Race: In Singapore, Renault regains hope but it’s Hamilton who shines

Lewis Hamilton delivered a flawless performance this weekend by securing pole position and then winning the 14th Grand Prix of the 2009 season in Singapore. The Englishman finished ahead of Timo Glock in a Toyota and Fernando Alonso in a Renault in a very eventful Grand Prix! The safety car made its appearance, and the Red Bull team did not capitalize on Brawn GP’s mistakes.

The race was more or less moderated by the FIA track stewards, sanctioning several drivers. Vettel and Rosberg both received a ‘Drive Through’ penalty for exceeding the regulatory limit in the pits and crossing the pit exit line, respectively. Hamilton was therefore never troubled and managed his race perfectly.

Jenson Button perfectly managed his advantage in the world championship by starting from 11th place and finishing the Grand Prix in 5th place. He finished just ahead of his teammate and most serious contender for the 2009 title. Barrichello is now 15 points behind Button with three races remaining.

Hamilton made a perfect start, controlling Vettel and Rosberg. The Williams driver on the clean side of the track – just like Alonso – was able to take advantage over Vettel. Alonso also tried to overtake him but couldn’t maintain it, biting too much onto a curb. He also gave up his place to Webber. The Australian was able to take advantage of a clearing to accelerate faster and take 4th place from Alonso. The Renault driver also lost ground afterward to Glock. In a very confused environment, Webber received the order 5 laps later to let Alonso pass again, also letting Glock ahead.

The two men were then unable to stay in contact with Hamilton, Rosberg, and Vettel at the front of the Grand Prix but took advantage of penalties to climb onto the podium. Without that, Rosberg could have threatened Hamilton and perhaps secured his first victory. He significantly crossed the pit exit line after his first pit stop and had to serve his penalty right after the Safety Car was deployed. With the field bunched up, Rosberg lost significant positions.

Adrian Sutil remained stuck behind Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso for a long time. The German then attempted an overtaking move but, not wanting to touch the STR3, spun out just behind a hairpin. He restarted with limited visibility, which proved fatal to Nick Heidfeld’s BMW. Sutil’s front wing struck the right rear wheel of his compatriot. Heidfeld immediately retired, while Sutil returned to his garage to throw in the towel. With a large amount of debris, the deployment of the Safety Car was inevitable. A remake of 2008? Hamilton had just refueled, and Alonso was able to make his stop quickly to avoid being penalized by the safety car.

At the restart, Hamilton got off perfectly, aided by Vettel in second place before his swift penalty pass through the pits.

Glock was able to take the lead over Alonso in his second stint. The two men were battling for second place. Alonso was only able to be threatening during his last stint, where he also set the fastest lap of the race. It’s a revival for Renault this season, which paradoxically still can’t prepare two cars. Grosjean retired after three laps, suffering from brake problems since the start of the Grand Prix.

The battle for the championship then came to an abrupt end when Mark Webber also fell victim to brake problems. His right front caliper broke, preventing him from braking. The Red Bull ended its race in the tire wall. The incident cast doubt on many other competitors, including Toro Rosso and Brawn GP, who were also experiencing problems during braking.

Toro Rosso as a precaution and once reaching 75% of the Grand Prix (guaranteeing the driver’s classification) parked its two cars in the garages. Button and Barrichello continued. The Englishman was able to overtake Barrichello at the end of the Grand Prix by benefiting from 5 more laps of fuel. Kovalainen and Kubica complete the top 8.

The Ferrari drivers had an anonymous race with Räikkönen trying to gain an advantage over Kubica and Nakajima towards the end of the Grand Prix for 8th place while Fisichella finished only 13th. The Italian battled throughout the Grand Prix with Liuzzi, his replacement at Force India.

Unlike Glock, Trulli’s Toyota did not perform as well. He finished 12th out of 14 drivers at the finish.

See you next week for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the land of Honda. Toyota will then want to do as well as this weekend.

Results of the Singapore Grand Prix – Sunday, September 27, 2009: