Rookie F1

Seven Moments of the Singapore GP

1. Hamilton Hindered

Certainly not by himself, as his blistering pace in qualifying saw him rightly on pole position come Sunday night. In the sweltering heat of the Singapore evening Hamilton escaped the much talked about clash with Maldonado who started alongside him, he took off into the night and owned the illuminated circuit. Vettel took advanatge of a cautious Venezualen and buddied up to the McLaren driver, shame Hamilton’s gearbox had a hissy fit on lap 23 then.

Watching a dejected Hamilton walk away from his stationary car before the halfway point made for poinant viewing, and an image that will no doubt be replayed if he does indeed walk away from McLaren. With reliability issues robbing him of around 50 points and now being 52 points behind Alonso it seems that the Brit has good reason to look elsewhere. Although he might want to have a chat with Schumacher about Mercedes’ reliability before coming to a decision.

2. Glock Block

Glock may have claimed that Webber impeded him during Q3, the Australian may have escaped without a scratch from that visit to the stewards, but the German driver went on to have a much better race. At the sharp end of the grid points determine team and driver position, when there are no points in the bank it’s simply down to the highest position obtained, and thanks to a sterling drive Glock may have just given Marussia a €10 million windfall. But only if Caterham and HRT don’t finish higher than P12. That sort of money is vital and could come at a time when the team have confirmed they will be running KERS in 2013.

And talking of timing Glock’s shock result could see him in Formula One for another season, however with the team making it clear that they are looking for raw pace (something they have said Pic definitely has), Glock’s developmental experience might not be enough with the likes of Max Chilton nipping at his heels.

3. Wakey Wakey

It took a while to get going didn’t it? Although safety cars are inevitable around this circuit (they’ve featured in every race of its short history), the call for one to appears by some fans didn’t sit too well when one of the pioneering names in safety had passed away the week previous. Professor Sid Watkins is a prominant name in recent history, pushing for more safety and being the face that drivers up and grid wanted to see loom over them after a masty shunt. So to call for an incident to make the race more interesting is unnecessary during any weekend, but moreso this time.

4. Di Resta Done Good

In 2012 it only takes a race to put you in or out of the title chase, it also seems to take a race to name someone the next Ferrari driver, and why not Paul di Resta this time around. Sergio Perez is hotly tipped regardless of the comments coming from Marenello, but with inconsistecies across the board it could be a single performance that sets the young drivers apart. However with close links with Mercedes, their engines are neatly packaged within a shiny chrome and rocket red car, with a driver who is rumoured to be on his way out.

The British driver put his car in an extremely impressive P6 and with a controlled race avoiding the mistakes of far more experienced drivers, and absorbing the safety car interruptions he gained two places. Taking his best ever result in a physically and mentally demanding race shows why he was voted rookie of the year in 2011, and why he right to be so vocal about seeking out a race winning car.

5. Five More Years

With the provisional 2013 calendar released this weekend it seemed to be the opportune moment for the Singapore GP organisers to annouce that they had signed up to host five more, taking them into the 2017 season.

6. What happened there? What happened there?

Many shared the same level of disbelief after watching Schumacher munch on Vergne’s rear wing at turn 14 on lap 40, just after the restart when tyre and brake temperature have cooled.

7. Silly Season Take off

We’ve had the lot now, but now with BBC’s Eddie Jordan has waded in with a revalation that Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes is a done deal, odd now as McLaren has upped their pace. Where Schumacher will end up is another matter.

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