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2023 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

RED BULL TAMED: Sainz & Ferrari snap Red Bull, Verstappen streaks with tense win in Singapore; Norris holds off Hamilton for P2 as Russell crashes out of podium position on final lap

In a tense and eventful Singapore Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Ferrari were able to do what no other driver had done in ten races and no other team had done in fifteen races: beat Max Verstappen and Red Bull respectively. With former teammate Lando Norris acting as wingman in his McLaren by holding off the hard charging Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the final, fraught laps, Sainz mastered the circuit and his long run tire management to take his first victory for the Scuderia and Ferrari’s first since 2019 at this very same Marina Bay Circuit by a little under a second. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s struggles in Singapore proved to be too difficult to overcome in the short span of a race weekend and Max and the team both saw their record setting win streaks come to an abrupt end. With Verstappen starting from P11 and teammate Sergio Perez from thirteenth, the pair did the best they could with an inverse strategy of starting on Hard Pirellis while the rest of the top runners were on Mediums. But their best laid plans were stymied somewhat when the inevitable Singapore Safety Car was deployed on Lap 20. Due to where they were on the circuit when the SC came out, the team opted to keep running, which garnered them some track position but the front runners were all able to pit under yellow for cheaper first pit stops. Red Bull then pitted under green with Perez on Lap 40 & Verstappen the subsequent lap and ran their final 20-odd lap stint on the very effective Medium tires. Salvaging what they could on this rare bogey track for them and after that ill-timed early Safety Car, Verstappen was able to forcefully pass his way up to P5 and Perez, who had a bit of sloppy race that included a 5-second penalty for causing a collision with Oliver Piastri, was still good enough for P8. Japan and Suzuka next week should see the return of Red Bull dominance as the RB15, especially in Max’s hands, gets to stretch its legs properly again on a much faster course. But on Sunday, it was Sainz and Ferrari raising the trophies and bathing in champagne after what must have seemed an eternity for the team in the garage, pit wall, the braintrust back in Maranello and the legions of Prancing Horse devotees.

https://x.com/F1/status/1703459550270050443?s=20

It was a tale of two races, as the first part unfolded methodically with all drivers locked into their chosen tire strategies and therefore not pushing too hard on the first stint. The Safety Car on Lap 20 began spicing things up by forcing Red Bull to make the decision to stay out on their Hards while all the other contenders came in for cheap stops and switches to fresh Hards for their ostensible final stint. The utility of fresh rubber was quickly bourn out as the Red Bulls were  gobbled up by their pursuers within a handful of laps. First, Russell nabbed Verstappen for a true P2 on Lap 23. Then, Hamilton regained P5 against Perez two laps later. Hamilton passed Verstappen for P4 on Lap 27 and Leclerc followed that up with his own successful move on the Dutchman a lap after to get his Ferarri back to P5. But Leclerc never really recovered from a slow first stop when the Scuderia double-stacked their men but Leclerc was both further away from Sainz on entry and the mechanics were slow with his tire change. So, the leaders were really the quartet of Sainz, followed by Russell, then Norris and then Hamilton. The two Red Bulls finally made the decision to get off their Hards in favor of the Mediums for the rest of the race, first with Perez on lap 40, then Verstappen on lap 41. Once again, their timing was not optimal because the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who had been having a superb race, came to an abrupt stop at Turn 2 near pit out, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car. Continue reading →

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

SINGAPORE SHOCKER: Ferrari’s Sainz bests Mercedes’ Russell to take second consecutive pole, Leclerc P3; Red Bull find their bogey track as Verstappen & Perez knocked out in Q2

Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix delivered a true shocker, with Red Bull, Formula 1’s dominant team by far in 2023, finally finding their bogey track by suffering unexpectedly poor performance at the tight & treacherous Marina Bay Street Circuit. Struggling with their car’s aero handling at this relatively slow speed but high downforce track since the start of practice on Friday, the team was unable to make the necessary corrections in time and watched in disbelief as first Sergio Perez spun before being able to claw his way out of the bottom five in Q2 and then Max Verstappen, the runaway championship points leader to this point, crossed the line on his final Q2 lap with a time only good enough for P10 and with several runners behind him still on hot laps. The ignominy was complete when AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson, a raw rookie competing in only his third race weekend while subbing for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, bumped the Dutch Master down to P11 and out of qualifying. It was the first time since 2018 that neither Red Bull had advanced to Q3 and it puts the team’s 15-race winning streak, as well as Verstappen potentially extending his own record streak to 11 victories on the trot, in serious doubt at a confined circuit where passing is none too easy.

Red Bull’s first real speed bump of the season redounded to Ferrari’s success. Carlos Sainz was on his game all day, setting the pace throughout Q3 and then laying down a final last lap that withstood a very game challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell to secure pole by a whisper thin 0.072 seconds. It was the Spaniard’s second pole in a row after thrilling the fans in Monza two weeks ago. He will surely be hoping that Verstappen’s famed powers of recovery and miracle wins will be stymied come race day when the Dutchman has to fight his way up from P11 in what does not appear to be the fastest car on then track for once. Russell’s amazing final lap was obviously still good enough to secure an impressive P2 and a grid spot across from Sainz for tomorrow and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who had a few slight bobbles on his final effort that cost him, settled for P3. Ferrari have a real shot at the win tomorrow, which would be their first since 2019 when Sebastian Vettel led home Leclerc for a 1-2. The fact that long ago last win also came at Marina Bay Street Circuit will certainly buoy the team’s confidence, though they have got to avoid the sorts of unforced strategic, driver and pit execution errors that have plagued them for several years now.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, running upgrades on his car alone this weekend, was quite quick and able to secure P4 on the grid. Teammate Oscar Piastri’s quali effort were cut short by unluckily finding himself behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll when the Canadian driver crashed into the barriers quiet violently and brought out the Red Flag at the end of Q1. Stroll seemed OK, though his head appeared to take a wicked amount of lateral Gs on impact, but Piastri will now have to fight his way back to the points from down in P17 come tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton trailed his Silver Arrow teammate by quite a bit back in P5, while Kevin Magnussen had a spectacular effort for Hass, not only bettering teammate Nico Hulkenberg for the first time this year, P6 to P9, but also out-qualifying Aston ace Fernando Alonso. The veteran two-time champ could only muster the seventh best time in Q3, putting the team in a tough spot since Stroll will certainly struggle to score starting either last on the grid or from the pits (if in fact his car can even be rebuilt in time for the Grand Prix and he himself is healthy enough to go).

Rounding out the Top 10, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon took a decent P8, encouraging enough after the team were nowhere in Monza two weeks ago. And Liam Lawson was content to have the tenth fastest time in Q3, having already been the driver to knock out mighty Max Verstappen earlier, which certainly put the young Kiwi’s name front and center in the driver sweepstakes for next year.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:32.339 1:31.439 1:30.984 20
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:32.331 1:31.743 1:31.056 17
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:32.406 1:32.012 1:31.063 21
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:32.483 1:31.951 1:31.270 20
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:32.651 1:32.019 1:31.485 16
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:32.242 1:31.892 1:31.575 21
7 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:32.584 1:31.835 1:31.615 17
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:32.369 1:32.089 1:31.673 18
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:32.100 1:31.994 1:31.808 21
10 40 Liam Lawson ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:32.215 1:32.166 1:32.268 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN & ESPN+ beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. The Singapore night race is one of the most visually spectacular on the calendar and this jumbled up grid could also make it one of the most dramatic. Hope to see you then to find out if Ferrari can end their victory drought of if Verstappen and team Red Bull have a miracle up their sleeves to keep their streaks going!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Perez delivers masterclass on slippery streets of Singapore, survives Safety Car infraction to take victory; Leclerc a game P2, Sainz a distant P3, as Verstappen rallies to P7 in incident-filled race

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez bookended his magnificent Monaco win in late May with an even more impressive drive to victory on the slick and slippery streets of Singapore on Sunday. With the entire field starting on Intermediate wet weather Pirelli tires after a late afternoon downpour dampened the streets of the ultra-tight Marina Bay Street Circuit, Perez started from P2 but made quick work of the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to take the lead on the opening lap. Meanwhile, Leclerc’s Scuderia teammate Carlos Sainz pushed his way past Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to take P3, while the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen, starting from P8 after the team botched his fuel calculations during qualifying, bogged down at the start and dropped even further to P12. By Lap 3, the Dutch points leader had recovered somewhat to P10 but he had his work cut out for him on a track that is more than a little difficult to overtake on.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The first of many incidents that would complicate this intriguing contest throughout the day occurred on Lap 7 when the Williams of Nicholas Latifi banged into the Alfa Romeo of Zhou  Guanyu, damaging both cars and necessitating the deployment of a Safety Car in order to safely retrieve the stricken Alfa. With the track not drying quickly in the sultry tropical conditions, nobody chose to risk changing to the slick tires at that juncture. The field had another opportunity to gamble when Fernando Alonso’s Alpine came to an abrupt stop with engine failure on Lap 21 of this ostensible 61-lap GP. This time, Mercedes’ George Russell, mired in the rear of the pack after a poor quali and subsequently taking engine change penalties, rolled the dice and dove into the pits under Virtual Safety Car conditions for a swap off of Inters and onto Medium slick tires. When Russell emerged and began tiptoeing around the circuit as if driving on ice it became apparent that for those with a real shot at winning on the day it was still far too soon to risk taking off the wet weather rubber.

After two more brief VSC periods due to a crash by Williams Alex Albon on Lap 26 and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon also suffering an engine failure on Lap 28 during which no one else opted to make the switch to slicks, Hamilton had a crash of his own Lap 33 that, though it did not end his race, damaged his front wing and severely compromised the remainder of it when he was forced to pit for the requisite lengthy nose change. Simultaneous to that, Russell finally began setting the fastest sector times, signaling that the crossover point had been achieved and the time was now for dry weather tires. One by one, drivers dove to the pits for slicks, with the P2 Leclerc coming in on Lap 35 and suffering a slow-ish 5.3 seconds stationary stop, while the race -leading Perez came in a lap later and benefitted from a typically spiffy 2.8-second effort by the Red Bull crew. Between the difference between their respective time in the pits and the difficult nature of getting the tires up to temp on the out lap, Perez came out comfortably ahead of Leclerc, the undercut not paying off for Ferrari on this day. No sooner had that all cycled out than Yuki Tsunoda promptly crashed his AlphaTauri, leading to yet another Safety Car and also meaning that the race would now be timed to two hours total upon the restart due to all the delays,

When the race finally got underway again with 34:40 remaining, Leclerc took advantage of the compressed gap to Perez under the Safety Car to mount a fierce challenge. The Ferrari man harried the veteran Mexican for several laps, their cars both squirming around at the edge of adhesion when they put the power downcoding out of the still-wet corners. When DRS was finally enabled by race control with just 27-minutes remaining it seemed the Prancing Horse might have a shot. But with passing so difficult in the slow speed corners and Leclerc forced to run so closely behind to even have a chance of an overtake, the Monegasque seemed to take the life out of his tires and his car lost its fine edge in handling. As Leclerc sawed away at his wheel and Perez began disappearing up the road, Ferrari were now left hoping that a race control investigation into Perez for getting too far behind that final Safety Car would lead to a results-altering penalty at the end. The Red Bull pit wall urged Checo to push and build a penalty-proof gap and he obliged, with Leclerc fading to an over seven-second deficit to the P1 Perez when the checkers finally flew in this enthralling tilt. Such was Perez’s excellence on the day and particularly in that final push that he was able to cling to the victory even after being assessed a 5-second penalty for that Safety Car infringement. That drive in the return of the Singapore Grand Prix after a two-year Covid-induced hiatus will go down as one the best in F1 history and proves that Red Bull not only have the best car this year but also, in Verstappen and Perez, the two best drivers in 2022.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 59 2:02:20.238 25
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 59 +2.595s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 59 +10.305s 15
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 59 +21.133s 12
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 59 +53.282s 10
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 59 +56.330s 8
7 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 59 +58.825s 6
8 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 59 +60.032s 4
9 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 59 +61.515s 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 59 +69.576s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

After the first race in three weeks, the F1 hustle is back on and the next race is in but a week’s time — the Japanese Grand Prix from venerable Suzuka. Hope to see you then to find out if the second Far East GP in-a-row can rival the thrills from Singapore!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Leclerc seizes pole on damp Marina Bay streets as Verstappen undone by Red Bull’s faulty fuel calculations; Perez salvages P2, Hamilton excels in P3

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was able to master the tricky conditions of a damp and barely drying Marina Bay Street Circuit during an exciting Saturday qualifying to grab pole for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix. With a downpour prior to quali and highly humid conditions for this night session under the lights of this beautiful Southeast Asian city-state, the street course stubbornly refused to dry and the main contenders were forced onto Intermediate wet weather Pirellis for the first two rounds before finally making the move to slick tires for Q3. But the streets remained treacherously wet in certain areas and the drivers had to make the most of their skill and bravery to extract the maximum pace from their cars. After a lot of swapping of fast times between Leclerc and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton it was the Monegasque who took the fastest time when the checkers flew. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ended up pipping Hamilton for P2 and the English seven-time world champion had to settle for a still-impressive P3 spot on the grid, especially in light of his teammate George Russell getting bounced in Q2 with only the eleventh fastest time. The other Red Bull of points leader Max Verstappen appeared to be on a very competitive final flying lap but had to abort when he was abruptly called in to the pits before being able to complet it. It turned out that the team feared he would not have the FIA-required amount of fuel remaining in his tanks for a sample if he had gone full gas to the end. The infuriated Dutchman will have to start from back in P8 on the grid, and while Verstappen isa master of the comeback, this tight and twisty circuit is essentially as difficult to overtake on as Monaco and he will surely have his work cut out for him on race day. Perhaps the Red Bull braintrust will make amends for their fuel miscalculation and come up with a strategic plan to move Max closer to the front and closer yet to his second consecutive Championship.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

OS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:54.129 1:52.343 1:49.412 20
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:54.404 1:52.818 1:49.434 20
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:53.161 1:52.691 1:49.466 24
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:54.559 1:53.219 1:49.583 22
5 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:55.360 1:53.127 1:49.966 23
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:55.914 1:53.942 1:50.584 24
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 1:55.606 1:53.546 1:51.211 24
8 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:53.057 1:52.723 1:51.395 20
9 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:55.103 1:54.006 1:51.573 23
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI RBPT 1:55.314 1:53.848 1:51.983 23

Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.

Tomorrow’s night race airs live at 8AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. Can Verstappen make up for his team’s strategy error and work his way to the front somehow? Or will Leclerc covert his pole position into his first victory in five races? And just whom will the walls of Marina Bay bite? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Ferrari outfox Mercedes in strategic Singapore GP as Vettel bests teammate Leclerc for win; Vertsappen P3

In a tense and highly strategic Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, where track position was king on the extremely tight Marina Bay Street Circuit, resurgent Ferrari made the right calls while Mercedes gambled and lost. Sebastian Vettel, who has had a run of poor races recently and been eclipsed by the rising star of his younger teammate Charles Leclerc, was called to the pits on Lap 20 to respond to the similarly timed pit stop of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. While Leclerc was at that time leading the race and controlling the pace of the field from the front while nursing his tires, the Monegasque phenom had just passed the pit entrance when Ferrari’s brain trust saw that Verstappen’s crew were laying out tires for the Dutchman. Vettel, running just in front of Verstappen, happened to be right at the pit entrance, however, and fortuitously for him it was he who got the call to go for the undercut and ditch his Soft Pirelli’s for fresh Hard compound tires to hopefully get to the end of the race with only that one stop. It proved to be just the luck that Vettel, a four-time World Champion who frankly looked as if he had lost his touch in 2019, needed to get back to the top step of the podium and take a much-needed win to sooth his battered ego.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

While Vettel rejoined the race in P10 he emerged in front of Verstappen, plus all of the cars in front him had yet to pit, including his teammate Leclerc and the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. When Leclerc came in for his own set of Hard tires a lap later Vettel’s pace on fresh rubber on his out lap was good enough get him in front of his formerly front running teammate. The now irate Leclerc was now doomed to look at Vettel’s gearbox for the rest of the race and he complained bitterly about the team’s decision making, which had essentially switched him from P1 to second place. Meanwhile Mercedes rolled the dice with Hamilton, who now led the race. While they ran Bottas only until Lap 23 until pitting him they kept Hamilton running at the front despite ever declining pace in regards to the two Ferraris and Verstappen’s Red Bull. It slowly became apparent that the Mercedes pit wall was either hoping for a Safety Car to provide them with a cheap and quicker pit stop than the usual 27-second delta under green flag conditions or they were trying to calculate the precise moment when the twin Ferraris would run into the slower traffic in front of them, thereby making a standard pit stop not as costly to Hamilton’s track position when he blended back in. But in the end it didn’t pay off.

There was no Safety Car at this time — in fairness there would be a raft of them later in the race — so Hamilton pitted on Lap 26 and was only stationary for 2.4 seconds as his Hards went on. But the Ferrari’s were barely impeded by the traffic in front of them and when Hamilton emerged he was behind not only Vettel and Leclerc but also Verstappen’s Red Bull. He did beat his teammate out for P4 but this was somewhat engineered by team orders to Bottas to hang back and cede Hamilton that position. The Englishman’s only hope of getting back to a podium finish after starting from P2 on the grid was that he had newer tires than his rivals that would enable him to make some passes at the end of the grueling 61-lap contest. But three Safety Car periods in the last 25 laps put paid to that hope and while the elite cars in the top five could pass inferior machines in twisty old Marina Bay none of the elite top five could pass each other. Vettel controlled his post-Safety Car restarts masterfully and kept his hungry and angry young teammate behind him to come away with his first F1 win since Belgium last year, a much needed salve to his frayed confidence. Leclerc had to settle for a somewhat hard-luck P2 and saw his win streak end at two. But it was an outstanding day for the famed Scuderia from Maranello, as they showed that the Prancing Horses could be fast not only on the wide open country tracks of Europe but also a high downforce street circuit like Singapore.

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2019 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Red hot Leclerc seizes third pole in a row besting Hamilton and Vettel at tricky Marina Bay Street Circuit

Ferrari’s ascendent young phenom Charles Leclerc, winner of the previous two Grand Prix from pole position, made it three poles in a row in Saturday qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix tomorrow night, laying down a blistering lap late in Q3 to steal the top starting spot away from not only his teammate Sebastian Vettel but also the rival Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. After performing so well at the last two high speed circuits, Spa Francorchamps and Monza, which also saw Leclerc win in dominant fashion, the Prancing Horses were expected to falter at the narrow and technically demanding confines of the tightly contained though beautifully illuminated Marina Bay Street Circuit. But instead Ferrari’s latest downforce upgrades merged perfectly with their horsepower advantage and Mercedes quickly found themselves surprised by the speed of the Scuderia’s blood red steeds on this corner-filled street circuit. Vettel appeared to lay down the time to beat early in the last qualifying session and the Silver Arrows of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas found themselves tangled up in traffic and behind not only he and his speedy teammate but also the Red Bull of Max Vertsappen.

But with time running out Vettel could not improve and had to abort his last flying lap after a series of small errors. Meanwhile his upstart stablemate Leclerc pushed the very limits of adhesion, throwing his SF90 around around the many corners of this street circuit with controlled abandon. The rapidly improving Monegasque came across the line at 1:36.217, more than 2-tenths better than Vettel’s early fast lap. Mercedes wisely had released their men at the very last moment this time and well behind the rest of the gaggle of cars on this cramped track, leaving their men free to fly unencumbered by traffic. Hamilton made the most of that and also tested the track limits by kissing the wall once or twice during his strong final run. But despite his excellent effort the Englishman still found himself trailing Leclerc by just under 2-tenths as the checkered flag flew. Hamilton will line up along the pole-sitting Leclerc in P2 with Vettel a somewhat disappointed P3. It is now clear that Ferrari are finally able to take the fight to Mercedes and compete for wins on equal terms regardless of the circuit. And in Leclerc they may just have found the rare driver who can better Hamilton on a regular basis, as well.

When all was said and done Verstappen could only set the fourth fastest time but still had enough pace to relegate Bottas to P5 on the grid. His rookie Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon acquitted himself very well in his first-ever visit to this ultra-demanding circuit and qualified P6. Rounding out the top 10 on the grid the McLarens sandwiched the two Renaults, with P7 Carlos Sainz starting ahead of P8 Daniel Ricciardo and P9 Nico Hulkenberg and Sainz’s teammate Lando Norris behind them with the tenth fastest time.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POSNODRIVERCARQ1Q2Q3LAPS
116Charles LeclercFERRARI1:38.0141:36.6501:36.21718
244Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:37.5651:36.9331:36.40819
35Sebastian VettelFERRARI1:38.3741:36.7201:36.43716
433Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING HONDA1:38.5401:37.0891:36.81315
577Valtteri BottasMERCEDES1:37.3171:37.1421:37.14618
623Alexander AlbonRED BULL RACING HONDA1:39.1061:37.8651:37.41116
755Carlos SainzMCLAREN RENAULT1:38.8821:37.9821:37.81819
83Daniel RicciardoRENAULT1:39.3621:38.3991:38.09518
927Nico HulkenbergRENAULT1:39.0011:38.5801:38.26418
104Lando NorrisMCLAREN RENAULT1:38.6061:37.5721:38.32919

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting at 8AM on ESPN2 here in the States. Can Leclerc make it 3 wins in a row or will Hamilton reassert his authority as the top driver in the F1 paddock? Can Vettel surprise from P3 for a much-needed victory of his own in a season that is slipping away from him? Or will young Max have some tricks up his sleeve to pass his rivals and make a run towards victory? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Hamilton cruises to victory, extends championship lead; Verstappen finishes P2 ahead of disheartened Vettel in P3

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton capped his perfect weekend with an unassailable drive to victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sunday, making the most of his dominant pole position as a springboard to get away and stay away from any and all challengers. Better yet for Hamilton, his main title rival, Sebastian Vettel, could not overcome his P3 qualifying effort and was unable to pass Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on this very tight track either via pit strategy or pure pace. With the Dutch wunderkind battling engine gremlins and preserving his tires in a very poised and mature effort throughout the race, Vertsappen successfully held off Vettel to finish P2. Most pivotally Verstappen got the better of a very close encounter when he was just coming out of the pits on cold tires on Lap 18 and Vettel, who had already pitted 3 laps earlier, desperately tried to steam past him in the chicane. Unable to get that move done or really challenge Verstappen again after that his eventual P3 finish dealt the German’s title hopes a blow, as Hamilton pulled out his points lead to 40 with the victory.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Both men are hunting their fifth F1 World Championship but Hamilton has now won four out of the last six contests and while Vettel has won this other two he has seen his deficit grow to an alarming level with only six more Grand Prix remaining in 2018. Worse yet for the Scuderia, the Ferrari SF71H no longer seems to be keeping up with the Mercedes W09’s continuing improvement. Vettel also appears to have lost a bit of faith in the team, frequently questioning strategy and sometimes attempting to dictate it from the driver’s seat. After their disappointment in Singapore the reality is stark: Ferrari are running out of time to simultaneously ramp up their performance and make the savvy strategy calls that will enable their superb ace to return to being a true threat to Hamilton and Mercedes.

Mercedes’ second driver Valtteri Bottas also outscored outgoing Ferrari #2 Kimi Raikkonen, P4 to P5, further boosting Mercedes lead over Ferrari to to 37 points in the all important Constructors’ Standings. Daniel Ricciardo couldn’t overcome his lackluster qualifying effort and held station to finish a desultory P6 despite hounding both Raikkonen and Bottas in the closing laps. While Singapore is often incident filled it really is exceedingly hard to overtake here. Fernando Alsonso had a great day for himself and team McLaren at his last Singapore GP, coming home “best of the rest” by finishing an impressive P7. That was ahead of the Renaults of Carlos Sainz in P8 and Nico Hulkenberg in P10. And rookie Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari no reason to doubt their decision to promote him into the factory team next year at Raikkonen’s expense. The talented young Monegasque drove a solid race and kept his nose clean to take P9 at the finish.

While there was not much action among the elite racers at the front the midfield and back markers provided many thrills and spills. Sergio Perez had a crazily self-destructive race, shoving his Force India teammate Esteban Ocon into the wall on the opening lap to bring out a Safety Car. He then engaged in a multi-lap dice with the super slow Williams of Sergei Sirotkin becoming so frustrated that when he finally got the opportunity to pass the Russian he cut him off impetuously and caused a collision. That moment of red mist caused Perez’s Force India to suffer a puncture and also earned the Mexican a stop and hold penalty that doomed him to last place. Largely due to Perez’s out of control behavior Force India scored zero points after qualifying P7 and P9. That had team boss Otmar Szafnauer muttering about reinstalling team orders on his unruly charges.

Top 10 finishers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 61 1:51:11.611 25
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 61 +8.961s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 61 +39.945s 15
4 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 61 +51.930s 12
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 61 +53.001s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 61 +53.982s 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 61 +103.011s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 60 +1 lap 4
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 60 +1 lap 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 60 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time from Sochi Autodrom in Russia. Can Vettel and Ferrari get back to their winning ways or will Hamilton use his superlative Mercedes power to put the hammer down on Vettel’s championship dreams? Hope to see you then  to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Mercedes’ Hamilton lays down wonder lap for pole in Singapore; Verstappen starts P2 for Red Bull besting Ferrari’s Vettel in P3

After years of sruggle in Singapore at what has often been described as their  bogey track Mercedes and their ace driver Lews Hamilton altered the plot of that tired old script by seizing pole under the lights at the beautiful and tricky Marina Bay street circuit in Saturday qualifying. Hamilton hooked up a wonder lap midway throygh Q3, smashing the previous track record with a stunning 1:36.015 and flummoxing his closest rival, Ferrari’s Sebastain Vettel. While Hamilton could not improve his time with nearly half the session remaining and so remained vulnerable to someone bettering it no other competitor could. Only Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who has a decidedly mixed record on tight street circuits, came closest for P2 but was still over 3-tenths adrift of the Englishman’s blazing time.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel appeared to fall victim to poor track managment by the team and more than once found his best efforts stymied by coming up on ill-timed traffic, which obvioulsy cost him valuable time. That said, it didn’t really look like Vettel’s Prancing Horse had anything for Hamilton’s Silver Arrow on thos day and the German could only salvage P3. The Ferrari’s then saw themselves split by Mercedes #2 man Valtteri Bottas who outqulaified his fellow Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, P4 to P5. It was also announced in the two weeks after the  Italian GP that Raikkonen will be out at Ferrari in 2019 and the young Sauber driver Charles Leclerc will take his place. Raikkonen will go to Sauber on a 2-year deal. That’s a hefty demotion for the Iceman down to a certain-to-be non-competitive car when he has still been driving decently this year in support of Vettel. But Ferrari have clearly decided that Leclerc is a special talent and youth must be served.

Lining up further back on the grid, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricicardo could only muster the sixth fatstest time, while the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon qualified P7 and P9 respectively. Haas’s Romain Grosjean split those Force Indias and will start P8 and Renault ‘s Nico Hulkenberg qualified P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:39.403 1:37.344 1:36.015 17
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:38.751 1:37.214 1:36.334 14
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:38.218 1:37.876 1:36.628 17
4 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:39.291 1:37.254 1:36.702 20
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:38.534 1:37.194 1:36.794 17
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:38.153 1:37.406 1:36.996 12
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:38.814 1:38.342 1:37.985 19
8 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:38.685 1:38.367 1:38.320 15
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:38.912 1:38.534 1:38.365 20
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:38.932 1:38.450 1:38.588 18

Complete qualifying results availabe via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 starting at 8AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out whether Hamilton  can keep his momentum going and put a stranglhold on the title chase or Vettel can force his way to the front and back into the winner’s circle.

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Hamilton romps to victory after chaotic opening lap in rainy Singapore; Ricciardo survives to come home P2, Bottas P3; Vettel, Raikkonen & Verstappen crash out in Turn 1 melee

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton spoke of needing a miracle after qualifying a lowly P5 on Saturday in Singapore well behind the Ferraris and Red Bulls. On Sunday the weather and recklessness of his rivals gifted him a pivotal victory in the hunt for his fourth Drivers’ Championship. With a cloudburst hitting the already tricky Marina Bay Stret Circuit right before the start of the race, teams were forced to start on wet weather tires on a very slippery and now quite green track. But instead of feeling out conditions when the lights went out the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen decided to fight it out on the greasy asphalt going into Turn 1. It wound up taking all three contenders out and seriously damaged pole-sitter Vettel’s championship aspirations.

Starting from P4 on the grid, Raikkonen launched well and made a power move to the outside of the P2-placed Verstappen. At the same time Vettel moved his line to the left, squeezing the young Dutchman directly into the path of Raikkonen’s Ferrari. That spun Raikkonen into his teammate Vettel’s side pod and sent the veteran Finn careening across the track. Verstappen likely had a broken front suspension anyway after being the meat in the Ferrari sandwich but ironically Raikkonen’s unsteerably out of control car found him again, smashing into his side and doing unquestionably terminal damage to his Red Bull chassis. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who had made a dynamite start of his own, was collected by the two combatants as an innocent bystander, sending his car vaulting through the air and forcing the Spaniard to retire later in the race. Despite being able to continue past the initial point of contact, Vettel’s car had radiator leakage that caused a hard spin into the wall up the road form the main accident. Just like that the 4-time World Champion was also bounced out of the race before one full lap had been completed.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

That meant that Hamilton, who avoided the carnage skillfully, was now the front runner at a circuit that generally ill-suits the longer wheel base Mercedes. Given such a gift, the English championship contender never relinquished that lucky lead and cruised home to a significant victory that saw him extend his advantage over Vettel to 28 points in the race for the title. Despite a representative drive from Ricciardo in the last remaining Red Bull, which finished P2, Hamilton was untouchable on wet tires and then dry rubber when the surface finally was ready for slicks. As the old saying goes, luck is the residue of design and while everything that could go right for Hamilton certainly did in Singapore he still kept his nose clean and let others make the unforced errors. Hamilton has now won the last three Grand Prix on the trot and must be extra confident claiming victory in a place where a podium would have been considered a very good result before the state of the race.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was also a big beneficiary of the melee up front, vaulting himself from a poor P6 start all the way to the last step of the podium with a P3 finish. That drove home just how disastrous a day it was for Ferrari on a track where they had aspirations of a 1-2 finish and instead got zero points. Because of the Scuderia’s untimely double DNF Mercedes extended their lead in the Constructors battle to a whopping 98 points.

Further back in the field, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz also had good fortune when his future teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault suffered race-ending hydraulic issues. The Spaniard drove a very smart and consistent race to take a terrific P4, showing his future French employers that they made the right choice in hiring him for 2018. Force India’s Sergio Perez also kept it clean and finished a solid P5. The man Sainz is replacing at Renault, Jolyon Palmer, had his best finish of the year with what must have been a bittersweet P6. The lone surviving McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne also ran well with a valuable P7 for the beleaguered team form Woking. And Williams rookie Lance Stroll had a quietly remarkable race battling back from a lowly P18 starting position all the way up to P8. Romain Grosjean was P9 for Haas and Esteban Ocon took the last points-paying position at P10 in his Force India.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 58 2:03:23.544 25
2 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 58 +4.507s 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 58 +8.800s 15
4 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 58 +22.822s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 58 +25.359s 10
6 30 Jolyon Palmer RENAULT 58 +27.259s 8
7 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 58 +30.388s 6
8 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 58 +41.696s 4
9 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 58 +43.282s 2
10 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 58 +44.795s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time from Malaysia. Will Vettel and Ferrari overcome their dreadful disappointment at Singapore to get back into the championship hunt? Or will Hamilton’s winning ways continue for a stranglehold on the title? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Vettel seizes pole for Ferrari in Singapore; Verstappen P2 & Ricciardo P3 for Red Bull; Mercedes struggle

After showing subpar speed during all three practice sessions, Sebastian Vettel and his Ferrari shone brightest under the beautiful lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore when it mattered most. The German 4-time champion earned a dominant pole for tomorrow’s race with a blistering track record quali lap of 1:39.491. Vettel’s heroics came at Red Bull’s expense, as it seemed for a while that their wunderkind Max Verstappen might become the youngest F1 driver to earn a pole position. But Vettel, the man who set that record when he earned his first pole at the age of 21 years, 72 days in 2008 at Monza, spoiled the 19-year-old Vertstappen’s potential party on that count. Nevertheless Red Bull must be well pleased with their slippery chassis’ starting positions with Verstappen on the front row alongside Vettel in P2 and teammate Daniel Ricciardo right behind in P3. Vettel’s Ferrari stablemate Kimi Raikkonen came home fourth fastest so it should make for a very interesting opening lap in anger with the first two rows a combative Ferrari-Red Bull mix.

Further behind were the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who qualified P5 and P6 respectively. Though potentially damaging to Hamilton’s championship pursuit on a track where it is notoriously hard to overtake the subpar result was not altogether a surprise for the Silver Arrows. Mercedes even struggled at Singapore last year when they had no true competition in the Constructors’ fight. It is simply a track where their usual straight line speed advantage is nullified by the Marina Bay’s twisty nature and lack of long flat out sections and the fact that they are just not quite nimble enough without that power edge to make up the difference to their main rivals. Their best hope for tomorrow is to run clean and hope there is a damaging tangle between the Ferraris and Red Bulls up front. As unpredictable as Verstappen and Raikkonen can be that is not that bad a bet.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified a very solid P7 for Renault, while besieged McLaren had a rare bright moment with both of their cars getting into the top 10. Fernando Alonso was P8 while Stoffel Vandoorne was P9. Ironically it came on the same weekend that McLaren announced that they were divorcing their engine supplier Honda and switching to Renault power for 2018. But again horsepower is not the main thing in Singapore so it’s the McLaren chassis that really deserves the credit in this instance. Carlos Sainz had the tenth fastest time for Toro Roso and he also made news when it was announced that he will be loaned out to the Renault factory team for next season to partner Hulkenberg and replace Jolyon Palmer. Bringing the game of musical chairs full circle Toro Roso will switch to Honda power in place of their current Renault engines for 2018.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:43.336 1:40.529 1:39.491 19
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.010 1:40.332 1:39.814 18
3 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.063 1:40.385 1:39.840 18
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:43.328 1:40.525 1:40.069 18
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:42.455 1:40.577 1:40.126 17
6 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:43.137 1:41.409 1:40.810 16
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:42.586 1:41.277 1:41.013 18
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:42.086 1:41.442 1:41.179 20
9 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 1:42.222 1:41.227 1:41.398 19
10 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 1:42.176 1:41.826 1:42.056 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting 8AM Eastern on NBC Sports here in the States. Can Mercedes battle back to relevance at their own personal bogey track? Will Ferrari and Vettel rule the day? Or will Red Bull come up aces under the lights? Hope to see you then to find out!