Formula One news

Bell preparing for first race as Principal

Renault's Bob Bell will serve as Team Principal for the first time in a race as the Singapore Grand Prix begins on Sunday evening. With the Enstone squad having suffered a highly turbulent week, Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean start the night race from fifth and nineteenth positions respectively.

After Flavio Briatore was banned permanently from F1 for his part in race-fixing events surrounding last year's race, Bell is solely focussed on the job in hand. "Unfortunately, Romain did not have a great qualifying session as he had brake problems which hampered his progress," he said of his second driver.

Alonso's 20th Grand Prix victory came in Singapore last year

"In Q2, Fernando picked up pace - maybe because the track temperature was falling slightly or perhaps because the circuit was picking up grip. Whatever the reason, the balance of the car certainly improved and Fernando was able to gain time and had more confidence in the car.

"He did a very good job in Q3, although it's fair to say we benefited from Barrichello's incident, but I think it was a good solid performance considering our expectations prior to qualifying." Starting from fifth, the ever-opportunistic Alonso is hoping for mistakes ahead of him this evening.

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