Sauber disappointed with solitary point

Sergio Perez suffered a puncture after the collision with Michael Schumacher © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Sauber head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara said that the team was unhappy with only scoring one point in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez finished tenth despite a collision with Michael Schumacher which left him with a puncture, mainly thanks to a two-stop strategy that gave him track position. Dall'Ara said that Perez had done a good job, but that the team had made an error with Kamui Kobayashi's strategy during the safety car period caused by Schumacher's crash.

"I can't pretend to be that happy with one point, as I think we were expecting a little better than what we achieved today," Dall'Ara said. Unfortunately the Safety Car didn't come at the right moment for us. Under the circumstances I think what Sergio did was the best we could achieve here. I have to be honest and say we should have left Kamui out during the Safety Car period, but still I don't think he could have scored points today. Performance wise I think we are better than we looked, but we just didn't get through the traffic when it was there."

Kobayashi agreed that the car was competitive, but was unhappy at having his race further compromised by a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.

"This was a very difficult weekend for me. Our pace all weekend was actually okay, but in the race, due to traffic and a mistake with the strategy when the Safety Car was on the track, it didn't work out. I was very surprised when I got the drive through penalty, because I didn't see any blue flags."

Perez said his strategy had got him in to position to score points, but that he was powerless to defend on heavily worn tyres at the end of the race.

"I think tenth was the best we could manage today," Perez said. "For my second stop I had to pit earlier because I had a puncture after the accident with Michael (Schumacher), and then I had to do a very long last stint - actually just a bit over half the race distance - with the second set of soft tyres. It is a shame to have lost a place to Felipe (Massa) in the end, but the tyres were finished and I couldn't defend anymore. We will keep fighting to get back sixth place in the Championship."

ESPNF1

Hamilton quiet on Massa incident

Lewis Hamilton had to replace his front wing after colliding with Felipe Massa © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Lewis Hamilton didn't comment on his collision with Felipe Massa which earned him a drive-through penalty during the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton was running sixth when he clipped the rear of Massa's car, giving the Ferrari a puncture and breaking his own front wing. After being penalised for the incident, Hamilton put in an impressive recovery drive to finish fifth, but after the race Massa criticised him for his driving, and sarcastically congratulated Hamilton in the TV pen. Hamilton steered clear of the issue, however, instead focusing on the positives for his McLaren team.

"Congratulations to Seb on a great drive - he drove fantastically all weekend," Hamilton said. "And well done to Jenson, too - he showed what was possible from our package by really getting the maximum out of it. He nearly brought home the victory too - so I'm encouraged that we can continue to challenge for wins for the rest of the season.

"I had fun picking off cars after my penalty, but it was frustrating to once again be down the field when I felt we had a car that could have challenged up at the front. For me, this weekend was a bit of a missed opportunity. As always, though, I'll put it behind me - I'm already looking forward to Suzuka!"

ESPNF1

Alonso admits Ferrari is now third best

Fernando Alonso: "The reality is that our car is third best in terms of performance" © Getty Images

Enlarge

Fernando Alonso thinks Ferrari now has the third fastest car behind McLaren and Red Bull following his distant fourth-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix.

After qualifying fifth on Saturday Alonso was adamant a podium was possible, but in the race he struggled with tyre degradation and finished 55.4s behind race winner Sebastian Vettel. A good start promoted him to third at the start of the race, but he could not keep Mark Webber's Red Bull at bay.

"Unfortunately, today it was impossible to finish on the podium," Alonso conceded. "We were not fast enough and, even if we were third for some parts of the race, we knew that sooner or later we would be overtaken. Sure, if you nail the start and something unusual happens and you do everything perfectly and then some, the podium might come your way, but at the moment, the reality is that our car is third best in terms of performance. Then, as happened today, if the Safety Car wipes out the few seconds advantage we had put together over Webber and the backmarkers, who were maybe a bit distracted, create unexpected problems, then everything becomes more difficult."

He said tyre degradation had been one of the biggest issues in Singapore but is still hopeful of better results later in the season.

"At the start, on the supersofts, we had very high degradation, while on the softs the situation got back to more or less normal compared to Red Bull and McLaren," he added. "We fought all weekend long and I'm pleased with the way the team worked, because they always did their very best and we got the most we could have done out of this race. We have five difficult races ahead of us, but our motivation does not change: at some point maybe we will be able to attack, while there will be other times when we have to defend, but either way, we will always do our best."

ESPNF1

Di Resta hails upgrades for sixth

Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil gave Force India its best points haul of the season © Getty Images

Enlarge

Paul di Resta says that an upgrade package was the key behind Force India's pace as he finished sixth in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Force India has been strong in recent races, with its worst lowest score in the last five grands prix an eighth place in Italy. In Singapore di Resta made the most of a two-stop strategy to beat Nico Rosberg's Mercedes and secure his best result of the season, and he said that it was the culmination of a lot of hard work by the team.

"I'm very happy with the outcome," di Resta said. "I don't think the safety car really helped us because I still had a lot of life left in the supersoft tyres in the middle of the race, but it didn't really hurt us either. After that it was a case of managing my pace to Rosberg, looking after the tyres and bringing the car home. I was in free air for the final part of the race, which helped, and the pace was strong.

"It's probably my best race of the season, but it's the result of all the hard work behind the scenes. We came here with an upgrade package that has allowed us to gain performance in the race, gain tyre life, and we saw the benefits of that today."

Team-mate Adrian Sutil was eighth as Force India secure its first double points finish since the opening race of the season, and he said it was an important result for the constructors' standings.

"We have been aiming to get both cars in the points for a while now, so we can be very happy with where we finished," Sutil said. "The points we scored give us some breathing space over Sauber in the championship. It was quite a normal race for me, although I lost some track position under the safety car as Rosberg got ahead of me and stayed there until the end of the race. The final stint was quite difficult because I had to do about 30 laps on the soft tyres. I had Perez close behind me and then Massa was closing in fast on the final lap. Fortunately I had enough to hold on to eighth."

ESPNF1

Rosberg bemoans tyre degradation

Nico Rosberg: "The optimum today would have been sixth place" © Getty Images

Enlarge

Nico Rosberg believes his Mercedes was fast enough to snatch sixth place at the Singapore Grand Prix but missed out due to tyre degradation and the timing of the safety car.

Rosberg finished seventh behind Paul di Resta's Force India and a lap down on the lead car. He said it had been a difficult race on a circuit that did not suit the Mercedes.

"The optimum today would have been sixth place but it didn't quite work out for us this weekend," Rosberg said. "I was struggling with the rear end in the race, and our car just really didn't suit this demanding track.

"I had more problems with tyre degradation than the cars around me, which combined with having to switch our strategy when the safety car came out, meant it was impossible to make any progress. Whilst we might not be happy with the outcome of our weekend here in Singapore, we will now work hard to improve the car for the next races here in Asia."

The safety car was caused by Michael Schumacher crashing out on lap 28 and team principal Ross Brawn said it had been a double hit for Mercedes as it also ruined Rosberg's strategy.

"Unfortunately Michael's accident hurt us both from his own point of view and that it brought out the safety car at the wrong time for our strategy," Brawn added. "Nico then did a very good job to make the set of tyres that he had last for over half of the race. Seventh place was about as much as we could have expected today, and whilst it feels disappointing, we will keep working hard and pushing forward."

ESPNF1

Webber looks to improve starts

Mark Webber was caught up behind Fernando Alonso for large parts of the race © Getty Images

Enlarge

Mark Webber says that he needs to improve his race starts to help him secure better results after he finished third in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Webber started the race in second place, and after Jenson Button said it was important to get ahead of him in to turn one, Webber had a poor getaway to fall to fourth. It follows a number of bad starts this season, including one in Spa where he fell to eighth by the first corner having started third. Webber said it is an area that he will work on, because he believes it cost him second place in Singapore.

"Unfortunately I find myself having to come back through too often this season, I can't make the starts I made last year at the moment, need to work on those," Webber said. "We'll look at them and definitely improve, I've just got to keep working harder because it makes it quite frustrating and it's more risky again to come back through and try to regain positions on the track, particularly when the DRS isn't working. In the end I probably lost a position today out of that, JB put a good last stint together so it would have been a good battle with him even if I did have track position."

After congratulating Vettel, Webber said he still had to be pleased with a podium on a track that he struggles slightly on.

"Seb clearly deserved the victory. Overall if you come here and you say you have a podium - of course you would love a win and that's what we all strive for but this is a very challenging venue. It's nice to have the car in one piece for everybody, the guys have done a great job all weekend, and for me in particular it's not the easiest track for me. It's challenging for quite a few of us but I don't seem to be super quick round here."

ESPNF1

Vettel happy to wait for title

Sebastian Vettel said he was able to control the race with ease © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Sebastian Vettel said that his victory in the Singapore Grand Prix was a "fantastic result" and that he was happy to wait until Japan to seal the world championship.

Vettel had the chance to secure back-to-back world titles in Singapore if he won the race, but with Jenson Button finishing second he still needs one more point to confirm himself as the 2011 champion. Having led every lap of the race on his way to victory, Vettel said that the car had allowed him to control the race with ease, and that he knew exactly how much time he could afford to lose at the end after finishing just 1.7 seconds ahead of Button.

"First of all I'm very very pleased with the result; the car was fantastic all the way through," Vettel said. "When we had to push we could pull away quite easily and pull a gap which helped us. Obviously the safety car came out and didn't really fit to our plan because we had a big gap - I think about 30 seconds and about 30 laps to go - but nevertheless I had a very good restart. I was a bit lucky that there were some backmarkers between me and Jenson and I was able to get back in to the rhythm straight away, pull a huge gap and then was quite happy.

"Towards the end with the traffic it is quite busy around here, there isn't much space and if you catch the traffic at the wrong place on the circuit you lose quite some time. So in the end on the last lap I faced five cars in quite a large group but there was plenty of room, obviously not that big margin when I crossed the line but I was in control of where Jenson was going in to the last lap."

Vettel was also relaxed about the championship, turning his attentions to trying to mathematically confirm it in Japan.

"All in all a fantastic result. I really love the track, I love the challenge; it's one of the longest races, the car was fantastic ... we were in a comfortable position for most of the race which is pretty handy around here because it's quite a big challenge to put the sectors together not only in qualifying but also in the race. The pace was good and I'm very pleased, for the championship it looks like we have another chance at the next race."

ESPNF1

Button admits Vettel was too quick

Jenson Button: "We were not quick enough to win today" © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Jenson Button admitted McLaren did not have the pace to beat Sebastian Vettel at the Singapore Grand Prix despite closing to within 1.7s in the final few laps.

Vettel led Button from the getaway and built up a big lead before a safety car period cut it down to size. However, it was during the last stint that Button looked like a real threat as he slashed into Vettel's lead with a series of quick laps on a set of supersoft tyres. In the end traffic played a bigger part in deciding the size of the gap than the pace of the cars, and Button admitted his McLaren was not fast enough.

"It was the best we could have done today and I feel that I got everything out of the car, especially towards the end of the race when I was able to push on the tyres and really feel what the car had," Button said. "But we were not quick enough to win today. It was a good finish all the same and hopefully something we can build on for the next race."

Backmarkers held him up during his charge in the final laps and he admitted it had been frustrating at times.

"I can understand that it's difficult to move over, and most people were fighting here, but they've got to respect that the cars that are lapping them are doing so for a reason; because they're quicker than them and fighting hard for position," he added. "There were some frustrating moments in the race, one was with Kobayashi - I sat behind him for a lap, couldn't get past and then he finally pulled over. The Williams obviously were fighting between themselves. The thing is, when it gets to the last lap and people see that they've been lapped, they think that it's their last lap and they're pushing hard and they forget that there are cars trying to overtake."

ESPNF1

Sebastian Vettel Champi...

Sebastian Vettel moved to the brink of a second title by winning the Singapore Grand Prix, but Jenson Button's runner-up finish meant the German was one point shy of the championship lead he required to wrap things up for 2011.

Vettel utterly dominated the majority of the race. The Red Bull man was a second per lap faster than his pursuers at first, and though the pack closed up with a mid-race safety car after Michael Schumacher clipped Sergio Perez and was launched into a violent accident - from which he emerged unhurt - Vettel had a cushion of backmarkers behind him at the restart and was eight seconds clear again after just one lap.

McLaren driver Button started closing in with some very rapid late laps, but Vettel always appeared to have everything under control as he clinched his ninth win of the season.

Button had claimed second with a quick start, while Vettel's front row partner team-mate Mark Webber got away slowly. Lewis Hamilton challenged Webber down the inside in the second McLaren but ran out of space and fell as low as eighth, while Fernando Alonso took his Ferrari around the outside of everyone to grab third from fifth on the grid.

Webber twice passed Alonso on the road, having to get back ahead after the Ferrari reclaimed third in the first pitstops following an on-track exchange. But a bold dive into the Turn 10 chicane amid traffic on the restart lap secured Webber's third place and he pulled away thereafter.

Hamilton had a highly eventful run to fifth. He quickly recovered from being wrong-footed on the first lap but then clipped Felipe Massa while racing with the Ferrari immediately after the first stops. The McLaren picked up both wing damage and a penalty, while Massa was left with a puncture.

A fightback charge from Hamilton took him from a post-drive-through 15th to fifth in the end, helped by the safety car closing him onto the lead pack again. A string of DRS passes got him back into the top five, though having to pit for another set of tyres while those behind him did not meant Hamilton had to make a lot of his moves twice before his top five finish was secure.

Paul di Resta secured the best result of his Formula 1 career so far in sixth for Force India. A very long first stint and the ability to make his second and final stop just as the safety car came out got him ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and the second Force India of Adrian Sutil.

Massa fell to 20th following the clash with Hamilton, before clawing his way back through to salvage some points in ninth.

Perez's Sauber was undamaged in the incident with Schumacher, which happened when the Mercedes was coming back through after a pitstop, and he finished 10th.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Singapore Grand Prix
Singapore, Singapore;
61 laps; 309.087km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h59:06.537
 2.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     1.737
 3.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    29.279
 4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    55.449
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:07.766
 6.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:51.067
 7.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     1 lap
 8.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 9.  Massa         Ferrari                    +     1 lap
10.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
11.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
12.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
13.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
14.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    2 laps
15.  Senna         Renault                    +    2 laps
16.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
17.  Petrov        Renault                    +    2 laps
18.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
19.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    4 laps
20.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +    4 laps
21.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Button, 1:48.454

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Trulli        Lotus-Renault                48
Schumacher    Mercedes                     29
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              10


World Championship standings, round 14:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       309        1.  Red Bull-Renault          491
 2.  Button       185        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          353
 3.  Alonso       184        3.  Ferrari                   268
 4.  Webber       182        4.  Mercedes                  114
 5.  Hamilton     168        5.  Renault                    70
 6.  Massa         84        6.  Force India-Mercedes       48
 7.  Rosberg       62        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             36
 8.  Schumacher    52        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         29
 9.  Heidfeld      34        9.  Williams-Cosworth           5
10.  Petrov        34       
11.  Sutil         28       
12.  Kobayashi     27       
13.  Di Resta      20       
14.  Alguersuari   16       
15.  Buemi         13       
16.  Perez          9       
17.  Barrichello    4       
18.  Senna          2       
19.  Maldonado      1       
       
All timing unofficial

Autosport

Qualifying analysis - who can ruin Vettel’s party?

Sebastian Vettel was understandably very pleased with his 11th pole position of the season for Red Bull. But while he will start exactly where he wanted to, with team mate Mark Webber, the McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso right behind, it remains to be seen whether the young German will finish where he needs to in order to wrap up the title with five races to spare. We take a team-by-team look at how all the runners performed in Singapore on Saturday…

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 44.381s, P1
Mark Webber, 1m 44.732s, P2
Vettel only needed one run to take his 11th pole of the season, and he described his lap as perfect as he pretty much maintained the half second advantage held had in each session. Webber was much happier with his car, and his lap, after overnight changes, and both are confident of strong races. They couldn’t be starting in better positions with their front row lock-out.

McLaren
Jenson Button, 1m 44.804s, P3
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 44.809s, P4
Button was happy with third after his dramas on Friday and said that overnight changes had made his McLaren less hard on its rear tyres. But he has yet to run on high fuel. So may have a problem looking after his rubber on Sunday. If anyone can nurse tyres, however, he can. Hamilton was desperately unlucky, having been second to Vettel after the first runs but having to sit out the second due to some finger trouble in the camp; the guy fuelling his car thought he was putting some in when he was actually pumping it out, and by the time the mistake was uncovered it was too late to resolve it.

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, 1m 44.874s, P5
Felipe Massa, 1m 45.800s, P6
Alonso was in brilliant form all through qualifying and said his ‘120 per cent’ effort was probably his best Q3 performance of the year. He goes into the race convinced a podium position is possible, and he needs it to keep his superslim title chances theoretically alive. Massa had a bit of a territorial dispute with Hamilton on their out laps and aborted his first effort. His main problem was oversteer as his rear tyres overheated by the second and third sectors of the lap.

Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, 1m 46.013s, P7
Michael Schumacher, No time, P8
Rosberg pushed for all he was worth to depose Massa and just came up short, but Schumacher opted to save tyres and didn’t go for a time. Both he and Rosberg will have two sets of new soft tyres and one set of new supersofts for the race, which could be very important.

Force India
Adrian Sutil, No time, P9
Paul di Resta, No time, P10
Sutil was strong all day, while Di Resta snatched back the all-important 10th place in Q2 from Perez with his final lap, thus ensuring both cars made it to Q3. Neither ran them, however, as the team preferred to save rubber for the race.

Sauber
Sergio Perez, 1m 47.616s, P11
Kamui Kobayashi, No time, P17
Perez again did a fine job for Sauber, and so nearly made it to Q3. Kobayashi got the Turn 10 kerbs all wrong at the start of Q2 and aviated into the wall.

Williams
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 48.082s, P12
Pastor Maldonado, 1m 48.270s, P13
Williams were cautiously happy with 12th, though Barrichello said he hoped for better, but Maldonado had trouble generating sufficient heat in his tyres, especially the primes.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 48.634s, P14
Jaime Alguersuari, 1m 49.862s, P16
Buemi was happy that he managed to save a set of supersoft tyres for the race, but Alguersuari was left wondering where the grips levels of Friday had gone as he struggled throughout the day with his STR06. The team put that down to an unidentified technical solution they’d used Friday but which Giorgio Ascanelli ruled could no longer be relied upon.

Renault
Bruno Senna, 1m 48.662s, P15
Vitaly Petrov, 1m 49.835s, P18
Renault reverted to standard specification bodywork overnight after Petrov’s problems with overheating with the new engine cover and sidepods on Friday. As they had feared, the R31s were slow here, but Senna was able to maintain his momentum by bumping Petrov from Q2 right at the end of Q1. The pace of Monza was but a memory, however.

Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 50.948s, P19
Jarno Trulli, 1m 51.012s, P20
Kovalainen was happy with his performance and his tyre wear rate, which bodes well for the race, but sending him out for his second run right behind Liuzzi definitely compromised his chances. Trulli admitted that he struggled with his T128 all day.

Virgin
Timo Glock, 1m 52.154s, P21
Jerome D’Ambrosio, 1m 52.363s, P22
Both drivers complained of braking problems. Glock said his VR02 was unstable under heavy retardation and D’Ambrosio that his balance was too far rearwards initially. They both managed to move ahead of the HRTs on their final runs, however, to take their usual places.

HRT
Daniel Ricciardo, 1m 52.404s, P23
Vitantonio Liuzzi, 1m 52.810s, P24
Ricciardo only planned to do one lap in Q1, but for a while was ahead of the Virgins. Liuzzi said his F111 lost grip by the third sector of the lap, which cost him his chance of beating the red and black cars. It was academic for him, however, as he has his five-place grid penalty from Monza to serve.

Pirelli
With a difference of 0.8-1.0 seconds per lap between the soft and the supersoft tyres, Pirelli expect most runners to adopt a three-stop strategy but believe some teams may choose to stop twice.

F1.com

Force India aiming for double points finish

Force India qualified ninth and tenth in Singapore © Getty Images

Enlarge

Force India is aiming for a double points finish at the Singapore Grand Prix after both cars qualified in the top ten on Saturday.

Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta both survived the elimination rounds in qualifying to make it to the top-ten shootout but decided not to run in order to save tyres. Team principal Vijay Mallya congratulated his drivers and said the target was now to come away from Singapore with a solid haul of points.

"We knew coming into this weekend that we had the potential to go well here, and so it proved today. It's a high downforce track and the car has been fast since the start of practice," Mallya said. "In every session we've shown top ten pace. So it's satisfying to convert that into a qualifying result with two cars inside the top ten - the first time we've achieved that this season. It's an especially good result considering the time we lost with Paul's car yesterday in second practice and he's done a good job to recover from that. The target tomorrow is clearly to build on today's showing and come away with both cars in the points."

Sutil said the team felt there was little to gain by setting a time in Q3, even though Mercedes' Michael Schumacher also elected not to run.

"Going into qualifying we felt we had the pace to make the top ten, but that being higher than ninth and tenth would be difficult to achieve," he said. "So once we made Q3 we felt we had got the maximum from the car and that it would be a better decision to save our tyres. We kept an eye on what Mercedes were doing, but stayed in the garage in the end. I think the advantage of saving a set of tyres is worth it because it's a tough race for tyres and we have more options with the strategy. For tomorrow, anything could happen in the race but our clear goal is to finally get both cars in the points."

Di Resta had a problem during second practice on Friday which limited his preparations for Sunday's race. However, he is confident ahead of his first night race in Singapore and is looking to take the fight to the Mercedes pair in front.

"Considering the difficult day I had yesterday, it feels pretty good to be starting in P10 for my first Singapore Grand Prix," di Resta said. "We knew yesterday that the car had good performance here and I think we got as much as we could from that session. That's why we stayed in the garage during Q3 because it gives us a free tyre choice for tomorrow on fresh rubber. In terms of tyres I've got to rely a bit on the data from Adrian's car because I didn't get a chance to do any high fuel runs yesterday. This morning I didn't feel quite so comfortable on the supersofts but felt happier on the soft tyre. For the race we'll be aiming to take the fight to the cars ahead of us, but we also need to keep an eye on the guys behind because all the midfield cars have shown strong race pace recently."

ESPNF1

Kobayashi apologises for crash

Kamui Kobayashi: "I ended up in the wall in Q2 and the accident was my fault" © Getty Images

Enlarge

Kamui Kobayashi has taken the full blame for his accident during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix and admitted he pushed too hard in the pursuit of a top ten grid slot.

He was among the top ten in final practice and was attempting to repeat the feat in Q2 when his Sauber took off over the kerbs at turn 10 and crashed into the barriers. The front wing and front right suspension demolished on impact and he will start Sunday's race from 17th on the grid.

"I ended up in the wall in Q2 and the accident was my fault," he said. "I feel very sorry for the team. I took too much kerb in turn 10, the car jumped too high and this was the outcome. I saw a chance to fight for Q3, but it didn't work out.

"I was taken to the medical centre and was quite surprised at how carefully they checked me. However, physically I'm absolutely fine. I will do my utmost tomorrow to fight for points and give something back to the team."

Sauber's head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara said the team would assess the damage overnight.

"For Kamui that was unfortunate," he said. "Luckily he didn't hit concrete, but the angle he went in was not nice. However, now we need to look at the car and hope the chassis is not broken."

ESPNF1

Massa disappointed with sixth

Felipe Massa was unhappy with his qualifying result, although Stefano Domenicali praised him © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Felipe Massa said he was not pleased to be starting sixth on the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix after a difficult qualifying session.

Massa will start alongside Fernando Alonso on the third row, but while his team-mate was within 0.2s of second place, Massa was a second further back. After having to abandon his first run in Q3, Massa said he was having difficulty making the tyres last for a flying lap, but that he took heart from the improved pace of the car compared to recent races.

"Sixth is definitely not the result we were aiming for, but we have to accept it," Massa said. "Now we must think about the race which definitely does not look like being an easy one: tyre degradation is significant, both on the Soft and the Supersoft and will have to be able to adapt to that as best we can.

"We are definitely more competitive here than we were in Monza. Today, it was not easy putting together a perfect lap and, even if the car was much improved compared to the last free practice session, I still had a lot of oversteer, especially when the rear tyres were overheating in the second and third sectors."

Massa also criticised Lewis Hamilton for being aggressive when fighting for track position ahead of the first runs in Q3.

"Honestly, I don't understand why he wanted to pass at all costs: we were all in a line on our "out" lap and there was nothing to be gained from acting like that."

Team principal Stefano Domenicali praised Massa for still putting the car sixth after his problems, but said Ferrari would have to take advantage of potential situations in order to progress in the race.

"Felipe got the job done, extricating himself from a couple of complicated moments and getting the grid position that one could have expected. Now we must concentrate on tomorrow night's race, which will be extremely long and tough, both for the drivers and the cars. We will try and do our best, exploiting every opportunity that comes our way."

ESPNF1

'It might have been my best Q3 lap of the year' - Alonso

Fernando Alonso: "I gave it 120%, taking risks in some corners" © Getty Images

Enlarge

Fernando Alonso said his qualifying lap at the Singapore Grand Prix was one of his best of the season, despite only being good enough for fifth on the grid.

The Ferrari driver was within a tenth of the two McLarens ahead of him but nearly a second faster than his team-mate Felipe Massa in sixth. He said he could easily of taken fifth with a more relaxed lap but instead pushed the limits to try to get on the second row.

"I am pleased with this qualifying, because I think that might have been my best Q3 lap of the whole year," he said. "I gave it 120%, taking risks in some corners, but that was the only way I could hope to fight for the top places. If I'd driven a normal lap, I would have finished in the same position, but half a second off the two McLarens, rather than less than a tenth. Sure, if I was in front of Hamilton and Button, then it would be a completely different story, but that's how it turned out and there's no point saying we were unlucky."

Alonso is adamant a podium is possible on Sunday and is hoping to make up positions at the start of the race - an area where he has been strong this season.

"I am convinced that a podium finish is within our reach. Usually, we go better in the race than in qualifying and there is no reason why that should not be the case here. We will try and make up some places at the start, even if, at this track, there is not much of a run from the start line to the first corner. Then we will try and make the most of our strategy and any eventual tyre degradation levels lower than that of some our opponents. This is a very hard race for the mechanical parts of the car and the Safety Car is usually involved: we will see what happens, but, I say it again, I am confident in our chances of getting to the podium."

Technical director Pat Fry said there was some disappointment with the team's qualifying performance, but praised Alonso's efforts and reckons Ferrari is more competitive at Singapore than at recent races.

"Reading the results sheet, one could say it reflects the current pecking order which has characterised this season, but it's natural that when the gaps are so close, at least among those battling for pole, there's a hint of disappointment," he said. "All the same, Fernando did a great job, getting the maximum out of the car we gave him. If we look at the gap to pole, we can say that, returning to a high downforce track, running the softest Pirelli compounds, we are back to the situation we had seen before, for example in Germany and Hungary, while in Spa and Monza we suffered a lot more. The start will be important tomorrow, an area where we have done rather well recently: we will therefore be trying to repeat that to make up some places."

ESPNF1

Rosberg wanted Massa scalp

Nico Rosberg was 1.7s slower than Sebastian Vettel's pole time © Getty Images

Enlarge

Nico Rosberg said that he was trying to beat Felipe Massa during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Rosberg qualified seventh, just 0.2s behind Massa's Ferrari. He will start alongside his Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher, however, and Schumacher saved a set of tyres by not completing a run during Q3. Rosberg said it was worth trying to beat Massa, and that he hoped to be able to get ahead of him off the line in the race.

"I had a good fast lap in Q3 and we were able to take the most out of the car today so I'm quite satisfied," Rosberg said. "Starting in seventh place was the maximum that we could have achieved, although Massa was very close so it was definitely worth trying to catch him. Being on the clean side at the grid gives me a good position for the start, so I will try to make up positions there and score some good points."

Team principal Ross Brawn said that Rosberg had been able to get so close to Massa because the team had found some more pace.

"We have moved forward with the car, and the changes that we have made for this weekend look to be working well," Brawn said. "We look forward to an interesting and challenging race tomorrow, and there should be a lot of opportunities."

ESPNF1

Schumacher takes 'calculated risk'

Michael Schumacher aborted his run in the final qualifying session © Getty Images

Enlarge

Michael Schumacher said saving tyres for the Singapore Grand Prix by not setting a time in Q3 "was a calculated risk worth taking".

Schumacher was 0.4s quicker than his team-mate Nico Rosberg during the second part of qualifying, but decided against completing a timed lap in the top ten shootout in order to save a set of tyres. Schumacher said that the fresh rubber should translate to a quicker race pace, and that he would now need to stay out of trouble to make the most of the strategy.

"It was quite a tactical qualifying session, in which we chose not to run in Q3 to save new tyres for the race," Schumacher said. "In theory, this should be worth some time over the race distance, so it was a calculated risk worth taking. As we all know from the past, a lot of incidents can happen during the Singapore Grand Prix, so I will certainly go for any opportunity which might occur."

Away from his own race, Schumacher said he was hoping that pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel could secure victory and the championship.

"I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for Sebastian to clinch his second world title here tomorrow."

ESPNF1

Webber expects race improvement

Mark Webber beat Jenson Button by just 0.072s © Getty Images

Enlarge

Mark Webber said he was pleased with qualifying second for the Singapore Grand Prix, and expected to be even more competitive during the race.

Webber was quickest in final practice ahead of qualifying, but after the first runs in Q3 he was only fourth on the grid. With his final lap he managed to jump ahead of both McLaren's of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, and despite still being over 0.3s slower than his team-mate Sebastian Vettel, Webber said it was a good day's work.

"I think I'm pretty happy to be honest," Webber said. "It's been a pretty testing venue for me in the past, particularly on Saturdays; in the race I normally go a bit better around here. So Seb obviously laid it down pretty hard and fast for all of us, he's very quick round here and did a great job for the pole."

Webber said that Vettel had been able to deliver the best lap around the streets, and that the one-two result was a "great result" for Red Bull.

"I think it's pretty rare that he makes a mistake so I think maybe he saw my data, and he says there's only one or a few corners I was a little bit quicker - maybe in the chicane - he was trying to put it all together! Obviously he was very quick for the whole lap. To put it all together is very challenging for all of us here; it's very easy to grab a bit more and then lose it on the next straight. So overall: satisfied, given the curveballs that the teams can face round here, with both cars up there it's a great result for us."

ESPNF1