Fernando Alonso wins the Singapore GP!

Fernando Alonso and Ferrari have won the 2010 Singapore GP, after starting from pole position. The Spaniard managed to fend off closest in-race rival Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull and remained in first place through out the entire race. Red Bull’s other driver, championship leader Mark Webber managed to cross the finish line in third place.

Fourth place went to McLaren’s Jenson Button followed by Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, Williams’ Rubens Barrichello and Renault’s Robert Kubica. Force India’s Adrian Sutil, Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa made up the rest of the top ten finishers. Massa finished in tenth after starting from the back end of the grid. Only 16 drivers finished today’s race with Heikki Kovalainen being the last. The only surviving Virgin, of Lucas di Grassi’s finished in 15th. Both Hispania drivers retired.

This year’s grand prix around the street circuit of the Marina Bay was anything but unentertaining. The start was pretty much incident free and Alonso managed to keep his car in front Vettel’s Red Bull who had a slightly better start. However an early retirement by Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi (due to an contact) forced the stewards to deploy the Safety Car in the early stages of the race.

Several drivers took the opportunity to change tires and as the dust settled Alonso was still up in front with Vettel in second. Hamilton was running third ahead of teammate Button and Rosberg. Felipe Massa who started from last place on the grid managed to get himself as high as 16th, following an early pit stop and the deployment of the Safety Car.

The race continued on with not-so-significant events. Alonso kept on leading and was slowly easing his way ahead of Vettel but the lead didn’t breach the 10-second mark. Mid-way through the race, Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi had a contact with Michael Schumacher but both cars escaped undamaged. The Safety Car was deployed for the second time when Kobayashi ran wide just minutes later and slammed the barriers at Turn 18. Hispania’s Bruno Senna then crashed into the back of his Sauber.

Green flag was drawn soon after but the it wasn’t a good restart for Lewis Hamilton. The World Champion was battling with Mark Webber for third place. They came into contact and Hamilton was unable to continue hence he had no choice but to retire. Schumacher was involved in another incident, this time with Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld who took over driving duties from Pedro de la Rosa. Heidfeld was forced to retire while Schumacher managed to continue, but had to change his front wing and that dropped him down the field. He eventually finished the race in 13th place.

At the closing stages of the race Heikki Kovalainen suffered from a spin and moments later his Lotus was on fire. He managed to stop his car on the main straight and he along with some marshals managed to put the fire out. As mentioned he was classified as a finisher. Further up the field, Vettel was able to put more pressure on Alonso but failed to overtake. The gap between the two was about 0.2 seconds when they crossed the finish line.

Hispania’s Christian Klien, Virgin’s Timo Glock and Lotus’ Jarno Trulli made up the 8-driver retirement list. Trulli suffered from a hydraulics problem. In the Driver’s Championship, Webber is still ahead, now with 202 points. Alonso is now closer than ever with 191 points. Hamilton, Vettel and Button all have 182, 181 and 177 points respectively.

Red Bull is still going strong in the Constructor’s Championship with 383 points. McLaren and Ferrari both have 359 and 316 points. With just four races remaining, the fraternity how heads to Suzuka for the Japanese GP.

The full results can be viewed here.

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