Bridgestone Motorsport's Singapore Grand Prix report

Fernando Alonso (ING Renault F1 Team) won Formula One's first-ever night race by using a [I]"super soft - soft - soft"[/I] tyre strategy at the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the inaugural F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Alonso prevailed in a tension-filled 61-lap race which featured two safety car periods and a number of notable incidents. He started from fifteenth position on the grid, on Bridgestone's [I]"super soft"[/I], unlike most of the field, who started on the [I]"soft"[/I]. He was the first driver to pit, shortly before his team-mate Nelson Piquet crashed into the barriers, bringing about the first safety car period, stopping drivers from pitting without penalty until the pits were reopened. Alonso made his second stop on lap 41 and exited still in the lead of the race.

AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg finished in second place, 2.9 seconds behind Alonso, and registered his best-ever Formula One result. He also started the race on the [I]"super soft"[/I] tyre, but pitted while the pits were closed, meaning a stop-go penalty had to be served. Despite this, he finished second. Drivers' championship leader Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) finished third after using a [I]"soft - soft - super soft"[/I] tyre strategy.

Hirohide Hamashima, Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development said, "We saw an exciting race with an unpredictable result played out under the spotlights of Singapore at this fabulous new facility, with a very good job done by the organisers. The track surface was the best we have seen all week and the soft compound worked very well with good consistency. The performance from the super soft was better than we saw earlier in the week, and the wear rate and graining were acceptable. Yesterday was a good day for Bridgestone, as we contested our first ever Formula One night race."

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