Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow
Lewis Hamilton gained significant ground on Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with his victory at the Italian Grand Prix last time out.
The English driver, whose patchy relationship with his German colleague continues to grab headlines, will now look to further close the 22-point gap currently separating the pair heading into the Singapore Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel won last year's race around the Marina Bay street circuit, the only night contest on the Formula One calendar.
However, Vettel toils in sixth place heading into the 14th race of the season this time around, meaning most of the attention will remain on Hamilton's battle with Rosberg at the top.
The current leader's mistake in Italy, which saw him miss the first chicane as Hamilton passed, has led to conspiracy theories over whether it was a deliberate call, per Daniel Johnson of The Telegraph.
While Hamilton refused orders to move out of Rosberg's way in Hungary, something his team-mate retaliated to by allegedly admitting he deliberately knocked Hamilton off course in Belgium, Johnson believes the explanation for the Italian result is far more simple:
Discarding the practicalities of such a plot - not to mention Rosberg's willingness - it appeared all the more outlandish given that there was a much more humble explanation: Hamilton put his sparring partner under intolerable pressure at 220mph, and he cracked.
The season's main storyline continues to develop as we head toward Singapore. Just six opportunities to gather points remain, meaning both Hamilton and Rosberg need to find some race-winning consistency.
In particular, Rosberg's 21st finish in Monza leaves him needing to topple his team-mate's confidence, reasserting dominance in the process.
Singapore will further the storyline on a weekend that could be pivotal to the overall championship.
Here, you can follow all the results from practice and qualifying sessions as they unfold.
Begin Slideshow ' P1: Alonso Topples Hamilton and Rosberg During Opening Session
Fernando Alonso continued his impressive form by coming out on top during the opening practice session in Singapore. The Spaniard, who currently sits fifth overall in the drivers' standings, jumped ahead of both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after posting a best time of 1:49.056 across his 16 laps.
Alonso is currently an outside bet for this season's crown, despite driving well in a Ferrari car that should be considered below the outfit's usual quality. The former champion finished over a second ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and will be extremely pleased with his consistency as we head toward the latter races of the campaign.
Sebastian Vettel, who has rarely looked capable of defending last year's crown, suffered an opening to forget during his trip onto the Marina Bay street circuit. Vettel's engine failed on track, meaning he won't be ready to start second practice, per BBC Sport.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner provided a little information, saying, 'It looks like an engine problem, a sudden loss of engine oil pressure, which usually means something pretty nasty,' per the aforementioned report.
One of the day's other notable points came with the appearance of Bernie Ecclestone, who admitted he was 'behind' the decision to limit radio communicaton between drivers and their teams. These restrictions were relaxed prior to practice, per Luke Smith of NBC Sports, but 'driver coaching' still isn't permitted.
Alonso's early dominance certainly increases pressure on Hamilton and Rosberg. Although Hamilton will be be content with starting the weekend ahead of championship leader, the Englishman will need to work avidly if he's to repeat his victory from 2008.
Despite continued bad blood between the Mercedes drivers, both appeared in good spirits ahead of a pivotal race. Rosberg did run wide at turn 10 with little time remaining, but this wont affect his confidence, reported by ESPN F1.
You can check the full rundown of times from the first practice below, courtesy of Formula 1:
PosNoDriverTeamTime/RetiredGapLaps
1
14
Fernando Alonso
Ferrari
1:49.056
16
No comments:
Post a Comment