s
9. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +2m 12.4s*
10. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +2m 12.7s**

all results unofficial

Karun Chandhok - HRT F1 2010

The 2010 HRT F1 driver Karun Chandhok is to be replaced at the German Grand Prix by Sakon Yamamoto following his impressive performance at the Silverstone Grand Prix when he drove in place of  Bruno Senna.

The 28-year-old driver ended the British Grand Prix in 20th position for the Hispania Racing team and has been given a second opportunity to drive this time alongside Senna.

Chandhok is expected to race again later in the season with team test driver Christian Klein stating that from now onwards any of the four drivers may get a chance at the race seats.

The Japanese driver has completed 15 Grand Prix starts, initially with the Spyker team now Force India and then the Super Aguri team before joining the HRT F1 team as a test driver in April of this year.

Yamamoto said in an interview;

“The last race weekend was very exciting for me. Now, the team has given me another chance to race on Sunday and I will do my best to prove that it was the right decision.

“I have a lot of good memories of the circuit in Hockenheim. I like the track layout with the passing point at the end of the long straight and also the Stadium sector, which is very challenging. There is always a nice atmosphere with the spectators at the grandstands and I am always looking forward to come back to Hockenheim. Compared to Silverstone, I think we are more competitive and we can achieve a good result again.”

Christian Klien

Former F1 driver Christian Klien has joined the Hispania F1 team to be their second test driver and will begin his duties at this weekends Spanish Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old drove for the Red Bull team in 2006-2007 following his stint with the Jaguar team in 2004 alongside Mark Webber before moving onto be a reserve driver for the Honda and BMW teams.

The Austrian said;

“This role offers me the opportunity to rejoin the Formula One environment and drive again, which is naturally where my longer-term ambitions lie”

Timo Glock - Toyota

Timo Glock in the Toyota was the fastest man on track in the second free practice session in Fuji Speedway in Japan.

Fernando Alonso, winner of the last race at Singapore for Renault, came in second, only 0.043 seconds off of the ultimate pace.

Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren came in third followed by the two Ferrari drivers, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in fourth and fifth respectively.

In sixth place was Mark Webber in the Red Bull, eleven places ahead of his team-mate David Coulthard, while a similar situation occurred with the Williams drivers.  Kazuki Nakajima, at his home race was the seventh fastest man with his team-mate, Nico Rosberg was down in twelfth place.

Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso finished in eighth place followed by the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Toyota driver Jarno Trulli.

Here are the results;

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:18.383            44
 2.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:18.426  + 0.043   41
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:18.463  + 0.080   40
 4.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:18.491  + 0.108   40
 5.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:18.725  + 0.342   39
 6.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:18.734  + 0.351   39
 7.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:18.734  + 0.351   36
 8.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:18.761  + 0.378   23
 9.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:18.803  + 0.420   32
10.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:18.863  + 0.480   45
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:18.865  + 0.482   39
12.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:18.888  + 0.505   43
13.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:18.981  + 0.598   41
14.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:19.040  + 0.657   41
15.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:19.258  + 0.875   42
16.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:19.287  + 0.904   41
17.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:19.327  + 0.944   36
18.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:19.482  + 1.099   44
19.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:19.894  + 1.511   37
20.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:19.999  + 1.616   42

All Timing Unofficial

Christian Klien

The BMW Sauber test and reserve driver, Christian Klien, is to race in the American Le Mans series in the ‘Petit Le Mans’ endurance event in October.

In June, Klien took part in the Le Mans 24 hour race where he finished on the podium and he will be once again racing for the French car manufacturer alongside Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian in America.

Klien said,

“I am pleased that my performances for Peugeot were obviously appreciated.  Every kilometre in a car is important to me.  I am particularly pleased with the faith the BMW Sauber F1 Team have put in me, as there were also test sessions between the Grand Prix in Singapore and Japan, but the team released me for the race at Road Atlanta without any complications.  It is also a very good opportunity to keep your reflexes and race touch at a high level for Formula One.”