While the race for the Drivers’ Championship was the talk of the town following the Singapore Grand Prix, Ferrari fans have something else to cheer for with the race for third in the Constructors’ Championship heating up again.
Great runs from Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen have brought Ferrari to within nine points of the Williams Mercedes team after this weekend’s event. Alonso came back on the heels of his first mechanical retirement in 86 races in Monza two weeks ago to finish fourth in Singapore, but he was in the fight for the podium for the entire Grand Prix.
Ferrari Singapore GP Review: Inching Closer to Williams
Räikkönen brought the fight as well, finishing eighth. He was aided by some bad luck for Williams’ driver Valtteri Bottas, who suffered a punctured left rear tyre in the final lap of the race. Bottas had held position over Räikkönen for the entirety of the closing laps until the puncture and Bottas ended up falling out of the points completely to finish 11th.
Despite the fine points day Räikkönen wasn’t exactly pleased with his finishing position. He felt the car had more in it but was bottled up by being stuck behind the Williams for so long. The Finn attributed most of the problem to dirty air, saying he was hampered by poor aero performance every time he got close enough to try to make a pass.
Alonso had a much more competitive evening. Starting in fifth spot on the grid he took off like he was shot out of a cannon once the safety lights went out. He came in too fast into turn one and overshot the corner, but he had already passed everyone but Hamilton to move into second spot with the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo right behind him. Realising he was at risk of being penalised for exceeding track limits, Alonso gave second place back to Vettel a couple of corners later.
The second round of pit stops saw Ferrari gain the advantage and Alonso was able to come out and stay ahead of Vettel for second position until an untimely safety car period halfway through the race, for the broken and shattered front wing of Force India’s Sergio Pérez. Alonso had to use that time to come in and comply with race regulations and put the prime tire on while the two Red Bulls gambled and stayed out. Vettel even held the lead for a very brief stint when Hamilton had to come in and make one last stop, but that was short lived for the German as his tyres were completely worn out and was no match for the stronger Mercedes with fresh rubber.
So while the Ferraris did have some trouble making passes when close to their competitors, it is at least a sign of improvement that they were able to stay close to the top of the field. Had the strategy not been changed due to the safety car we would probably be talking about Alonso’s third podium of the season. The team is looking forward to the next race in Japan at the Suzuka Circuit where they again expect to have good results.
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