INDIA in F1

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  • Disappointment for Karun, JRM

    Bahrain, 30 Sept 2012: Indian racing star Karun Chandhok and his JRM Racing’s increasing promise went unrewarded in today’s Six Hours of Bahrain. The #22 HPD ARX-03a driven by David Brabham, Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok had qualified in P3 in the privateers’ class for today’s inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship race in the Middle East and had high hopes of a podium finish, however electrical gremlins hit just a handful of laps into the race.

    Karun Chandhok had started the six hours but the car developed a problem with the chassis electronics inside the one-hour mark. Chandhok was running in a strong 4th place and was setting competitive lap times on old tyres compared his rivals. The team tried to reset all systems but could not fully regain the data needed to run the car. After 50 laps the #22 came into the pits to effect full repairs but after just one lap back on track, this time with Peter Dumbreck, it became clear that the car required more fundamental work.

    The car returned to the garage for the team to conduct repairs and rejoined with one hour 10 minutes remaining, but was forced to retire shortly afterwards. Post race the problem was traced to a faulty loom section, which the team will work to fully resolving prior to the next event in Japan.

    Karun Chandhok, commented, “The race started OK and I was running behind Jonny [Kane]. I was a little bit slower than him, but this was as expected as I was managing the tyres very carefully. Then in my second stint the race started to come to me – I was quicker than the other guys on used tyres and I think we could have had a good race. However very early on in the first stint I lost the power to the dash and the guys had no telemetry, which is critical for the engine and also knowing where we are on fuel consumption. We pitted quite conservatively and lost time as we were caught speeding in the pitlane – the pitlane limiter didn’t work due to the electrical problem. From then on we tried to reset but it didn’t work out. Sometimes it’s like that, unfortunately.

    Nigel Stepney, team manager and chief engineer, said, “What can we say – things happen when we are going well! We are not 100% certain of why the chassis electronics failed in the first instance, but an on-track reset didn’t work and we had to pull the car into the garage to change the control systems. When that proved ineffective, we had lost too many laps to score points so we decided to fully understand the issue so we don’t have a reoccurrence in Fuji.

    James Rumsey, team principal, commented, “It’s disappointing that yet again we couldn’t realise our potential, but as a young team we are learning all the time about the car and its systems. With that comes a certain amount of risk, which we saw today. We will now focus on Fuji and hope that we can finally get a weekend we deserve.

    About JRM

    After winning the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship with Nissan, The British-based JRM Racing will partner with Honda Performance Developments to enter the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP1 class.  JRM Racing will enter a single LMP1 Honda Performance Development ARX-03a powered by a specially designed and tested 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine. The ARX-03a is currently hailed as the most competitive petrol Le Mans Prototype around.

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  • Airtel Indian GP Trophy

    Indian GP Trophy. File picture courtesy JP

  • Sahara Force India looks to bank on good Singapore show

    Suzuka, 1 October 2012: Even as the `Good Times’ appear to end for Kingfisher Airlines back home, Sahara Force India team Principal and liquor baron Vijay Mallya is basking in glory with Paul Di Resta recording his best finish ever to come home in fourth place in Singapore in the last race. Now Sahara Force India looks forward to the Japanese Grand Prix with renewed vigour and hope.
    To watch Paul Di Resta’s video preview of Japan, click on the following link: http://bit.ly/SHzFoC
    Sahara Force India picked up another fourth place in Singapore – it seems the team is edging ever closer to the podium…
    Vijay Mallya: “As I’ve said before that little bit of luck has eluded us. Hopefully it will come to us one day, because we’ve shown the pace of the car. This is the second time we’ve finished fourth in the last three races, so we’re becoming the bridesmaid a bit too often! Paul drove fantastically well and we earned 12 points. It’s not bad to be sitting at this stage of the season with 75 points in total – we’ve come a long way.”
    Is catching Sauber a more realistic target now?
    “I still remember the situation in 2010 when Williams pipped us by one point at the last race, so I guess it’s not over until it’s over! I’m still hoping that we can do it and one strong podium finish could help to wipe out Sauber’s advantage. It all depends how strong our rivals are in the final six races, but we certainly have some momentum.”
    Any thoughts on Suzuka?
    “Historically Suzuka has never been our best track, but hopefully this time the team has something up its sleeve. I think we have been pretty consistent on most tracks this season so we are quietly confident that we can perform well this weekend. I certainly hope we can pull some rabbits out of the hat in Japan and Korea and come away with some more points.”
    Paul Di Resta talks about his best finish in Formula One and hopes to build on the momentum in Japan.
    Paul, you said your result in Singapore was your best day in Formula One – does it give you extra confidence for the rest of the year?
    Paul: When we qualified sixth we knew it was going to be tough to even maintain that in the race, but things worked out very well and I was able to challenge Fernando for a podium in the final stint. I think we learned a lot in Singapore about how to get the most from the car and the aim now is to try and repeat the form we showed towards the end of the race. If we can do that, the momentum will carry on.

    File picture of Nico Hulkenberg, who is expected to go all out after a pointless race in Singapore. Sahara Force India photo.

    You raced at Suzuka for the first time last year – what did you think of the track?

    It’s a track that’s all about aero so it’s a real test of your car. I also found it very technical with corners like the ‘S’ curves where you need a good change of direction. Finding the sweet spot isn’t easy because half the track is made up of straights so you need efficiency as well as downforce for the high-speed corners. Tyre degradation is also high so a neutral car is what you need during the race.
    Do you enjoy visiting Japan?
    The thing that surprised me last year was the commitment and enthusiasm of the fans. Even on Thursday the grandstands were busy. So that makes it a special race and the fact that it’s a track with a lot of history. I also enjoy Japanese food, although the challenge is making sure you order the right thing!
    Nico on Japan
    Nico Hulkenberg looks forward to one of his favourite races of the season.
    Nico, tell us about your memories of racing in Japan…
    My race in 2010 with Williams was not especially memorable because I was taken out before the first corner. That was a real shame because it’s a track I really enjoy and with corners like the ‘S’ curves it’s a great experience in a Formula One car.
     
    What are the main challenges of the lap?
    Suzuka is definitely one of my favourite circuits: it’s really challenging and technical, and you need a good car balance to hook up a good lap. Because it’s so technical it’s important to find a good rhythm because if you mess up one corner you can lose the flow of the whole lap.
    How are you feeling as we enter the final six races of the season?
    I’m feeling positive and we have generated some good momentum within the team recently so I want to keep that going. The goal is to keep getting consistent results in the points.
    ends

  • Clean sweep by Allwyn Jebaz, Ramesh Kumar in Round 4

    Irungattukottai (Chennai), 30 Sept 2012: Round 4 of the 2012 MMSC-SIDVIN FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship came to a close with 14 action packed races today and mixed results across the various Championships.

    Day 2 started with the Honda One Make Championship (CBF Stunner Open) where Vivek Mani of Chennai took the win ahead of Rajesh Rathinakumar with S. Madhana Kumar of Trichy rounding out the top 3, with all three riders crossing the finish line within a second of each other. The Honda CBR 150R Open category witnessed another fine ride from Ranchi’s Sumit Lucas Toppo who took the win ahead of Rajesh Rathina Kumar from Chennai while Sudhakar crossed the line 7 seconds off in third. The CBR 250R Open category took place in tricky conditions following a short downpour but it didn’t stop M. Gautam of MotoRev India who took a strong win ahead of K. Rajini, also of MotoRev India, with Sarath Kumar of MP Ten10 Racing completing the podium.

    The TVS MMSC One Make Championship kicked off today with the Apache RTR 180 Novice category where yesterday’s top two finishers battled once again with MD. Intekhab Alam from Chidambaram this time taking the win ahead of Abdul Wahab of Chennai and R. Venkatraman, also from Chennai. The Apache RTR 180 Open category saw another fine performance from Rajesh Rathina Kumar, who has been impressive in various categories through the weekend, this time taking the win ahead of Vivek Mani and S. Padmanabhan, making it an all Chennai podium.

    Yamaha’s MMSC One Make Championship saw riders battle it out in the YZF R15 Open category where Allwyn Jebaz seemed to ride a different race to everyone else in Race 1, crossing the finish line almost 15 seconds ahead of Shyam Shankar and M. Sudhakar who finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Race 2 of the Open category was also held today but not much changed for Allwyn Jebaz who made it a clean sweep with another dominant win ahead of Vivek Pillai and Shyam Shankar, once again making it a Chennai 1-2-3. The YZF R15 Novice race saw MD Intekhab Alam from Chidambaram put in an impressive ride once again with a win ahead of Chennai’s Ramesh Kumar and Rahul Rathod of Yavatmal.

    Moving away from the manufacturer’s One Make Championships now where Ramesh Kumar of MotoRev India led his teammate, Meka Vidhuraj from Andhra Pradesh across the line, ahead of Performance Racing’s P. Sandesh in the Group D 165cc Novice category. Race 20 of Round 4 saw riders in the Group D 165cc Novice category battle it out once again with no change in the result as MotoRev India’s Ramesh Kumar came out trumps once again ahead of his teammate, Meka Vidhuraj from Andhra Pradesh while Sandesh .P completed the podium in 3rd.

    Riders in the Group B 165cc Open category faced tricky conditions as the rain came down handing K. Jagan of TVS Racing a unique win under shortened race conditions of only 3 laps with every other rider giving in to the conditions and not seeing the chequered flag.

    The Group D 130cc Novice race witnessed an inspired ride from Jalgaon’s Kamlesh Thakur (Sparks Racing) who crossed the finish line ahead of Chennai riders, Abdul Wahab of TVS Racing and K. Kunal Kumar.

    Mother nature’s sudden downpour dampened proceedings briefly and although great efforts were taken by the MMSC Officials to kickstart proceedings once again, the time delay meant a cancellation of two races, the Group A 600cc Superbikes and Group C 165cc Open category.

    The final round of the INMRC, Round 5, will take place in Chennai on 21-23 December, 2012.

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    Allwyn Jebaz at the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship on 2nd day of Round 4 on Sunday at Irrungattukottai, near Chennai. All photos from MMRT courtesy Suhail Chandhok, Adrenna Comm.

     

  • Chikmagalur TSD Rally

    Chikmagalur (Karnataka, India) TSD Rally 30 Sept 2012. Photo courtesy Musa Sherif

  • Karun Chandhok qualifies in 6th for JRM racing

    Bahrain, 29 Sept 2012: Indian racing star Karun Chandhok and his JRM Racing will start the inaugural Six Hours of Bahrain, the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, from third in class and sixth on the grid. The HPD ARX 03a was driven by Karun Chandhok for the 20 minute session, with the Indian recording a best time of 1:48.784 on his third lap on track. Yet again the privateer class was fiercely fought, with Karun pipped by just 0.3secs on the last lap by Strakka Racing for second in class.

    The team will now complete its final preparations for the inaugural World Endurance Championship race in the Middle East tomorrow. Six hours of racing round the 5.4km Bahrain International Circuit will kick off at 16.00 local time, with the race starting in sunshine and finishing well into the hours of darkness. JRM Racing will seek to regain ground in the privateers’ championship, in which it is currently third, only six points adrift of second-placed Strakka.

    Karun Chandhok, who has enjoyed success at Silverstone in every series through the years, added, “After practice this morning we thought we were around 0.4secs from Strakka over one lap and in the end we were a little under that. We have chipped away at them all weekend, so we can be quite happy. The gap to the Rebellion is larger than we would have hoped for – it looks like they changed their car for more top speed in qualifying – but if we look at the pace and fuel consumption from Sao Paulo I am optimistic we can match them again in the race.”

    Nigel Stepney, team manager and chief engineer, said, “That was a reasonable session. We aimed to have a day without incident and that’s exactly what we had, which allows us to fully focus on the race tomorrow. All three drivers took part in the final hour of practice this morning, with Karun setting up the car very well for qualifying. We’ll now look at the information we’ve gathered and combine with the data we have on tyre wear and see what we can do in the race. The challenge will be to manage the tyres; the surface is very abrasive here to compensate for the sand on track so getting the tyre wear correct – and matched with fuel consumption – will be key to a good result.”

    James Rumsey, team principal, commented, “We can be quite happy with P6 on the grid and third in class today. We are close to the other privateers, which bodes very well for a close fight tomorrow. Getting everything right and putting performance, reliability and strategy together in the race is our aim so we can deliver the result we have been aiming for – and promising – since Silverstone.”

    You can watch live streaming of the Race at www.fiawec.com starting 6:30PM on Saturday

    About JRM

    After winning the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship with Nissan, The British-based JRM Racing will partner with Honda Performance Developments to enter the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP1 class.  JRM Racing will enter a single LMP1 Honda Performance Development ARX-03a powered by a specially designed and tested 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine. The ARX-03a is currently hailed as the most competitive petrol Le Mans Prototype around.

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    Karun Chandhok helps his team JRM Racing qualify in sixth. Adrenna photo

  • 2013 F1 calendar announced

    Paris, 28 Sept 2012: A meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) took place today, 28 September, in Paris and the following decisions were taken.

    FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

    The FIA President confirmed that positive and constructive discussions continue with regard to the new Concorde Agreement and it is anticipated a contract will be signed by the end of October.

    Following a fax vote by the Technical Working Group, the 2013 Sporting and Technical Regulations were approved by the WMSC.

    The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar is confirmed as follows:

    17/03 AUS Grand Prix of Australia
    24/03 MYS Grand Prix of Malaysia
    14/04 CHN Grand Prix of China
    21/04 BHR Grand Prix of Bahrain
    12/05 ESP Grand Prix of Spain (Barcelona)
    26/05 MCO Grand Prix of Monaco
    09/06 CAN Grand Prix of Canada
    16/06 USA Grand Prix of Jersey (New York) *
    30/06 GBR Grand Prix of Great Britain
    14/07 DEU Grand Prix of Germany
    28/07 HUN Grand Prix of Hungary
    25/08 BEL Grand Prix of Belgium
    08/09 ITA Grand Prix of Italy
    22/09 SGP Grand Prix of Singapore
    06/10 KOR Grand Prix of Korea
    13/10 JPN Grand Prix of Japan
    27/10 IND Grand Prix of India
    03/11 ARE Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
    17/11 USA Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
    24/11 BRA Grand Prix of Brazil

    * TBC

    FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

    The WMSC approved for the FIA to proceed with an agreement with The Sportsman Media Group and Red Bull Media House to become the new global Promoter of the FIA World Rally Championship from 2013. The Promoter will be responsible for investing and developing the WRC with a view to increasing its profile, reputation and commercial value. In particular, the Promoter, working in close collaboration with the FIA, will be focused on introducing live television and an innovative digital media strategy in the next years.

    As part of a cost-reduction process and to attract greater entries, WRC Teams competing in the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship will now only have to contest one non-European event. WRC Teams must however still nominate and take part in a minimum of seven events.

    The structure of the support Championships has been revised to reflect the interests and demands of the competitors. From 2013, the current Championship for S2000 cars will be replaced by the WRC-2 Championship including cars with four-wheel drive (R5, R4 and S2000). A specific cup for cars in the Group N category will also form part of the FIA WRC-2 Championship, and titles for teams, drivers and co-drivers will be awarded to those who have scored the most points in six of the seven events in which they have taken part.

    The current Production Car World Rally Championship will be replaced by the FIA WRC-3 Championship, including Group R cars with two-wheel drive (R3, R2 and R1). Titles for teams, drivers and co-drivers will be awarded to those who have scored the most points in five of the six events in which they have taken part.

    The current FIA WRC Academy will be re-named the FIA Junior WRC Championship.

    For safety reasons and therefore with immediate effect, each crew that is entered with a WRC car is permitted to use a route note car on asphalt events.

    To limit costs and encourage participation, from 2013 the use of the latest evolution of parts homologated by manufacturers will not be mandatory for WRC cars entered by drivers not scoring points in the Manufacturers’ Championship. This also applies to all cars in the S2000 category with a 1.6L turbo engine.

    The 2013 FIA World Rally Championship calendar is confirmed as follows:

    20/01 MCO Rallye Monte Carlo
    10/02 SWE Rally Sweden
    10/03 MEX Rally Mexico
    14/04 PRT Rallye de Portugal
    05/05 ARG Rally Argentina
    02/06 GRE Acropolis Rally
    23/06 ITA Rally d’Italia
    04/08 FIN Rally Finland
    TBC DEU Rallye Deutschland
    15/09 AUS Rally Australia
    06/10 FRA Rallye de France
    27/10 ESP Rally de España
    17/11 GBR Rally of Great Britain

    Note: The finish date given is the Sunday of the rally weekend. Itineraries are however subject to final confirmation by event organisers.

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  • McLaren confirms multi-year deal with Sergio Perez

    Woking, (UK) 28 Sept 2012: It is official. Lewis Hamilton will not drive for McLaren for the 2013 season. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes announced that it has signed 22-year-old Mexican Sergio Perez to a multi-year deal from the start of the 2013 season.

    “It is a very big step in my career but I am ready for it,’’ responded the Mexican, who in just two short years, made a stunning impression on Formula One, taking a string of hugely-impressive giant-killing podium finishes while combining a deft turn of speed with considerable maturity, and showcasing the potential ability to become one of the biggest stars in global motorsport.

    Sergio’s new deal means that he will begin a driving partnership with 2009 world champion Jenson Button which the Woking-based team called as “Perfect blend of Youth and Experience’’. The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team’s new driver line-up offers a combination from which both sides – young and old alike – of the garage will be set to benefit.

    While Sergio’s career with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes will begin in earnest in Melbourne

    A file picture of Sergio Perez, relaxing after his second place for Sauber in Monza 2012. Sauber F1 team photo.

    next year, his future team remains absolutely committed to fighting for, and providing every opportunity to both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton to contest, the 2012 drivers’ and constructors’ world championships.

    “I’m thrilled and delighted to have become a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver. The McLaren name is one of the greatest in the history of Formula One. For more than 40 years McLaren has been a team that every racing driver has aspired to drive for – I was brought up on the great stories of Ayrton Senna’s many world championship triumphs for McLaren – and I’m truly honoured that they’ve chosen me to partner Jenson from 2013 onwards,’’ said a delighted Perez.

    “I’ve spent the 2012 season working very hard to demonstrate my potential, but I’ve always remained humble and focused. I am, and always will be, extremely grateful to Peter [Sauber] and everybody at the Sauber Formula 1 team for their belief in me, and for giving me the chance to race in F1,’’ he added.

    “In fact, they gave me the perfect opportunity to demonstrate what I can do – and I’m now equally grateful to Martin [Whitmarsh] and everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for giving me the chance to take this next very big step in my career.

    “I’m under no illusion that it is indeed a very big step – as it would be for any driver – but I’m ready for it. So, while I’m still fully focused on doing my best for Sauber for the remainder of this season, I’m already massively looking forward to working with everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, and with Jenson, who’s someone I’ve long admired as a brilliant driver and a great champion.

    “I’d like to thank Carlos Slim Jr, who has helped me since I was 14 years old, without whom I wouldn’t be where I am today. Our journey together over the past eight years has been an incredible one, and I’ll do everything in my power to deliver with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes the results that he and I have been working so hard and so long to achieve together.

    “As I say, I’ve worked very hard to get to this stage in my career, and I’m now massively looking forward to this next even more exciting stage. It’s fantastic that all the sacrifices I’ve made are now paying off. For example, I remember very clearly the first day I left my family, when I was 15, to live in Germany to race in Formula BMW. It was tough for me – I was sleeping in a restaurant at that time – but the dream of one day becoming a Formula 1 driver kept me going through those difficult days.

    “Finally, I’d like to thank my beloved family, who’ve encouraged me at every turn, and last but far from least the people of Mexico, my home country, whose magnificent support I’ll do my very best to reward with future successes with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.”

    Martin Whitmarsh (Team Principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) said: “On behalf of everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, I’m delighted to welcome Sergio on board. His performances throughout 2012 have convinced us that he’s an extremely exciting prospect for the future.

    “It was a string of giant-killing performances, a trio of podiums and a brilliant fastest lap in this year’s Monaco Grand Prix that showed us that Sergio lacks nothing in terms of speed and commitment. We’ve been monitoring his progress carefully for some months – and, now that he’s become part of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, our task will be to refine and develop his abilities as his career progresses over the coming years.

    “Uniting Sergio alongside Jenson will give us a very broad base of driver ability. Jenson is one of motorsport’s greatest ambassadors, and his unique blend of prodigious speed and canny race-craft makes him formidably well-armed to fight for victory on any grand prix circuit in the world. While Sergio is still developing his palette of skills, we’re convinced that he’s not only talented and quick, but also that he’s willing and eager to learn.

    “He’s perfectly poised to develop into a world championship challenger. His addition to the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team provides us with the perfect two-pronged driver line-up for the new season.

    “Finally, it’s entirely appropriate that I should take this opportunity to pass on our thanks to Lewis [Hamilton]. He wrote a huge chapter of his life and career with us, and was, and always will be, a fine member of an exclusive club: the McLaren world champions’ club.

    “It goes without saying that we all wish him well for the future, just as it also goes without saying that we hope and believe that Sergio, too, will become a member of that exclusive club before too long.”

    Morten Lundal (Group Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone) said: “On behalf of all at Vodafone, I’d like to say how pleased we are that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has signed Sergio to a multi-year deal. We look forward to enjoying success with Sergio and McLaren.”

    Brief profile of Sergio Perez:

    Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez Mendoza was born in Guadalajara, central Mexico, on January 26, 1990.

    He is the fifth Mexican driver to contest a round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship – following in the footsteps of Moises Solana (1963-1968), Ricardo Rodriguez (1961-1962), Pedro Rodriguez (1963-1968) and Hector Rebaque (1977-1979).

    Sergio’s route into motorsport was always assured: his father Antonio was a Mexican Formula Vee champion and his older brother Antonio was a champion in Mexico’s Corona NASCAR series. Sergio is managed by successful IndyCar/Le Mans driver Adrian Fernandez, a fellow Mexican.

    After cutting his teeth in karting in Mexico and junior single-seaters in North America, Sergio moved to Europe in 2005, aged 15, to compete in Formula BMW. After two seasons, he quickly graduated through A1 Grand Prix, and completed two seasons of British Formula 3 (he was the National Class winner in 2007 with 14 race victories, and won four races and finished fourth in the Championship Class in 2008) and GP2, initially contesting the GP2 Asia series in 2008 before spending two seasons in the principal GP2 category in 2009 and 2010.

    His second GP2 campaign (2010) resulted in five race victories (at Monaco, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Spa-Francorchamps and Yas Marina) and the runner-up spot in the championship behind the more experienced Pastor Maldonado.

    Sergio then graduated to Formula 1 with Sauber in 2011, partnering Kamui Kobayashi. He finished seventh in his first-ever grand prix (Melbourne) before both the team’s cars were disqualified for a technical infringement. His best result in his maiden season was a seventh place, in the Santander British Grand Prix.

    For 2012, he remained at Sauber, completing a series of stunning drives – impressive second-place finishes at Sepang and Monza and a strong third-placed finish in Montreal – to cement his position as one of Formula 1’s brightest new hopes. He currently lies ninth in the Formula 1 world championship standings, with 66 world championship points from seven points-finishes.

    Ends-

     

  • Heartbreak for Hamilton

    Singapore, 23 Sept 2012: A gearbox failure caused Lewis Hamilton to retire from the lead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

    Having made a smooth getaway from pole position, and keeping his lead intact through the first round of pitstops, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton slowed to a halt on lap 23 of the planned 61. Shots from his onboard camera clearly showing the Englishman struggling to select a gear. As a result of the DNF, Hamilton slipped for second to fourth in the Drivers’ World Championship table, on a day when he would have expected to make ground on leader Fernando Alonso.

    “It’s heart-breaking not to have finished the race today,” said Hamilton afterwards. “But that’s motor racing. We had the pace this weekend, it was quite easy in the position we were in. I think it would have been a nice result for us – but we still have more races to go.”

    After the race both Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel, who had been Hamilton’s closest challengers in Singapore, reported seeing oil leaking from the 2008 Champion’s gearbox. Hamilton later explained that inside the cockpit the problem was progressive, first loosing his seamless shift capacity, then losing third gear and final becoming stuck in neutral.

    “I lost the [seamless] shift and it becomes quite an aggressive shift and so I told the team. They told me I should be able to see it to the end of the race – and then I lost third gear and then all the gears went.

    “We really couldn’t afford that today – but it is what it is. The good thing is we have good pace. I have to go and win the next few races.”

    Hamilton has been statistically unfortunate this season: his failures to score in 2012 have been the result of two collisions (Valencia and Spa) both judged by stewards to be the fault of the other driver, a puncture at Hockenheim, and today’s mechanical failure. It is his second major gearbox issue of the year having been demoted from second to seventh on the Shanghai grid for an unscheduled change.

    McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh commiserated with his driver. “Until his run was curtailed by gearbox failure on lap 23, Lewis was driving towards what would have been the perfect end to a weekend throughout which his pace had been consistently awesome.

    “There are six grands prix left to run this season – which equate to a potential 150 world championship points for any driver to score – and you should be in no doubt that Lewis will be aiming to get as close to that 150 target as possible.”

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  • Vettel on top in Singapore

    Singapore, 23 Sept 2012: The Red Bull Racing driver led over the line from Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. As a result Vettel rises from fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standings to second place. Kimi Räikkönen remains third after finishing the Singapore Grand Prix in sixth position.

    “It’s one of the toughest races of the year to be honest,” Vettel said afterwards. “It’s very long; the full two hours. There’s no space for mis

    Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull wins in Singapore. Red Bull photo

    takes and the race just seems to go on forever. I had a good start, which got us into second and in the hunt and the pace was there. Obviously we benefited from Lewis’ failure. After that I think we generally we had very, very strong pace. I’m just incredibly happy and proud because this is a such a tough race.”

    Vettel rose from third to second at the start, getting past the Williams of Pastor Maldonado. He and leader Hamilton pulled away from the field and looked evenly matched on pace. With no change through the first round of pitstops, they developed a good lead on third-placed Jenson Button but Hamilton was forced to pull over on lap 22 with a suspected gearbox failure.

    “It’s heartbreaking not to have finished the race,” said Hamilton afterwards. “We definitely had the pace to win this weekend. In fact, before I retired, I was cruising; just managing the gap back to Seb. Then I started to experience difficulty with the gearshift, then I lost third gear, and then the gearbox kept dropping into neutral.”

    Despite the setback, Hamilton vowed to continue his battle for the Drivers’ Championship. “The good thing we can take away from this weekend is that we have extremely good pace,” he said. “As a result, I think we can really attack in the next few races. It’s going to be hard to close the gap to guys like Fernando and Sebastian, especially when they keep finishing race after race, but I’ll never give up. There are six more races, and I need to go and win all six. I’ll fight until the end.”

    Vettel’s comfortable lead vanished when Narain Karthikeyan crashed out under the Bay Grandstand on lap 31, and the safety car was deployed. It left the track at the end of lap 37 but was out again only two laps later when Michael Schumacher ploughed into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso. Schumacher was later handed a 10-place grid penalty for his next race.

    But it was the final drama for Vettel. Once the pace car peeled off track last year’s Singapore winner settled into a solid rhythm and slowly built up a comfortable six-second lead over Button. He duly took the chequered flag for his second win of the year.

    Alonso retained his lead in the Drivers’ Championship and despite that lead being cut from 37 to 29 points, professed himself pleased with the result from an event where Ferrari did not appear strong. “I think it’s a very positive weekend; a very good weekend,” he said. “Of the four or five contenders, we lost points to one, but against the other three we increased our advantage, so obviously, as I said, when we are not quick enough to win more points against three of our opponents, I think it’s positive.”

    Behind the leaders, Paul di Resta took a career-best fourth for Force India, Nico Rosberg was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of the Lotus team of Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. Felipe Massa recovered to eighth after a disastrous first lap saw him pitting and emerging last. Daniel Ricciardo was ninth for Toro Rosso, making up for the last-lap mechanical failure in Italy which denied him a point, and tenth was Sergio Pérez, who gained the place several hours after the race when Mark Webber was demoted for an illegal overtaking move on Pérez’s team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.