F1: Ten Glorious Years of Singapore Grand Prix

#3 2010: Fernando Alonso's Grand Chelem

The leaders got away cleanly

Singapore GP has some championship defining races, and 2010 race was one; which ended Hamilton’s chance of driver championship of 2010, when he collided with another championship contender and then leader, Webber at lap 36, after a safety car restart.

The battle for race victory was between Vettel and Alonso, and for the Spaniard, who started at pole position, it was a light to chequered flag victory.

Although the Spaniard came under sustained pressure from the German driver, the RedBull car didn’t have the pace to make the move on the Ferrari.

When the lights went off, the grid behaved well. But Webber gambled with an early pit for medium tires, at lap four, when the safety car came out to clear Liuzzi’s car, which brushed with the barrier.

The early stop helped him to jump the two McLaren’s ahead when they had their scheduled pitstops (Hamilton on lap 28 and Button on lap 29), later. Webber made series of impressive moves to climb up the order.

The McLarens, with fast-degrading tires, finally pitted on laps 28 and 29, Hamilton first, and both returned to the track behind Webber.

Meanwhile, both pit walls of front-runners decided to undercut, but on the same lap – lap 29. A moment of engine stuttering took away any chance of Vettel emerging ahead of Alonso.

Although Vettel was much quicker in the second stint, he couldn't find a way past one of the five championship contenders.

Alonso could breathe briefly when Kamui Kobayashi came in contact with the barrier at turn 18 and Bruno Senna crashed into him.

The notorious curbs of Singapore circuit

The restart saw Webber struggling to get past the backmarkers, and Hamilton tried to pounce on, but a tap from Mark Webber front-right wheel tagged Hamilton’s left-rear.

The contact was enough to put Hamilton out - but Webber hanged on to finish third, in spite of clear damage to the front wheel.

The final laps saw Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus going up in flames on start-finish line, which prevented Sebastian from making any move on Alonso.

In the end, Alonso crossed the victory line, just three-tenths of ahead of Vettel.

Heikki Kovalainen, the fire-fighter

Another notable drive under the lights was Robert Kubica, who made a late pit stop for a puncture, which the team picked on telemetry.

Kubica then made some stunning passes on Toro Rossos, his teammate Vitaly Petrov, Massa, Hulkenberg and on Adrian Sutil.

Without a doubt, the weekend belonged to Fernando Alonso, who achieved the F1’s Grand Chelem of clinching pole position, setting the fastest lap of the race, and leading every lap of the race.

The race was also voted as the favorite Singapore Grand Prix by fans and critics.