This was a make or break race for the Red Bull team and break was what they did. Webber literally broke the brakes in his car and Vettel shot himself in the foot by making a pit lane error. The Brawn team benefited from the Red Bull problems as well as the pit lane error by Rosberg. The exit is very technical and he took the entire car over the blend line by bouncing over the curb. The safety car then bunched the field and he lost far more positions serving his drive-through than if the circuit had stayed green.
I am very impressed by the progress the McLaren team have made over the course of the season. Hamilton is closing in on Kimi and Webber and looks to a possible 4th in the WDC. The team has the chance to catch Ferrari for 3rd in the WCC as they are only 3 points behind the Scuderia. Very impressive effort.
Alonso also benefitted from the events ahead of him and had his best finish of the year. Interestingly, Renault's managing director Jean-Francois Caubet told AUTOSPORT after the Singapore Grand Prix that his outfit would be sad to see Alonso leave after this season. "I think Fernando will miss Renault and Renault will miss Fernando," he explained. This effectively announces the move.
Timo Glock had another of his unexplainable weekends. He has great races and he has forgetable races. This was a great race for him.
And Button can now sleep just a little easier as he has put a little more distance between himself and the challengers. Rubens has the only real chance to chatch him, but I suspect the team will see that that does not happen.
Not a great race but there were some interesting bits. Now, on the Suzuka, a truly great circuit.
Comments