Rate the race: 2011 Singapore Grand Prix

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What did you think of the Singapore Grand Prix? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (3%)
  • 8 (14%)
  • 7 (35%)
  • 6 (26%)
  • 5 (13%)
  • 4 (4%)
  • 3 (2%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (2%)

Total Voters: 397

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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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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155 comments on “Rate the race: 2011 Singapore Grand Prix”

  1. Stunning race from Vettel, never saw it coming.

    1. Singapore/Vettel/Pole….How could you not see it coming?

      1. He’s trying to be sarcastic.

        1. Beg pardon, I am succeeding

          1. Ah, sorry, I’m slow on sundays…

    2. In what direction where you looking

    3. Vettel ?? Who’s that :)

      1. Wow where have you been? It’s the name of the guy who’s kicking everyone’s **** at the moment in Formula 1 :P

    4. You didn’t see it coming because FOM also caught on and hardly ever showed Vettel! Near the end I was almost relieved to see a bit of him again.

  2. Seems to be mostly 6’s? But I really enjoyed that race actually, an 8 for me.

    1. I thought it was a normal race, but in the sea of excitement that is this year, it wasn’t spectacular.

      Vettel. Wow. No one touched him. DOTW for sure.

      1. I gave the race a 7. The start was very exciting, as was everything leading up to the safety car. After that, it went a bit quiet. If there were a few more laps, Button would have been with Vettel. But even so, it was a good race, but by 2011 standards, maybe not brilliant. That shows just how good this season’s been; a race which was very exciting is probably going to be voted as one of the worst this season.

        1. I found it ironic that Button had been one of the ones to complain about the length of the race, but then needed a few more laps at the end for a shot at winning it!

    2. 7/10 for me, because I liked it ;)

  3. Some good action from Alonso, Button and Webber. Good use of strategy by Di Resta and Perez who also made a few really good moves, Rosberg lucky not to get damage nor penalty.

    Hamilton did some nice moves as well, but most of it was just DRS zooming past. A 7/10 for Jenson giving it a try in the end. Without Rubens really getting into the way he might have a shot at getting Vettel nervous, but no one really had the measure of Vettel, again.

  4. Once again we see a late fightback coming to nothing. Still good to watch, but got dull when everyone was seperated a while after the SC 7/10

  5. Pretty dull. There were a few battles and some strategy but it just didn’t feel like it ever grabbed me. A 6/10

    1. Same here 6/10

      1. Same here. Plus a mild hangover didn’t help at 5am.

        1. Lol Scale! Hope you feel better now :)

    2. Ditto. The Safety Car provided a little bit of excitement but that’s about it.

    3. Basically this. 6/10.

  6. Trenthamfolk (@)
    25th September 2011, 15:12

    This is shaping up to be a great season… Button showing his class, and Red Bull showing the world why they’re top: Sebastain Vettel! Can’t understand the criticism of team orders in Force India though… thought the F1fanatic crew was all in favor of them?

    1. Nope, I think most of us are against them. Not me, however.

    2. Can’t understand the criticism of team orders in Force India though

      Criticism?

      I think it’s a perfect example of why team orders had to be legalised for this year – there was a whole grey area around teammates with different strategies letting each other past. Fortunately teams can know openly make logical decisions without opening themselves to criticism or shrouding messages in code.

  7. Vettel was driving at least 1 second faster a lap than Button who himself was a good chunk faster than the rest… AND being the last of the frontrunners to pit. Mind-boggling. If he doesn’t get DOTW, I’m done. Could he even go on to match or even beat Schumi’s record of 13 wins in a season?

    Also, great result from di Resta.

    1. Made me wonder the whole race what Button, Alonso or Hamilton could do in a Red Bull car. When Vettel races you can see he’s pushing and pushing. Webber seems more and more like a product of a good car. He can’t even good a good start for crying out loud…

      1. Easy answer. Beat Vettel. That’s why they will never drive one, so unless McLaren and Ferrari put everything into next years car (maybe just copy Red Bull) then next year will be the same. If Ferrari and McLaren catch up then next year could be a classic.

      2. Was Vettel pushing? He repeatedly pushed for a 12 second gap then just held position. He never was threatened even remotely.

        His tyres were lasting longer than the other main guys as well.

        1. He came in with Button, both times….

        2. But that second time he got the 12 sec gap was a made largely by Button having been stuck behind Kobayashi for over a lap after the restart.

      3. folks are always saying that: what would “insert favorite driver” do in a redbull? Let’s see, Vettel’s average starting position on the grid is something like 1.3 (11 poles, 2 2nds and a 3rd), and his average finish is like 1.5 (9 wins, 4 seconds and a 4th).

        So Button, Alonso, or Hamilton in a redbull may be able to do better than Vettel, but if they did, it certainly wouldn’t be by much. Each of those drivers have been in the best car on the grid previously, and none have come close to achieving what Vettel has done. So I’d say, all things considered, I don’t think any of them (with the possible exception of Alonso), could do what Vettel has done in a Redbull.

    2. He has 9 wins and 5 races left so he can do 14 out of 19. That’d be 73.7% of the season compared to 72.2% by Schumacher. Someone has to win one more race (or two) for crying out loud!

  8. 7/10

    Nothing totally eyecathing to take the score higher but a good race non the less

    1. Maybe, but the drama after the race was highly
      amusing… Plus the firewoeks were really pretty…

  9. DRS again makes passing too easy, Its a complete joke watching there easy, dull & boring push of a button passes.

    the fact that the most exciting passes all happened outside the DRS zone shows just how much of a joke that system actually is.

    1. I don’t like DRS but I didn’t think it really did much this race at all.

      1. Younger Hamilton
        25th September 2011, 15:42

        I agree,I think the Strategies,Start & Tyres made what was a Good Race today.

      2. DRS did loads this race, Pretty much every pass lewis made today was because of DRS & I saw plenty of easy DRS passes throughout the race, Especially on the BBC In-Car feed on there website which shows the telemetry including when DRS is enabled.

      3. It didn’t do for Webbo, as he was as fast with the DRS open as Fernando ahead.

        For the rest, it did quite a lot.

  10. I’m afraid I will give it 5/10. Pretty dull to be honest but Vettel drove a cool and collected race.

  11. I placed VET-BUT-WEB-ALO-SCH prediction. Could have been perfect, had I sticked to my secret formula :) but at the last moment I thought “Schumi’s been quite good recently, let’s give him a chance” and replaced HAM with SCH (and for a good moment it looked promising). Oh well, the important thing is he wasn’t hurt.

    So, a pretty predictable race, I wonder how many perfect predictions we will see…

    1. I thought Schumi could have really hurt his back,so glad to see he emerged OK,but to me it seemed ages until he got up,probably stunned
      .
      The race was boring,predictable,I don’t like street races anyway,so only gave it 1.Looking forward to Japan.

      Lewis was so pent up,and poor Massa took the flak again.

      Button is obviously the number 1 driver with Mclaren now,but he is driving as good as Vettel,just needs a better car.

      1. I thought Schumi could have really hurt his back,so glad to see he emerged OK,but to me it seemed ages until he got up,probably stunned

        He got straight out – you could see him taking off his racing overalls at the side of the track about a minute or two afterwards.

  12. 8 for me, would have given it a 9 had it not been for too much steward intervention. Very exciting race.

  13. i thought this race was worse than Valencia

  14. 7/10, considering it’s Singapore. Some good racing but not thrilling towards the end

  15. 6/10 from me.

    Schumacher’s crash was probably the only part that made my heart rate rise at all, unfortunately!

    1. I got the slightest flutter when Hamilton hit Massa.

    2. You must have missed:

      – Webber v. Alonso I
      – Webber v. Alonso II
      – Perez v. Rosberg (albeit short-lived)
      – Perez v. Schumacher (see Perez v. Rosberg)
      – Hamilton v. Massa I
      – Hamilton v. Massa II
      – Button v. Vettel feat. Lapped Traffic
      – Di Resta v. Tyre Life

      Quite a bit of action and interesting things going on throughout in my opinion, if you ignore Vettel largely running off with all his toys per usual.

  16. 5/10

    Not particularly exciting. I still maintain that the circuit needs work. I appreciate that it’s hard on the drivers, but it’s too stop-start in places for me.

    1. I’d agree with that. The chicane is just ridiculous and it’s causing more cars to go airborne than anything else!

    2. The ussual – Vettle wins, who is second ?

      Interesting the question what will who do in a RedBull, hows about what will any driver do if all are in a Ferrari or Mclaren or Renault or Lotus and even just who will out shine who if the grid is filled with HRT’s only ….. mmmm :(O

      Surely not the “boring/predicable” sort of races we saw this year?

  17. 7/10. Not as chaotic as I was expecting the race to be, very few crashes, but the action across the whole field was entertaining.

  18. My first 9 of the season. I have given all the other races a 10. Not sure why it wasn’t as thrilling as usual.

    I follow Seb and Jenson so I am thrilled with the result.

    1. You gave Valencia a 10?

  19. I said it in live chat too. This is the usual 2011 stuff.

    VET winning, BUT conserving tyres, HAM getting penalty, WEB messing up his start, ALO driving the wheels off his car.

    Like most 2011 races, I will give it a 8.

  20. 5/10, still don’t like this circuit… And i hate Safety cars !
    But we saw some OK action, a great effort from SV, JB and a special mention to MW too.

    I am getting a bit tired of Hamilton being involved in so many incidents…

    At least we have this sucky borefest of a track behind us ! Roll on Suzuka, yes !

  21. 8/10
    Decent race. Quite a lot of overtaking for a street race, unlike valencia. good drama. lewis’s contact. the michael crash, last bit where button chased vettel to the finish line.

  22. Well I think Di Resta will be giving it a 9 or 10. Great drive by him.

  23. I personally enjoyed it, the first two-thirds were good, the race died down a bit, but Jenson catching Vettel made it a bit more exciting.

  24. 5/10. Would have been a complete bore-fest without the McLaren drivers.

  25. Despite the Championship being all but over now, I think that Singapore was a great race. Some very good action on track, the strategy kept me on the edge of my seat and I really enjoyed watching Di Resta do so well too.

    I’ll also make the comment, that I don’t think anyone can now say that Jenson is second best to Lewis, after now being 17 points ahead in the Championship, and having been on the podium on the last 4 races.

    In my mind, there is no doubt that Jenson has been the best driver of the season, behind Sebastian of course, and with a better car, (and without the problems that weren’t caused by him in Silverstone and Nurburgring) Jenson would have been right in the hunt for the title.

  26. What a race!! 8/10

  27. +1 on Hamilton in so many incidents. Man, Hamilton is in a bad bad place right now. His head is a mess.

    I don’t really like lewis mainly for his ugly personality. It is the same reason I love Button and SV because of their personalities & positive natures.

    I used to look forward to the crazy comments from Lewis.

    Even I am feeling sorry for Lewis it is getting hard to watch.

    1. Bang on with your comments !!! This race was a 4/10. Let’s start taking bets to see how many other drivers Hamilton can single-handedly take out in Suzuka – hes just a driving menace. I can’t wait for one of the back markers to really take him out.

  28. VET winning, BUT conserving tyres, HAM getting penalty, WEB messing up his start, ALO driving the wheels off his car.

    Nicely put.

    1. quite a routine

  29. 5 from me. the singapore track makes for boring races. not as bad as valencia, tho

  30. 5, dull race even duller venue,thank zeus we get back to REAL race track in 2 weeks.
    @ Has Michael received a penalty for the next race? Same scenario as Lewis.

  31. Which was worse, Lewis’ or Schumachers?

    We see incidents like Lewis’ at least once per race and few ever get punished. However Schumachers was just stupidity.

    1. Lewis makes his fair share of mistakes but sometimes you just have to wonder if the stewards are harder on him. Even the commentators called the Lewis’ incident his fault but when they spoke of Schumacher’s they grudgingly called it a miscalculation..

    2. Both innocent mistakes due to attempted overtakes. The difference was that Lewis ruined Massa’s race whereas Perez didn’t seem to be affected very much, and also that Schumi payed the penalty of crashing out whereas Lewis was still in line for good points.

      I will say that Lewis has been treated more harshly by the stewards than others drivers in general this season, and that ought to change (whether that means more drivers getting penalised, or Lewis being treated more leniently). But this isn’t a very good example in my opinion.

      1. My example was more about the general feelings towards HAM. The commentators have not say on what punishments are doled out.

      2. Your assessment of the two inciddents is spot on.

      3. How can you possibly say that? Schumacher was directly behind Perez and was hardly ever going to have gone straight through him without some incident, the laws of physics are quite clear on that. Schumacher could easily see perez directly in front of him and accelerated far to quickly directly into the back of him. It was only luck that meant that Perez and schumacher and almost rosberg were not hurt. Lewis’ on the other hand was a run of the mill incident where he clipped his wing and massa was unlucky to get the puncture. Punishments should not be based on the outcome of luck.

        Schumacher had a very similar incident as lewis last race (i think) where he spun his opponent but was not punished. so where is the consistency?

        1. The lack of consistency is part of the reason why some feel the outcome should play a part. I honestly thought HAM wouldn’t get a drive through penalty after the incident with Massa especially considering that Webber took HAM out last year on the same track and wasn’t even punished.

          1. Webber took HAM out last year on the same track and wasn’t even punished.

            That was nothing like as clear-cut as this. That was not one driver running into the back of another.

            The penalty was entirely correct.

          2. I bet if Hamilton and Webber swapped places in that incident last year, Hamilton would have gotten a penalty.

          3. Agree on the penalty. Really crap move from Lewis. There should have been other penalties though and again it makes it look inconsistent.

          4. Keith, assuming you are correct then i’d like to see harsher punishments being meeted out to the other drivers. Fair’s fair.

          5. Keith, assuming you are correct then i’d like to see harsher punishments being meeted out to the other drivers. Fair’s fair.

            Who? And what for?

          6. It was not as clear cut, but there was only a foot different to the Webber Hamilton incident. Webber hit Hamiltons rear tire, the only different was it was front wheel to rear wheel not front wing to rear wheel.
            In some respect you could say Webbers was worse he was nowhere near avoiding Hamilton, where as Hamilton almost missed Massa ;-)

          7. It was not as clear cut, but there was only a foot different to the Webber Hamilton incident. Webber hit Hamiltons rear tire, the only different was it was front wheel to rear wheel not front wing to rear wheel.

            It was not as clear cut as today’s incident. Today, Massa did nothing wrong, whereas Lewis rammed the Ferrari and broke his wing.

            Last year, neither Mark nor Lewis left enough room to each other. Kubica then made the same move round the outside of someone else later in the race, and made it stick, leaving more room to his rival.

            It was difficult to see who was at fault the most last year. This year, it was veeery easy.

        2. You’re right in saying that the stewards are too often inconsistent, but that doesn’t mean they were wrong in this case. The main point is that the standard penalty can’t be applied when the driver has crashed out. And surely there’s no point carrying over a different punishment into the next race, unless the incident was malicious. Punishments are supposed to make the drivers behave themselves, by making sure they never gain anything through reckless or clumsy driving – but if punishments for that kind of incident are only applied when the driver is still in the race, then the law can be consistently applied and can serve its purpose, without its needing to be used to often (obviously the less stewarding interference, the better if the first two conditions are met).

          1. Again with regard to punishments I am not comparing schumacher and Lewis in theis race. I am comparing similar incidents in different races.

          2. >Punishments should not be based on the outcome of luck

            The point here is that if you only punish incidents where the victim is harmed in a significant way, then that still discourages reckless driving and can still be applied consistently(although “significant is obviously subject to judgement – but clearly today Massa was significantly harmed and Perez was not). Yes, on any given day luck comes into it, but over time luck evens out (i.e. another day Hamilton doesn’t harm Massa and Schumi does harm Perez, so gets a penalty). But drivers only subject themselves to this “luck” by driving poorly in the first place.

            If you punish all substantial contact (because if no-one was harmed, perhaps it was just “luck”) then the stewarding process is no less subjective because “substantial” is another vague quality, and it would tend to neuter racing in comparison to the status quo.

          3. And that is what I find ludicrous. Take Monaco. Schumacher took di-resta on the hairpin in a great overtake. Di-resta gave him enough room. Hamilton took massa in an identical move initially but then massa turned in. Two incidents where one gets a penalty because the other driver behaved differently which is out of the control of the offending driver. Surely the lesson is to always turn in on the overtaking driver to ensure they get penalised?

          4. Hamilton took massa in an identical move initially but then massa turned in.

            Massa turned in as he was trying to make a similar move on Webber at the hairpin. Massa and Hamilton could have judged their movements better in that case.

        3. Schumacher had a similar incident in Silverstone when he ran into Kobayashi on Lap 10. Though it was more the result of the rain and Schumacher losing grip, but it spun KK around and Schumacher broke his front wing. Schumacher was given a stop and go penalty (because the pit lane at Silverstone is too short and how it cuts across the course, a drive through loses very little time).

          As I replied to one of your comments below, you are basing your view of the Schumacher incident in Singapore on outcome and not action. Both Schumacher’s and Hamilton’s actions were the same–they misjudged the distance to the car in front of them and caused contact. Both were going too fast in relation to the car in front of them to do the maneuver they wanted to do.

          Schumacher’s accident was very reminiscent of Webber’s last year at Valencia, the difference being about 100mph when they contacted. I don’t believe Webber was reprimanded for the incident, though his explanation was exactly the same as Schumacher’s “the car ahead braked earlier then he anticipated”. The biggest difference was that Mark didn’t own up to causing it, whereas Schumacher did.

      4. I still do not understand how Michael crashed into Checo Perez, could it be a case of braketesting? or at least Perez braking earlier and harder than what Michael expected?

    3. The difference is that Hamilton uses that trick regularly, its his favorite slashing maneuver. Schumacher openly admitted that he misjudged the braking speed of Perez. An accident as opposed to a deliberate action. Micheal Schumacher did make some dangerous and stupid moves in his younger days. But Hamilton is even more dangerous.And as the seasons move on his need to win whatever the consequence will be his undoing. The stewards don’t make decisions lightly, And he has had more penalties this year than the rest of the drivers put together.

      1. Hyperbole much?

        1. Only in the wet and with worn tyres, :)

  32. Guess for the stewards cutting Massa’s rear is the deal breaker?

    1. The chance outcome of the incident should not have any effect on the punishment. Given two identical incidents where one results in a puncture for the opponent and the other results in no issues for the opponent the punishment should be the same.

      1. If the outcome is different, the incidents aren’t identical.

        1. The actions of the offending drivers are identical the rest is out of their control. Take Lewis in Monaco, Two passes at the first corner, both of which Lewis’ line and the initial line of the opponent were identical, however in the second incident the opponent turned in far earlier and braked far later than normal resulting in the crash and a punishment. In both cases Lewis did the exact same thing so why is one a incident and one a great pass?

      2. How could they give the same punishment, if one driver is out of the race? And wouldn’t it be really pointless to give Schumacher a grid drop at the next race, just as much as it would have been pointless to give Hamilton a grid drop after Monza last year for example?

        1. I am not asking for the exact same punishment for schumacher and hamilton, I am asking for the same exact punishment for two similar incidents whether they result in opponents damage or not. You could run that incident again and again and in some cases the tyre would puncture and in some there would be no puncture. The actions of the driver would have been the same though so why different punishments?

      3. ok let’s say you’re right. What should the stewards do, give Schumacher a penalty while his car is in the barriers? I think the stewards did a fair job.

        1. No they should either give every driver that clips their front wing on another driver the same penalty in every race or just put the incident down as a racing incident (which it was) My comment was aimed at the outright criticism of Lewis but ignoring the fact that there was a far worse incident today.

          For the record the stewards clearly could not punish Schumacher for todays race (so don’t be pedantic) but they could easily give him a punishment for the next race.

      4. Maybe FIA need to evaluate how they punish infractions. Vettel crashed into Button at Spa last year and got only a drive through penalty. If I remember correctly Button was knocked out of the race. How does the Spa crash and the Lewis incident today deserve the same punishment? The outcome of the incident should be a factor in determining punishment.

        1. The outcome should never influence the punishment as the outcome can not necessarily be controlled by either driver with the high dynamics of F1. The action should be punished not the outcome.

      5. Perhaps they could tow Michael’s Mercedes through the pits after the race to make you feel better. Point is, Hamilton ruined Massa’s race. Schumacher only ruined his own. Big difference.

        1. Don’t be ridiculous. I think you can clearly see I am not saying that! I am merely pointing out that Schumachers incident was far worse than Lewis’ and also that I would like to see consistency in punishments so that every driver that clips the wing on an opponent should be punished.

          1. It is consistent… If Hamilton had just damaged his own wing, no problem and probably no penalty. But he ran into the back of Massa and effectively ended Massa’s opportunity to earn good points. Schumacher didn’t damage Perez but, by clipping Perez, Michael took himself out of the race. Seem perfectly clear (and fair) to me.

          2. But the outcome should not come into it as there is too much luck involved or actions of the other driver which can not be controlled. The action should be punished not the outcome, otherwise if someone is killed in a freak accident as the result of a minor bump the what would happen?

            How many times have we seen the same incident and outcome in other races (including hamilton on both ends) and no one is punished? It was a racing incident and massas puncture was unfortunate. However massas reaction afterwards was ridiculous!

          3. Also it now seems schumacher has not been punished… Plus Perez did get a puncture as a result so surely that is inconsistency…..

          4. Massa’s reaction was spot on… Hamilton causes damage to other cars race after race. I really could care less if he screws up (like he did in Spa) and takes himself out… but since he consistently ruins the race of others through his carelessness, he should be given more severe penalties until he improves and is no longer a menace.

          5. why do you say Schumacher’s incident was worse? Now you are talking about outcomes and not the action. Both drivers misjudged by inches. Except a few inches wrong in the Schumacher case meant his wheel went on Perez’s rear wheel, launching him. The actions were the same, the outcomes different.

            So how is it far worse?

  33. I voted a six.

    Yes, there was a lot of action, but because of the various different strategies people were on a lot of the passes felt somewhat inevitable and there weren’t really any ‘tense’ battles.

  34. Rated the race 5, Button 9 ( should have started comeback sooner), Vettel 4, Boring, like a greyhound rabbit, its the machine that keeps him in front not the skill, Alonso 4 all hot air, Hamilton -5, should go back to go-karts or stock car racing, he’s a liability on an F1 circuit, Webber, 6, (under team orders) Schumacher 7, promising but unlucky.Massa 5 ( victim of LH ). Di Resta 8, steady progress again. And the also rans, Perez, trying, Heiki, well done, Jaime, ooops. etc… poor race again from a promising location.

    1. its the machine that keeps him in front not the skill

      Sorry but that’s absolute rubbish. 2011 has been the crowning not just of the 9th consecutive world champion in F1 history but also the youngest. What you are seeing is the beginning of an F1 legend. This is just the tip of the iceberg. You really need to have a look at Vettel’s life and racing career to date if you do not yet see this…

      The other consecutives: Schumacher, Fangio, Ascari, Brabham, Prost, Senna, Häkkinen, Alonso.

      If that isn’t a role call for some of the greatest names I don’t know what is.

      I can only think of a few missing that should or could also be there were it not for their bad luck (Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Mansell) of course this is open to debate…

      1. Oh yeah I forgot about all the championship points he scored for Torro Rosso. And all those many wonderful passing manouvres he makes when he doesn’t get pole position….
        A TRUE champion can do well in any car, maybe not win, but at least take it to its limit, and a TRUE champion would be able to make a pass on the competition. Now you will cite the excellent exception of Monza last race over Alonso. and?
        Vettel is a brilliant leader but can’t cut it from the back. Put him in a lesser car and he will be only placed.

        1. To be honest, if you look at other ‘true champions’ in the list above then you can quite easily use the same argument for drivers like Hakkinen whose McLaren was just as, if not more dominant than Vettel’s RBR.

        2. He did win for Torro Rosso in 2008, and gathered quite a few points. I’m not a Vettel fan and dislike his domination, but what you’re stating just can not be backed by actual facts.

        3. I’m talking about his whole racing career prior not just his spell in F1. A spell to which he has risen to a level of peerless quality. A class of one as Brundle puts it.

          Vettel has had considerable success and has been driving since about the age of 3!

          To say a TRUE (sic) champion can do well in any car is true but they can only take it as far as the car can go (and they generally do). A TRUE champion leads from the front.

          I think you are confusing passing ability with the ability to drive flawlessly in both qualifying and race consistently from the front. You underestimate the level you have to be at in F1 in order to do this.

          Yes I would love to see Vettel race from the back but that’s not going to happen when he’s the best driver attracting the best in F1 to achieve the perfect package. Passing is one thing, winning is another.

          1. Excellent post, pSynrg.

          2. Spot on.

            Points make prizes, not overtakes.

          3. Hear hear!

            Excellent post.

          4. I do wonder if part of it is that RBR seem such a recent phenomena ad have achieved success so quickly, would the complaints be less if it were one of the established teams dominating the championships? I get the impression sometimes that some of the negative comments are because they are embarrassing Ferrari and McLaren.
            Same for Vettel? Age counting against him?

          5. What’s even more ominous for the rest of the grid is that I don’t think Vettel has peaked yet, if he stays with a team which gives him the machinery to do it (most likely RBR), he could very well beat Schumacher on wins and poles by the time he is 30…

        4. how many times a driver has won a championship with anything but a great car?

          You know Clark loved to dominate the races from start to finish, and never looking back or take extra risks battling with anyone. And you’d not call him a “bad winner”…

        5. If you actually have the opportunity to pass; that means you’re quicker than the cars in front. So why on earth were you slower in qualifying?

        6. Try to take a look at the championship points table from 2007 and 2008 before you make such claims.

          He didn’t just beat his team mates…

          In 2007 he was able to make double the points of his team mate (Liuzzi), in half the races. That is an average of four times as many points per race!

          In 2008 he ended the season with 35 points, a pole position and a race win, against 4 points from his team mate(Bourdais).

          I think he did just fine in a bad car.
          Lets move on.

      2. Let’s just hope Newey can keep pulling those cars out of his magic hat then.

  35. Exciting until the teams figure out which drivers they’re really racing against, then it became a bit quiet.

  36. 6 from me.
    Brilliant drive from Vettel – he could have lapped Alonso as well if there wasnt a safety car..

  37. Decent race (I gave it a 7) despite not being a great fan of street racing. But from now on I will be docking points for every race where there is poor, uneven or prejudiced stewarding. If I’d done so today it would have been a 4.

  38. Pretty much great action throughout the distance. It is great to see pirellis degrade like they used to early in the season and it was good to see the safety car once again.

    Once again we talked about Hamilton for good and for bad. And Schumacher too!!!

    But when the 1st is determined from the first 16 laps (these 2011 formula 1 cars are unbreakable!!!!) the taste is bittersweet. We the fans like to see great battles for the win not for the 5th (Hamilton) nor 9 (Massa). So this race is a 6.

  39. Time to reshape the track.

    The going around and through the grandstand is completely unneeded. I look at the city, which is impressive and think the racing at night is actually really cool but the track is sort of boring and could use some spicing up.

    I find myself eager for the event each year but then become bored by the track layout after a few laps. The forced chicanes that approach the bridge could be improved by altering how they attempt to slow the cars down. Hit them wrong and you find yourself in the air. A better solution is needed there.

    An OK event that could become better with some changes.

  40. Suggestion:

    How about, at the inaugural race in India, as a warmer for we, the public, supporters,and the sponsors…..
    Top 5 drivers in championship take turns to pull 3 laps each of the new circuit in a Lotus. Sort of level the playing field in a lesser performance car.
    Timed laps.
    Then we see who is the better driver. The fastest. The most adaptable.
    New circuit independent car. LEVEL.

    My money would be between Alonso and Button.

    1. My money would be between Hamilton and Vettel.

      This I would love to see though :)

  41. 6. A so-so race with interest, a bit of argy-bargy but mostly the usual Singapore trundle to the finish line.

  42. I have always been a huge Hamilton Fan but it’s becoming difficult it really is. Now I understand what Button has been up to with his contract delays, just waiting to firmly plant himself as the number one driver on the team, good on you. The race was a bit of a boar for me with enough good points to keep me awake.

  43. Gerald Carpenter
    25th September 2011, 19:50

    It really is a boring track and this is coming from someone who has lived there for 24 years. they should look into whether the track layout or configurations can be tweaked. As it stands, only turn 7 (hamilton/webber clash zone 2010) allows any overtaking at all and the rest of the circuit only aids a procession race. Hardly what fans want to see.

  44. I haven’t rated the race as I didn’t watch it. I had a bit of a problem with the Rugby World Cup on from 3:30am, then the F1 followed by the NFL match tonight and more Rugby World Cup early tomorrow morning. I needed to fit eating and sleeping in there somewhere so I assessed the probabilities of which would be the most interesting and exciting to watch. The F1 race came a distant third so I opted to sleep through it. I’ve not read the write-ups, just looked at the result and I think I was right, predictable outcome = dull racing.
    I’ve got a similar conundrum next weekend with the Rugby, NFL, and touring cars. I think in that case though I’ll watch all of them and sleep on Monday. I reckon that there’s more excitement and action in a single BTCC meeting, if you include all the support races, as there is in a whole season of F1. Just so you don’t think I’m a fair-weather, johnny-come-lately fan I saw my first F1 race in 1958 when I was 9 and have been following it ever since.

  45. 6 – never in doubt and that is always a shame. Yes there were other battles but ordinary overall.

  46. A very interesting race with some good battles throughout… But I was beginning to lose interest because the race lasted for so long… Schumacher’s crash was a heart-in-the-mouth moment and Webber’s overtake on Alonso was stunning.

    However, there were too many dull patches, and I still believe the Singapore track lacks something…

    7.

    1. It lacks quite a lot I’d say…
      Just imagine the track itself, and put that “night mood” aside.
      It’s an awful on-off track.
      No noce, original corners. just a succession of 2nd and 3er gear 90° turns…

  47. Enjoyed MSC’s race very much.

  48. I thought it was very good for a street circuit race. Plenty of action. But there have been a lot great races this season.

    So 7/10.

  49. the pit speed limit was painfully slow. who decided 40 was a good speed????? it was like watching paint dry waiting for cars to emerge from the pit exit

    1. It’s probably due to the fact that it’s a short pit lane and they need to have some kind of time penalty for going into the pits.

  50. I gave it a 6/10. I wasn’t boring, there certainly was almost always something going on, but there wasn’t that much excitement. Most of the juicy battles were destroyed by that horrible DRS. The faster cars just sailed past instead of having to fight a bit.

  51. 8.0- No fight for the lead, and in my opinion the cronic problem of “true” overtaking.

  52. 6, Nothing special but the fact that Webber & Hamilton provided the necessary entertainment.For Hamilton it was business as usual,hit someone. The race was a boring until lap 9.But Webber’s move on Alonso on lap 10 was one of the best in Singapore since 08.The Safety Car had enough time to clear Kobayashi,a HRT & a Lotus between Button & Vettel,that was a fail.

  53. I dislike street races
    and especially night races
    And Singapore is so ZZZZ

    But still gave the race a 6

  54. I would like to see the turn 10 chicane eliminated in favor of a regular left hand turn and lose the detour under the stands.

    Is the pit lane that tight that the teams can’t handle 100kph? 60 seems too slow, except for the Lotus incident.

  55. 7 from me.
    Not a great race, but I think there was excitement and drama throughout most of the race, just not at much as we have grown used too.
    Had this race been on any other track it would probably only deserve 5 or 6, but for an actual street track (unlike Valencia), I think it was a good race, and I think the DRS worked well enough. Yes it was a little easy to overtake, but it was okay.
    I think okay sums the race up pretty well for me. Everything was okay. Nothing I felt ruined the racing. Well turn 10 is bad, but we all know that. So nothing to get too excited over, but not bad at all either.

  56. Entertaining race as Singapore is one of the most demanding circuits of a driver. I appreciated seeing the Pirelli’s on this track for the first time – the amount of marbles was amazing!! Good to see tyres and pit strategy’s play a part in the race. Great to see Force India get some coverage and finish so strong. For those who weren’t thrilled..consider this…Schumacher crashed…Hamilton and Massa came together, and then Hamilton passed Massa who looked like he fell asleep…quality move by Webber on Alonso…Vettel nearly taken out by a Lotus exiting the pits…Vettel had to contend with back markers on his last few laps…Button finishing very strong and nearly challenged Vettel for the lead…Force India represented well in the top 10….come on everyone…these were great moments…don’t forget them! :-)

  57. I gave it a 7 another solid race but not great.

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