F1 Season Of The Century: The Singapore Grand Prix
Coming off two of the best Formula 1 races in recent memory with Ferrari winning at Monza and Piastri's killer performance in Baku , we all had high expectations for Singapore. Especially given that fans voted it the best race of 2023 . After about 10 laps, though, it was pretty clear we'd be disappointed. But we also should have known better.
The Singapore Grand Prix is a street circuit under the lights that is characterized by close walls, high tire degradation, minimal overtakes and punishing conditions for the drivers. It's a one-stop race if everyone decides to manage their tires, which makes for dull and uneventful competition. And that's what we got. The solution is to make it a mandatory two-stop race, which is essentially what we got in Qatar last year . This makes drivers push harder in every stint. But Singapore's driving conditions are such that this just isn't advisable.
That said, Singapore 2024 does illustrate just how much better this season is from last year. Because as great as everyone thought Singapore was in 2023, compared to every other race, it was about the same as 2024. It certainly got exciting in the closing laps with three drivers fighting for the win, none of whom was named Max Verstappen, but the only reason it was voted race of the year is because Red Bull didn't win. Whereas Las Vegas was voted second best and was a much better race, despite Verstappen notching another victory. We can test this theory in Mexico next month, which is another notorious sleeper.
Nevertheless, Singapore's practice sessions added to the overall storyline for this season of the century. Conventional wisdom says you can't draw too many conclusions from practice because you never know when the teams have the engines turned up or down. But given the margins between the top-four teams, they're not leaving anything on the table during practice. They can't afford to. Every lap on every compound of tire with every setup change matters for both Saturday and Sunday. And we got to see this unfold in real time.
For FP1, it was Norris, Russell and Piastri with Verstappen trailing in P4. Then Norris, Leclerc and Sainz in FP2 with Verstappen seemingly going backward in P15. Finally, in FP3, Verstappen recovered back to P4 and looked to have surprisingly good pace while Ferrari (early race favorites) struggled in P5 and P6. Norris was setting up for a perfect weekend.
Coming into qualifying, Norris had a clear pace advantage. Piastri had not progressed enough to challenge for pole. Verstappen was going in the right direction, while Hamilton and Russell were all over the place and the Ferrari drivers were not living up to their expectations. Carlos Sainz crashed out in Q3, triggering a red flag that would give most drivers only a single lap to qualify. Norris delivered under pressure but so did Verstappen to nab P2 followed by Hamilton and Russell in P3 and P4, respectively. Neither Ferrari registered a time, as Leclerc exceeded track limits, and Piastri would start from the third row next to the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
As I suggested in my previous story , Williams did challenge Red Bull in Singapore. Both Albon and Colapinto out-qualified Sergio Perez. Indeed, Williams is a great story for 2024.
The most exciting part of the Singapore Grand Prix was the start—that lights-out moment when anything can happen. Hamilton took a gamble on the soft tire, which implied he'd attempt a move on Verstappen into turn one. Norris had never led a race at the end of lap one when starting from pole, and he was lined up alongside Verstappen. Piastri was seemingly out of place at P5, and the Ferraris both had work to do. So what happened?
Franco Colapinto sent it up the inside from P12 to take three places, including his teammate, into turn one. That was the move of the race. Albon came on team radio to criticize this "dive bombing" move, but he was the only one complaining. It was brilliant. Zero contact. Stayed on track. And gained critical places when overtaking is a real challenge. Albon would later retire due to overheating, and Colapinto finished P11 just outside the points and behind the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Norris and Verstappen controlled the race out front with big gaps that put neither of them under any pressure, though Norris did have a couple unforced brushes with the wall. The final podium place (Piastri) came down to strategy calls and the superior pace of the McLaren. Leclerc drove a great race to recover from P9 to P5, while Sainz gained three places to finish P7.
Further back on the grid, Daniel Ricciardo pitted in the final laps for fresh tires to take the fastest lap from Norris. Which means he only cut into Verstappen's championship lead by seven points, leaving a 52-point delta with six races to go. This stirred some controversy , as Red Bull's junior team, RB, should not be so obviously helping Verstappen. In this case, however, it can be written off as Ricciardo's swan-song lap. Singapore was quite likely his final race in Formula 1, and this actually set the race lap record. The honey badger will be missed.
