2009 Singapore Grand Prix: Into the Night

Singapore is the new Monaco: a harborside city track, no passing, more spectacle than motor race. But it’s an absolute thrill when you treat it as pure eye candy. Here’s some photos from last Sunday's race.

As a race, it was a weird combination of boring and fun, with some crashes adding sparkle to what was otherwise a procession. A resurgent Lewis Hamilton led from start to finish, followed by Toyota’s Timo Glock. Victory has eluded the Japanese team yet again, for the 136th time since their debut in Formula One in 2002.

Last year’s grand prix, the first such event in Singapore, was the scene of Renault’s staged crash for Nelsinho Piquet, which cost Renault team boss Flavio Briatore his career in motorsports. His ex-team, however, made it onto the podium courtesy of Fernando Alonso, who brought his R29 home in third place, the first podium finish for Renault this season.

Alonso and winner Hamilton—teammates and mortal enemies at McLaren for the 2007 season—provided for some high body language fun, as they could not conceal their mutual disgust neither in the pre-podium room nor on the podium itself. A bloody fight to the death with broken bottles of Mumm champagne was, for a long time, not out of the question.

The talented Mr. Vettel of Red Bull will have to wait until next year to seriously challenge for the title, as a number of rookie errors have contributed to his poor finish at 4th, effectively putting him out of the world championship race.

Meanwhile, Jenson Button of Brawn GP gained two points on teammate Rubens Barrichello with his 5th place finish. He now leads the championship with 84 points to Barrichello’s 69, with 30 more up for grabs in the remaining races. Even though he has not won a race since Vettel demolished him in his home race at Silverstone, Button will have a hard time losing the championship if he continues to finish well into the points.

Only three more races to go in perhaps the strangest Formula One season ever. Stay tuned for the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend at Suzuka.