'Tony Robinson: race mechanic' biography reviewed | F1 review

Customer car teams are a thing of the past in Formula One, and that is perhaps something to be regretted.

British Racing Partnership was one such outfit and this new book on Tony Robinson covers their brief time in the sport. Stirling Moss's father Alfred and manager Ken Gregory set up the team in 1958 and Robinson was appointed chief mechanic.

They competed in championship and non-championship Grands Prix until 1963. By that time Robinson had begun designing and building the team's own monocoques intended to replace the chassis bought from the likes of Lotus and Cooper.

But the team left the sport following a dispute with the newly-formed Formula One Constructors' Association over start money.

This extensively illustrated book follows the team's development over the following seasons, amply supported by quotes from Robinson.

There are some amusing anecdotes about the various escapades Robinson and various drivers mechanics enjoyed along the way.

But as is always the case with books about this period in motor racing history, there are several reminders of the toll the sport took on those who competed in it. Harry Schell and Chris Bristow were among those who lost their lives driving for BRP.

And it was Robinson who extracted Stirling Moss from his shattered car following his career-ending crash at Goodwood in 1962, delicately sawing the metalwork to avoid creating a spark that might have ignited the growing pool of petrol.

Motor racing literature is a niche area to begin with and the appeal of books about less well-known figures is always going to be limited. But if you're particularly interested in this period of F1 racing this title is certainly worth seeking out.

F1 Fanatic rating

Buy Tony Robinson: The Biography of a Race Mechanic (UK)

Buy Tony Robinson: The Biography of a Race Mechanic (USA)

Tony Robinson: The biography of a race mechanic

Author: Ian Wagstaff
Publisher: Veloce
Published: 2012
Price: £24.99
ISBN: 9781845842307

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F1 fans' videos from the Singapore Grand Prix | 2012 Singapore Grand Prix

Fans's videos from the Singapore Grand Prix including Massa's unseen spin and new angles on the crashes and other major moments during the race.

Second practice

@Werdnazent had a good view of the quick final corner during second practice.

Friday practice highlights

A collection of footage from F1 plus the other action on and around the track on Friday.

Petrov's practice problems

Caterham mechanics recover Vitaly Petrov's car after he hit the barrier during third practice. Video by Ashee (@Frostysnowflake).

Vettel in qualifying

Sebastian Vettel locks up at turn one during qualifying. Video by @Thecollaroyboys.

The start

Two angles of the start which show an unusually slow getaway for Fernando Alonso, and his team mate Felipe Massa being hit by Petrov.

Massa's first-lap spin

Following the contact Massa had a left-rear puncture which caused this spin on the first lap which wasn't picked up on the world television feed.

Hamilton retires

Was this the moment Hamilton's championship hopes died?

Button's near-miss with Vettel

Two angles showing how close Jenson Button came to taking out Vettel at the first restart.

Schumacher hits Vergne

Moment later Michael Schumacher had a not-so-near-miss with Jean-Eric Vergne, putting both out.

Restart

Donal Kelleher (@Cdk2012) was close to the cars at turn five following the restart.

A sparkling conclusion

Champagne and fireworks on the Singapore podium.

Perez's start at Monza

Those of you who saw the fans' video from Monza will have seen video of Sergio Perez starting the race in front of his grid hatchings. The FIA responded to F1 Fanatic's enquiry about the start ' here's what they had to say.

Thanks to @Girts for researching this article and everyone who submitted videos via the forum. If you're interested in contributing to F1 Fanatic, see here for details on how you can:

• Contribute to F1 Fanatic

Were you at the Singapore Grand Prix? Did you capture any videos or pictures? Share them here:

• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix: Your pictures and video

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

• F1 fans' videos from the Singapore Grand Prix
• Williams positive despite "extremely frustrating" race
• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix
• Rookie win for Peteris in Singapore Predictions round
• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend

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Hamilton on racing Rosberg: 'He's pretty easy' although he did push me off the track!' | F1 video

It's rare to hear F1 drivers speak candidly about their rivals. But while being interviewed at the Paddock Club during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend Lewis Hamilton gave some frank views on who are his toughest adversaries on the track.

Speaking before his contract to drive for Mercedes alongside Nico Rosberg was announced, Hamilton described his 2013 team mate as 'pretty easy' to race against.

'Although he did push me off the track in Bahrain this year,' he added.

Hamilton and Rosberg previously drove together in karts during 2000, when they both raced for Team MBM.com (Mercedes-Benz McLaren).

Hamilton was less equivocal about some of his other rivals. He referred to Mark Webber, who Hamilton said 'crashed into me a couple of years ago here, took me out of the race, so I have to be very careful when it came to him'.

He also admitted to taking extra care with Michael Schumacher, who 'tried to put Rubens Barrichello in the wall a couple of years ago' in the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix.

But Hamilton admitted it was a particularly thrill to take on Schumacher, who he is replacing at Mercedes next year: 'The most exciting one is is if you ever have the opportunity to overtake Michael, you know, he's a seven-time world champion, so if you get past him you think 'wow, I just overtook a guy I was watching on TV while I was growing up'. That's quite neat.'

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

• F1 fans' videos from the Singapore Grand Prix
• Williams positive despite "extremely frustrating" race
• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix
• Rookie win for Peteris in Singapore Predictions round
• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend

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Whitmarsh: Hamilton's Mercedes move 'a mistake' | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Martin Whitamrsh says Lewis Hamilton has made a 'mistake' by leaving the team for Mercedes.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Hamilton warned quitting McLaren is 'mistake' (The Telegraph)

'Mercedes-Benz is a great partner of ours and they are a great team. But anyone leaving McLaren, who wants to win, I think that's a mistake because I have faith and belief in this team.'

• Is Mercedes the right move for Hamilton?

Brawn: Lewis wants new challenge (Sky)

'There is a competitive market for drivers and Lewis is as competitive as anyone else in that respect. But Lewis didn't come here because we offered more money ' because we didn't.'

Schumacher 'undecided on future' (BBC)

'His manager Sabine Kehm said: 'Michael didn't stay at Mercedes because he wasn't sure he wanted to drive and that didn't change over time.' Asked whether he had now made that decision, Kehm said: 'No.''

• Should Schumacher keep on racing?

Lewis Hamilton is making a huge mistake, say McLaren (The Sun)

Whitmarsh added: 'Sergio is ready, otherwise we would not be signing him. In 2006, I was getting a lot of criticism about putting a young Lewis into Formula One. People said there was no way he could be ready.'

Rosberg and Hamilton get equal status (Autosport)

'It has been made clear to both the Briton and Rosberg that they will be treated equally ' and both will have the same chance of gunning for glory.'

Lewis Hamilton's move to Mercedes renews links with British drivers (The Guardian)

'Hamilton is not exactly stepping into unknown territory. Every one of his 20 grand prix victories has been achieved with a Mercedes engine in his car. He knows the company and is well aware of the quality of their engineering. He and his manager, Simon Fuller, will also have been influenced by the power of their marketing department to enhance his image around the world.'

Mercedes move to raise Hamilton's global profile (Reuters)

'Hamilton, the first black driver to win a Grand Prix, features regularly in the gossip pages because of his relationship with U.S. singer Nicole Scherzinger. His looks and image, clean cut yet moody, make him a natural for brands wishing to connect with a youthful audience.'

New engines set to be scrapped (Hindustan Times)

''I listened to the noise of the engines in (Ferrari's headquarters at) Maranello the other day, the new engine and the old engine, and even (Ferrari chairman) Luca di Montezemolo said it sounded terrible and didn't like it,' says Ecclestone. He feels FIA president, Jean Todt, 'will get rid of it. I think Luca is also saying we should suspend it for two or three years'.'

F1: Promoter 'Proud' Of New Jersey's Place On Calendar' (Speed)

'[Grand Prix of America promoter Leo Hindery Jnr] made no comment on the 'to be confirmed' status on the 2013 Formula One schedule or Bernie Ecclestone's claim that no contract exists at present.'

Chris Economaki 1921-2012 (Joe Saward)

'Long-time racing journalist Chris Economaki has died at the age of 91.'

Tweets

Very cool that lewis will be my new teamate! Gonna be another great challenge!

' Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) September 28, 2012

Welcome @schecoperez ;-)

' Jenson Button (@JensonButton) September 28, 2012

It appears Hamilton's departure is being used by some to try and get Martin Whitmarsh out & Ron Dennis back as team boss ! #f1

' Byron Young (@byronf1) September 28, 2012

In a harrowing new episode of Tooned, Jenson and Professor M teach Lewis that no one leaves' #F1

' F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) September 28, 2012

American Racing Icon Chris Economaki helped my career as young racer immensely and for that I will be forever grateful.#RIP my friend

' Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) September 28, 2012

Comment of the day

No prizes for guessing what today's Comment of the Day is about. Here's @PJA:

Despite all the speculation part of me felt that Hamilton would stay at McLaren, or at the very least the decision would drag on for a few weeks, so reading the headline when I logged this morning was bit of a surprise.

Having said that I can see why Hamilton decided to sign for Mercedes. And I don't think money was the main factor.

While it hasn't gone as far as Alonso and McLaren it seemed that Hamilton was not on as good terms with McLaren as he used to be, and the Spa tweets wouldn't have helped.

Also on the performance side of things I don't think it as big a gamble as some make out. He probably would only have been offered a multi year contract. So he couldn't have signed a one year deal at McLaren and waited to see if Vettel goes to Ferrari in 2014 as some have suggested.

Although McLaren challenge for victories almost every season in the last decade they have only won one drivers' championship and no constructors' championship, they have to start paying for engines from next year so that means less money on the rest of the car and then there is the big rule changes in 2014.

I would have thought this deal should silence those rumours suggesting Mercedes may quit F1, and considering some of the people at the team, mainly Ross Brawn, in the medium term Mercedes could be the better bet.

2012 has been the first season while Hamilton has been at McLaren that they have had the overall fastest car, for me 2007 and 2008 Ferrari and McLaren were about the same and if I had to pick I would have said Ferrari, yet through various operational mistakes and reliability problems it looks as though they won't win the drivers' championship and if they win the constructors' championship a large part of it will be down to Red Bull's reliability problems.

I think Hamilton has almost as good a chance of winning a title in the next three years at Mercedes as he does at McLaren, whether he does win one or not will be hard to say as I think it will be hard to predict which drivers and teams will be on top in the next three years.
@PJA

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On this day in F1

Ten years ago today the 2002 United Grand Prix ended in farce as Michael Schumacher's attempt to engineer a Ferrari 'dead heat' resulted in him handing victory to team mate Rubens Barrichello.

At least they didn't crash into each other as the Williams pair did ' Ralf Schumacher spinning into Juan Pablo Montoya earlier in the race. Montoya recovered to finish fourth behind David Coulthard.

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Caption Competition 21: Button and Hamilton | Caption Competition

What did Lewis Hamilton have to say to Jenson Button which prompted a wide grin from his team mate?

After three years together, McLaren's 'dream team' will be broken up as Hamilton heads to Mercedes.

Since Jenson Button joined the team in 2010 the pair have been very closely matched. Hamilton has out-scored Button by the narrow margin of 609 points to 603. They've got six races left as team mates to sort that out.

Can you think of a good caption for the picture above? Post your funniest suggestion in the comments.

As usual a pick of the best will feature in the daily round-up.

Caption Competition

• Caption Competition 21: Button and Hamilton
• Caption Competition 20: Michael Schumacher
• Caption Competition 19: David Coulthard
• Caption Competition 18: Nico Rosberg
• Caption Competition 17: Mark Webber

Browse all previous Caption Competitions

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Should Schumacher keep on racing? | Debates and Polls

Michael Schumacher is out of a drive at Mercedes for 2013 following today's announcement that Lewis Hamilton will join the team.

What now for the seven-times world champion? With no seats left at the top teams should he look for a way to stay in F1 or head back into retirement?

For

The third year of Schumacher's comeback has been his most promising by far. In the seven races he and Rosberg have finished, Schumacher was ahead in all bar one of them.

His position in the championship does not do justice to his performances. Earlier in the season he lost a stack of points due to various car problems. He began the year holding third place in Melbourne until his gearbox gave up. In China a problem during his pit stop meant he had to retire having been running second.

Schumacher has been on an upward trajectory since returning to Formula 1 and he shouldn't stop now.

Against

Schumacher was criticised after his embarrassing shunt during the Singapore Grand Prix in which he took out Jean-Eric Vergne. It earned him a ten-place grid drop for the next race as he'd had a similar crash at the Spanish round.

In the three years since he returned to F1 with Mercedes he has failed to emulate the success he enjoyed at Ferrari and Benetton.

With the top seats at Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes taken for 2013, and a move to Ferrari looking unlikely, he would not be able to drive for a top team, further diminishing his chance of being able to compete for wins.

I say

Rather too much has been made of Schumacher's mistakes this year. Even when he was at his peak, Schumacher was prone to the occasional blunder, usually when battling in the midfield. In 2004, his most successful season of all, he had scrappy races in China and Brazil.

Schumacher clearly has the appetite to continue racing and although his options are increasingly limited, it's possible he could. One option might be to 'complete the circle' by taking Sergio Perez's place at Sauber, having been associated with them when they ran Mercedes' sports car team in the early nineties.

But for a grid penalty and a fuel pressure problem he might have won the Monaco Grand Prix this year. I don't think a driver who is capable of that needs to hang up his helmet just yet.

You say

Should Schumacher continue in F1? Cast your vote and have your say in the comments.

Should Schumacher keep on racing in F1?

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Debates and polls

• Should Schumacher keep on racing?
• Is Mercedes the right move for Hamilton?
• How can Singapore's F1 track be improved?
• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend
• Rate the race: 2012 Singapore Grand Prix

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Image © Mercedes/Hoch Zwei

Perez gets his big chance ' but not with Ferrari | 2013 F1 season

Having lost Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes, McLaren wasted no time singing up Sergio Perez to take his place.

The 22-year-old Sauber driver has racked up three podium finishes in his second season. And on more than one occasion he's come close to ending Mexico's 42-year wait for a Grand Prix winner.

Arguably he should have won the second race of the year in Malaysia, but for a conservative final pit stop which cost him time on a drying track, and a costly mistake while hunting down winner Fernando Alonso.

Earlier this month he finished second to Hamilton at Monza having ripped through the field from 12th on the grid, passing both Ferraris on his way to finishing second.

But following this drive Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo poured cold water on suggestions Perez could join his team. For the second time this year di Montezemolo insisted Perez, who joined Ferrari's drive academy in 2010, was insufficiently experienced to drive for Ferrari.

'Next season is too early,' he said, adding: 'To put a young guy to Ferrari with the pressure of Ferrari, you need more experience.'

McLaren clearly don't feel Perez lacks the experience to drive for them having snatched him from under the nose of their bitterest rival. In the press release announcing Perez's arrival, Martin Whitmarsh praised Perez's 'string of giant-killing performances, trio of podiums and brilliant fastest lap in this year's Monaco Grand Prix that showed us that Sergio lacks nothing in terms of speed and commitment'.

His performances have not gone unnoticed by F1 Fanatic readers either, who have voted him Driver of the Weekend three times in his 31-race career (twice so far this year, once last year).

Perez gushed with enthusiasm for his new team on Twitter: 'McLaren is the best place to be in the world of F1!' he said, thanking Whitmarsh: 'for his faith he had on me and all the McLaren family'.

Graciously, he also admitted a debt of thanks to those who had not quite as much faith in him, a few hours later.

It goes without saying that being signed by a team as successful as McLaren is a considerable vote of confidence in Perez's abilities.

McLaren's mantra when it comes to hiring drivers, recently reiterated by group chairman Ron Dennis, is to sign the best two available drivers. Given who was available after Hamilton had made his decision to join Mercedes, it's hard to argue they haven't done that here.

With Perez out of the picture, it is unclear who Ferrari might turn to as a replacement for Felipe Massa. Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg might offer the requisite blend of potential and appetite for success, but neither has significantly more F1 experience than Perez.

Michael Schumacher returning to his old team is a romantic but surely fanciful notion.

The signs increasingly point to Massa staying put, perhaps as a seat-warmer for one year until Sebastian Vettel exercises his rumoured option to join Fernando Alonso at the team in 2014.

The idea of Ferrari as a team of two number one drivers, both multiple-champions, is an exciting one, though not one that tallies with their history of preferring a strong number one and a solid back-up driver.

And retaining Massa even on a short-term basis may prove undesirable. Mired in a shocking season, he's scored barely more than a quarter of Alonso's points haul so far.

What Ferrari need is a new Massa ' a fresh young driver who's had a few years in a Ferrari-powered Sauber and done a spot of testing in a pukka prancing horse. The problem is, he's just signed for McLaren.

2013 F1 season

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• Perez gets his big chance - but not with Ferrari
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• Singapore confirms F1 contract extension to 2017

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Hamilton says it's 'gloves off' in the championship | 2012 Japanese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton says he's ready for a fight for victory in Japan after his championship chances were several damaged by his Singapore retirement.

Hamilton announced today he will move to Mercedes in 2013. In his final six races with McLaren he has to close down a 52-point deficit to Fernando Alonso.

'In terms of the championship, there's nothing to really be gained by analysing the points tables, from now on, it's simply gloves-off.' said Hamilton.

'As in Singapore, I'll come out fighting, I'll just be hoping for a better result next weekend.'

Hamilton said he's exciting to be returning to Suzuka, a track he hasn't won at before: 'When I first raced here in 2009, I couldn't believe a place like this could still exist in Formula 1 ' it still feels like a proper old-school circuit. It doesn't have the polish or finesse of an ultra-modern track ' but is all the better for it.

'It's fantastically quick, too, and very difficult to master. It's an unforgiving place, and it also has that special atmosphere that you only get in Japan, for some reason.

'I think that's due to the fans ' they're what make any visit to a racetrack in Japan feel so special. They're very passionate about Formula 1, but also extremely polite and friendly ' they make you feel very special every day when you're going in and out of the circuit.'

Team mate Jenson Button has a special fondness for Japan: 'All of my grand prix wins have felt special, but winning at Suzuka in 2011, at the first grand prix held in Japan since the terrible tsunami last March, was an achievement that still makes me feel incredibly proud and emotional.

'As everybody knows, Japan means a lot to me. It's a place I love, I've been here so many times ' for business and pleasure ' and I still feel that wide-eyed awe and deep emotion for a country that exists so comfortably on so many different levels.

'Suzuka is definitely a circuit that puts hair on your chest. It's extremely uncompromising; like a street circuit, it doesn't allow for a single mistake, punishing you for putting a wheel wrong at almost every point on the circuit.

'But it's also extremely quick ' there's only one line through the esses that make up the whole first section; the Degner corners are blind, hidden in dips in the track, and approached over bumps that jolt the car, trying to unbalance it. Successfully hitting the apex for Degner 1 is a bit like trying to thread a needle while running the 100 metres ' difficult!'

2012 Japanese Grand Prix

• Hard tyres for Japan and India, super-soft in Korea

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Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

FIA confirms 2013 F1 calendar with minor changes | 2013 F1 season

The FIA has confirmed the 2013 F1 calendar, which will feature 20 races.

The calendar is similar to the provisional calendar which appeared before the Singapore Grand Prix. The only changes are that the Korean and Japanese Grands Prix have swapped dates and the German and Belgian Grands Prix has been moved one week earlier to July 14th and August 25th respectively.

The FIA also indicated a new Concorde Agreement, which outlines the organisation and governance of the sport, will be signed soon: 'The FIA President confirmed that positive and constructive discussions continue with regard to the new Concorde Agreement and it is anticipated a contract will be signed by the end of October.'

The sporting and technical regulations for 2013 were also agreed at today's meeting of the World motor Sports Council.

2013 F1 calendar

*To be confirmed.

NB. The venues for these races are as shown on the provisional 2013 calendar.

2013 F1 season

• FIA confirms 2013 F1 calendar with minor changes
• Perez gets his big chance - but not with Ferrari
• Hamilton joins Mercedes for 2013 after McLaren exit
• Perez takes Hamilton's place at McLaren for 2013
• Singapore confirms F1 contract extension to 2017

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Top ten: Suzuka showdowns | Top ten

Suzuka won't decide the destiny of the title this year but it has seen many world championship showdowns in the past.

Here's ten of the best title-deciders at the current home of the Japanese Grand Prix.

10. 1990 Japanese Grand Prix

Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost

Sadly this 'showdown' lasted all of about 300 metres. Senna, incensed at not being allowed to have his pole position slot on the clean side of the track, launched a kamikaze move on Prost at the first corner.

He took them both out, meaning Prost could no longer win the championship.

• 1990 Japanese Grand Prix: Senna takes Prost out at Suzuka

9. 1989 Japanese Grand Prix

Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost

It's hard not to see the events of the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix as a direct consequence of the one that preceded it. On this occasion the roles were reversed: Prost knew he would be champion if Senna failed to finish.

On lap 47, with six to go, Senna dived down the inside of Prost at the chicane in a bid to take the lead. Prost swung right ' well ahead of his usual turn-in point ' the pair tangled and skidded pathetically to a stop, wheels interlocked.

Prost climbed out of his car but after the marshals disentangled the McLarens Senna darted off down the escape road and back onto the track. After pitting to replace a damaged front wing he caught and passed new leader Alessandro Nannini at the same place he'd collided with Prost.

It seemed he'd done enough to keep his championship hopes alive. But the post-race podium ceremony was delayed as the stewards deliberated the controversy, eventually deciding to exclude Senna for having used the escape road.

McLaren appealed the decision, pointing out the lack of precedent for it, but it became academic when Senna crashed out in the final race at Adelaide.

The appeal was thrown out, the FIA calling Senna 'a driver who endangers that safety of other drivers', and fining him $100,000. He fumed at the injustice of the verdict, and further skirmishes with the stewards led him to take matters into his own hands 12 months later.

8. 2011 Japanese Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel vs Jenson Button

Today the Japanese Grand Prix is not as close to the end of the season as it once was, so it is less likely to decide the outcome of the championship.

But Sebastian Vettel had such a healthy lead last year that he arrived at Suzuka needing only a single point from the final five races to clinch his second drivers' title.

As he'd won the previous two Japanese Grands Prix, and put his Red Bull on pole position for this one, it seemed inconceivable he might fail. He drove a conservative race and although Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso beat him across the line, third position was more than enough to get the job done.

The victory doughnuts were on him:

• 2011 Japanese Grand Prix: Button holds back Alonso and Vettel for win
• Kobayashi greets the fans, Vettel does doughnuts: Suzuka videos

7. 1996 Japanese Grand Prix

Damon Hill vs Jacques Villeneuve

It was an all-Williams contest for the world championship in 1996, with Jacques Villeneuve a long shot to claim the title.

A brilliant win in Portugal had moved him within nine points of team mate Damon Hill, who was driving his last race for the team before being replaced by Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Villeneuve claimed pole position and Hill joined him on the front row. But Hill got away into the lead at the start, and Villeneuve's slim title hopes were extinguished when a wheel came off following a pit stop.

With that, Hill became not only a world champion, but the first son of a champion to claim the title himself.

6. 1999 Japanese Grand Prix

Mika Hakkinen vs Eddie Irvine

Michael Schumacher's absence due to injury thrust Ferrari team mate Eddie Irvine into the role of championship challenger to McLaren's Mika Hakkinen.

Schumacher returned at the penultimate round in Malaysia and played a supporting role to Irvine, allowing him to win and take a four-point lead into the final race at Suzuka.

Irvine, who spent much of his junior career in Japan, usually performed well at Suzuka and was expected to have a reasonable chance of keeping Hakkinen from the title. But during the race weekend the McLaren driver was in such form even Schumacher couldn't catch him.

Hakkinen beat Schumacher off the front row to take the lead. He won the race and the championship while Irvine, who crashed heavily during qualifying, was a distant third.

5. 1991 Japanese Grand Prix

Ayrton Senna vs Nigel Mansell

A win in Spain with Senna only fifth had surprisingly kept Nigel Mansell in the title hunt as the teams arrived at Suzuka for the penultimate race.

Unusually Gerhard Berger pipped Senna to pole position, but with McLaren locking out the front row Mansell faced an uphill struggle. The McLarens led away, and as they started the tenth lap Mansell's car got away from him and he spun into retirement in the gravel trap.

That confirmed Senna as champion for the third time. But the weekend ended on a sour note. Having taken the lead off Berger, Senna inelegantly handed it back to him on the last lap.

Then during the press conference Senna furiously denounced former FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre in a torrent of expletives, accusing him of interfering in his previous championship battles with Prost.

4. 1998 Japanese Grand Prix

Mika Hakkinen vs Michael Schumacher

Hakkinen carried a crucial four-point advantage over Schumacher into the final race of 1998. Schumacher put his Ferrari on pole position and with Hakkinen alongside the stage was set for a battle royale.

But it all went wrong for Schumacher before the race had even begun. The first start was abandoned when 14th-placed Jarno Trulli stalled. As the cars lined up again Schumacher raised his right hand, signalling his car had also stalled.

That meant another fresh start ' with Schumacher starting last instead of first. While Hakkinen romped to victory, Schumacher valiantly tried to battle his way through the field. His charge came to an end when he suffered a high-speed tyre blow-out, shortly after Esteban Tuero had rammed into Tora Takagi at the chicane, covering the track in debris.

At that moment Hakkinen was the world champion, and victory was the icing on the cake. After the race he was quick to thank his team for reacting quickly to the first race stoppage by cooling his car. Ferrari were slow to give Schumacher's car the same attention, which may have contributed to his disastrous failure.

3. 2000 Japanese Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher vs Mika Hakkinen

Schumacher had come close to winning his third title in 1997 and 1998. Finally in 2000 he got the job done after a race-long battle with Hakkinen.

The McLaren driver took the lead off Schumacher at the start but the pair switched places when Schumacher ran long at the second round of pit stops, pumping in a series of quick laps during a brief rain shower.

It was a stirring contest between the top two drivers of the day, albeit one largely decided in the pits. They finished well over a minute ahead of their team mates.

2. 2003 Japanese Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher vs Kimi Raikkonen

A controversial FIA ruling on Michelin's tyres handed the initiative to Ferrari in the final stages of what had been a closely-fought season. Schumacher pulled nine points clear of Raikkonen, and with a maximum of ten on offer at the final race his sixth title looked like a formality before the weekend began.

But mixed weather conditions in qualifying left Schumacher 14th on the grid, Raikkonen eighth, and produced a nail-biting finale.

While Raikkonen worked his way up to second, Schumacher had a scrappy race in the midfield. He clipped the back of Takuma Sato's car and dropped further back. Later on he was almost taken out by his brother Ralf at the chicane.

But despite these scares Schumacher had made it as far as eighth before the flag fell, enough to secure the championship. And for good measure team mate Rubens Barrichello kept Raikkonen from the victory he needed.

This triumph meant Schumacher finally broke Juan Manuel Fangio's 46-year-old record of world championship victories. Schumacher raised the bar from five to six ' and went on to increase it yet further.

1. 1988 Japanese Grand Prix

Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost

This was the time they didn't hit each other. Senna was on pole as usual but he stalled his engine. Fortunately he was able to get it started on the downhill slope towards turn one, but he'd fallen to 14th by the time he got there.

Wasting no time, Senna set about picking his way through the midfielders. Prost held the lead but was grappling with a gearbox problem. From lap 14 rain began to fall and Senna, emerging from the chasing pack, soon had his team mate within range.

As they fought their way through lapped traffic Senna pounced, seizing the lead on lap 28 on the run to turn one. By the end of the race Prost was over 13 seconds behind, and Senna's eighth win of the year secured his first world championship.

If only all their battles had been decided by pure racing.

Not forgetting'

There was one other world championship-deciding Grand Prix at Suzuka. Unfortunately the title battle was already over before the race began.

Nelson Piquet was crowned champion in 1987 after team mate Nigel Mansell crashed during practice, injuring his back, and ruling him out of the race.

Over to you

Were you at any of these races? Did you watch any of them? Share your favourite memories of Suzuka showdowns in the comments.

F1 top tens

• Top ten: Suzuka showdowns
• F1's brushes with disaster: Top ten lucky escapes
• Top ten greatest Formula 1 designers (Part two)
• Top ten greatest Formula 1 designers (Part one)
• 2002 to 2012: Ten ways F1 has improved in ten years

Read more top tens

Image © Bridgestone

Thailand planning to hold F1 night race in 2014 | 2014 F1 season

Thailand is poised to become the next country to join the F1 calendar in 2014.

The governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand Kanokphand Chulakasem told the Bangkok Post a deal had been agreed in principle with Bernie Ecclestone.

'It will be a city race like that in Singapore and Monaco. It will be a night race like the Singapore Grand Prix,' said Kanokphand.

Mark Webber performed an F1 demo run on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in Bangkok in December 2010 which was watched by over 100,000 people.

The only Thai driver to have competed in the world championship was Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh (usually referred to as B Bira) who drove for Maserati, among others, in the 1950s.

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

No government money for French Grand Prix | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: The French government will not provide money for an F1 race at Magny-Cours or Paul Ricard.

Driver of the Weekend

At the time of writing the Driver of the Weekend Poll is incredibly close, with just a handful of votes separating the top three drivers. Cast your vote here:

• Vote for your Singapore Grand Prix driver of the weekend

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

No state subsidy for French GP (Reuters)

'The French Autosport Federation (FFSA) will check whether the two candidates for a Formula One French Grand Prix in 2013 will carry on with their bids after the Sports Ministry said on Tuesday no state subsidy would be provided.'

The original statement in French can be read here.

Government wants Grand Prix beyond 2015 despite $56 million bill this year (The Age)

'Ms Asher pinned the blame on the rising subsidies on the escalation fees written into the contract that the previous state government signed with Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Group. 'The Brumby Labour government signed off on a contract that is too expensive for the taxpayer in my opinion,' she said. 'This is a very, very expensive race and I personally am not happy with this level of subsidy.''

F1 flotation delayed until markets improve, says Bernie Ecclestone (The Telegraph)

'The float won't happen this year, but next year it will if the markets change. No IPOs have gone through, only [football club] Manchester United. I was surprised that they let it go through at the price. First the price and secondly the amount.'

Multi-million pound infield restoration now underway (Donington)

'The original Donington Park infield was excavated by contractors working for the previous operator's ill-fated Formula 1 circuit rebuild in 2009. Now placing that whole episode firmly into the history books, the new Donington ownership and management has, following a successful council planning application this summer, now committed to transform the circuit over the next two winters.'

Know when to fold 'em (Darren Heath Photographer)

'All around the world Schumacher is worshipped as a sporting great and his marketing power is the main reason Mercedes employs him. But just as the world is waking up to the mountain of evidence against seven-times Tour de France 'winner' Lance Armstrong, the seven-times F1 world champion cannot be surprised by those who doubt the legality of what went before.'

Michael Schumacher needs to come back in 2013 (USA Today)

'Rosberg has 93 points in 2012, to Schumacher's 43 ' an unfavorable-looking comparison for the elder statesman. But a closer analysis of their numbers suggests they aren't, in fact, that far apart, judging from the seven races Schumacher actually finished. In six of them, Schumacher placed higher than Rosberg. On average, Rosberg is scoring 6.6 points per race in 2012, only slightly better than Schumacher's 6.1 average in the seven races he finished.'

• Michael Schumacher 2012 form guide

'Pace not an issue' (Sky)

'Through fast, aerodynamically-demanding corners [the Ferrari F2012 has] been very competitive and there's no reason to suppose it won't remain so. As such, it should be well-suited to Suzuka, Korea and India, maybe not quite at its best at Abu Dhabi but with nothing too worrying about the layouts of Austin or Interlagos. In fact, the car's versatility ' its competitiveness relatively immune to changes in track temperature, tyre compounds and rainfall ' could well turn out to be the most valuable asset of any car in the coming races.'

Alonso still on pole to win title ahead of Vettel (BBC)

Jaime Alguersuari: 'I have been really enjoying my commentary role at BBC Radio 5 live this year but I won't be going to the next three races. It had been planned for some time. It's better for me to prepare for next year, to keep my training up, as I'm sure I will be back driving in F1.'

Hamilton and Lauda (GrandPrix)

'I can't think of anyone better qualified to tell Lewis what he doesn't want to hear in respect of his racing. And life in general, come to that. Lauda's greatest ability is to apply searing common sense to every problem, no matter how intractable it may appear.'

Can Lewis Hamilton still win the championship? (Unibet)

My latest article for Unibet, looking at whether Hamilton's Singapore retirement ended his championship chances.

Tweets

I miss you! twitter.com/Sebastien_buem'

' Sébastien Buemi (@Sebastien_buemi) September 26, 2012

Very disappointed to see Pirelli's @paulhembery leaving Twitter. He's been excellent at responding to questions from fans. A real shame. #F1

' F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) September 26, 2012

Comment of the day

Change the tracks or change the cars? @JamesF1 has some thoughts:

Whilst it is true that changes need to be made to the track, a focus needs to be made towards making cars more able to follow each other closely. Since 2008 we've seen major steps forward in this, but cars still seem to struggle in the dirty air behind the lead car, up to approx 1 second behind it (depending on the track).

I like the Singapore Sling. Yes, it is a unique corner and unique challenge to the drivers, but if F1 folks quickly acted on every driver's whinge and complaint, the sport would change one weekend to the next. No thanks to that!

It would be a shame to lose the bridge sections of the track, they provide stunning imagery, and Massa at least showed it is possible to overtake here too.
@JamesF1

From the forum

• How did you get to your first F1 race?
• Are you going to the next race at Suzuka? Join the discussion here: Going to the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today.

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Victory in the Spanish Grand Prix 25 years ago today kept Nigel Mansell in the hunt for the drivers' championship.

Ayrton Senna tried to complete the race without a pit stop but found himself struggling on worn rubber at the end of the race. He held up a growing train of cars which included Nelson Piquet after a slow Williams pit stop.

When Senna dropped back it left McLaren team mate Alain Prost and Stefan Johansson to take the final two podium positions.

Here are Senna, Prost and Piquet doing battle ' the latter spinning at one point on his way to fourth place:

Image © Sahara Force India F1 Team

Williams positive despite 'extremely frustrating' race | 2012 Singapore Grand Prix

Williams say their 'extremely frustrating' weekend in Singapore has given them confidence about their car's potential.

The team qualified on the front row with Pastor Maldonado. However he retired during the safety car period, shortly after the team had taken the decision to sacrifice track position by switching him onto soft tyres.

His team mate Bruno Senna was running in the points when his car failed two laps from the end of the race.

Chief operations engineer Mark Gillan said it was 'an extremely frustrating weekend'.

'It was what I would call a character building weekend, with the high expectations following a front row qualification and fast race pace ultimately dashed due to a double DNF and a risky strategy call.'

But Gillan added the team had 'a tremendous amount of confidence' having seen the car's performance.

'We saw that the car was capable of qualifying on the front row and that the race pace was equally impressive.

'Both drivers did a very good job in the race, with Pastor fighting hard at the front and Bruno carving his way from the back into a points scoring position before having to retire the car.'

Senna suffered burn marks on his back, which did not require treatment, during the race. As he retired the team warned him 'the car is unsafe' and advised him to 'jump out of the car, it could be a KERS problem'.

However Williams confirmed to F1 Fanatic that the KERS was not responsible for Senna's burns.

Gillan added: 'We are currently investigating the failures and have full confidence in getting to the root cause quickly and implementing the required fixes as soon as possible. At this stage we do not believe that the heat played a part in the failures.'

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

• Williams positive despite "extremely frustrating" race
• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix
• Rookie win for Peteris in Singapore Predictions round
• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend
• Vettel and Hamilton match Piquet and join F1 top tens

Browse all 2012 Singapore Grand Prix articles

Image © Williams/LAT

Ecclestone's third warning over New Jersey F1 race | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone casts fresh doubt over whether the Grand Prix of America will go ahead at New Jersey in 2013.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Grand Prix of America in serious doubt after organisers' contract is torn up (The Guardian)

Ecclestone previously raised questions over the race in April and again in June. Now he says the race organisers: 'have not complied with the terms and conditions of the contract which is now gone anyway. They don't have a contract.'

Hamilton saga nearing end game (BBC)

'McLaren believe their offer to Hamilton is broadly similar to Mercedes', and that in terms of total remuneration he could actually end up earning more money if he stays where is.'

Lewis had 'made up mind' to leave McLaren ' Ecclestone (ESPN)

'These last couple or three races he has been doing very well. Before that, why he was upset I don't know, but he was definitely going to move no matter what. He had made up his mind that he was going. Whether he has changed now a little bit I don't know.'

Niki Lauda Q&A: Alonso will be champion (F1)

'Q: What about Hamilton?
NL: Hamilton will stay with McLaren.'

End in sight for F1's game of musical chairs? (Reuters)

'[Felipe] Massa is also out of contract but the odds on him staying on at Ferrari for another year have moved in his favour after seeming remote.'

Alonso ' Ferrari Must Lift Or Lose Title Lead (Speed)

'It can't always be the case that my closest rival retires, as has happened in the last two races, and we can't think of carrying on to the end of the season with qualifying sessions like (Saturday) when our performance was almost a second off the best.'

Lotus upgrade 'to revitalise title push' (Autosport)

Trackside operations director Alan Permane: 'There is a big update coming in Korea, a really good aero update ' plus we plan to run our rear wing device in Suzuka.'

Di Resta becomes 'visible' (Sky)

'Paul di Resta's management team are hoping that their client's career-best fourth place at Singapore will give the Force India driver greater 'visibility' as he continues to be linked with teams further up the F1 ladder.'

FIA gives COTA thumbs up! (Circuit of the Americas)

Charlie Whiting: 'The track design is fantastic, the quality of the workmanship is excellent and I have no concerns at all.'

Thoughts about Singapore (Joe Saward)

'I suspect that in the future the circuit will change with more of the action in Marina Park, to the north of the current pit and paddock area, where is also room to put the stage for concerts (thus replacing the cricket ground) with the track also zipping into and out of Suntec City. That would retain many elements of the track as it is now, but would also allow for better overtaking places without moving it too far out of town. It would also mean that more of the track facilities could be semi-permanent (and therefore cheaper).'

Tweets

Good news, FOM are directing this year's #JapaneseGP and not FujiTV! ' via @dkidner

' F1 Broadcasting (@f1broadcasting) September 25, 2012

Managed to get two retro #F1 references in while commentating on @wsr_live Formula Renault 3.5 with @bencommentator. On @espnuk Thurs 1am.

' Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) September 25, 2012

Comment of the day

Broom (@brum55) on how the championship may be decided over the final races:

If Hamilton keeps winning and Button can finish ahead of Vettel than Vettel may only be taking three points out of Alonso's lead. Of course this means Hamilton cannot be written off and assumes the status quo at Singapore will remain constant for the remainder of the season which is unlikely.

Ferrari may be better in Suzuka and Red Bull may struggle due to the layout being similar to Spa (where Vettel would have surely finished about five places lower were it not for Grosjean) and if it rains again this year than it will favour Ferrari and Red Bull to a lesser extent over McLaren.

I cannot predict it. I was certain Hamilton would have toppled Alonso were it not for that DNF but now see it as a dead heat. The guy with the fastest car has the most to make up, the guy in the slowest car of the three has the lead. It couldn't be better written.
Broom (@brum55)

From the forum

• More great pictures and video from readers who were at Singapore
• Was this the save of the year?
• Were Lotus right to use team orders in Singapore?

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today.

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

A chaotic European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring produced the first and only win for Stewart Grand Prix on this day in 1999.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen led the first half of the race before dropping out with electrical failure. Championship rivals Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine took themselves out of contention with poor tyre calls in mixed weather conditions, plus a disastrous pit lane blunder for Ferrari.

David Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher all had spells in the lead only to spin out or retire.

Johnny Herbert called the changing conditions perfectly and claimed the win. Team mate Rubens Barrichello joined him on the podium in third with Jarno Trulli's Prost in between them.

The race also saw Minardi's Luca Badoer burst into tears after retiring while running in fourth place. Team mate Marc Gene took the final point for sixth after being passed by the recovering Hakkinen, which can be seen below:

Button: Championship between Alonso and Vettel | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Jenson Button says Sebastian Vettel is the only driver likely to catch Alonso in the championship.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Title Alonso or Vettel's: Button (BBC)

'It's hard for anyone [to catch Alonso] except [Sebastian Vettel] at the moment. It's between those two but there's still a lot of people with a long shot. That's what we're all going to go for.'

'Ferrari must find more performance' (Sky)

Stefano Domenicali: 'There are six Grands Prix to go to the end of the season and clearly, we need to make a step forward in terms of performance, because we cannot rely purely on the misfortune of others.'

GP2 champion Valsecchi feels he deserves F1 chance (ESPN)

'In Italy they always say there is no Italian driver in Formula One, but before now who deserved it? Last year we finished second with [Luca] Filippi, which was fantastic but we were unlucky because it was second. The year before no Italian, and before there was [Giorgio] Pantano, who was a great champion, but there was the story that he was in Formula One before, and the story that maybe he was too old, but this year there is another Italian champion.'

• Italy left without an F1 driver in 2012

Nico Rosberg: Message after P5 in Singapore (Mercedes via Youtube)

Horner hoping for alternator fix by Suzuka (Adam Cooper's F1 Blog)

'Every time I saw a Renault powered car stop, the first question was why? Maldonado retired, but I think that was hydraulics, then we saw an issue with a Caterham, but that was because I think they forgot to put a wheel on.'

Lotus says it paid for poor Friday (Autosport)

Trackside operations director Alan Permane: 'We had a very poor Friday, but we understood pretty much where we'd gone wrong. We recovered an awful lot of it, but didn't get it perfectly right.'

Red Bull races new front wing at Singapore (F1 Technical)

'Red Bull Racing debuted a new front wing on the RB8, featuring two changes.'

F1 will bring S$1b worth of 'additional value-add' for economy: Iswaran (Today)

'Staging the Formula One Grand Prix will bring $1 billion [Singaporean] worth of 'additional value-add' for Singapore's economy over a 10-year period, says second minister for trade and industry S Iswaran.'

Barrichello to drive in stock car race in Brazil (The Sacramento Bee)

'Barrichello will earn more than $100,000 for competing but will donate the money to charity.'

Kevin Garside: Lewis Hamilton remains hard to love after his fast-lane feuds (The Independent)

Kevin Garside: 'In terms of his working-class background and his ethnicity, Hamilton smashed the great Formula One stereotypes to gain access to the paddock, yet his portrayal is all too often negative.'

No has-been, Schumacher needs another year (NBC Sports)

John Leicester: 'Schumacher isn't the dominant driver he was when he was winning championships with Ferrari but nor, the numbers indicate, is he a middle-aged embarrassment or a has-been. His seven world titles are his forever. Another year of racing, even if it doesn't amount to much like the three he's just had, cannot alter that fact and so cannot tarnish the memory of the champion he once was.'

Tweets

Thanks for all the messages, had a lot of fun out there last night. Enjoyed the battles I was in. Great to get more points. Lets keep going!

' Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) September 24, 2012

Thanks for all the msgs, was a great day for me and the team. Finally we got a fair crack at a race. Let's hope it continues in Suzuka

' Paul Di Resta (@pauldirestaf1) September 24, 2012

Huge thanks to @alo_oficial for letting me take his F1 car for a hot lap. The thing was absolutely amazing! #wow twitter.com/NickyHayden69/'

' Nicky Hayden (@NickyHayden69) September 24, 2012

Comment of the day

@Debaser91 compares Sebastian Vettel career with Michael Schumacher's at the same point:

Sebastian Vettel has won an awful lot of Grands Prix in his short career to date. There has been talk that if anyone is going to be able to match Schumacher's titles and victories record it will be him, because he has such a long time in the sport ahead of him (the same goes for Hamilton as well but not to such a great extent.)

Therefore I thought it would be interesting to compare Vettel to Schumacher at similar stages in their career, and assumed Vettel would be ahead.

After five full seasons in the sport ('92-'96) Schumacher had 22 victories, whereas Vettel (2008-present) has had 4 and three-quarter full seasons with 23 victories.

However during that period Schumacher only started 79 Grands Prix whereas Vettel, excluding his first eight races with Toro Rosso in 2007 has started 86 races due to longer seasons. Taking Schumacher's first 86 races in full seasons he then has 24 victories, which is one more than Vettel.

I think that just shows how difficult Schumacher's incredible victory record will be to beat, even without taking into account his dominant Ferrari years where he was winning nine, ten or more Grands Prix a season he is still neck and neck with Vettel.

Of course in the mid-nineties with the death of Senna and retirements of Mansell, Prost and Piquet, and much less competition for race victories at the front it is arguable whether Schumacher had it easier with poorer competition, but that is a different argument entirely.

Vettel is going to have to have ten to twelve years sustained competing at the front to get anywhere near as close. Thinking about it now, despite Schumacher's faults and putting aside my own dislike of some of his behaviour on track it really is quite remarkable that he competed at the front pretty much for over a decade.
@Debaser91

From the forum

• Nominate the best pass of the Singapore Grand Prix

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to James Brickles, WouT and OEL F1!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Keke Rosberg clinched the 1982 world championship in the final round of the season, held at Las Vegas.

Rosberg finished a distant fifth, well over a minute behind surprise winner Michele Alboreto, but that was all he needed. Title rival John Watson came in second, ending the season five points behind the Williams driver.

Eddie Cheever finished his home race on the podium for Ligier.

Here's the moment Alboreto's Tyrrell took the lead off Alain Prost's Renault:

Image © Singapore GP/Sutton

Rookie win for Peteris in Singapore Predictions round | Predictions Championship

Peteris (@Spicais666) racked up the highest score in the Singapore round of the Predictions Championship.

It was a particularly impressive win given this was his first appearance in the championship after he joined the site on Friday. Correctly predicting the pole sitter and the top four finishers earned Peteris 31 points and a prize of a 1975 Autocourse eBook.

A two-way tie for second and third place was won by @Toddbarden, who moves up to fourth in the championship and claimed a Grand Prix Heroes DVD as a prize. Third place and a PJ Tierney F1 poster was won by Fernando (@Alonso2012).

Sebastian Vettel was the overwhelming favourite for pole position, picked by two-thirds of players, but he was beaten to it by Lewis Hamilton. However over half correctly picked Vettel to win the race.

@Zantex remains in the lead of the championship and pulled a further point ahead. See the updated points standings in full here:

• Updated Predictions Championship standings

Here are the predictions and scores for the nine highest-scoring players in this race:

Remember you can make your predictions for all the remaining rounds of the season below and edit them whenever you like up until the start of each qualifying session.

2012 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship overall prizes

Grand prize: Two grandstands tickets to the 2013 British Grand Prix

The person who scores the most points over the whole season will win two grandstand tickets to the 2013 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The grand prize winner will receive tickets to all three days of the event with reserved seating for the race.

• Buy British Grand Prix tickets via the Silverstone website or call the ticket hotline on 0844 3728 300

Second place prize: An F1 painting of your choice

The second place finisher will win a Formula 1 painting by Rob Ijbema.

You get to choose which F1 driver, present or past, will feature in the painting.

Or you can pick one of the other motor racing paintings on Rob's site:

• Car-a-day

Runner-up prize: Racecar Engineering subscriptions

The five players with the next highest scores (positions three to seven) will each win a year's subscription to Racecar Engineering magazine.

Racecar Engineering is the world's leading motorsport technology magazine. Every issue is packed with in-depth features, interviews and analysis from Formula One, Le Mans and all forms racing and rallying.

• Exclusive offer: save up to £33 when you subscribe to Racecar Engineering

Runner-up prize: Autocourse calendars

The five players with the next highest scores (positions eight to 12) will each win a 2013 Autocourse calendar.

The Autocourse Grand Prix calendar contains images taken during the season of all the major players competing in the Formula One World Championship.

The images are high resolution and taken by one of the world's leading Grand Prix photographers, the calendar is printed on art quality paper and comes with a stiffened backing board and shrink wrapped for protection.

• Autocourse Grand Prix calendar

More prizes to be announced

Further prizes will be announced during the season.

2012 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship race prizes

Race winner's prize: Autocourse eBooks

The highest scorer in each race will win an Autocourse eBook. The 1971 edition will be the first prize up for grabs, and later players will have the chance to win 1972 to 1976 editions.

The Autocourse eBooks are faithful reproductions of the original annuals in digital form. The colour, clarity of images and text have been improved to modern standards, but the content remains in original format.

Autocourse has become the definitive record of Formula One racing the world over and early editions are collector's items, which regularly trade for hundreds of pounds.

• The 1971 Autocourse eBook is available from www.autocourse.com for £19.99 with free postage/packing to UK customers.

First runner-up prize: Grand Prix Heroes DVD

The second-placed player in each race will win their choice of one of Duke Video's new Grand Prix Heroes DVDs (pictured top).

Videos are available on such famous F1 figures as Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Mika Hakkinen, Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Scheckter, Ronnie Peterson, Peter Revson and Frank Williams.

• Duke Video

Second runner-up prize: F1 posters by PJ Tierney

The third-placed player in each race will win one of PJ Tierney's excellent unofficial Formula 1 posters.

You can view PJ's posters along with his other work on his website:

• PJ Tierney

How to enter

To enter, predict the pole sitter and the top five finishers in the race. You can also enter a prediction for the pole position lap time ' this may be used as a tie-breaker.

Enter your pole position lap time prediction as follows: MM:SS.ccc

For example, for a lap of one minute, 23.456 seconds you would enter 01:23.456

You need to log in using an F1 Fanatic account to make your prediction.

If you haven't got one yet the sign-up process is quick, simple and entirely free: sign up here now.

After entering your prediction, you will receive an email confirming your entry. If this does not happen, or you are concerned your prediction has not been received, please get in touch using the contact form.

Enter your predictions

You must be logged in

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix
• Rookie win for Peteris in Singapore Predictions round
• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend
• Vettel and Hamilton match Piquet and join F1 top tens
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix lap charts

Browse all 2012 Singapore Grand Prix articles

Image © Singapore GP/Sutton

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix | F1 pictures

Here are the top ten pictures which tell the story of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Pastor Maldonado, Friday practice

Pastor Maldonado was 13th-fastest at the end of Friday practice. There was little indication that the following day he would plant his Williams on the front row of the grid, in among the championship contenders.

Maldonado has had an erratic season but raced well at the front in Singapore, holding off Fernando Alonso for several laps. Unfortunately a hydraulic problem ended his race early and kept him from adding to his points total, something his hasn't managed to do since winning in Spain.

Timo Glock, Friday practice

Timo Glock in action on his favourite circuit. The Marussia driver served notice of his intentions by out-pacing the Caterhams on Friday.

In the race he capitalised on retirements and delays for several drivers ahead of him to claim 12th place. It may not be worth any points, but it was enough to move Marussia back in front of Caterham in the constructors' championship. If they can hold on to tenth place until the end of the season it could prove highly valuable.

Lewis Hamilton, Saturday

Lewis Hamilton seemed content to let Sebastian Vettel top the times in practice. But that all changed once the contest got serious.

In Q2 Vettel produced a superb lap of 1'46.791, eight-tenths of a second faster than anyone else ' until Hamilton pipped it by a tenth. Vettel couldn't match his best effort in Q3 but Hamilton went quicker still, and duly sealed his fifth pole position of the year.

But it was all in vain for the McLaren driver, who retired while leading with a gearbox problem.

Paul di Resta, Saturday

Force India looked competitive from the word go in Singapore. But while Nico Hulkenberg failed to made the cut for Q3, Paul di Resta did and matched his best ever qualifying position by taking sixth.

It got better on race day, Di Resta bringing the car home a career-best fourth with Fernando Alonso's Ferrari in his sights.

Bruno Senna, Saturday

The paddock united in a show of sympathy for the loss of pioneering F1 medic Professor Sid Watkins, who died following the last race.

Among those who paid their tributes by signing the book of condolence was Bruno Senna, whose uncle Ayrton remains the last driver to have died at a race weekend and was a close friend of Watkins'.

Ahead of the race a minute's silence was held on the grid in memory of him.

Singapore Grand Prix start

Some of the field made it around Singapore's clumsy first corner. The stewards took a look and decided no one had illegally gained a position.

Felipe Massa and Vitaly Petrov, Singapore Grand Prix

Felipe Massa, who qualified 13th, was hit by Vitaly Petrov, who lined up 18th, at the first corner ' you can see the damage to Petrov's car in the previous image.

This picture shows Massa, front brake glowing, re-passing the Caterham driver. The safety car allowed him to get back in the hunt for points and he duly claimed eighth after squeezing past Senna in a dramatic moment on the approach to turn 13.

Mark Webber, Singapore Grand Prix

Mark Webber failed to score for the second race weekend in a row. The timing of the safety car didn't help his cause, and passing Kamui Kobayashi off the track earned him a penalty which dropped him from ninth to 11th.

Heikki Kovalainen, Singapore Grand Prix

The Singapore track is one of the bumpiest in F1. Although parts of it were resurfaced for this year's race it didn't stop the F1 cars from generating some dramatic sparks where they touched the ground.

Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, Singapore Grand Prix

Vettel's win reduced Alonso's points lead to 29. Jenson Button, who finished second, said after the race the championship battle is now between Red Bull and Ferrari's leading drivers.

More Singapore Grand Prix pictures

• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix qualifying in pictures
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix practice in pictures
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix Thursday pictures

Share your Singapore Grand Prix pictures and video

Were you at Singapore last weekend? Share your pictures and video from the Singapore Grand Prix here:

• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix: Your pictures and video

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix
• Rookie win for Peteris in Singapore Predictions round
• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend
• Vettel and Hamilton match Piquet and join F1 top tens
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix lap charts

Browse all 2012 Singapore Grand Prix articles

Image © Williams/LAT, Marussia, Singapore GP/Sutton, Sahara Force India F1 Team, Singapore GP/Sutton, Singapore GP/Sutton, Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Red Bull/Getty images, Caterham/LAT, Red Bull/Getty images

Hamilton not giving up after championship setback | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he 'won't give up' despite falling 52 points behind in the championship battle.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Hamilton not giving up on drivers' title (BBC)

'I won't give up. I'll keep pushing to the end. Of course, it makes it that bit harder.'

Traffic takes toll on Raikkonen's title challenge (Reuters)

'We were definitely faster than Michael [Schumacher] and Nico [Rosberg] but we ended up stuck behind them for most of the race which was frustrating.'

Fernando Alonso: 'We were not very competitive this weekend'' (Adam Cooper's F1 Blog)

'I think the safety car arrived in the worst moment for us, because we have stopped and changed the tyres five laps before the safety car, so we didn't have the pit stop for free like the others did. So, it was, I think with all these difficulties, if we put altogether, arriving third in our difficult weekend is for sure a fantastic result in terms of points.'

Singapore GP ' Conference 4 (FIA)

'For about three or four laps it was spraying gearbox oil. I thought it was the backmarker at the time, and then I saw Lewis pull over so I knew that was from his car.'

Senna 'using racing line' in Massa clash (Autosport)

'The stewards believed that Senna had not done anything wrong because he had not appeared to deliberately move across.'

Timely result for di Resta (Sky)

'I like to think that I'm capable of stepping up to one of these bigger teams. There's some drivers about ' I've raced against some of them at the top, I've had great battles with them and I've beaten them.'

Red Bull RB8 ' new brake discs and ducts (F1)

'Made from a new material, CER, they lose only 1mm of thickness by the end of the race in comparison to the 4mm worn away on the older CCR discs.'

Tooned ' Episode 6: Gone With The Wind (YouTube)

Tweets

Lewis' problem was internal gearbox failure. No hint before the race, just bad signs a few laps before. Great shame after stunning Q lap.

' Paddy Lowe (@paddylowe) September 23, 2012

Sources tell me Singapore circuit will be shorter next year. Part around the cricket club will be done away with. #f1 #NightShift

' Byron Young (@byronf1) September 23, 2012

Comment of the day

@JerseyF1 says there's still life left in the championship battle:

Plenty of championships have turned around more than the points differences we have at the moment, I think that the new points system is still fooling people ' with arguably the three fastest cars in reverse order in the championship this is shaping up for a tight finish if the main contenders run to form over the next few races without car failures or other incident.
@JerseyF1

From the forum

• Check out these Singapore Grand Prix pictures and video from @Doodie111 and @Thecollaroyboys
• Final points standings for GP2 this year

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Christian Mateus and Selidor!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Recently-crowned champion Emerson Fittipaldi hit trouble in the 1972 Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport, having to pit with wing damage after a battle with pole sitter Peter Revson for third.

Ronnie Peterson led the opening laps for March before being passed by Jackie Stewart, who went on to win ahead of the McLarens of Revson and Denny Hulme.

Image © Singapore GP/Sutton

Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend | 2012 Singapore Grand Prix

Which F1 driver had the best race weekend in Singapore?

Compare all the drivers' performances below and vote for who you think was the best driver of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.

Singapore Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel ' Topped all three practice sessions but was mystified at his inability to turn a lap quick enough for pole position in Q3. From third on the grid he picked off Maldonado at the start and was perfectly placed to claim victory when Hamilton retired.

Mark Webber ' Singapore seems not to be a favourite track of Webber's. He qualified seventh and was using a three-stop strategy to try to gain ground when he was compromised by the appearance of the safety car. Spent the final laps trying pass Ricciardo without success. After the race he was penalised 20 seconds for putting all four wheels off the track while passing Kobayashi. Though he had clearly violated the rules, Webber was perhaps unfortunate as he had little time to decide whether to let Kobayashi re-pass him.

McLaren

Jenson Button ' Lagged behind Hamilton in qualifying by a similar margin to that which separated the Red Bull drivers. Followed Vettel past Maldonado at the start and was able to run slightly longer in his first stint. This might have helped him later on had the safety car not appeared.

Lewis Hamilton ' Snatched pole position off Vettel and maintained a lead of one to two seconds before a gearbox glitch put him out. The team first noticed a problem with the gearbox during the race and Hamilton reported difficulties shifting before it failed.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso ' Decided the high-downforce rear wing brought by the team was not an improvement and didn't use it. He made an unusually poor start from fifth and was beaten to the first corner by Di Resta, but quickly re-passed the Force India. He seriously tested Maldonado's defences but didn't manage to find a way past the Williams. The demise of Maldonado and Hamilton's retirement elevated him to third.

Felipe Massa ' Never looked like making it into Q3 ' he was over three-quarters of a second slower than his team mate. Picked up a puncture in the first corner melee when he was hit by Petrov, but the safety car brought him back into contention. Made an arms-and-elbows pass on Senna at turn 13 and complained he had been blocked but the stewards didn't share his view. He later overtook Ricciardo and finished eighth.

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher ' Fell behind Rosberg on the first lap, then ended his 300th start in a violent crash after the first safety car period, slamming into the back of Vergne at turn 14. He initially accounted for the crash saying: 'I was braking but the deceleration was not as strong as it usually would be'. But the stewards noted he accepted responsibility and gave him a ten-place penalty for the next race.

Nico Rosberg ' Like Schumacher he elected not to set a time in Q3 to save tyres. He incurred damage at the first corner which cost him some downforce. However he was able to pit for soft tyres during the first safety car period and run to the end for fifth place, his best result since Monaco.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen ' Lotus made extensive changes to their car on Friday night which improved its performance, but Raikkonen wasn't able to get through to Q3. Spent much of the race stuck behind Schumacher until the Mercedes driver crashed out. Then Grosjean let him by into sixth, but he couldn't progress further. 'You cannot overtake,' he complained afterwards.

Romain Grosjean ' Out-qualified Raikkonen after returning from his ban, but a scruffy Q3 lap left him eighth. He probably would have beaten his team mate had the team not ordered him to move aside: 'It's never easy as a driver to let someone past ' even if it is your team-mate,' he said, 'but we need to be intelligent in these circumstances'.

Force India

Paul di Resta ' Force India showed good pace from early in the weekend and Di Resta capitalised, putting his car sixth on the grid. He may regret not being firmer with Alonso at the first corner given that he ultimately finished behind the Ferrari. Even so, fourth was a career-best result.

Nico Hulkenberg ' Knew his car was good enough for Q3 but missed the cut. That doomed him to spending the first part of the race stuck behind Schumacher and Raikkonen. After they pitted he was able to run long on his soft tyres, but gambling on staying out when the safety car was first deployed ultimately compromised his race. Picked up a puncture while trying to pass Kobayashi and ended up 14th.

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi ' Was eliminated in Q1 after struggling with his car, with similar problems to those he experienced in Hungary. Senna and Glock passed him at the start and it took Kobayashi until lap eight to get past the Marussia. A clash with a Force India ruined his race: 'I couldn't avoid touching Nico Hulkenberg,' he said. 'There was no space to go. For me it was a race incident. Nico said sorry when we met after the race; apparently he had oversteer, I lost my front wing and had to pit.'

Sergio Perez ' Said the team's latest upgrade had failed to deliver the expected downforce gains. Having qualified 14th, he chose the usual Sauber gambit of starting on the harder tyres. But the safety car appearance neutered any advantage this offered ' he finished 11th on the road and was promoted to the final point by Webber's penalty.

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo ' Ricciardo started on super-soft tyres and was able to make his second and final pit stop after the safety car appeared. He was eighth when the race resumed and although Massa passed him he had more success keeping Webber behind.

Jean-Eric Vergne ' Still nursing a sore neck from his Monza acrobatics, the last thing Vergne needed was another crash. He was running tenth when Schumacher took him out, but the safety car had already scuppered his strategy anyway.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado ' Maldonado produced the surprise of qualifying, planting his Williams on the front row. He avoided causing the widely-predicted first corner apocalypse, though he did lose places to Vettel and Button. Withstood pressure from Alonso but hydraulic failure meant his redemptive performance ultimately ended in disappointment.

Bruno Senna ' Hit the barriers a total of three times in practice and qualifying. But he was in with a chance of claiming a point when he suffered an alarming technical fault ' his team told him to pull over and jump out of the car without touching the ground in case of a KERS problem. On top of that, his car broke down in the pre-race parade as well. A weekend to forget.

Caterham

Heikki Kovalainen ' Unusually he was out-qualified by Petrov. The team dropped the ball on strategy as well, not pitting him during the first safety car and then switching him to super-softs, which had to be changed again before the end of the race. Disastrously, that let rivals Marussia beat them to a precious 12th place finish.

Vitaly Petrov ' Hit Massa at the first corner ('I've already apologised to him as we get on well') and had to pit for a new front wing. The safety car offered him a chance to get back into the race but he was sent from his pit box with a loose wheel nut and had to be pushed back to his garage. Despite the time lost he still finished ahead of Kovalainen.

HRT

Pedro de la Rosa ' Finished a lapped 17th: 'The last five laps never seemed to end because I had no tyres left and I started to lose ground on Glock and Pic and Kobayashi, Kovalainen and Hulkenberg, who were flying, passed me like nothing.'

Narain Karthikeyan ' Out-qualified de la Rosa for the second race in a row but had fallen behind his team mate when he hit the wall at turn 18: 'I went on the dirty part of the track and the car didn't turn which resulted in me going into the wall.'

Marussia

Timo Glock ' Glock had a scare when he clouted the wall early on: 'The rear tyre pressures came up a bit too much and I overshot the car in turn 19 and hit the wall. In the first moment I thought the race was over and I realised that the toe was really out; I had to change my driving style and, actually, changed everything that I could do to keep the car on track.' Glock pitted for soft tyres shortly before the first safety car period and stayed on them until the end ' over half the race distance. Retirements ahead promoted him to 12th which elevates Marussia to tenth in the constructors' championship.

Charles Pic ' Pic was handed a 20-second race penalty and ordered to spend a day assisting an FIA road safety awareness campaign after failing to heed red flags during practice. In the race he did a long final stint on super-soft tyres and finished 16th.

Qualifying and race results summary

Review the race data

• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix lap charts
• 2012 Singapore GP tyre strategies and pit stops
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix fastest laps

Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job this weekend?

Cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend?

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2012 Singapore Grand Prix

• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend
• Vettel and Hamilton match Piquet and join F1 top tens
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix lap charts
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix fastest laps
• 2012 Singapore GP tyre strategies and pit stops

Browse all 2012 Singapore Grand Prix articles

Image © Singapore GP/Sutton, Pirelli/LAT, Sahara Force India F1 Team, Williams/LAT, Marussia/LAT

Vettel and Hamilton match Piquet and join F1 top tens | 2012 Singapore Grand Prix stats and facts

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton staked their claim to be among F1's greats at Singapore.

Vettel joined the top ten drivers who have won the most races and Hamilton added his name to the top ten pole-sitters.

In doing so they both equalled tallies set by three-times world champion Nelson Piquet.

Vettel scored his 23rd career victory and his second in Singapore. He is now among the top ten drivers to have won the most races in Formula One:

The day before Hamilton matched Piquet's tally of 24 pole positions:

This was the fourth pole position in a row for McLaren. The last time they managed that was in 1999, when they had six poles in a row between the British and Italian Grands Prix.

Hamilton's pole position time was almost two seconds slower than that recorded last year. The restrictions places on exhaust-blown diffusers over the winter probably explain much of the loss of performance. There were some minor changes to the track including revised kerbs and limited resurfacing.

Hamilton retired from the race meaning he now has four no-scores and three wins from the last eight races.

Fastest laps record equalled

Nico Hulkenberg set the fastest lap for the first time in his career. He is the tenth different driver to do so this year.

This equals the record for the most different drivers to have set fastest lap during a season. This also happened in 2009, 1982, 1981, 1976, 1975 and 1954.

The latter is particularly interesting because ten different drivers set fastest lap in a season which only had nine races. The inaccuracy of the timing system used at that year's British Grand Prix meant seven drivers were credited with a fastest lap of one minute and 50 seconds.

As fastest lap was worth a point at the time the seven drivers ' Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Mike Hawthorn, Jean Behra, Alberto Ascari and Onofre Marimon ' were each awarded one-seventh of a point. Behra did not add to his tally during the rest of the season and ended the year with a total of 0.14 points.

No back-to-back winners in 2012 so far

No driver has managed to win two consecutive races in the 14 rounds so far this year. The last time an entire season was completed without a driver winning back-to-back races was the 1974 season, which had 15 Grands Prix:

More Singapore Grand Prix stats and facts

Certain drivers seem to excel in Singapore. Fernando Alonso scored his fourth podium in five races here. The only time he has failed to finish in the top three here was last year, taking fourth place.

Paul di Resta may also be considered among the ranks of Singapore specialists. Last year he had the best result of his rookie season at the track, finishing sixth.

This year he improved on that with fourth ' a new personal best ' and also matched his best qualifying position with sixth place.

Timo Glock also shines at Singapore and he gave Marussia their best result to date with 12th place. This also improved on the best result scored by the team in its previous identity, Virgin. It moved them back in front of Caterham in the constructors' championship.

In the 52 races since the 'new teams' arrived, 12th place is the best any of them have managed. Heikki Kovalainen finished 12th for Lotus (now Caterham) in the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix.

This race saw the 50th start for HRT. The team failed to qualify at Australia this year and last.

Michael Schumacher made his 300th start in an F1 race (in his 302nd appearance, see here). However while he won his 100th start (1997 Japanese Grand Prix) and 200th start (2004 European Grand Prix), this race ended with a crash which earned him a ten-place penalty for the next race.

The race was stopped after 59 of 61 laps under the two-hour time limit rule. The last race to be stopped short of full distance was the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix, which was red-flagged and the result called based on 31 laps of a scheduled 56, due to heavy rain and poor visibility.

Review the year so far in statistics here:

• 2012 F1 championship points
• 2012 F1 season records
• 2012 F1 race data
• 2012 F1 qualifying data
• 2012 F1 retirements and penalties
• 2012 F1 strategy and pit stops
• 2012 F1 driver form guides

Spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Singapore Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

• Vote for your Singapore GP driver of the weekend
• Vettel and Hamilton match Piquet and join F1 top tens
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix lap charts
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix fastest laps
• 2012 Singapore GP tyre strategies and pit stops

Browse all 2012 Singapore Grand Prix articles

Image © Singapore GP/Sutton