The 25th Angst: Fernando Alonso, Singapore 2010

To celebrate Lewis Hamilton's 25th win at the Chinese Grand Prix, MotorsInside offers you a special feature on the 25th victories, revisiting the races of drivers who have entered the legend. Number eight: Fernando Alonso, and his victory in Singapore in 2010.

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Rédigé par Par

The context

Defector from Renault, Fernando Alonso arrives at Ferrari with a lot of ambition for the 2010 season. Jenson Button clinched his first world championship title with Brawn GP and then transferred to McLaren Mercedes. However, the cards have been reshuffled and the Asturian driver seems to be in a strong position to win his third world drivers’ championship against veteran Mark Webber.

The race

At the lights out, Fernando Alonso, on pole, dives into the first corner in the lead after holding off Sebastian Vettel. After the first lap, Alonso is ahead of Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Mark Webber.

Massa, who started from the last position on the grid, comes in to change his soft tires for hard ones so he won’t have to stop again until the end of the race. The race is restarted thanks to the intervention of Vitantonio Liuzzi, who brings out the safety car. Taking advantage of the neutralization of the event, Webber and other drivers come in on the third lap to change tires. Behind the safety car, Alonso now leads ahead of Vettel, Hamilton, Button, and Rosberg.

Webber quickly overtakes Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi. By the seventh lap, the Australian driver is in ninth place while Alonso leads Vettel by one second, Hamilton by 3s, Button by 5s, Rosberg by 6s, and Kubica by 7s. Webber continues his climb and overtakes Michael Schumacher: all the drivers ahead of him now need to change tires, which is no longer the case for him. Alonso continues to lead the race solo and, by the eighteenth lap, has a 3-second lead over Vettel, 12s over Hamilton, and 18s over Button.

Hamilton changes tires on the twenty-eighth lap due to tire grip issues. Alonso, Vettel, and Button on the following lap. Webber succeeds in his gamble as he is now ahead of Hamilton and Button, while Schumacher clips Kobayashi and rejoins the track behind Webber.

By the 31st lap, Kobayashi and Senna, victims of their tires, hit the wall and are forced to retire, prompting the safety car to re-enter. The standings are Alonso ahead of Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Hamilton. The race resumes on the thirty-fifth lap, and moments later, Hamilton takes advantage of Webber overtaking a backmarker to attack the Australian. The cars touch, and Hamilton retires.

At the 39th lap, Alonso is still leading ahead of Vettel by 2 seconds, Webber by 9s, Button by 11s, and Rosberg by 13s. Ten laps later, Alonso is ahead of Vettel by one second and Webber by 17s, Button and Rosberg; the Spaniard is under pressure from the German who was not yet a world champion at the time.

Finally, Fernando Alonso clinches the 25th victory of his career, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

In the overall standings, Mark Webber of Red Bull retains the lead, but Fernando Alonso, winner of this Singapore edition, closes in on the championship lead with an 11-point gap.

The After

Fernando Alonso will win a new event in South Korea in his F10. As the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (the last event of the World Drivers’ Championship) approaches, 4 drivers could become world champion (Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton). It is ultimately the young Sebastian Vettel who clinches his first world title right under Alonso’s nose.

Find the other articles in this series:

La 25ème scintillante: Jim Clark, Afrique du Sud 1968

The 25th Shining: Jackie Stewart, Monaco 1973

La 25ème vieillissante: Niki Lauda, Pays-Bas 1985

La 25th Transcendent: Alain Prost, Australia 1986

The 25th Dominant: Ayrton Senna, Belgium 1990

The Roaring 25th: Nigel Mansell, Spain 1992

The 25th Blushing: Michael Schumacher, France 1997

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