The Singapore Grand Prix was never expected to be a dull affair and this season we weren't let down. The street circuit nature of this track, close proximity concrete barrier combined with tightening radius corners typically means the carbon fibre ovens are working overtime to produce enough body parts to cater for the demand.
TurrbalTerror took his first pole position of the year after a number of near misses, and took it with style with a 1:34.6 a clear 0.6 seconds faster than than his teammate in second place, with the other 'fast' clocking in with 1:35 laps.
This race also saw the first Safety Car in an Atomic F1 event, as Renault looked to replicate their 2008 F1 strategy of having their number to crash near the end of the lap and draw the safety car out, giving their number 1 driver an advantage. The result? CruiserComet wrote his car off on turn 18 and the safety car came out allowing Atomic Lambo to coast up behind the race leader bobaj0r who had to pit when the safety car went back in, handing the lead to the Renault driver with only a handful of laps left.
Ultimately the race was about who can keep their nose the cleanest, literally. That driver was Atomic Lambo, as early leader TurrbalTerror tripped through the pits 3 times for broken front wings, he ruled himself out of contention. Spins by bobaj0r also possibly cost him the win, but so did the safety car pit misfortune. Flouncy struggled with not one but three punctured tyres and a broken front wing in one incident, ruining his race.
In race where Atomic Lambo has traditionally struggled, he showed good race and qualifying pace and drove a solid and consistent strategy to not only take the lead but conslidate his position atop the drivers championship table. Atomic Lambo also became the first driver this season to win three races in a row. It's looking increasingly likely that atomic f1 will have two double world champions perhaps even before Brazil, the final round.
1st - Atomic Lambo
Drove a solid race avoiding trouble and made advantage of the safety car period by pitting at just the right time. A deserved winner and can now strike this off his list of bogey tracks.
2nd - bobaj0r
Despite missing the last few races bobaj0r was on the pace by qualifying second and pushed hard for the lead in the early stages of the race. He built up a good lead before the safety car period but lost out heavily when he had to pit when the safety car went back in. Faded a little at the end of the race on worn options but still held on to second place.
3rd - ET ROM au
A very solid result for the Ferrari driver and backing up his 3rd place finish here last year. Outqualified and outraced his teammate, a result he should be happy with. With the poor result of TurrbalTerror and the penalty to HolyGhost79, fourth place in the championship is not out of his reach.
4th - Eradicator84
A good drive into 4th spot after a solid friday practice. Eradicator84 lacked outright pace but in the end brought car home ahead of faster drivers, and that's all that counts. Another driver sitll in contention of the lead of the 'Class B'.
5th - HolyGhost79
Again finished higher than he started, after a poor qualifying result that was likely not indicative of outright pace. His race fastest lap was faster than his qualifying effort but suffered a 20sec time penalty which dropped him from fourth to fifth in the rankings.
6th - TurrbalTerror
Had great pace at this circuit, putting the car clearly on pole and setting the fastest lap of the race by nearly a full second. Multiple broken wings hampered his chances, but after the safety car period was catching second place on fresher tyres before bobaj0r spun and TurrbalTerror t-boned him, braking his front wing and neccessitating another pitstop with 3 laps to go. 4 broken front wings and 5 changes of tyres (option, option, prime, prime, option, option). His race fastest lap would have still put him on pole position.
7th - Modz
Had considerable Friday practice pace but a poor race preparation on Saturday left him mentally drained and unable to convert on race day. A positive note was this internet connection was solid and he caused no one else problems with lagging or warping.
8th - Flouncy
A pre-race favourite, Flouncy lacked qualifying and ultimate race pace but ran strongly in the early stages of the race before suffering late tyre punctures and broken front wing on lap 27. From there it was all about damage limitation, something he didn't do as well as he'd liked. A gamble on a three stop strategy didn't quite pay off, although had the tyres not exploded it may have. Pirelli are looking into the cause to determine if there was a structural tyre problem or whether the safety car contribute to unusual circumstances. Flouncy now sits a whopping 35 points behind Atomic Lambo in the title race and will need a strong race win at Suzuka, his favourite track, if he's win his third title.
9th - roxas3sora3
Plagued by multiple pitstops for wing damage, Singapore was never going to be easy for the Williams driver. He at least lapped considerable faster during the race than his qualifying effort.
10th - BreakerMorant
Struggled in the Singapore heat and his old eyes no doubt had trouble adjusting to the night time. Was angered that the race start time meant he missed Matlock and Murder She Wrote reruns.
11th - CruiserComet
Accepting his place as Renault #2, CruiserComet dutifully destroyed his car and brought out the novelty of the Safety Car for the first time. Atomic F1 sources have revealed he is in line for a big bonus in his part in crash-gate.
