Stat Attack: Singapore (post-race)

The definition of domination

Fernando Alonso scored pole, win, fastest lap and led the whole race, thus recording the so-called "grand chelem".

He is the 21st driver in history to reach such a feat and it hadn't been recorded since the last of Michael Schumacher's five, in the 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Schumacher is not the leader in this chart, having raced in an era where pitstop proliferation made the grand chelem very hard to achieve. The leader is Jim Clark with eight.

It's worth remembering that Fernando scored pole, win and fastest lap two weeks ago at Monza. His last back-to-back wins were recorded two years ago, in Singapore and Japan.

This was an important win for Alonso, his 25th - reaching two great drivers of the past: Jim Clark (world champion in 1963 and '65) and Niki Lauda (world champion in 1975, 1977 and 1984) at sixth place all-time. Alonso also reached Nelson Piquet for podium finishes, 60 - at the seventh all-time spot.

You are my first, you are my last

It's not only a Barry White song but the grid positions of Ferrari in Singapore, with Alonso on pole and Felipe Massa last, due to a mechanical problem in qualifying.

It's not a common sight to see the Ferraris at both ends of the grid - only the fifth time in history. The first was the 1954 Swiss Grand Prix, with Jose Froilan Gonzalez on pole and Jacques Swaters, running for Ecurie Francorchamps, at the end of the field. The last time before Singapore was in the 2004 Chinese GP, with Rubens Barrichello on pole and Michael Schumacher last.

Felipe Massa, however, confirmed his fighting spirit and once more delivered a top 10 result starting back down the grid. These are his previous comebacks:

Malaysia 2006, 21st on the grid, fifth at the end of the race
Monaco 2006, 21st on the grid, ninth at the end of the race
Australia 2007, 22nd on the grid, sixth at the end of the race
Malaysia 2010, 21st on the grid, seventh at the end of the race

Points considerations

The first five drivers in the championship table are within one win of the top (25 points), four races to the end. To understand how close this championship is, these are the number of drivers trailing the leader by one win's length with four races to go during the last decade:

© LAT

2009: none
2008: one, Massa, trailing Hamilton by one point
2007: one, Alonso, trailing Hamilton by three points, title went to Raikkonen, 18 points behind with four races to go
2006: none
2005: none
2004: none, title already decided
2003: two, Montoya and Raikkonen
2002: none, title already decided
2001: none, title already decided
2000: one, Schumacher, went on to pass Hakkinen on the third-to-last race

The largest lead enjoyed this year is 12 points, with Hamilton leading Webber after the British Grand Prix. Since then, Lewis is the driver who has scored the lowest number of points among the first five, only 37, compared to Alonso's 93. Alonso in the last five races has reduced his gap to the top to 11 points - he left Silverstone trailing Hamilton by 47.

Full contact

The title contenders this year have often gone wheel to wheel... and beyond

Australia: Button touches and spins Alonso at the first corner. Hamilton and Webber on the gravel on the 15th lap after duelling with Massa. Webber rams Hamilton (lap 57)
Turkey: Vettel hits Webber
Great Britain: Hamilton touches Vettel's rear wheel at the start, puncturing his tyre, Massa makes contact with Alonso and punctures a tyre
Belgium: Vettel rams Button
Italy: Hamilton out after a first-lap collision with Massa
Singapore: Webber resists an attack by Hamilton, hitting his rear left wheel

Qualifying notes

• Fernando Alonso scored his 20th pole, reaching the all-time top 10 (tied with Damon Hill) and put Ferrari on pole in back-to-back races for the first time since the Spain, Turkey and Monaco races in 2008. Fernando hadn't posted back-to-back poles since his sequence of five in 2006, from the European to the Canadian GPs

• Mark Webber missed the front row in back-to-back races for the first time this year

Rubens Barrichello © LAT

• Rubens Barrichello enjoyed his best grid spot of the year in sixth

• Robert Kubica rounded a full year in the top 10 spots of the grid: he started his sequence in Singapore 2009

• Jaime Alguersuari equalled his best in 11th

• Adrian Sutil out-qualified Vitantonio Liuzzi for the seventh straight time

• Christian Klien came back to fill in for Sakon Yamamoto and recorded his worst career qualifying result in 21st. His previous worst was 19th in his maiden race, the 2004 Australian Grand Prix

Race notes

• Lewis Hamilton didn't start from the front row or finish on the podium in Singapore for the first time. Back-to-back retirements for accidents for Lewis, like last year in Belgium and Italy;

• Nico Rosberg has started seventh and finished fifth in the last two races

• Nico Hulkenberg scored points in back-to-back races for the first time

• For the first time this season, there have been three straight races without Red Bull winning one. The team hasn't led a single lap in the last three races either

• A race was led only by one driver for the sixth time this year

• Bruno Senna retired for the ninth time out of 14 races. In the last decade the most unlucky season was recorded by Jean Alesi, with 12 of 17 in 2000.