Race Review: Singapore Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 23, 2012 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Another race, another shake up on the championship leaderboard. However, as unpredictable as the races have been, a pattern is emerging - Alonso on podium. Alonso may not win the number one spot, but he somehow always manages to get on to the podium.

How did it go down at the Singapore GP? It started with qualifying: Hamilton, after a perfect flying lap, landed the pole position. Trailing behind Hamilton in qualifying was Maldonado the Dangerous, then Vettel. Notice that Alonso is not even top 3 in Qualifying; he was P5.

With Maldonado's record, I was expecting a good battle at the front part of the grid at the start of the race. Hamilton defended his pole from Maldonado and got a clean getaway, while Vettel's slick maneuver got him ahead of Maldonado, and then Button also took a run on Maldonado and passed the Williams driver to take the 3rd position. It is as if a different Maldonado was in the Williams car altogether; where is his usual aggressive drive?

The Marina Bay Street circuit is notoriously difficult track to overtake - a car needs to be a few seconds ahead to overtake, which means tyres and pit stop strategy were paramount in giving a driver the advantage to get ahead. With 61 laps in the race, the most sensible way to manage is a two-stop strategy, which most cars opted for. In terms of tyres, the soft was more durable than the supersoft so most teams were trying to get the drivers to squeeze as much drive as possible from the soft tyres.

Hamilton's pit stop at lap 13 was incredibly fast at 2.9 sec, paired with his quick pace throughout the laps, he looked unbeatable in winning the race. However, it was not his day. In an unlikely turn of events, Hamilton's McLaren had a gearbox failure at lap 23, leaving him with a car but no drive. I would have thrown a hissy fit, but Hamilton handled it with unusual calmness, perhaps he was thinking this is a sign for him to leave McLaren and move to Mercedes.

Shortly after Hamilton's gutting moment, Maldonado's car also suffered an untimely end at lap 35. It's most unfortunate to see two cars that were on front rows on the grid that would likely battle out to the bitter end both retire early.

As most anticipated, the safety car made not one, but two, appearances at the Singapore GP. The safety car came out at Lap 34 when Karthikeyan crashed out, and at Lap 40 when Schumacher crashed into Vergne. The safety car rounds took quite a while, such that the race timed out and concluded at the 2-hour mark rather than completion of 61 laps.

Without a truly heated battle up at the front with Hamilton and Maldonado out, we end the race with Vettel, Button, and Alonso moving into podium for top 3. Alonso still leads the championship with Vettel now trailing in 2nd and Raikkonen in 3rd place. Who did you think will have the best drive at the Japanese GP on October 7th?

Race Preview: German Grand Prix

// This weekend we head to the famed Hockenheimring in the rural countryside of Germany. Here's a 3D Track Experience video from Pirelli.

Can you believe it's already the 10th race of the 2012 season? We're halfway through it, yet the season has been so action-packed that it's almost too good to be true. Continuing on with the European leg of the Grand Prix, this weekend the race will be at Hockenheim, Germany.

Mid-season is also the time when we have what I'd like to call the "Musical chair" part of the season. Top drivers talk to other top teams to explore options for next season and beyond. Hamilton is thought to have had talks with Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. Massa may depart Ferrari, Vettel was speculated to perhaps give Ferrari a try, and Webber was also rumored last week to want to leave Red Bull, meanwhile closing the deal with Red Bull this week. Maybe all the drivers should have 1-year contract only, that'll keep the "Musical chair" rumor mill going for the summer.

The front runner to win at Hockenheim this weekend, based purely on historical statistics, is Schumacher who has won four times at this track. Pretty impressive achievement! However, not to be outdone, Alonso and Hamilton have both won twice at this track before. I'm still holding out some hope for Iceman to win a Grand Prix and actually smile, we will have to wait and see how the race will go down this weekend. Can’t wait! Catch you again next week after the German Grand Prix!

The Art of Wet Racing

Without a doubt, Formula 1's ability to take on the rain makes it a unique series in the motorsports world.  Tolerating substantial downpours and several hour delays is the norm for the traveling event, separating it from the fair-weather nature of most racing (think day-long delays, such as the Daytona 500 this year). This year's British GP will certainly not disappoint, and for those attending the race, it's going to be a tough couple of days "mucking about" in the mud around the circuit and the traffic on the A43 highway.

We've seen that tires can be the deciding factor this season, evidence in Fernando Alonso's fight in the final two corners of the Malaysian GP with Sergio Perez, almost costing him the win.  The likelihood of such another fight is eminent as the potential of an "emotional" British GP will only be exacerbated by the buckets of rain pouring on Silverstone this weekend. Today's practice sessions were a combination of control and chaos as each driver struggled to pilot their vehicle across the delicate, slippery surface.  Though the action was relatively slow today, tomorrow's qualifying shouldn't disappoint.

Let's not forget as well, the recent remodel of the Silverstone circuit has spurred a love/hate relationship with the F1 community. Though Formula 1 has seen a bit of rain at other circuits so far this year, the new remodel of the Silverstone circuit has made the problems more complicated. 

In his rant this morning on Speed TV's live coverage of Practice session, Will Buxton (@willbuxton) let America know exactly how he feels about the remodel.  With a Pit Lane that's partially below the water table, the likelihood of flooding in this essential area is a real possibility.  Just how they will address the issue as the weekend continues is still a mystery, but we hope fixing floaties to the cars is outside of the regulations.

Rain filled races have made the history books time and time again, and no one would dare say only dry races are the most exciting. It is possible to go too far to the other side of that argument with Bernie signaling he's a fan of playing in the rain. Though the likelihood of sprinklers being added to race tracks for "fun" seem to be squashed for now, we'll be looking forward to a wet mess in Silverstone this weekend and hoping rain stays a natural feature of F1.