Massa off to good start in Singapore

Felipe Massa made a fine start to the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix to retain pole position in the early stages of Formula One’s first night race.

Massa had snatched pole from Lewis Hamilton with a superb final lap in qualifying yesterday and all eyes were on the duo as they battle it out at the top of the driver standings.

Rain had been predicted but even though the skies had looked threatening throughout the afternoon, conditions were dry at the start of the race.

The lights shone brightly around the Marina Bay street circuit as Massa enjoyed a fine start in his Ferrari to remain at the front of the pack while McLaren’s Hamilton and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen were second and third respectively by the end of the first lap.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso shunned thoughts that overtaking was impossible in the race by climbing from 15th to 12th.