Lotus Racing's Fiery Display In Singapore Grand Prix

Lotus Racing's Singapore Grand Prix outing came to a fiery—quite literally, in this case—end for Heikki Kovalainen, whose Lotus caught fire due to fuel-system damage resulting from a collision with Sebastien Buemi's Scuderia Toro Rosso. Instead of heading into the pit lane, Kovalainen chose to coast down the start-finish straight for safety reasons, before borrowing a fire extinguisher from Williams and playing fireman in dramatic fashion.

“That was not quite how I thought my race would end! Until the fire, I was having a really strong run and the car had felt good throughout. We were looking good for 15th, but then I had a coming together with Buemi towards the end of the race. I spun the car to get back onto the track which I think cracked the fuel tank pressure release valve and it looks like that caused an airbox fire”, Kovalainen recounted.

“I didn't want to come into the pits as it definitely wasn't safe enough to do so, and pulled over on the main straight. A couple of guys from Williams gave me an extinguisher, so I put the fire out on my own—I told Tony and Mike that they maybe need to pay me more as I'm now a fireman as well…”

Meanwhile, Jarno Trulli experienced déjà vu for the umpteenth time, as his Lotus once again suffered a hydraulics failure which forced him to retire on lap 26. “I had a very good start and was running well with Heikki but then the problems started”, Trulli lamented. “I had a puncture just after the first safety car which brought me back in early, and then the hydraulic problems that have affected me quite a few times this season struck again”.