Singapore serves up its usual drama. As was the case with the dominant Mercedes cars of years prior, the championship leaders tend to struggle on this track. Red Bull were off the pace from the first practice sessions on Friday.
At the sharp end of the field, you’d find three teams with incredibly similar race pace. There was some degree of unpredictability as to which drivers would end up on the podium. And there were plenty of mid-field battles too.
And a track layout change (due to the construction of the NS Square) adds an additional overtaking spot on the track, contributing to the chaos. But we’ll touch on these pointers later – here are five key stories from the Singapore Grand Prix!
5. Red Bull not Infallible
Despite dominating much of the 2023 season so far, the Austrian team found themselves struggling for pace during the entire Singapore Grand Prix weekend. Could some of the woes be related to the reliability issues Verstappen struggled with towards the end of the Italian Grand Prix?
Or could the recently-introduced technical directives have hurt the competitiveness of the RB19? On race day itself, whilst Max drove a fairly faultless race to finish P5 after being knocked out of Q2. Perez made contact with multiple drivers, further hampering his performance with damage to his front wing end plate on lap one. He finished P8.
4. Impressive Performances for Singapore Grand Prix Debutants
Both Piastri and Lawson, racing in Singapore for the very first time, scored points on their Singapore Grand Prix debut. The Australian suffered an early Q1 elimination, finishing in 17th after being caught out by the red flag at the end of the session. Lawson made it through to Q3, finishing in 10th.
On race day, both rookies drove uncharacteristically mature races. Piastri made up 10 places on a track notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities. Lawson, on the other hand, fended off faster cars, gaining a place and finishing P9 in the process.
3. Tsunoda’s Bad Luck Continues
The Japanese driver did not start the Italian Grand Prix due to a car failure. Whilst he made it a little further in Singapore, his weekend was compromised at best. He did not set a time in Q2, whilst his rookie teammate Liam Lawson ended up in Q3.
At the start of the race, he made contact with Sergio Perez, and was told to retire the car, possibly to preserve the components of the vehicle. Considering that you’d be slapped with penalties for some new components, this isn’t necessarily the worst decision.
2. Aston Martin Out-Developed by its Closest Rivals
They were extremely competitive at the start of the season. Aston Martin were only behind the Red Bulls, but consistently ahead of the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. But there was a fear that they’d be out-developed by the larger manufacturer teams, and that seems to be the case here.
And this is made worse by them only having data from one car – Stroll crashed heavily in the dying minutes of Q1, and was then unable to start the race. Alonso drove a forgettable race all things considered. The veteran racer was in the points in the early stages, but pitstop woes and bad safety car timing scuppered any hope for points. He finished last of all the classified runners.
1. Again, Sainz is Underrated
Aside from a single session in Friday practice, Sainz finished on the top of all the timing sheets from practice, to qualifying and then to the race itself. And whilst the Ferrari had a marginal single lap advantage over closest pursuers Mercedes and McLaren, the Italian squad had a race car that was slightly slower.
He may have qualified on pole, but he still had to drive smartly to keep his position. When a VSC was triggered for Ocon’s strikened Alpine, the Mercedes duo opted to pit for new Mediums. They looked set to be gunning for overall victory with the pace advantage. Sainz drove a smart race, keeping Norris just in DRS range so that the Briton can use it to defend against Russell and Hamilton. This kept them behind, denying them a chance to fight for the win.
The F1 Teams Head to Suzuka Next
Ferrari and Sainz broke Red Bull’s record winning streak. The Italian team leaves Singapore with a 24 point deficit to P2 in the constructor’s championship. Verstappen added 10 points to his tally, and now leads his teammate by 151 points as they head to Japan!
Photo Credit: Singapore GP, AlphaTauri
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