Singapore GP: a couple of thrills, but then Norris brings it home...

(Cover picture: XPB)

In contrast to many other races this year, the Singapore Grand Prix was very simple in its unfolding, with 62 laps in which the absence of a Safety Car (a first in the history of this GP) and a strategic alignment by the teams reduced the number of potential tactical variables to a minimum. On a sporting level, then, the Marina Bay setting saw the domination of Lando Norris over Max Verstappen, while on the other McLaren Oscar Piastri managed to get on the third step of the podium, after losing a lot of time behind the two Mercedes cars in the first half of the race...

Grand Prix victory never in doubt for Norris, but those two mistakes...

After a start which was finally up to scratch and in which he managed to retain the pole position he had gained yesterday, for Lando Norris the triumph was never in doubt: the pace advantage he enjoyed over all his rivals allowed him to open up a huge gap in the first stint on Medium tyres, while in the final stint on Hard tyres it was a matter of managing his resources. In addition to the car, tyres and fuel, in fact, today at Marina Bay the high temperatures reached inside the cockpit put many drivers in crisis from the point of view of physical fitness, a bit like what happened last year in Qatar.

Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images

Perhaps it was also for this reason that Lando's Sunday was made flawed by two mistakes that risked leading him to a DNF:

  • On lap 29, when he misjudged his braking point in Turn 14, slightly hitting the barriers: considering the narrow run-off areas of this circuit, braking just a few centimetres ahead would have meant throwing away 25 points...
  • On lap 45, the mistake came in Turn 10: similar to what George Russell did on the last lap of last year's edition, Lando touched the outside barriers (on the right) at the end of that short straight... Again, being able to continue the race without any damage to the right rear suspension was just a stroke of luck that, in a few months' time, could make the difference between taking home the World Title or not!

Singapore GP - Analysis of the stints completed by the top teams

Singapore GP - Analysis of the stints completed by the top teams

Beyond that, as well as highlighting what were Norris' mistakes today, it's also fair to celebrate a performance that - as anticipated - was unparalleled: the most significant comparison is with Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, with the Ferrari driver finishing fifth in a GP in which he and his team will have a lot to regret for yesterday's qualifying.

Singapore GP - Analysis of the laptimes set by Norris, Verstappen and Leclerc

Singapore GP - Analysis of the laptimes set by Norris, Verstappen and Leclerc

As can be seen from the laptimes of the three, the real advantage was gained by Norris in the first stint: an average of 0.7 s/lap quicker than Verstappen and even 1.5 s/lap quicker than Leclerc. To be fair, the Monegasque's first stint was characterised by losing time behind Hulkenberg and Alonso, with the German having every interest in keeping a slow pace to maximise his chances of retaining an unhoped-for sixth place. But whereas that's true for the Ferrari driver, the same cannot be said for Max, who in his RB20 paid a "genuine" gap to Norris, not spoilt by strategic offsets or particular problems!

Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

The only extenuating circumstance we can give the World Champion to justify the reason for such a wide gap is his desire to take as few risks as possible and bring home 18 crucial points in view of the World Championship fight, especially after two setbacks like those at Monza and Baku.

In the second stint, as opposed to the first, the two mistakes made by Lando brought him back a little more to his senses, imposing on the Hards a less-sustained pace that - in hindsight - was virtually identical to that of the two aforementioned rivals, as well as teammate Piastri.

‘Clean air is king’: that's how the podium ripens for Oscar Piastri

Talking about Piastri, in judging his race a sentence he uttered over the radio during the Belgian Grand Prix comes to mind, when - astonished at the advantage that running in clean air was giving him - he exclaimed: "Clean air is king!". These same benefits of not having the turbulence of the driver in front actually allowed him to beat the two Mercedes today and get the podium alongside Norris and Verstappen, as can be seen in the graph below...

Singapore GP - Analysis of the laptimes set by Verstappen, Piastri and Russell

Singapore GP - Analysis of the laptimes set by Verstappen, Piastri and Russell

As can be seen from Piastri's trace compared to Russell's (bearing in mind that Verstappen is only included as a reference, as he was at no point during the race a real target for Oscar), the McLaren's Australian's laptimes only got faster when his strategy freed him from the presence of the two Mercedes. From that moment on, a significant performance offset was created, with which his MCL38 got the better of George's W15 in the space of a couple of laps!

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

As if that wasn't enough, Russell's last 10-15 laps saw him more concerned with defending his fourth position from Leclerc's comeback than attacking to regain the position just lost from the McLaren, so we're sure the King's Lynn native will have nothing to complain about...

Uphill race for the two Mercedes, with both drivers exhausted after the chequered flag!

Two of the drivers who suffered the most physical difficulties at the end of the race were the two Mercedes drivers, which is probably one of the cars that dissipates the least heat in the cockpit area: following the race, the two even asked and obtained to skip the canonical interviews to recover from their exertion!

Coming to the story of their Sunday, whereas for George Russell the greatest concerns came from those who were following him, the same applies to his team mate Lewis Hamilton: for the 7-time World Champion, there was also the aggravating factor of a suboptimal strategy chosen by the Mercedes pitwall, which saw him starting - as the only one among the top teams' drivers - on Soft tyres.

Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

This greatly compromised his Sunday, as the first stint could only be shorter (and more defensive) than those who started on Medium; in addition to this, the need to cover a second part of the race on Hard tyres lasting 45 laps exposed him to a performance drop in the final stages, as certified by a loss of around 20 seconds to Russell from the moment neither of them had any further pitstops scheduled.

Singapore GP - Analysis of the laptimes set by Hamilton, Sainz and Perez

Singapore GP - Analysis of the laptimes set by Hamilton, Sainz and Perez

Comparing Lewis' laptimes with two of the drivers who were most affected by traffic for much of the 62 laps (Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez), what emerges is that Hamilton made virtually no difference to them, except in the early stages, when he was even in third place! Going into more detail, an analysis of the graph above shows:

  • In the first stint Hamilton gains 0.828 s on Sainz and 0.877 s on Perez;
  • In the second stint Hamilton loses 0.081 s from Sainz and 0.272 s from Perez;

In short, as is easy to understand, if Sainz had not lost time behind Yuki Tsunoda in the early laps, he would most likely have snatched sixth place from Hamilton before crossing the line, which - considering the P10 start - makes it clear once again how much Ferrari's potential today would have allowed its two drivers to fight for the podium. 

Precious points for Hulkenberg, great defensive race for the Haas driver

In the rearguard positions, with a ninth place Nico Hulkenberg gained two precious points for his team, which consequently finds itself just three points behind VCARB in the Constructors' Championship. Continuing with the trend of the last few races, it seems at least likely that there could be an overtake between the two aforementioned teams, which - as we know - is crucial from both a sporting and an economic point of view, as FIA prizes are actually awarded on the basis of this classification.

Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

The two drivers who came closest to getting a point (but failed to do so) were Franco Colapinto in P11 and Yuki Tsunoda in P12, but the VCARB driver most on the spotlight today was Daniel Ricciardo, who with an anonymous P18 had the small consolation of the fastest lap of the race - achieved with a late pitstop to take the additional point away from Lando Norris, who had held it until then - and the nomination as "driver of the day".

Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images

Considering that the latter is more of a tribute to the Australian's career than a recognition of today's efforts, we can be sure that Daniel - soon to be replaced at VCARB by Liam Lawson - would have done without this consolation to continue a career that, according to him, has given him everything he wanted but a World Title...

Four weeks off for an unusual ‘autumn break’...

With the chequered flag certifying the end of the Singapore Grand Prix, an unusual break period (being at this stage of the season) begins, a kind of "autumn break" that will last four weeks and end on the weekend of the United States Grand Prix in Austin - scheduled for 18-20 October.

Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

In view of then, I look forward to seeing you on these pages. See you soon!

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