All eyes on Singapore this Sunday
F1 heads east for running of floodlit Singapore GP
WITH the European leg of this year’s Formula One season now behind us, all eyes shift to the east with the Singapore Grand Prix taking place this weekend and just seven races to go on the calendar.
The most confident team will undoubtedly be McLaren, who are on a roll after winning the last three races. Hamilton’s success last time out at Monza reduces Alonso’s lead in the Drivers’ standings to 37 points, and Hamilton now sits second in the Drivers’ Championship.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said the squad will continue their aggressive development over the next few weeks in order to win the championship.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso may be leading the standings, but Hamilton, Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen (in third, just a point behind Hamilton), and the Red Bulls behind Kimi are all possible title winners.
“There are seven finals,” the 31-year-old Spaniard told the newspaper.
“I must face these seven races like a chaser and not a leader because there are 175 points up for grabs and 37 are nothing”.
Pressed as to who he feared the most in the title chase, he joked: “If I had to choose between Hamilton or Vettel, I would choose Raikkonen.”
Raikkonen, meanwhile, has said that he has unfinished business in Singapore, having never scored at Formula One’s floodlit Grand Prix. Having been away from Formula One for two seasons, the Iceman has only twice contested the night race, finishing 15th in 2008 and 10th in 2009.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m not quick there as I’ve been told I still hold the lap record from 2008,” said the 32-year-old.
Winner of the Singapore race last year, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has called the Marina Bay circuit one of his favourites given the atmosphere and its anti-clockwise direction.
The reigning double champion is fourth in the runnings, trailing Alonso by 39 points, and will be hungry to get his season back on track after being forced to retire at Monza with an alternator failure on his Renaultpowered Red Bull.
“There’s still a long way ahead of us and we need to improve the car for this weekend,” said the German.
The rumour mill also continues to churn around who’s driving what next year.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa’s contract with the Scuderia runs out at the end of the season and the team are mum over whether they will offer him a new deal.
Rumoured to take Massa’s seat is Sauber’s Sergio Perez, but Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo doesn’t believe Perez is ready.
The Mexican driver is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and has had some strong results this year – including his most recent podium at Monza which left him 18 points clear of Massa in the standings.
More interesting is that the Italian team is eyeing Vettel.
“I think that Vettel is more or less in the condition like when Michael was in Benetton.
“He’s young, he’s a very good driver and he’s making a very good experience. So this could be, of course in the theory,” said Montezemolo.
McLaren, on the other hand, has made contact with Perez as it explores replacements for Hamilton, according to a UK newspaper.
The report claimed that McLaren is becoming tired of the approach to negotiations taken by Hamilton’s management company. It also said that Hamilton is considering a £60-million (R810-million) offer from Mercedes, as Michael Schumacher’s replacement.
“There’s a lot of speculation, there’s a lot of stories that aren’t true,” said Hamilton in response to the reports earlier in the week.