Fernando Alonso (Renault) made Formula 1 history by winning the inaugural night race which was held in Singapore. The 27-year-old Spaniard, title-winner in 2005 and 2006, claimed his first victory of 2008 in a stunning, incident-packed 61-lap race that thrilled a sell-out crowd of 100,000 at the Marina Bay street circuit. This unique Grand Prix was a new experience for every driver on a street circuit under powerful spotlights and it turned out to be one of the most exciting of the season.
The race was full of drama beginning when Nelson Piquet (Renault) careered into the wall on the exit from turn 17 and bounced into the barriers on the other side of the track, causing massive damage to his car. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) was leading at the time with Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) second but at the restart after the safety cars were deployed, Nico Rosberg (Williams) was in front.
More drama followed when Massa was in the pits on lap 15 when he was given the green light and drove off with the fuel hose still attached to his car, leaving one of the pit crew floored and subsequently carted off in a neck brace. He ended up sitting in his Ferrari at the end of the pit lane as the crew ran after him and managed to pull the hose free, but it ruined his chances. He was given a drive through penalty and rejoined in 18th place.
It was a miserable night for Ferrari with defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen ramming his car into the barriers with just 4 laps to go, ending his race.
Despite all the incidents, it was overall an amazing race -- one that would be special to Singaporeans. Anyway, who says F1 is predictable?
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