Analysis of the Singapore GP, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit
MOTORSPORT – Formula 1 took the short journey from Sepang to Singapore, reflecting on an incredible weekend at the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. So short was the journey that Valtteri Bottas cycled there, over three days, documenting his journey through jungles and snakes.
Whilst Bottas was taking on nature, the rest of the paddock continued its praise for the Bahrain Grand Prix and the efforts of Team Bahrain to put together a fabulous race weekend in Sepang in such a short space of time.
Singapore was the final sprint race weekend of the year and offered many challenges similar to the previous week.
The race was again declared a heat hazard by the FIA, meaning extra cooling measures were in place to help drivers.
Similarly, tropical weather remained a threat, with unpredictable rain showers always close by.
The main difference with Singapore, however, was the street circuit nature of the track making overtaking that much harder. That meant qualifying was critical.
Ahead of the Sunday feature race, Max Verstappen had been building some considerable momentum.
After his incredible win at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, he won both the sprint race on Saturday as well as putting his car on pole for the race. He had achieved both in very different weather conditions.
The sprint race on Saturday was somewhat reminiscent of last weekend, with heavy rain just before the start, leading to a 30-minute delay. When it did get underway, the conditions were variable with some dry and some wet sections of the track.
George Russell had been leading, but a loss of control as he was about to start his second lap led to his car hitting the wall and he was out. Verstappen took advantage and coaxed his Red Bull diligently for the remainder of the race to take the eight-point victory.
Lewis Hamilton, who had started the sprint race back in sixth, benefited from an incredible start off the line and held out for second place, with the other Ferrari of Leclerc in third.
Meanwhile it was a disaster for the McLaren pair.
Piastri had been running fourth just ahead of Norris, but a late lunge on the final lap by the Englishman led to a coming together between the two.
Norris fell back to eighth and Piastri was out. This promoted Antonelli to fourth, with Lawson, Bearman and Hulkenberg taking the other points positions.
For the feature race qualifying, it was Verstappen again who dominated, with the Ferrari pair not far behind.
The Dutchman just edged Charles Leclerc in much drier conditions, with Hamilton behind in third. Antonelli started fourth, with Norris fifth.
Whilst the other Mercedes of Russell qualified sixth, a penalty would see him start from the back of the grid, promoting Piastri into sixth, followed by Gasly and Lawson.
The start of the race went off without incident, as Verstappen led, then Leclerc and Hamilton, followed by Antonelli and Norris then Piastri.
Hamilton was the only front runner on the medium tyre which was considerably slower compared to the soft compound.
He therefore was the first to pit on lap 19. Antonelli was next in on lap 24, followed by Leclerc the following lap.
Upfront, by lap 26 and without a stop, Verstappen was leading, followed by Norris and Piastri. The McLarens were hoping to run as long as possible with the hope of a safety car and cheap pit stop.
That didn’t materialize in the right window and so on lap 32 Verstappen pitted, as did Lando Norris, with Piastri coming in the following lap.
The frontrunners had all now stopped and there had been no change to the original order with Verstappen at the front, followed by Leclerc and Hamilton, then Antonelli and the two McLaren cars of Norris and Piastri. Russell had made good progress through the field and made his way up to seventh, but hadn’t stopped yet.
On lap 39, a mechanical issue for Stroll led to his car stopping on track and a virtual safety car ensued. Leclerc stopped, as did Russell and Antonelli.
That pushed Norris up to fourth ahead of Antonelli, but on older tyres. Upfront, however, was unchanged with Verstappen ahead of the two Ferraris.
Further back, there was a fight for fourth, with different age and tyre types for Hamilton, Norris and Antonelli.
Antonelli opportunistically overtook both cars on lap 55 with Norris taking Hamilton a few corners later.
As Hamilton’s tyres kept degrading, Piastri caught him up and overtook for fifth on the penultimate lap.
Upfront, Verstappen remained untroubled and took the checkered flag by seven seconds, followed by Leclerc and Antonelli.
Behind the two McLaren’s, Hamilton held out for sixth, followed by Lawson, Hulkenberg, Russell and Hadjar.
The day, indeed the weekend, belonged to Verstappen, who continues his recent incredible run.
Meanwhile, Antonelli yet again found a way to get onto the podium. Extending his championship lead further, he can now mathematically secure his debut world championship at the next race in Austin in two weeks’ time.
* Laurence Jones is senior manager,
Marketing and Communications,
Bahrain International Circuit
l.jones@bic.com.bh
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