2008 Singapore Grand Prix – Alonso Shines Under The Lights…
Posted in Formula 1, Race Results on Sep 28th, 2008 1 Comment »
Fernando Alonso won the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix in frantastic style after a brilliant move on strategy. Rosberg finished behind the Spaniard and Lewis crossed the line 3rd. Kimi Raikonnen’s crash with 5 laps to go gave Ferrari a point-less race as Massa finished 13th after a pit lane incident ruined his amazing first stint.
Starting 15th on the grid it looked like points would have been impossible for the Spaniard but deciding to go light in the first stint worked perfectly. Alonso gained 3 places by the second corner and overtook a heavy Trulli before pitting. Then in a twist of fate, Nelson Piquet crashed dramatically into the wall forcing the safety car out.
Kubica and Rosberg pitted while the pitlane was closed and came out ahead of the Double World Champion. Fisichella and Trulli added to the confusion by staying on track and remaining P3 and P2 respectively. Kubica and Rosberg were given 10s stop go penalty causing them to lose the coveted chance of winning the race. With Fisichella and Trulli pitting, Alonso was left with a clear track to show the real potential of the R28.
Lapping within .2s of the fastest lap(which again went to Kimi Raikkonnen) Alonso put an amazing 23s towards the end of the race. Then Sutil crashed his Force India at the entrance of the tunnel bringing out the Safety car. The restart was faster than the previous safety car and saw Alonso pull away at over 2s a lap. The win was just a formality after this. Flavio wiping a tear as Alonso picked his 20th Race win of his career and first since Italy 2007.
Massa and Lewis controlled the race from the start running away from the others in fantastic fashion. Kimi’s late response saw him catching up the front pair towards the end of stint one. The fateful safety car ruined the race of the top 3 drivers forcing them to pit. Massa was further effected by the being released too early from the pit lane causing him to pull away the fuel rig with him. By the time Ferrari recovered, Kimi and Massa had lost too much time.
Lewis is now 7 points clear of Massa as the F1 championship reaches its home stretch. This win gives Renault breathing space from Toyota and Alonso 11 point lead over Vettel in the driver championship.
