FORMULA 1 - 2010

[MIKA27]

Ecclestone downplays Indian safety concerns

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has "no worries" regarding next year's Indian Grand Prix.

Delhi's hosting of the Commonwealth Games has been brought into sharp focus these past few days, in particular due to the condition of the facilities in the athletes' village.

This week 23 people were injured after a footbridge to the main Jawaharlal Nehru stadium collapsed, whilst part of a ceiling at a weightlifting sports venue also fell in.

Concerns over stadium safety and security have also been aired, notably after two Taiwanese tourists were injured when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a bus in Delhi.

With the grand prix due to take place in Greater Noida on the outskirts of Delhi on October 30 next year, there are concerns the venue - as with many for the Commonwealth Games - will not be ready.

Asked if he was worried, speaking at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore, Ecclestone said: "No, it's a different organisation altogether, completely different so I have no worries at all."

When it was put to Ecclestone the Games organisers were making a shambles of their event, he replied: "The people who, as you say, are making a shambles, are not the people who are dealing with us for the race."

MIKA: I think BE is placing too much fate into the hands of the Indian organisers. The Commonwealth games are a shambles with venues being deemed 'Unlivable', 'Unfit for people to live in'. Yes, it is not the F1 event or venue but it will be the same minister BE and the FIA will have to deal with.

[MIKA27]

Button refuses to just 'sit back and hope'

Jenson Button is aware he has to adopt an aggressive approach for the rest of the F1 season if he is to retain his title.

Button and the four other Championship contenders are separated by just 24 points heading into the year's long-haul finish as drivers face five fly-away races in Singapore, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

It is a mouthwatering prospect which leaves no margin for error as the smallest mistake could have significant consequences when it comes to the final shake-up.

Button, however, also appreciates he can leave no stone unturned in his quest to become the first Briton to win back-to-back titles, and with different teams after claiming the crown with Brawn GP last year.

From his personal perspective, 22 points behind Championship leader Mark Webber and 17 adrift of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Button is relishing his role of hunter this season compared to a year ago when he was the hunted.

"It's a great feeling, it really is," Button told Press Association Sport ahead of this weekend's race around the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore.

"If you'd have said to me last year, if I'd been 10 points behind, 'you're attacking for the last five races', I would say 'no, I'm not, because I don't have a car to do that'.

"But this year I do. I've a very competitive car, and although the next race will be more tricky for us, I'm attacking and it's exciting.

"I'm not going to sit back and hope for a good result or try and be consistent. I did that over the second half of last year and mentally it's very tough.

"But when you're behind and you're chasing and you have a good car, you can be more aggressive, and for me every race I go into I have to be aggressive. I can't sit back and hope to get good points."

At least Button is relishing the prospect of returning to Singapore this weekend as he feared a year ago his title dreams were slipping away at the Far East venue.

"The end of the year was so tough for me," added Button.

"In Singapore I remember saying on the in-lap in qualifying 'we've thrown this championship away', but this year I go there excited.

"I still finished fifth, even though I qualified 11th. I just won't make it that hard on myself this time.

"But yeah, I'm excited. You've two Brits who are fighting it out, so we should be happy."

The stress levels are one of the noticeable elements considerably different for the 30-year-old, who said: "I don't feel like I'm under any pressure at all, it's quite weird.

"I'm just going to every race enjoying it, although I still wake at nights when I'm not racing feeling frustrated when I've not had a good race.

"I'm thinking about racing a lot, which is annoying because sometimes you need to get away from it.

"But I feel a lot more relaxed. I go to every race just to enjoy it, and if the end result is as good as I hope it is then it will be amazing.

"If it's not, it's not. I'll live to fight another day and I'll be back here next year, but at the moment I'm just enjoying my racing and that's the most important thing for me."

[MIKA27]

Heidfeld 'never thought' F1 career was over

Nick Heidfeld said he always believed he would be back in F1, as he makes a fairytale return in Singapore this week after joining Sauber.

The 33-year-old German has been drafted in for the five final races of the season for the team he left in 2009 when BMW pulled out of Formula One.

Heidfeld had joined Mercedes at the start of the season as back up for Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, but left mid-season to work for tyre manufacturer Pirelli.

Having already driven for Prost (2000), Sauber (2001-2003), Jordan (2004), Williams (2005) and BMW (2006-2009), he will be starting his 168th Grand Prix on Sunday.

"I never thought my F1 career was over," he said.

"You are never 100 percent sure but I had been in contact with teams and the interest was there, so I always believed I would be back."

Heidfeld is replacing Spain's Pedro De la Rosa, who mustered only six points in 14 races with a seventh placing his best finish.

"As usual I want to perform to the maximum and get the most out of the car," he added.

"It is important to get into the rhythm with the car and the tyres on Friday and Saturday. It is important to learn quickly."

Sauber's other driver, Japan's Kamui Kobayashi, is in 12th place in the championship on 21 points.

[OZCUBAN]

Whitmarsh: Title race too tough to call

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes it is a brave man who predicts the destiny of this season's Formula One world title.

Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel are separated by just 24 points with five races remaining, starting this weekend in Singapore.

The quintet have claimed between them the 14 race victories so far, and it is becoming more apparent the championship is destined to go down to the wire with the final grand prix in Abu Dhabi.

At present it is the most closely contested title fight since 1981, and for Whitmarsh he concedes it is the most dramatic he has been involved with during his 21 years in F1.

"We've been in some fantastic fights, but typically there have only been two teams or two drivers," said Whitmarsh.

"Inevitably the best ones are those you win. I enjoyed 1998 for all sorts of reasons, a great championship with Mika (Hakkinen). It was nice to beat Michael (Schumacher).

"That was a great, great one that went all the way down to the final race in Japan. That was fantastic.

"But for the fans that year, as with many, it was two drivers fighting it out. This year, who knows, there are five drivers fighting for this one at the moment.

"The great thing is you've Jenson and Lewis, both the Red Bull drivers, you've got Fernando, all very much in this title fight, which is tremendously exciting.

"So to predict the outcome of this championship would be a very brave thing to do."

As with any championship battle, the keys to success are simple, particularly if you are a driver or team involved at the sharp end of the season.

"If you're confident or complacent then you really will not get the job done," added Whitmarsh.

"You can never be confident because Red Bull and Ferrari are strong teams who are going to keep improving their cars, so we've got to keep improving ours.

"We've just got to continue striving to make our car quicker and better, to try and minimise mistakes because that's how you win championships."

Sunday's race is essentially a pivotal one for McLaren as it marks a return to a low-speed, high-downforce track that has so far been their undoing this season.

Monaco and the Hungaroring are similar circuits to the Marina Bay venue, and where McLaren collected their lowest points hauls of the year, just 10 and four respectively.

Whitmarsh is naturally hoping some ground will have been recovered since the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 1, otherwise his team's title hopes will again be exposed.

"It's the first race at a low-speed, high-downforce track since the Hungaroring back in August," said Whitmarsh.

"It's also the first high-downforce track we've visited since the FIA tightened up its regulations on flexible bodywork.

"So it's likely to give us a much clearer idea of the respective pace of the leading teams after two less representative events in Belgium and Italy.

"But this is a race the whole team looks forward to enormously, and we travel to Singapore with a number of new ideas to try out on our cars, feeling positive we'll again be in a position to race at the front."

MIKA: I'm tipping Webber to win the WC with Alonso right behind him.

I am with you Mika Webber 1st Alonso second,i think Hamilton like Vettel is still prone to mistakes

Oz

[OZCUBAN]

As usual great posts mate ,this is a great way for me to get up to speed for the race weekend,when i haven't had the time in the the lead up week

Keep up the great work

Cheers

OZ

[MIKA27]

I'll second that mate, bloody great & consistent job you've done to keep us all informed. Mucho Kudos!

Thanks very much Steve and Brendan!

I enjoy posting the F1 news as I know there are so many who read the information posted.

Thanks to all for reading.

[MIKA27]

Hamilton slates Bernie's medal proposal

Lewis Hamilton hopes Bernie Ecclestone will drop plans to consider again a medal system in the sport, insisting it was "not his greatest idea".

Ecclestone first aired the suggestion of race wins determining the destiny of the Championship instead of points a year ago.

At present the five title contenders - Mark Webber, Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel - are separated by 24 points under the new points plan that was introduced by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council at the start of the year, with Ecclestone's idea overlooked.

If Ecclestone's scheme were in force now, Webber would continue to lead the way with four victories compared to the three for Hamilton and Alonso, and two apiece for Button and Vettel.

Speaking on Thursday, Ecclestone said: "(The new points system) has made absolutely no difference. If we were using the old system it would be exactly the same.

"Maybe they will wake up and think about my gold medal system as Mark would have four now, with a couple other guys with three, so the Championship could go all the way down to the wire."

Asked if he would again try and push for it, he added: "Yeah, for sure. They'll see now what could happen. Let's wait and see."

But an unimpressed Hamilton said: "Out of the many ideas that have come out, this is potentially one of the worst. I would say it's not his greatest idea.

"What Bernie has achieved in Formula One is absolutely phenomenal and no one else could have done as great a job as him.

"But even the best have ideas that are not as good as their best ideas, and even the best are not always right.

"What I do like about Bernie is that he is always up front about what he thinks. He never holds back, and that says a lot about a person, it shows great character."

Assessing this season's Championship, Hamilton added: "If the Red Bulls had not failed they would have won it a long time ago, and no one would even bother turning up - I wouldn't probably turn up!

"What would be the point of turning up if you have five races left and the Championship is way, way over? What are you racing for?

"But now you are racing for points, the opportunity to jump the guy in front of you, and you can only do that by gaining points at each and every grand prix.

"So points-wise it is by far the smartest way forward."

As McLaren team-mate Jenson Button noted, his title triumph last year would have been over with four races remaining if the medals system had been in place.

"I could have sat out the last few races, gone on a big holiday for three months," smiled Button.

"Last year I would have said 'yes, it's a fantastic idea,' but this year not so much.

"There has been a points system in F1 forever, which I like. It has been exciting working to a points system.

"It still doesn't stop you challenging for a win. You are still going to go for the win if you have a chance.

"With Bernie, I think he is looking from the point of view that you have better racing, but it's not the case from my point of view."

Appreciating how important points are to the smaller teams, Button added: "For the three teams at the back, if they get one point, how exciting would it be for them to achieve that?

"Even with points down to 10th place it is still very difficult for them, but with a medals system there are probably only four teams in with a chance of getting a medal at some point in the year.

"So for the smaller teams and those at the front it's less exciting and there is less to go for."

[MIKA27]

Drivers admits concerns over wet Singapore

Mark Webber admits track time will be vital as the F1 drivers voiced their concerns over rainfall during this weekend's night race in Singapore.

The Singapore Grand Prix is a unique challenge for the teams and drivers as the race is held on a floodlit track late at night. However, in the past, the event has always taken place under cloud-less skies with perfect visibility.

This weekend, though, it won't be.

With the city-state's National Environment Agency on Thursday said it expected "showers with thunder" over the next three days, weather conditions might prove crucial not only for the outcome of the race on the Marina Bay Circuit.

"We haven't experienced the rain in this venue and one of the things we need to experience, sooner rather than later, is to experience the spray," said Championship leader Webber.

"My money is that everything will be fine - and the rules will be the same, if it is too wet we cannot have a car race.

"We will leave it up to the guys to make sure it is safe enough to stay on the track and if it is safe enough to stay on the track then it will be a normal grand prix."

But while Webber believes all will be fine, Rubens Barrichello admits he's concerned about visibility as well as how the rain will impact the grip on the Marina Bay street circuit.

"It is a very slippery track and luckily they have done a good enough job for the track not to be as bumpy as it was," he said.

"We have no experience in the wet whatsoever here so we need to understand what the tyres will do and the visibility more than anything.

"If it rains, like Brazilian-type (very heavy) rain, then we could have problems with visibility. Not so much from the spray but the wet coming onto the visor."

Meanwhile, Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg said a possible rainy Singapore night race was "a bit of a concern for him."

"It's very much unknown," he said, adding that "it will be very interesting.

Comparing the Singapore course with Monaco, Ferrari's Felipe Massa said Monaco's city course with rain was always tricky as the track got slippery.

"It should be the same here," he said.

"But here [the race] is in the night, which can be a little more difficult," added Massa, who ranks sixth in the drivers' standing on 124 points.

"Anyway, we need to be prepared for everything," said the Ferrari driver.

[MIKA27]

Schumacher insists he won't quit after 2010

Michael Schumacher has insisted he won't be retiring from Formula One for a second time after the 2010 season, despite rumours suggesting he would.

The seven-time world champion has suffered a torrid time in his comeback season. His team-mate, fellow German Nico Rosberg, has outqualified him and outraced him on more occasions than not.

Schumacher put to rest rumours that he's on his way out, telling reporters in Singapore, "you cannot get rid of me, let's put it this way."

The Mercedes driver is hoping an early start on the development of their 2011 challenger will enable the outfit to get a head start over rivals Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari - all of which are locked in an intense title battle.

"Our goal is naturally to win the championship, better earlier than later," he said.

"But it is a process and we are not magic, so we trying to maximise our opportunity in deciding early to prepare for 2011.

"The process has started naturally whereas the teams that are contending for the championship have to keep doing a programme, we hope that will give us a slight advantage for restarting in 2011."

[MIKA27]

Alonso: All five contenders are still in the race

Fernando Alonso insists the title fight is still a five-driver race despite Lewis Hamilton questioning whether he's still in the hunt.

It was a tale of two past World Champions in Singapore on Sunday night as Alonso clinched his second successive victory while for the second race in a row Hamilton retired with a broken suspension after colliding with a rival driver.

Hamilton's retirement, coupled with Alonso's victory to Mark Webber's P3, allowed the Ferrari driver to move up to second place in the Drivers' standings, just 11 points behind Webber and nine ahead of Hamilton.

However, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button are still in with a shot as they finished second and fourth respectively to keep their title hopes alive.

"It remains very tight," said Alonso. "All five contenders are still more or less with the same possibility.

"Mark has a little bit more margin to have a bad weekend. For the others we need to keep catching up if we can.

"We will do our best, we won't know if it will be enough to win the title in Abu Dhabi but people can be sure we will fight until the end.

"In these four races any of us can win two or three consecutive races and be in a good position, but if you make mistakes you can be off the Championship.

"We need to keep our concentration - hopefully with no mistakes and hopefully we keep the same way in Japan as well."

As for his victory in Singapore, his second at the Marina Bay circuit, Alonso admits it meant a lot, not only because of the points scored but also because it was a sure sign that Ferrari have in their F10 a car capable of fighting for race wins.

"It was very difficult. We knew that before coming here. We know Singapore physically is the toughest race this season, with two hours in humidity on a street circuit. It was tough to drive.

"This win means a lot. We know Singapore is a unique track and we could confirm the car is performing well.

"This win means a lot to stay in the fight for the Championship. We know there are four races to go. It seems we can be competitive in any track. Great job by the factory and the team to get 100% of potential all the time.

"Forza Ferrari!"

[MIKA27]

Webber: Not desirable but no-one's fault

Mark Webber concedes his crash with Lewis Hamilton wasn't what he wanted in Singapore but these things happen.

With the drivers scrambling for position at the restart after a Safety Car period, Webber and Hamilton collided as the latter attempted to take third place off the Red Bull driver.

Instead, though, he retired from the grand prix with a broken suspension, similar to what happened in Monza two weeks ago when he had a coming together with Felipe Massa.

Asked about the incident in the post-race press conference, having gone on to finish third, Webber said: "I got caught up behind a Virgin and Lewis got a run at me.

"Lewis certainly was a little bit ahead but it was similar to the last race with Felipe and Lewis. Felipe probably didn't know he was there. Lewis was quite a long way behind.

"This can happen sometimes, we brake completely on the limit. For sure it was incredibly tight, we did not hit that hard but enough to probably put both of us out of the race. It wasn't desirable but it happened."

And although Webber escaped without any major damage, the Championship leader revealed. "After that I had some vibration and was very worried that the car wouldn't get home."

However, he did get home and in third place, adding a further 18 points to his tally to extend his lead in the Championship to 11 points over Fernando Alonso.

But it could have been a different story after a risky strategy where Red Bull called Webber in for his one and only pit stop just four laps into the 61 lap race.

"The start was pretty good so it was good for us to get away sets the pace for the race in a good fashion," he said.

"Decided to pit early and I questioned the team so thanks to the guys. When we queued up behind the Safety Car we were in a good position, so I thought, yeah well."

He added: "I'm very happy."

[MIKA27]

Domenicali: No truth to Massa rumours

Stefano Domenicali says he's getting rather "bored" with rumours claiming that Robert Kubica will replace Felipe Massa next season.

As the silly season hits high gear, fresh reports claim that Kubica is on his way to Ferrari next season to team up with Fernando Alonso while Massa is heading to Sauber.

However, Ferrari's team boss insists there is no absolutely truth to the rumours.

Asked in Singapore whether he could 'put that story to bed completely and tell us it's rubbish', he said: "Absolutely.

"I totally underline what you've said, because I think it's getting boring news.

"Every day there is something new on that and I tell you that Peter (Sauber) and I meet a lot of times because we have a good professional relationship, so I can confirm what you said, absolutely."

[MIKA27]

Heikki: Looks dramatic when it burns

Heikki Kovalainen's retirement in Singapore may have not been the most dramatic given Lewis Hamilton's DNF but it was visually the best.

A lap from the end of the race, the Lotus driver's Cosworth engine blew resulting in a few puffs of smoke from a rather small fire at the back of his car.

That, however, soon turned into a blazing inferno as the Finn attempted to park his car away from the race and, pardon the pun, out of the line of fire.

Once he climbed out of his car, Kovalainen grabbed a fire extinguisher and set about trying to save the chassis. It wasn't possible.

"It always looks dramatic when it (the car) is like that. I did not want to go into the pit lane with the car like that as it could have hurt a lot of people," he told BBC One.

"I looked for the fire marshal on the pit straight and took the car there. There was a bit of damage but no-one got hurt and that is the main thing."

[MIKA27]

Sutil penalised for gaining an advantage

Adrian Sutil has lost his eighth-place finish in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix after being penalised by the stewards.

Sutil started Sunday's night race from 15th place on the grid and put in a solid showing to cross the line P8, although almost a full two minutes behind race-winner Fernando Alonso.

The Force India driver, though, was later called into the stewards' office and slapped with a 20second penalty for gaining an advantage for going around Turn 7 on the opening lap.

The penalty drops Sutil to P10 and elevates both Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa up the order.

Force India, though, are set to appeal the decision while also lodging a protest against Hulkenberg for gaining an advantage by cutting a corner.

Revised Results

01. Alonso Ferrari 1h57:53.579

02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 0.293

03. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 29.141

04. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 30.384

05. Rosberg Mercedes + 49.394

06. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 56.101

07. Kubica Renault + 1:26.559

08. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1:52.791

09. Massa Ferrari + 1:53.297

10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap

11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap

12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap

13. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap

14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap

15. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps

16. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 3 laps

[MIKA27]

Button: I need to be on that podium

Jenson Button admits he needs to get onto the podium in Japan after losing ground to Mark Webber in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Button arrived at Singapore trailing Championship leader Webber by 22 points but with a better starting position on the grid than the Aussie.

However, an inspired strategy by Red Bull coupled with stability problems for Button ensured Webber finished the grand prix just ahead of the McLaren driver in third place.

As a result, Button lost a further three points to the Aussie and afterwards admitted he just didn't have the pace needed to catch Webber's Red Bull.

"I wish it felt like a steady race, I was flat out throughout. I took it easy on the rear tyres to begin with and I think it helped towards the end. I had the same sort of issue with rear stability," he told BBC One.

"When you can't catch a Red Bull that has 30 more laps on its tyres shows how quick they are around here."

Looking ahead to the next race, the Japanese GP, the reigning World Champ believes he needs a top-three finish, and not just consistency, if he hopes to stay in the title race.

"We go to Japan happy, we have a good upgrade for that race. We wanted to have it here but couldn't because of reliability issues.

"I am still in the title race, it's a very small margin and we will race until the last race. There is everything to play for. Lewis' incident shows that consistency is important, but I need to be on that podium."

[MIKA27]

Schumi's 'not particularly happy'

Michael Schumacher wasn't very happy with his first outing in Singapore as he spent part of it playing bumper cars with the Saubers.

Running in ninth place and looking to be on track for points, Schumacher had a coming together - his first of two - with Kamui Kobayashi, which put the German into a spin, dropping him down to 15th place.

However, that wasn't Schumacher's only encounter with a Sauber as he also collided with Nick Heidfeld, resulting in the stating that in his "view, Michael was braking a bit too late and knocked me out of the race."

Schumacher, though, reckons both collisions where nothing but racing incidents, although unfortunately they cost him any chance of scoring points.

"I am not particularly happy about my first experience of racing in Singapore this evening," he said.

"I had two encounters with other cars which were racing incidents and meant that I had to make my stops at times which were not ideal and consequently my race was heavily compromised.

"I suffered with the rear tyres on my first set of options which made me slide rather than drive through corners which was tough, so I would probably say that I only enjoyed the second part of the race."

[MIKA27]

Vettel: Better to take 18 than risk a mistake

Sebastian Vettel says he didn't want to risk the 18 points he had in the bag by making a rash move on Fernando Alonso for the win in Singapore.

Prior to Sunday's 61-lap grand prix under lights, Vettel commented about the five drivers in the hunt for the World title would need to balance aggression against scoring a few points.

"You need to look at the risk, whether a move is possible or not, and if it's not possible you don't try," said the Red Bull racer.

And that's exactly what he did in Singapore.

For the final two laps of the race the German was right behind Alonso on the track, with the gap between the two roughly around a second or even closer at times.

However, at no time did the 23-year-old make a mad lunge at Alonso, perhaps having already learnt his lesson in Belgium when he did just that to Jenson Button, causing a collision.

Talking about his Singapore adventure and the lack of that diving pass many expected to see, Vettel said: "The final two laps were the only chance I had but with the old tyres the car was sliding all over the place, it was difficult.

"During the pit stop I made a little mistake and if I hadn't then I think it would have been close.

"I tried to push him (Alonso) into a mistake, but he didn't make one, so it was difficult to overtake and it would have been too risky.

"In the end we go away with second place. We got good points.

"The most important is that car was competitive all weekend. There was a bit missing yesterday and that is probably what was missing today.

"In the end it is good to get points for the team and it helps us in the Constructers' Championship and me in the Drivers' Championship."

[MIKA27]

Lewis: I don't know what happened

Lewis Hamilton claims "he doesn't know what happened" when he made contact with Mark Webber during the Singapore Grand Prix.

Webber leapfrogged Hamilton for the final podium position during the pit stops, but the deployment of the Safety Car shortly after the halfway stage meant P3 was always up for grabs.

The McLaren driver managed to pass Webber at Turn Seven, but the Australian fought back on the inside and their cars made contact. Hamilton was forced to retire while Webber was able to continue and claim P3.

The stewards decided to investigate the incident, but found that it was just a racing incident.

"I saw Mark made a mistake and got caught by a backmarker so I knew I could slipstream him into Turn Seven and I thought I was enough past him," Hamilton is quoted on BBC.

"I couldn't see him and turned in and left enough room and the next thing I know I got hit. I don't know what happened. I'll have to watch it on TV and see what really happened."

Hamilton's latest DNF - his third in four races - has seen him drop 20 points off Webber's lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship.

"There are still four races to go. I'm 20 points behind Mark, and that's a reasonable gap, but it's not an insurmountable one," he said. "I guess I'll just have to keep my head down and hope for the best.

"I'm not going to think specifically about the World Championship right now, I'm just going to try to enjoy the rest of the season - and whatever happens happens.

"But I'll keep fighting to the end, because it's the only way I know."

[MIKA27]

Sun: Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Merc

Fernando Alonso claimed the victory in Singapore, finishing ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Jenson Button...

Ferrari:

Fernando Alonso: "This win is very significant. We wanted to confirm our success in Monza at a completely different type of track and we succeeded at the end of a very hard and extremely stressful race, both for me and for the car, on a track that I like a lot and which is well suited to my driving style. After the earlier gift - the Easter surprise, as I called it - of getting pole yesterday, today it was important first and foremost to make a good start: that is what happened, even if Vettel might have been slightly quicker away than me, but here the run to the first corner is not so long and so I was able to close the door and keep the lead. On the soft tyres, we were going very well, but on the hards, the Red Bull seemed to be quicker than us. The pit stop went off perfectly, both in terms of strategy and in the way it was done in pit lane. In the second part of the race, I tried to avoid taking any sort of risk, especially when getting past the backmarkers at the same time as the yellow flags were out. There are four races to go and the championship is very open. In Spa, Sebastian, Jenson and I came away empty handed, then in Monza it was Hamilton's turn: the dance towards the title sees the contenders see-sawing up and down, although Mark is still holding on to a slight lead. We must stay calm and concentrate on our own job, without thinking about what the others are doing: what is certain is that we will leave nothing to chance, fighting right to the very end. The F10 has improved a lot thanks to the work of all our engineers in Maranello and here at the track, and I am happy for that because now we can be on the pace at every type of circuit. We are not considered favourites for the races that lie ahead of us, but none of them are anything to be frightened about."

Felipe Massa: "It was a very difficult race for me after everything that happened in qualifying yesterday. We chose a strategy similar to the one used for Fernando in Monaco, hoping for some help from a Safety Car which unfortunately, came out on track too early. So I was not able to overtake that many cars and then I found myself in a train behind Sutil and Hulkenberg: one or two laps later and I could have made up two or three places and had a different sort of race. The car was not too bad, given that I was always on the same set of hard tyres: only towards the end did the situation get worse and I could feel the tyre degradation which is why Kubica managed to get past me so easily. I can't say I had much fun driving, given that I was always stuck behind another car. I had a new engine and now I only have three left which have each done one race, to rotate over the last four races of the season. I hope I will have more luck in those races than I have had this weekend!"

Red Bull:

Sebastian Vettel: "Towards the end of the first stint my soft tyres were pretty much finished, so the car was sliding a lot. We came in on the same lap as Ferrari and unfortunately I made a little mistake at the pit stop; otherwise I think it would have been very close. That's the story of the whole race. I tried to push Fernando as hard as I could into a mistake, but he didn't make a major one and it's hard to overtake here - it would have been too risky. In the end we got second and some good points. The most important thing is that the car was quick and competitive all weekend. There was something missing yesterday in qualifying, which is the only thing that affected us today. Some people had been commenting on our starts, but I had a very good start, so we made excellent progress with that. It's good to get points for the team, it helps us a lot in the Constructors' Championship and the Drivers' Championship is still open."

Mark Webber: "Our start was very good, so well done to the team for that. It was good for us to get away well, as it sets you up well for the race. I settled into the first stint and we had an early safety car. The team told me to pit, which I questioned, but they assured me it was the right thing. I wasn't sure and knew it was going to be a long stint on the primes, but when we came out and re-queued behind the safety car I realised I was in a reasonable position. I passed a few guys, then got to Rubens (Barrichello) who was driving very well and I couldn't clear him. We then had another restart and it can be difficult to get away cleanly when you have back-markers involved. I got caught up behind one the Virgin cars, he was doing his best, but Lewis (Hamilton) got a good run on me and unfortunately we made contact. It's obviously not desirable, as it was a key part of the race for me to maintain my position. Fernando (Alonso) and Sebastian (Vettel) drove fantastic races today. They drove well all weekend and it was a good race for everyone to see, I'm very happy with third."

McLaren:

Jenson Button: "At the start, I thought I'd take it easy on the rear tyres, because we saw earlier in the weekend how quickly they were going away, and I think doing that helped me towards the end of my first stint when I was pulling in Lewis. On the Prime tyre, I had a similar issue with rear-end stability, so not being able to challenge a Red Bull car that had 30 extra laps on its tyres showed us that they were very quick around here today. But it's a circuit where we knew they'd be competitive, and probably one that was going to be difficult for us, so I go to Japan pretty happy. We've got a good upgrade for Suzuka: we'll have something that we tried to put on the car this weekend but couldn't - for reliability reasons. Coupled with our planned-for-Suzuka upgrade, it should hopefully be a bit of a double-whammy. My Championship hopes were dented a little bit by Mark [Webber] finishing ahead of me, but the points gap to the front is just a race victory away. It shows there's still everything to play for - one bad race can cost you a lot of points."

Lewis Hamilton: "I'm still not exactly sure what happened with Mark and me. But, telling it from my point of view, I saw that he'd made a mistake, and had got caught up with the backmarkers, so I was in position to slipstream him. I was on the outside going into Turn Seven, and he was in my blind-spot, just behind me. I thought I'd got sufficiently past him, though. I braked, turned in, and tried to leave enough room for him on the inside - and the next thing I knew I'd got clipped, my tyre was blown, and that was it. But, as the saying goes, I guess that's motor racing. So, there are still four races to go. I'm 20 points behind Mark, and that's a reasonable gap, but it's not an insurmountable one. I guess I'll just have to keep my head down and hope for the best. I'm not going to think specifically about the world championship right now, I'm just going to try to enjoy the rest of the season - and whatever happens happens. But I'll keep fighting to the end, because it's the only way I know."

Mercedes GP:

Nico Rosberg: "It was extremely tough out there but we achieved the best possible result for us today. Our aim for the last few races is to finish as the best behind the top three teams and today we were able to profit as two of them had issues with Felipe in qualifying yesterday and Lewis in the race today. So fifth place is good for us and it's very satisfying for the team. I could push Jenson a little at some points which was good to see. We will be aiming to finish the rest of the season as strongly."

Michael Schumacher: "I am not particularly happy about my first experience of racing in Singapore this evening. I had two encounters with other cars which were racing incidents and meant that I had to make my stops at times which were not ideal and consequently my race was heavily compromised. I suffered with the rear tyres on my first set of options which made me slide rather than drive through corners which was tough, so I would probably say that I only enjoyed the second part of the race."

[MIKA27]

Sun: Williams, Renault, FIndia, STR

There were points in Singapore for both Williams drivers, Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil...

Williams:

Rubens Barrichello: "It was a good race and a good collection of points today. It was a pity to drop places off the line, but while my brakes were hot, the lap times were good and I was catching Kubica, but with the interruptions of the Safety Cars I kept losing brake performance, so it was difficult to make any more headway than we managed. In summary, though I think we can be pleased with our performance this weekend."

Nico Hulkenberg: "If someone had offered me eighth place and some points after how qualifying went yesterday, I would have grabbed it! It has been a hard day's work out there, huge concentration needed for a long race with a car close in front and another close behind for pretty much the entire race distance. But I am pleased with fighting my way through from the back to eighth place and helping the team to move ahead in the championship."

Renault:

Robert Kubica: "The last few laps were definitely the most exciting part of the race. The engineers spotted a right-rear puncture on the data - it must have been some debris that cut the tyre, because I didn't touch the wall and couldn't feel anything in the cockpit. That stop dropped me from sixth to 13th position. I had much fresher tyres than the cars in front in those last laps, but it's still not easy to pass in Singapore, so it was good fun picking them off one by one. In the end, I got back to seventh place, which meant we only lost one position compared to our maximum this afternoon. Ultimately, if somebody had said that I would finish seventh today, and make one more pit stop than the cars around me, then I'd definitely have taken it."

Vitaly Petrov: "I made a fantastic start and was running in 10th position early in the race. We stopped under the first Safety Car period and I was the first runner on prime tyres behind Webber, so things looked good. I need to look at the video to see what happened afterwards with Hülkenberg and why he pushed me out in turn seven, but his move cost me three positions. I was then stuck behind Massa, in the queue behind the Force India, and it just wasn't possible to overtake because we had all changed tyres at the same time. It was a tough race, but my luck went away from me yesterday in qualifying. I hope things will come back in my direction starting in Suzuka, so that I can put together a consistent weekend in qualifying and the race."

Force India:

Adrian Sutil: "It was a really hard race today, in the heat and the humidity and having to race the whole way - I always had a car following really closely behind! Starting from 15th on the grid, I think this was the maximum we could have done. It's a fantastic result, particularly after the disappointment yesterday. I said before it is very important to score every single point we can so we can keep ahead of Williams in the Constructors' Championship. That's why I tried so hard to keep Hulkenberg behind - any points we get are very important. We now go onto Suzuka, one of my favourite tracks, where I'll try my best to keep everything on track until the end of the season."

Tonio Liuzzi: "It was a difficult first lap. I had a good start and I was trying to overtake Heidfeld, who went straight on into turn seven side by side with Adrian. I was holding my line but after the corner they both came back on the line and I was squeezed into the wall. I had some contact with Heidfeld and damaged the front wing a little and then I must have cracked the rear suspension as well as the lap after it broke completely and I lost the rear end. It's really disappointing as looking at how the race developed I think we could have picked up a good finish. Anyway, it will be onto Japan now where I hope we can have a much better race."

Toro Rosso:

Jaime Alguersuari: "I am satisfied that I finished the race, but to be honest, it was possibly the most boring race of my career. I was stuck in a train of cars and there was virtually nothing I could do. It should have been a good opportunity for us to score points today, having qualified eleventh, but it went wrong before the start with a coolant leak on the car, which meant I started from pit lane after the others had gone by. At that point, my hopes of having a good day disappeared. At least I managed three overtaking moves. Looking on the positive side, I think our car has improved in terms of performance and it's not so bad to start last and finish twelfth."

Sebastien Buemi: "It was a very tough race. I made a good start, but on the opening lap I had a contact with Kobayashi, which I think might have done some damage because from that point on I had a lot more understeer. So we decided to stop and change the front wing to be on the safe side and at the same time we also changed the tyres. I came out behind Petrov and spent most of the race behind him. Later on, I had to pit another time to pressurise the hydraulic system and we again changed tyres, which meant I was able to catch and pass Jaime and close on Petrov again. I tried to pass him, I didn't manage it and I was caught by Kubica, who was on fresh tyres. Another pit stop was needed, where we fitted the soft tyres and after that I was able to do some good lap times. I am disappointed because I think that, without the difficulties I had, tenth place should have been within my grasp. However, generally the car has improved which is encouraging for the next race."

[MIKA27]

Sun: Virgin, Lotus, Sauber, HRT

Lucas di Grassi and Heikki Kovalainen were the last of the official finishers while neither Sauber not Hispania saw the end of the Singapore GP...

Virgin:

Lucas di Grassi: "A very good result overall and I have achieved my target for Singapore. We opted to pit during the first safety car period but we were very unlucky with the second, which made us lose a lot of time in the race. After that I just focused on getting to the finish. The car was feeling better and better and I was improving my lap time, so overall I'm happy with my performance today."

Timo Glock: "I got a reasonably good start to the race but both Lotus cars were able to overtake me. I was then able to retake Trulli at turn 7 and it was quite good putting pressure on Kovalainen. At the first safety car we tried to stay out, which worked out okay and I was running as high as P10. I stayed in front of all the other guys for a few laps but when Sutil overtook me there was no chance to keep the others in the pack behind me. When he passed I couldn't recover quick enough because the tyres were dirty as a result of having to go offline. We were just unlucky with the second safety car. I had to come in for tyres and we just ended up behind. Then a few laps from the end we had a problem with the hydraulics and our race was over. So now we look forward to the next one in Japan where we have more of our upgrade package and that should help us a lot."

Lotus:

Heikki Kovalainen: "That was not quite how I thought my race would end! Until the fire, I was having a really strong run and the car had felt good throughout. We were looking good for 15th, but then I had a coming together with Buemi towards the end of the race. I spun the car to get back onto the track which I think cracked the fuel tank pressure release valve and it looks like that caused an airbox fire. I didn't want to come into the pits as it definitely wasn't safe enough to do so, and pulled over on the main straight. A couple of guys from Williams gave me an extinguisher, so I put the fire out on my own - I told Tony and Mike that they maybe need to pay me more as I'm now a fireman as well..."

Jarno Trulli: "I had a very good start and was running well with Heikki but then the problems started. I had a puncture just after the first safety car which brought me back in early, and then the hydraulic problems that have affected me quite a few times this season struck again. It's been a difficult weekend to be honest, but now we go to Suzuka which is a track I really look forward to, so hopefully I'll have some better luck there."

Sauber:

Nick Heidfeld: "Of course I would have hoped for a better result and wanted to finish the race. But, in my view, Michael (Schumacher) was braking a bit too late and knocked me out of the race. My race was compromised soon after the start anyway. Vitantonio Liuzzi wanted to pass me from a long way off on the outside in corner four. Then I believe he braked early and unfortunately I crashed into him. The car wasn't easy to drive with the missing rear wing endplate and, anyway, the set-up had not been ideal because you are not allowed to change anything after qualifying. However, having said that, the lap times were not too bad for a while in the race. I'm now looking forward to my favourite circuit, Suzuka."

Kamui Kobayashi: "It was clearly my mistake. After I overtook Michael Schumacher I knew I had to push very, very hard to score a point, but meanwhile the tyres were completely gone. I misjudged this in that corner and crashed into the barrier. Then Bruno Senna crashed into my car as well. The overall damage is quite bad. At the start it was very close and I lost one place to Vitaly Petrov. Against Mark Webber I had no chance, and then I was tenth behind Michael. I could have gone faster but had no chance to overtake. When I saw an opportunity I attacked him and it worked. Then, as I said, I pushed like hell and ended up in the barrier."

Hispania:

Christian Klien: "I really enjoyed being back in Formula One again even though a comeback here in Singapore might be one of the most difficult. Due to the humidity and the challenging circuit, it has been a tough race today. At the beginning I got off to a good start, could win some positions and was 18th in the meantime. I want to thank the whole team for their great job and also for giving me the opportunity to race."

Bruno Senna: "As soon as I came out of the corner and into the braking area the flags came out, but it was too late and there was no way to avoid the accident. The marshals were just too late and I didn't have any notice of what was going on. It's just one of those days. But we have to keep on working hard for Japan."

[MIKA27]

Hulkenberg given 20-second penalty

Nico Hulkenberg has been penalised by the stewards for gaining an unfair advantage when he cut turn seven on the opening lap of the race.

The penalty comes as Force India's Adrian Sutil suffered the same fate, as a result Force India appealed Sutil's penalty and protested that the Williams driver had also cut the corner.

The team have now retracted their appeal against Sutil's penalty as the German moves into ninth, behind Felipe Massa who gains two places in the post-race confusion.

The outcome has pushed Sutil above Schumacher by a single point whilst Hulkenberg drops behind Vitaly Petrov.

[MIKA27]

Bernie: 'We'll move to HD in 2011, probably'

Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that the FOM stream sent to broadcasters around the world will switch to High Definition (HD) as early as next year.

The F1 rights holder had suggested that fans would have to wait until 2012 for HD broadcasts, but during an interview with the BBC's Eddie Jordan, he admitted the technology could be apart of the sport from 2011.

"I think what's being produced at the moment is very, very good but I think we'll be moving to High Definition, probably next year," he said.

Fans have been waiting several years now for better quality broadcast images as most sports have adopted the technology, whilst many have begun to broadcast in 3D - something that has been tested within F1, but kept for the purposes of promotional material.

[MIKA27]

James Allen's Singapore GP verdict

With his second win from pole in two races Fernando Alonso has stormed back into contention for this year’s world championship.

I asked him in the post-race TV interview if we should all put our money on him now and it’s starting to look like a smart bet.

The championship is still Mark Webber’s to lose, given that he still has an 11-point advantage and his car is still the fastest out there – but Ferrari have impressed everyone with the way they’ve come back in recent weeks and Alonso is on top of his game.

If you go back to Germany, Alonso has scored 93 points in the five races since then, and that is despite not scoring in Spa.

That isn’t the strongest five-race run we’ve seen this season – Lewis Hamilton scored 98 between Turkey and Germany – but it shows that Ferrari is peaking at the right time, as the championship enters what Sir Alex Ferguson would call “squeaky bum time”.

Today Alonso wasn’t allowed any respite by Sebastian Vettel.

The winning margin was just 0.2s and in the second half of the race in particular – the half that was played out on the hard tyres – Vettel was faster.

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali said this evening that the race was actually won in Saturday’s qualifying session, when Alonso took the pole by less than 0.1s from Vettel.

If you were being tough about it, Vettel actually gave Alonso the pole by dropping two-tenths in the middle sector when he brushed the barrier, but Alonso’s challenge this weekend was relentless.

This really is quite a comeback.

Don’t forget that Alonso has been criticised for making too many mistakes and the team has done a great job to bounce back from the dark days around the time of Turkey when the technical department seemed to be losing its way with the F-duct rear wing and no blown diffuser.

Since they got the diffuser on the car in Valencia and then refined those two components over the next two races, Ferrari have been the closest challengers to Red Bull and Alonso has shown the leadership from the cockpit that the team hired him for last year.

The other great talking point today was the incident between Hamilton and Webber, which put Lewis out of the race.

The incident happened because Webber got boxed in behind Lucas di Grassi’s Virgin Racing car in turn 5, which cost him momentum.

Hamilton got alongside, on the outside, and was ahead as they turned into the left-handed turn seven, but Webber braked late and held his line.

As we saw in Istanbul, he is not going to give anything away this year because this is his best chance of winning a title and he may not have the chance again.

McLaren feel that Webber was fortunate not to be penalised for the incident.

But the stewards this year have been taking quite a lenient view of “racing incidents” where drivers have been trying to pass and no clear blame can be apportioned.

I think this is a positive thing for the sport – it has encouraged drivers to ‘have a go’ and that is what the public want to see, especially when there is a lot at stake, as there is for the title contenders.

The general view is that the stewards got this one right, painful as it might seem to Hamilton.

It has dropped him down to third in the championship, 20 points behind Webber.

McLaren should be strong in Suzuka, but Red Bull ought to be stronger still.

Korea (if it goes ahead) and Abu Dhabi look like they might be good for McLaren too, so all is not lost for Hamilton.

It was important for Webber to keep his points loss to Vettel down to just three today. That means he is still 21 points clear of his team-mate.

Red Bull aren’t going to take sides and favour one driver over another for a while yet, but Webber need to keep this kind of margin to have a chance of getting his way.

I still think Vettel will win a couple more races.

If he hadn’t made a mistake in qualifying he would have won this weekend and I think he’s the man to beat in Suzuka.

[MIKA27]

Lewis did nothing wrong - Whitmarsh

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has reassured Lewis Hamilton that he was blameless and just unfortunate in his collision with Mark Webber in Singapore.

Whitmarsh emphasised that he was not suggesting Webber was 100 per cent at fault for the clash, which resulted in Hamilton's second consecutive retirement with a damaged car, but that the important thing from his point of view was that Lewis's driving should not be questioned this time.

"I think Lewis was very unlucky," said Whitmarsh, who underlined the differences between Hamilton's Singapore tangle and his brush with Felipe Massa at Monza.

"I'm sure that people may, because it's easy journalism, may say 'oh look, two races on the trot we have an incident.'

"But if you look at what happened today, Lewis didn't make a late lunge.

"I'd say what happened at Monza was a bit opportunistic, but actually if you look at the position of Lewis versus the Ferrari at Monza, it was almost a reverse of what happened today.

"He'd got past, he went for the corner and he left a bit of space, but he was hit and Mark was lucky to get away with it."

The stewards felt neither driver deserved any form of censure for the collision, and Whitmarsh reiterated that McLaren was not seeking to attack Webber.

"I think we could get heated about blame, but Mark's got to race as well," he said.

"But I think the important thing from my point of view is that Lewis did not do desperate overtaking, it was a solid overtaking move.

"Whenever you overtake in any form of motor racing there's a degree of risk, and he was unlucky it didn't come off this time.

"I believe that what Lewis did was right.

"We all blamed Lewis last time, I think we can't blame him this time.

"If he'd tried to brake late and make a chancey overtaking manoeuvre I'd think we'd rightly be disappointed in him, but the fact is he got past and he was in front when they went into that corner.

"He had the right to determine his line, and the car behind normally has to accept that that's what's happening.

"He had some space but didn't take all the space, and had an accident.

"But blaming Mark's not useful."

Webber's team boss Christian Horner was pleased that the stewards decided not to attribute blame, and said if anyone deserved criticism it was Virgin's Lucas di Grassi, who Webber was trying to lap when Hamilton got a run on him.

"I thought it would've been very, very harsh to give Mark a penalty for that, it was a racing incident," Horner said.

"I was annoyed that the backmarker didn't get out of the way.

"The first one behaved impeccably, but di Grassi - not for the first time this year - just didn't use his mirrors, and when you've got the leaders of a grand prix at a restart, you should be getting out of the way.

"Unfortunately it compromised Mark quite badly going into turn five, which gave Lewis a run that he would never have had without that."

Whitmarsh added that he had reassured Hamilton that the team was completely behind him and that any criticism he received for Singapore would be unjust.

"I told him: 'people will have cheap shots at you because that's how life is, but in my opinion you've got to look at the facts and you didn't take a risky overtake, you didn't make mistakes, you were unlucky, that's motor racing and you've got to focus now on the races ahead,'" he said.

"He knows that, but it doesn't take away from the disappointment of knowing he should've been on the podium, he be leading the championship at the moment, and he isn't.

"After two races like that, it's a bit bruising, but he's a tough competitor, he'll bounce back, and he'll be strong in Suzuka."