F1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix
Final
Singapore Grand Prix Preview
Sep 23, 2008 - 8:18 PMSeptember 28, 2008
Singapore street circuit
Singapore
Race 14 of 17 in Grand Prix Series
Laps: 61
Track length: 3.15 miles
Race length: 192 miles
DRIVERS TO WATCH
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Fernando Alonso (Spain)
Team: Renault
2008 Points: 28 (7th)
Two-time champion has struggled in return to Renault with just
three top fives all season - fourth places at the season opener
at Australia, Hungary and Italy; retired in Spain and Canada and
has a pair of sixth and eighth place finishes; had a tumultuous
2007 season with McLaren, but still managed to finish third
overall; had the same points as teammate Lewis Hamilton, but
lost the tiebreaker for second place; won four times last
season, but relationship with team and Hamilton deteriorated
after Ferrari spy scandal affair and returned to Renault for
2008 season; won consecutive titles in 2005-06 with Renault;
won six races in 2006 and seven in 2005.
Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
Team: McLaren
2008 Points: 78 (1st)
Ran seventh at Italy and leads Felipe Massa by a mere point atop
the standings; finished second at the Grand Prix of Europe and
won the British and German Grands Prix; was involved in a pit
road incident with Kimi Raikkonen and retired from the Canadian
Grand Prix; opened the season with a dominant win at Australia
then ran fifth at Malaysia and 13th in Bahrain; bounced back to
finish second at Turkey; had a stunning rookie season, scoring
podiums in his first nine races; won four times and captured
six poles to outperform more heralded former teammate
Fernando Alonso; was the favorite to win the championship last
year until errors in final two rounds dropped him to second
place behind Raikkonen; retired from the race at China to give
his teammate and Raikkonen the chance to steal the crown; won
at Japan to open a 12-point lead over Alonso with two races
left; made history at Canada where he became the first black
driver to win a Formula One race; followed that victory in
Canada by winning the United States Grand Prix.
Nick Heidfeld (Germany)
Team: BMW Sauber
2008 Points: 53 (5th)
Ran second to teammate Robert Kubica at Canada; finished 5.4
seconds behind Hamilton to claim second at Australia and was
runner-up to Hamilton in Britain; was sixth at Malaysia, fourth
in Bahrain and Germany, and fifth in Turkey; finished fifth at
Italy and moved up to fifth in the standings; was the best of
the rest behind the Ferrari and McLaren drivers last year after
an impressively consistent season for BMW, finishing fifth
overall; did not win last season as best race of the season was
at Canada where he finished second; had consecutive fourth-place
finishes at Italy and Turkey and was third in Hungary; opened
the year with three consecutive fourth place finishes at
Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain; forced to retire at Spain and
the United States Grand Prix; has nine top-five finishes in 17
starts last year.
Robert Kubica (Poland)
Team: BMW Sauber
2008 Points: 64 (3rd)
Won his first race at Canada and took over the top spot in the
standings; win at Canada was made more impressive after he was
injured in a scary crash at the same track a year ago; followed
win by running fifth in France; finished third at the Grand Prix
of Italy and currently sits third in the standings; finished
sixth overall last year in his first full Formula One season;
opened the season by retiring at Australia, but has finished in
the top five in every race since; ran second at both Malaysia
and Monaco; was third at Bahrain and fourth at both Spain and
Turkey.
Felipe Massa (Brazil)
Team: Ferrari
2008 Points: 77 (2nd)
Picked up his fourth win of the season at the Grand Prix of
Europe then ran sixth at Italy to move within a point of leader
Lewis Hamilton; rebounded from an awful start to the season by
winning at Bahrain and Turkey; completed only 29 laps before
retiring at Australia with engine issues; also retired at
Malaysia by spinning out early; posted three wins and six poles
last season, but reliability issues and a disqualification in
Canada put him out of title contention and he wound up fourth;
contract with Ferrari runs until 2010; retired from the Italian
Grand Prix with suspension problems, dropping to fourth place in
the standings; last year bounced back from a 13th-place finish
at Hungary by winning in Turkey; had 11 top five finishes in 17
starts last season.
Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)
Team: Ferrari
2008 Points: 57 (4th)
Retired from the Grand Prix of Europe with engine issues and ran
ninth at Italy, falling to fourth in the standings; retired at
Canada after a pit road incident with Lewis Hamilton then
finished second at France, fourth in Great Britain and sixth at
Germany; opened defense of his title by running eighth at
Australia, completing just 53 laps before having engine
problems; bounced back to win at Malaysia, ran second at Bahrain
and third in Turkey; won first appearance for Ferrari in
Australia last season then went on to win five more times;
biggest win came at the season-ending event at Brazil, which gave
him his first drivers title by a single point over Hamilton;
trailed Hamilton by seven points entering final race; had 14
top-five finishes in 17 starts last season; joined Ferrari after
spending five years with McLaren where he went winless in 2006.
- EasternPA First ever F1 race in Singapore and first ever F1 race under the lights! Very exciting!
F1 SingTel Singapore Grand PrixSep 27 6:38 PM