Saturday 25 September 2010

Singapore Qually: Fred pulls a rabbit out of the hat

Well I absolutely did not foresee that. Fernando Alonso pipped Sebastian Vettel to pole for tomorrow's Singapore GP, in a weekend that, up until that point, Seb looked like he had it taped.

The Red Bulls, at least in Vettel's hands, continued their strong pace in the first two qually sessions. But in the third, wherein only two flying laps can be squeezed in, apparently both were compromised by the same piece of traffic on their first run. Then, with the pressure on, seemed to not able to max out their second. Seb ended up second, and Webber fifth. Christian Horner admitted that his cars 'slightly underperformed' against their potential in qualifying.

If Fred gets off the line first tomorrow, and it stays dry (and the latest weather forecasts look relatively benign) who'd bet against him bringing the win home? He's looking more and more like the focused and metronomic Alonso we know from days of old. What's more, all the momentum seems to be with him currently. The one false note in qually for Ferrari was struck by Massa, who'll line up last tomorrow, his car having stopped with what may have been an electrical problem in the first session, having not yet set a time. Reliability problems are the last thing Ferrari needs right now.

Lewis also showed up well, lining up third and within two tenths of Alonso's time. Jenson will be pleased with fourth, though less so with being almost four tenths slower than his team mate. So, the five championship candidates fill the first five places, with those who need to make up points better placed. Seriously, who writes this stuff?

Elsewhere, a kind word in due for Schumi, who got into the top ten for the first time since the British GP in July - seems astonishing to think!

Qualifying results

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