Singapore entered the Formula 1 calendar in 2008, as Formula 1’s first night race and instantly made a mark, albeit controversially, on the series’ history.
That will be touched upon shortly, but each of these three races are available to watch, fully, on the F1TV app.
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2008
A shock, a freak, too good to be true. Fernando Alonso’s Renault was quick throughout the weekend, until a fuel issue in qualifying saw him start the race from 15th.
Stuck in traffic, the Spaniard pitted early and soon ran at the front of the field after the safety car was deployed, following the sister Renault of Nelson Piquet Jr crashing.
In the year of 2008, drivers could not pit under a safety car until the pit lane was opened, which was after the field had bunched up. So once Alonso took the advantage, he defeated Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton to victory.
As he swiftly pointed out post-race, to team managing director Flavio Briatore, he was fortunate with the safety car, very fortunate in fact. What was even more ludicrous was that it was his teammate’s crash which deployed it.
A year later and the details were quickly being released; Piquet, who by then had lost his Renault drive, publicly stated that he was instructed to deliberately crash, to hand the race advantage to Alonso.
And although Briatore and executive engineering director Pat Symonds were held responsible for the crash taking place, the consequences are still pertinent today.
This is because Felipe Massa, who lost the lead during a cataclysmic pit stop under the safety car, is seeking compensation for the fixed race, one that aided Lewis Hamilton’s defeating of him by a single point in that years’ drivers’ championship.
2010
Alonso is often renowned for his overtaking masterpieces, which rise him to the front, but this race was a perfect demonstration of how his lightning speed could forge with his racing acumen.
Taking pole position in his Ferrari, by less than a tenth of a second over Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, he held off the German driver across the 61 laps and won by less than three tenths of a second.
Yet behind him, there was carnage, with battles and incidents from the podium places down the leader board.
An epic battle to the line between two titans of the sport, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix! 🥊🤩#SingaporeGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tK2RJrSKw4
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2023
2023
The only grand prix of that season in which Red Bull did not win, that gave rise to a tense battle between the other top teams for victory.
Carlos Sainz started from pole position and idealised controlling the race throughout. However, the pursuing Mercedes drivers, of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, pitted under a mid-race virtual safety car and closed in on race-leader Sainz and second-place Lando Norris.
What followed was a gripping race finale, one that had gritted teeth all the way until the final lap when one of the race’s main characters crashed out.
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