This past weekend’s Singapore GP saw the much needed change of scenery at the front of the grid. The raging Bulls were seemingly tamed for the weekend, but how did it all go down? Lets take a dive into the events of the weekend as I review the miracle at the Marina Bay.
It all started in qualifying with a Perez spin and a Liam Lawson masterclass leading to not one, but both Red Bulls being knocked out in Q2. Sainz would take pole followed by Russell and Leclerc.
Now to the main event.
The lights went out and chaos ensued, Lewis Hamilton opted to make his own additions to the racing line by flying straight through Turns 1 and 2. Tsunoda would cause the first DNF of the race suffering a puncture in Sector 3. Sainz and Leclerc would pull ahead of the dueling Mercedes duo. Further down the grid Verstappen gained a few spots moving into an early P9.
The first 10 laps were fairly uniform, the track proved difficult to overtake with Verstappen creating the only significant overtakes on the track early on moving up to P8.
Lap 19 saw the first real “situation” on track with Sargeant finding the wall and carrying his front wing back to the pits but not before littering the track in carbon fibre.
The incident would cause a safety car which meant the pits would be flooded. Sainz had a great stop but Ferrari can only do things correctly once meaning Leclerc would be held up causing him to be cycled back into traffic. Verstappen opted to stay out on his hard tires meaning he would take P2.
On the restart the Red Bulls were immediately under pressure on old hard tires as Russell would move into P2 and Norris into P3. From there on, the Red Bulls continued to drop down the order.
Lap 40 saw the Red Bulls finally make their way to the pits cycling themselves down into P15 and P18 while the battle at the front stayed stagnant as Sainz slowed the pack down to keep things uniform.
Lap 43 brought out a virtual safety car as Esteban Ocon stopped on track with what appeared to be engine issues.
With the VSC in full effect, the Mercedes duo would double stack for clear air and fresh medium tires, Alonso would also pit to serve a penalty but things went from bad to worse as his rear tire got stuck, shuffling him to the back after 25 seconds stationary in the pitlane.
Just as fast as the VSC began, it would end, allowing the Silver Arrows to begin their attack on the podium places. Closing in at a rate of 2 seconds a lap, Russell would begin to narrow in on Leclerc who missed an opportunity to pit.
With 10 to go, Leclerc was in the sights of Russell, the battle was set to begin, fresh tires vs a difficult overtaking track. It was setting up to be an excellent battle as Russell got within DRS. Russell made quick work of Leclerc on lap 54 with Hamilton looming and inevitably overtaking. The Mercedes moved into 3rd and 4th place as they were the fastest cars on track by a significant margin.
With 5 to go, Verstappen would make his best move of the day on Gasly to move into 6th on what was turning into an excellent salvage job by the champion. At the front, Russell and Norris were right on Sainz’ gearbox for the lead.
The final lap was nothing short of spectacular, Sainz and Norris worked together to force what would be a critical error from Russell as he would come into contact with a barrier pushing him into the wall in a wall of sparks. Sainz would hold off Norris for the win and Leclerc would hold off Verstappen for P4.
The top 10 finished as follows: Sainz, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen, Gasly, Piastri, Perez, Lawson, and Magnussen. Hamilton took home the fastest lap and Sainz won driver of the day.
My driver of the day: Sainz, he did what he needed to do to win and that is good enough for me.
My disappointment of the race: Alonso, he was just messy and looked lost whether it was him or his team, he looked flat out bad.
My race ranking: 4/5, it was something different and the end was the most excited I’ve been during a race this season but that doesn’t disregard the lack of overtaking and fairly boring middle stint which knocks it back a point.
What’s next: Red Bull look to take back their podium places at Suzuka next weekend, Ferrari McLaren and Mercedes look to continue their time at the front of the pack.
Written by Andy
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