2010 Singapore Grand Prix – the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review

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Singapore’s night race spectacular served up another twist in the 2010 championship story.

Find all the F1 Fanatic Singapore Grand Prix coverage in one place below – from Friday practice to the post-race review and our live comments on every session.

Race results and reaction

Singapore Grand Prix review – Alonso holds back Vettel for close win

Hamilton: Webber "in my blind spot" – Fourth no-score for Hamilton after collision

Hulkenberg eighth after Sutil penalty – Sutil’s first-lap transgression didn’t earn a penalty until after the race.

Hulkenberg penalty puts Massa eighth – Force India protested Williams

Singapore Grand Prix result – After penalties

Points in full after Singapore – Alonso up to second behind Webber

Singapore Grand Prix fastest laps – Alonso lowers the lap record

Race analysis

Who was the best driver of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend? – Vote for the top driver at Singapore

Rate the race: Singapore – What did you think of the Singapore Grand Prix?

Singapore GP stats and facts – Alonso’s 25th win is his first perfect result

Singapore Grand Prix analysis – Why McLaren couldn’t keep Webber behind Hamilton

Detailed analysis of every team and driver in the Singapore Grand Prix

McLaren race review – Poor pace and another Hamilton DNF hits title hopes
Mercedes race review – Rosberg in top five
Red Bull race review – Webber has champion’s luck but lacks Vettel’s pace
Ferrari race review – Fourth win of 2010 is Alonso’s best yet
Williams race review – Sixth in sight
Force India race review – Qualifying woes
Renault race review – Kubica’s fightback
STR race review – No points in six races
Lotus race review – Fire stops Kovalainen
Sauber race review – Crash-strewn race
HRT race review – Klien pushes Senna
Virgin race review – Glock shines

Qualifying

Singapore Grand Prix qualifying – Second pole position in a row for Alonso

Singapore Grand Prix grid – All five title contenders in top five

Massa changes engine after qualifying last – While one Ferrari took pole position, the other started last

Alonso: "We got 100% out of the car" – Ferrari snatched pole position from Red Bull

Singapore Grand Prix pre-race analysis – Alonso favourite whatever the weather

Practice

Webber leads damp Singapore practice – Rain affected a session in Singapore for the first time ever

Practice one analysis – Webber was fastest but the sector times in the drying session revealed Vettel wasn’t far behind

Vettel dominates second practice – Red Bull stayed on top

Practice two analysis – Alonso’s ultimate lap time revealed Ferrari’s true performance

Hamilton slams Singapore chicane – Turn ten a concern again

Vettel top in final Singapore practice – Alonso second in Saturday morning session

Live blogs

How we saw the Singapore Grand Prix as it unfolded:

Singapore Grand Prix practice 1 live
Singapore Grand Prix practice 2 live
Singapore Grand Prix practice 3 live
Singapore Grand Prix qualifying live
Singapore Grand Prix live

Find coverage of every race this season here: F1 2010 Season

How can we improve our coverage?

What else would you like to see in F1 Fanatic’s Grand Prix coverage? How can we make it better? Please post your suggestions in the comments.

Image © Ferrari spa

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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19 comments on “2010 Singapore Grand Prix – the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review”

  1. Thanks Keith for yet another smashing coverage of the GP!

  2. One of the best Grand Prix of the year, right in the league with Interlagos and Montreal.

    1. They haven’t raced at Interlagos yet!

  3. sorry i just did not enjoy the GP. And I have to be honest i really am fighting with the inner me…did i not enjoy it because i thought it was boring (i really did!) or that alonso (a true racer) was so good that he left lewis in his shadows all weekend….a thought i just cannot entertain….god i wish he was still in a renault.
    but really a valencia under lights????? this year….yes….sorry.

    1. Boo! :)

      Sorry but I disagree, the track is getting better, it is interesting with the lights and as Lewis fans we must remember, as good as he is, he ain’t going to win every race!!!

    2. as boring as it was (alonso showed much mastery), Kubicas charge at the end jolted me awake. Epic.

  4. In as much as I support Fernando, and oppose Lewis, it is only fair to say that this time LH was handicapped by his car’s performance. Neither him nor Button were able to catch up with Ferrari and Red Bull, in quali or at race time.

    And I shared some of the frustration with Lewis when I saw him throw the wheel after crashing with Webber. Yes, a race incident. No, this time he was not favored by the stewards (like he has other times) but he was trying very hard to pass Webber.

    Showing he was upset was only natural and very far from his usual “good boy” image.

    1. Hats off to you. I try to be objective but I doubt I would show as much grace in victory.

    2. Totally with you there, I found myself empathising with Lewis terribly…

  5. It´s amazing how much better the Ferrari is running since Fred Fry joined the team as an engineer.
    You also get the impression that Alonso squeezed every ounce of performance out of the car over the weekend. This is a true champion´s trait
    Cheers

    1. for me, the champion’s trait was in qualifying when the wrong software was loaded on alonso’s car. once he got it running, the team wanted him back in the pits, but alonso said “no, i should put a time on the board first.” that is heads-up awareness and very quick critical thinking.

      1. Excellent point and nice to see the team immediately backed him. Alonso drives his side of the team. Alas, much as I like him, Massa still seems to be driven by his team.

  6. Maybe, just maybe the Red Bull’s now not the best car on the track. With the evolution of the Ferrari during the year, lets stack them up.

    FERRARI:
    The Pros: They have blistering starting speed; A powerful Ferrari engine with good acceleration and good top speed; They have good stability under braking, great brakes and good traction out of corners; Their handling and areo packages are now working well. The F-duct is working fully. Their full blown defuser seems to give them excellent downforce and speed on slow and medium tracks as well as the high speed tracks. Importantly, Ferrari also seem to have come out of the “flexible wing/floor fiasco a little better than Red Bull. Their package appeared to be less reliant on the benefits of the more extreme areo-package. Finally, Ferrari have Alonso as a clear No.1 driver, in contention for the Championship and a fully committed team behind him and a compliant team mate.

    The Cons: Ferrari continue to have some reliability issues with their engines but this will only manifest itself if Alosno (or the team) use all of their 8 engines each (I’m not sure if there is any possibility of engines being swapped between team mates??). In the past they do seem to have been heavy on their tyres, but this is only an issue on very abrasive tracks such as Canada.

    RED BULL:
    The Pros: Red Bull have had by far the fastest car of the year. However, as the year has worn on, their advantage has been chipped away. The Red Bulls rely heavily upon the cutting edge areo designes of Newy. With the recent load testing, some of the advantage their areo package had does appear to have been lost; The Renault engine, although under powered compared to the Ferrari and McLaren engines does appear to show good reliability; The F-duct appears to have been working well for the team, but it’s questionable whether it will be required at any of the existing circuits (apart from maybe Korea); Two good drivers with good pace.

    The Cons: The under powered Renault engine (although perhaps not a major issue at the remaining circuits); Some reliability issues with the car, although this could possibly be due to driving styles; Their greatest weapon, their areo package appears to have been severely compromised by the more stringent testing (one could assume that these developments have been in the works for some time. Having to abandon their upgrades because of the new testing rules could have severely compromised the whole Red Bull development program); Having two drivers fighting for the Championship, each as demanding as the other in their own ways, is unlikely to be to Red Bull’s advantage in the Championship.

    McLAREN:
    The Pros: A strong, fast engine and reliable engine; Good starting speed and acceleration and good top speed; As the F-duct inventors, they had a big head start over everyone else; Two accomplished drivers, both capable of winning championships as proven by their past successes.

    The Cons: The McLaren appears to be a little fragile in accidents; Handling/stability problems when the track is not smooth; Lack of fully developed areo package.

  7. I was there for the Singapore GP. Although I’ve been to several GPs in the past, this was the first one in 2010 and the first one at night. Its definitely a unique experience. With an invitation from Force India, I also had a chance to visit the paddock, pit lane and the Force India garage on Saturday after FP3. It was a priceless experience to watch the mechanics at work just before qualifying and had a short chat with Andy Stevenson about a few things. He was confident about Adrian getting into Q3. The qualifying results were disappointing but that didn’t dull my spirits at all. My grandstand seat was right in front of the Force India garage and a few metres from the start finish line. Also got a chance to shake hands with EJ. He was in a rush so I didn’t bother him much.. ;)

    Watched the drivers’ parade from the Singapore flyer, which was such a sight.. :)

    Raceday was all the more exciting as I could watch all the preparations sitting right by the grid.
    The race went and I was getting the hang of the night race when Liuzzi stopped. It wasn’t a good feeling but Adrian’s drive was a good consolation. There were a few McLaren fans sat in front of me who looked very happy until Lewis crashed out and they were probably more upset with Mark than they were about Lewis crashing out!
    Anyway, the final sight was that of Heikki driving a burning Lotus and stopping right in front of us to douse the fire himself. The crowd were really appreciative of his fire-fighting abilities..!

    As Alonso took the chequered flag, there was a huge roar in the grandstands and the first people to run the track were a few Ferrari fans from Monza carrying a Italian flag. It took me a while to realise that these were the same people I’d met behind the grandstands during a break. They’d come up to us and started saying good things about Force India and last year’s battle between Kimi and Fisi at Spa. They said it was a double treat for them with Ferrari winning and Fisi on the podium.
    The Singapore GP experience was one of a kind for me, as I’d never been to a F1 garage before and the feeling of being in there when the mechanics are at work, can;t really be put in words!

    Brilliant weekend and certainly a spectacle!

    1. Rits,
      Thank you for sharing. A really nice inside view of the event. The Singapore GP is a very unique feature in the F1 schedule. To be that close to the action, wow, make sure you thank your host.

      1. I’ve thanked them profusely! And some within the team actually knew how much I’d contributed to the team’s blogs and the FB fan page over the years, which left me feeling pretty honoured.. :)

  8. I’m not a great alonso fan but you must say that was a top drive …any error and vettel would have had him!

    unluckiest driver of the weekend ? hamilton without doubt …got past only to be speared by webber who could and should have braked earlier once hamilton got ahead because a collision was inevitable if he didn’t

    luckiest driver of the weekend ? webber , of course , should have got a penalty for the above , got away with it and also his car kept going by some miracle ; personally I am rather pleased that he survived because he has been a good driver for a long time and I will be happy to see him win the WDC this year , may be his only chance ; hamilton will win more championships , vettel will soon , alonso probably as ferrari will still have the extra budget for another year yet , button still has a chance depending on how pirelli tyres suit him [ he was a good qualifier within the limits of his car until the bridgestone era since when he has had problems

    1. I liked the race. I would now like to consider going there for my next race. Looks like a great city, with great food, safe, cosmopolitan.

      I even enjoyed it depite seeing Hamilton taken out. Performances like Alonso’s make it worth watching whomever you support, and confirms that F1 is really the top level and that drivers do matter as much as the cars.

      I’ll add a curious fact about the Racing Incident, which has been mentioned by others elsewhere. Hamilton and the team have said that he was done in by a puncture. In which case, I cannot understand why he did not come around for a new tire. With half the race to go, a quick car, and the prospect of SC periods, why did he park it? I suspect that Hamilton thought it was a suspension failure rather than a tire. If so, not good. But the team would have known what the problem was by telemetry, so I don’t understand what happened. Sometimes a team might want to be mum on a failure lest they give away news on a new part or upgrade. But that seems unlikely in this case.

      1. Re: Hamilton new tire – that close to a restart from safety car – he would have been back of pack thus no points (if they decided was just that). Save engine…

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