Singapore Grand Prix

22nd September 202422nd September 2024

Singapore GP: Norris takes crucial win in the heat

Image courtesy of Pirelli motorsports — MARINA BAY STREET CIRCUIT, SINGAPORE – SEPTEMBER 22: The McLaren trophy delegate, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, and Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 3rd position, on the podium during the Singapore GP at Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday September 22, 2024 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images)

Lando Norris reigned supreme in the sweltering heat of Singapore to take a crucial win in his bid for the championship. The McLaren driver had a couple of close moments with the barriers in Singapore but still won the race by over a 20 second margin, yet again showing the sheer dominance of the car over Redbull and Verstappen.

Max Verstappen did everything he could in the context of the championship by finishing 2nd and making sure that Norris does not cut too much into his championship lead. Oscar Piastri took the last podium spot after a damage control drive, which he did brilliantly to overcome the challenge of Mercedes.

It was a clean getaway from the line for race winner Norris after which, he was almost untouchable as he lead every lap from start to finish. He was agonizingly close to completing the grandslam but Daniel Ricciardo in team RB in what could have been his final race, stopped for fresh softs at the very end of the race and ended up with the fastest lap of the race. A 1st and 3rd for McLaren will however be very welcomed at Woking as the team seem to be swiftly moving towards a constructors championship.

Sergio Perez in the other Redbull had yet another underwhelming performance as he only managed a 10th place finish, picking up just the one point on offer. Redbull will start being nervous going to the 4 week break and the races following, as they have now lost all ground in constructors championship and with Norris slowly but surely making inroads into the championship lead for Verstappen.

Ferrari claimed to have a fast race car for the weekend but their race was pretty much undone following a disastrous qualifying on Saturday. Leclerc and Sainz started 9th and 10th and Sunday’s race was a damage limitation scenario. Leclerc drove a superb race to finish P5 after being involved in early battles with Alonso and Hulkenberg. He then overtook Hamilton to get promoted to P5 but could not clear George Russell when P4 was at stake with about 4 laps to go. Carlos Sainz finished P7 after falling backwards at the start of the race, after which a whole lot of improvement was not possible.

Mercedes started off the race with split strategies for their drivers, with Hamilton starting from P3 on soft tyres and Russell starting on mediums. It did not workout quite well for Hamilton as he was forced to pit early and was at a strategic disadvantage compared to the other drivers which put him on the backfoot for most of the race and he only managed a P6 finish. Russell was able to fend off Leclerc towards the end of the race and finished a handy P4.

It was an excellent showing for Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas throughout the weekend and he finished a strong P9. While he picked up 2 crucial points, it was not a great race for his teammate Kevin Magnussen returning from his race ban. The Danish driver was not able to finish the race and had his fair share of problems throughout. The youngest driver on the grid, Colapinto in the Williams had another strong race as a follow up to his points finish in Baku by finishing P11. His teammate Albon in the other Williams had to retire early on, on lap 15 owing to an overheated power unit.

It was a mixed showing for Aston Martin, with Alonso picking up points after a P8 finish but Lance Stroll could only manage a P14. Alpine had yet another weekend to forget, with Ocon finishing P13 and Gasly finishing P17. A similar weekend was on the cards for Stake F1 with Zhou at P15 and Bottas at P16.

An unusual 4-week break now presents itself before the last 6 races of the season, with the fight for the drivers and the constructors championships heating up. It is Austin up next, an interesting track that always keeps the fans guessing as to what might endure. Mclaren will look to carry forward their ever rising momentum while Redbull will look to throw everything at them to stop them in their tracks.

18th September 2019

Singapore GP preview: Mercedes favourites at Marina Bay

Formula One heads to the streets of Singapore, for the start of the final flyaway leg of 2019 under the lights at Marina Bay.

Ferrari and Charles Leclerc head to Singapore on the crest of two wins on the bounce at Spa and Monza. But compared to those two high-speed circuits, Ferrari’s low downforce package won’t be anywhere near as effective on the tight Marina Bay Street Circuit.

As has been the case for most of the 2019 season, Mercedes is expected to be the team to beat this weekend. It was in Singapore last year, where Lewis Hamilton took pole position and the race win, that Mercedes finally seemed to understand what was needed to conquer one of its few “bogey” circuits. And judging by the fact Mercedes has won every street race since, there’s every reason for them to be confident about their chances on Sunday.

However, Mercedes does have one shadow looming over them this weekend—engine reliability. Since introducing their Spec 3 power unit at Spa three weeks ago, Mercedes have seen uncharacteristic failures in the customer cars of Sergio Perez’s Racing Point and Robert Kubica’s Williams. So far the works team has had no blowouts of its own, but after two demanding power tracks and with Singapore’s reputation for testing cars to their limit, there’s no room for complacency.

The other threat to Mercedes this weekend comes in the form of Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Verstappen has run well in in Singapore in recent years, qualifying second in 2017 and 2018 and finishing runner-up to Hamilton last year.

With the Red Bull-Honda package improving with every race, it would be no surprise to see Verstappen duelling with Hamilton for his third win of the season.

Mark Thompson, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

As always, the difficulty and unpredictability of Singapore will provide the midfield teams with plenty of opportunities to sneak away with big points hauls.

Renault took a double points finish at Marina Bay last year, but their RS19 has been much more at home on high speed and lower downforce tracks this year. Given their results from slower tracks like Monaco and Hungary, Renault will likely find themselves scrapping with or even behind the likes of McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Toro Rosso this weekend.

Haas will also be bracing themselves for another tough Grand Prix on Sunday. Although their prolonged dispute with former title sponsors Rich Energy has finally come to an end, their struggles with tyre degradation certainly have not. And in the heat of Singapore, there aren’t many worse problems to have.

However, Haas and Renault can both take some optimism from the fact that this is the Singapore Grand Prix. With tempers running high and the walls never far away, Singapore is the place where anything can happen.

17th September 201817th September 2018

Singapore Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton “mindful not to take any risks”

Going into the weekend, many thought that the Singapore Grand Prix would be prime Ferrari territory with its high temperatures and tight, twisting layout. However, as the season so far has proven, many expectations can and probably should be thrown out the window, with Lewis Hamilton claiming victory for Mercedes around the streets of Marina Bay.

The most damage was arguably dealt to Ferrari in qualifying, with Hamilton setting an extremely impressive lap, probably one of the best of his career, to take pole position by three tenths ahead of Max Verstappen. Title rival Sebastian Vettel was six tenths back in third.

“I came here knowing that Singapore is a hard one for us,” said Hamilton. “But I’m always optimistic, thinking that if we’re really diligent and do our work, we can create some chances. Then Friday was already a good day for us. Saturday didn’t start off well, but then all of [a] sudden that special lap came in. Knowing that we would start on pole, I knew that it was a great opportunity for us to capitalise on.”

2018 Großer Preis von Singapur, Samstag – Steve Etherington

Hamilton made a good getaway at the start and maintained a healthy gap to the cars behind for much of the race. The only real hiccup came at just over half distance when he tried to lap the squabbling duo of Sergey Sirotkin and Romain Grosjean, who failed to see Hamilton and allowed Max Verstappen to close to within a second of the Mercedes.

“When I hit traffic, I was just mindful not to take any risks,” said Hamilton. “When you start to get closer to another car, you start losing grip and start sliding around more, so there’s a higher chance of mistakes. If you’re lucky you catch the cars at the right point and they let you by so you don’t lose any time, but today I always caught them at an unfortunate point. So when Max was right behind, I had to go on the defensive, and I thought to myself, ‘Bro, you’re not getting by – not today!'”

Both he and Verstappen eventually cleared Sirotkin and Grosjean – with the Haas being given a penalty for ignoring blue flags – and Hamilton immediately opened up the gap again to just over three seconds.

2018 Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday- Wolfgang Wilhelm

He went on to claim victory – his 69th in F1 – by almost nine seconds, bringing to a close one of the most challenging races of the year.

“It was physically such a demanding race,” Hamilton added, “so I’m relieved that it’s over now – it felt like such a long night, but I’m super grateful for the result.”

As a result, Hamilton now leads Sebastian Vettel – who finished third after a strategic blunder from Ferrari lost the German a potential second-place finish – by 40 points in the championship.

Yes, the next Grand Prix – at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia – has always been a happy hunting ground for Mercedes, but if Singapore and the rest of this year have shown us anything, it’s that you really can’t rely on past showings to predict how things will unfold in the remainder of 2018.

2018 Großer Preis von Singapur, Samstag – Paul Ripke

17th September 201817th September 2018

2018 Singapore Grand Prix: One to forget for Force India

With their spirits high on the back of their impressive form in the last few races, Racing Point Force India looked as though they would continue their success this weekend in Singapore. When Perez and Ocon ran well in practice, and clocked impressive times in Saturday’s qualifying session, who could have known that the weekend would end as it did?

As the lights went out, it appeared – briefly – as though we might have an opening lap unusually free of incident. Unfortunately, a battle between the two Force India drivers soon put paid to that idea. You’ve no doubt seen the replays from every which angle by now but whether, as the stewards determined, you feel the collision that unfolded was a racing incident, or whether you feel there is blame to be placed (presumably on Perez), it was an incident that I think we can all agree should not have happened.

My own opinion is that while Ocon might have been a little plucky, there was no excuse for Perez not to have left him a bit more room. However, I also think there’s little point in dissecting the incident. It happened, it shouldn’t have happened, and that’s all that really matters.

Sergio Perez (MEX) Racing Point Force India F1 VJM11.
Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday 15th September 2018. Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore.

The incident left a despondent Ocon in the wall and out of the race, although what appeared to be one of his wheel rims continued on without its owner, finding a temporary new home on the front wing of Sergey Sirotkin’s Williams. Perez, meanwhile, escaped unscathed, running in seventh position until his pit stop.

The second moment of the race that Perez will surely rue came when he had been following Sirotkin (now sans extra wheel rim) for over ten laps. Clearly growing frustrated, Perez had taken to bizarre radio shout-outs to Charlie Whiting asking him to do something about the Russian driver who, for anyone watching, seemed to be defending hard but driving fairly. While Sirotkin was later involved in a questionable move with Brendon Hartley, which rightly earned him a penalty, there was little evidence that he’d acted unreasonably towards Perez.

Just as it seemed that Perez had finally managed to clear the Williams, he inexplicably turned left, spearing straight into his rival. In this second disastrous incident for Perez, it was near impossible to view it as anything other than wholly his fault. He finally finished the race in 16th, after serving a drive-through penalty for the collision, and will surely leave Singapore with a great deal to think about before the next race.

Unfortunately, the events of this weekend’s race mean that Force India will have more to think about than their position in the standings. Instead, managing their drivers and minimising tensions between them will likely be a focus within the team. Despite not being unfamiliar with these sorts of problems between their drivers last season, until now it had seemed that such issues had been left behind in 2017.

But now, with their drivers once again not trusted to race each other, how will this impact their chances against not just each other, but the other teams? Only time will tell whether this new, undesirable twist in the tale of Racing Point Force India will continue to boil over, or whether they will be able to put it behind them for the good of the team.

13th September 2018

Nico Hulkenberg targets “positive weekend” ahead of 150th Grand Prix

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg will be starting his 150th Grand Prix at the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix, and he is hoping for a “positive weekend” at a circuit that he sees as something of an anomaly on the F1 calendar.

“It’s a unique Grand Prix in more ways than one,” Hulkenberg said, “and it’s the only real night race we have on the calendar. Racing under artificial lighting does take a little getting used to, but Singapore has been on the calendar for so long now, it feels pretty normal. We don’t see too much daytime there as we’re working on European time. We sleep until lunchtime and then the work begins. The facilities at Singapore are really good, and it’s a very enjoyable venue for a Grand Prix.”

With its relentless twenty-three corner layout and temperatures in excess of thirty degrees even at night, since its inaugural race in 2008 Singapore has developed a reputation for being one of the most physically demanding Grand Prix around.

Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Renault Sport F1 Team.
Singapore Grand Prix, Thursday 13th September 2018. Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore.

“The circuit itself is very physical and puts a lot of strain on the body,” Hulkenberg added. “It’s up there as one of the toughest circuits of the season. It’s a long lap with corners coming thick and fast, with not many straights to have a break. The humidity makes it hard combined with all the action we’re doing at the wheel with non-stop corner combinations and frequent gear changes.”

This weekend’s race is the tenth anniversary of the first Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay and, as mentioned, is also Hulkenberg’s 150th in F1. As such, he is hoping he will be able to move on from the last couple of races, where he has started from the back of the grid thanks to penalties.

“It’s a significant milestone to have been racing in Formula 1 for so long with that many races under my belt. But it’s just a number at this stage and we have a challenge on our hands in the midfield battle, so I’ll be drawing on my experience and targeting a positive weekend in Singapore.

“We did all we could from the back of the grid [in Italy], and I’m pleased with how the weekend progressed. It’s good that the team are back in the points especially at a power-sensitive circuit like Monza. The penalties are hopefully out of the way and we head to Singapore in [a] confident mood aiming to have both cars in the points.”