2009 Singapore Grand Prix

Did You Know?

• Rubens Barrichello received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change prior to qualifying.
• Nick Heidfeld was excluded from qualifying results for an underweight car and started from the pit lane.
• The inaugural F1 Rocks concerts in Singapore featured Beyoncé, The Black Eyed Peas, ZZ Top, Simple Minds, N.E.R.D., No Doubt, Jacky Cheung, and A*Mei.

Report

Fernando Alonso was the only driver to have won the Singapore Grand Prix before, but the race was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his 2008 victory. The previous year's pole-sitter, Felipe Massa, missed the race because of injuries from the Hungarian Grand Prix. Brawn GP had won both earlier street circuit races in 2009, with Jenson Button taking Monaco and Rubens Barrichello winning Valencia. Going into the weekend, Button led the drivers' championship by 14 points over Barrichello, while Sebastian Vettel was 12 points behind Barrichello and 26 behind Button. Kimi Räikkönen aimed for his fifth straight podium, having earned 30 of his 40 championship points in the previous four races. Brawn led the constructors' standings with 146 points, enough to clinch the title in Singapore, while Red Bull had 105.5. The circuit was modified at turns 1, 2, 3, 13, and 14 to improve overtaking, and at turn 10, where high kerbs had caused many crashes in 2008. The pit lane entrance and exit were also changed: cars now entered before turn 22 and exited after turn 1, adding 6 metres to the lap. Turns 1, 7, and 10 were renamed "Sheares," "Memorial," and "Singapore Sling." On Thursday evening, sponsors ING and Mutua Madrileña ended their deals with Renault immediately, following the previous year's race-fixing scandal. Renault removed their logos from the cars before running them, though Mutua Madrileña continued to back Alonso.

Fuel Festival Singapore

Another massive SingaporeGP Season event, Fuel Festival, featured headliners Underworld, will.i.am, Peter Hook ex-New Order, Bloc Party, Guru Josh, Darren Emerson, Freaks, Hybrid, Samantha Ronson, and Johnny Vicious, hosted by Lindsay Lohan. It took place on 24 September at Suntec Convention Centre and from 25 to 27 September nightly at the National Museum of Singapore.