Singapore: The Race Viewed from the Pits

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Winner

Mark Webber – 15th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: « A really bittersweet result today. It was a phenomenal performance from Sebastian. It was one of his toughest races, especially after the safety car came out halfway through the race. It wasn’t ideal timing for us and after that, Seb needed to build up a gap of 27 seconds and he reached 30 seconds in 15 laps. It was incredible to watch and it was a dominant and truly deserved victory today. It was hugely frustrating for Mark to see that after two hours of good driving, we lost water pressure with 12 laps to go. The water was so low that it was only a matter of time before the engine overheated, which happened on the last lap. Nevertheless, today is our third consecutive victory and our third consecutive victory in Singapore and we have increased our lead in the drivers’ championship. »

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Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 2nd

Felipe Massa – 6th

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: « I am happy with the team’s performance over a weekend that was not easy for us. With a new victory for Vettel, to whom I send all my congratulations, the situation in the drivers’ championship becomes difficult, but until the result is a mathematical certainty, we will continue to push. I don’t think we could have picked up many more points today, which have nevertheless strengthened, albeit slightly, our position in the constructors’ championship. Mercedes and Lotus were very competitive here again in Singapore. We finished ahead of them in unfavorable conditions, and that should motivate us to give our best over the last six races. »

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Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen – 3rd

Romain Grosjean – Retirement

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: Another day of ups and downs for Romain who was having a great weekend but was stopped by a reliability issue during the race. On the other hand, huge congratulations to Kimi for a typical race, never giving up and overcoming the back problems that affected him all weekend. Our race strategy worked perfectly today, and we were able to successfully overtake a number of other cars.

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Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – 4th

Lewis Hamilton – 5th

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: « It was a frustrating race after the safety car came out at a bad time for us. We left both cars on the track – as Red Bull did – so we could run a shorter final stint. In the end, we saw that two of the cars made it work, but most others had to make an extra stop or faced a drop in tire performance in the final laps. The race was complicated by a front wing issue for Nico, who suffered from rubber build-up at a critical stage of the race, causing excessive understeer. The fourth and fifth positions allowed us to minimize the loss of points to Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, but our car had the potential to score more points today. »

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McLaren

Jenson Button – 7th

Sergio Pérez – 8th

Martin Whitmarsh, General Director: « Jenson and Checo drove a superb and combative race this afternoon, resulting in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes finishing in the points. Our strategy was risky but it was a risk worth taking. After all, the second and third placed followed the same strategy. Even if our cars didn’t have the pace to beat them and finish on the podium, our drivers rose to the challenge posed by a strategy that required them to attack and defend with an impressive mix of aggressiveness and defense. Checo, in particular, had an excellent start, moving up from 14th to 11th by the end of the first lap. He then fought through traffic the entire afternoon to finish 8th under the checkered flag, just behind Jenson who finished 7th. We now head to Mokpo in South Korea, where we aim for more points for both our cars. »

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Sauber

Niko Hülkenberg – 9th

Gutierez – 12th

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: After a very good performance in Monza, we were able to score points again, which is very pleasing. Nico had a fantastic race and was rewarded with two points. We find the race director’s decision to give the place back to Sergio Perez very harsh. He didn’t gain an advantage but only avoided a collision by going off the track. However, we accept this decision. Esteban had a mixed weekend. Now we need to find out why he was not able to achieve the expected lap times. We are happy to have been able to perform well on a track that is generally not favorable. This shows that we are heading in the right direction regarding the car’s development.

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Force India

Adrian Sutil – 10th

Paul di Resta – 20th

Vijay Mallya, Team Principal: « We leave Singapore with mixed feelings. The positive aspect is that Adrian secured the last point, and it’s a great performance considering where he started the race. On the other hand, we missed a golden opportunity to score big points with Paul, who could have potentially finished 6th. His retirement seven laps from the end cost us dearly and doesn’t help in our battle with McLaren. As a team, we need to focus on the positives of our race pace, our good tire management, and our strategic decisions. Korea in two weeks will be a good opportunity to regroup and maintain our fighting spirit. »

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Williams

Pastor Maldonado – 11th

Valtteri Bottas – 13th

Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race Engineer: Pastor made a good start, gaining a few positions and his tire management was good in the early laps. Valtteri was unable to maintain his position at the start due to a clutch problem and consequently had difficulties with his tires. His race was further compromised by debris in the front wing. He didn’t have the right pace to defend his position.

Pastor and Valtteri delivered a solid race today in difficult conditions, but we need to find more performance in the car if we want to consistently fight for points.

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Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – 14th

Daniel Ricciardo – Retirement

Franz Tost, Team Principal: « It was a very disappointing evening for us, especially after we delivered a strong performance in qualifying yesterday. Unfortunately, our grid positions did not hold, as both drivers had a poor start with Daniel dropping five places and Jean-Eric three places. Daniel’s race came to an early end with an unusual mistake that put him in the wall. With overtaking being so difficult here, we decided to switch from two stops to a three-stop strategy for Vergne, as he was far behind. After that, he maintained a reasonable pace, and we had saved a new set of tires for the final stint, believing it could help him catch up to the cars ahead. However, his car suffered from overheating, and we had to reduce his power, which meant he couldn’t overtake those in front. This weekend, we did not exploit all our possibilities, and we will work hard to make that happen in Korea, where the Yeongam circuit should suit us better. »

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Caterham

Giedo van der Garde – 16th

Charles Pic – 19th

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Marussia

**Max Chilton** – 17th

Jules Bianchi – 18th

John Booth, Team Principal: « Today’s race was challenging for the entire team due to the intense humidity, a quick-shift problem for Jules, and tire management throughout the race. The safety car period benefited us, helping us overcome the pain of an extra unscheduled stop for Jules, and we were able to get back in touch with the rest of the pack, which put us back in the right fight with Caterham. They were ahead, but the gap was minimal over the second half of the race, and on a track like this, anything can happen, which is exactly what happened when Pic had to stop six laps from the end. We were very close to our competitors, which is a clear improvement compared to the last races. Another double finish for both cars, and we’re leaving Singapore with our position in the constructors’ championship intact, so we will focus on the positives from this weekend ».

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