Buried at the bottom of Ferrari’s preview post for this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix is a little nugget that I think worth digesting. It’s simple: “However, with just five Grands Prix remaining, there are definitely no more second chances.”
The Ferrari post is, of course, full of positives: how Fernando Alonso is still in the drivers hunt, how the one-three finish at Monza put Ferrari back in the team championship battle. There’s also a new Ferrari store opening in Singapore! Huzzah!
But the acknowledgment that with five races left there is no more room for error, for mechanical problems, for bad strategies, etc. strikes me as the key. Mostly, I think it is the key because it is true for all three teams in the title hunt as well as all five drivers still wanting that drivers championship. Just to different extents, right?
The question is: Who is out of second chances? If Alonso were to DNF this weekend, would his season be effectively over? Would a ninth or 10th place finish be every bit as bad? Are Sebastian Vettel or Jenson Button at the point of zero mistakes allowed, as well?
Do Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber have one more mistake they can afford to make? Even with his Monza DNF, Hamilton is still right on Webber’s tail.
Are you expecting to be able to right off any of the drivers after this weekend? And would a bad weekend for Ferrari end Maranello’s hopes for the constructors crown?
