Singapore Grand Prix Preview: Norris vs Verstappen vs Mercedes
F1 NewsSunday, 22 September 2024 at 01:54
In this Formula 1 season of finest margins, I expect the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix to be another epic. Similar to what we saw last Sunday in Baku, the Marina Bay Street Circuit is poised to host a battle not only between title rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen but also a fired-up Mercedes team.
Norris did pretty much as expected in Qualifying on Saturday, claiming pole position with a scintillating lap that no one had an answer to. Surprisingly, it was Max Verstappen who was second quickest. Surprisingly? Yes, because Red Bull RB20 has gone off the rails in recent months.
Our triple F1 World Champion has not won a race since he triumphed in Spain back in June. His championship point lead is slowly being whittled away. The gap to Norris ahead of today's race is 59 points.
Red Bull have transformed from serial winners to chasers in this latter half of the season, but if anyone can turn a sliver of an opportunity into victory, it is Verstappen, and Norris knows that.
Thus, getting off the line, the McLaren driver's Achilles heel will be paramount. However, it is presumed that McLaren has such good race pace that Norris could control proceedings as long as he does not seriously blow it early on. The facts are, if Norris is a serious contender for the title, he has to beat Verstappen today.
From the Red Bull driver's perspective, he simply needs to either beat Norris or at least finish a position or two behind him for damage limitation, as his points lead is still a mountain for his rival to climb, but today is not just going to be about those two guys.
Resurgent Mercedes found the sweetspot on Saturday
Mercedes showed that despite a confusing start to their weekend, Lewis Hamilton revealed that his car came alive. The four-time winner at Marina Bay found himself in P3, from where we know that he can make things happen if he and Verstappen don't crash magnets, as they tend to do when battling in close quarters.
Lining up next to Hamilton for an all-Silver Arrows second row, George Russell will also be hunting a strong result; his priority will be to stay out of trouble and tap into the magic he showed in Austria and Belgium earlier this year.
Starting from P5 on the grid is Azerbaijan Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri. Last Sunday in Baku, the young Australian was a revelation, as he mustered top-end racecraft to ambush Ferrari's Charles Leclerc for the lead and thereafter defended masterfully until the chequered flag.
But P5 for today's race was not on his script. Lacking nearly half a second when it mattered to his teammate Norris in qualifying, he will still fancy a shot at the podium with the GP-winning McLaren at his disposal.
The surprise of Singapore Grand Prix qualifying was no doubt Haas driver Nick Hulkenberg, who will line up in P6, out qualifying both Ferraris will be particularly satisfying for their customers. In contrast, Kevin Magnuson, in what is probably his last Singapore Grand Prix, was outclassed and will line up P14.
Fernando Alonso starts from P7, the Aston Martin driver again, extracting far more than what his teammate Lance Stroll could do. The owner's son was only good for P17. The Spaniard will fancy his chances, although it remains to be seen if the Aston Martin has the pace that it had early last year, if it does, its driver could even end up on the podium.
Ferrari! Where art thou?
Also delivering a stonking lap was Yuki Tsunoda, who will line up beside his hero. the VCARB driver again, outshining his beleaguered teammate Daniel Ricciardo, down in P16. He too could be racing his last Singapore Grand Prix, maybe even his final F1 race.
After a strong showing in Baku, Ferrari dropped the ball mightily during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix. Pole winner in Baku, Charles Leclerc starts from P9 with Carlos Sainz, who crashed out in Q3, meaning he will line up in P10. From there, it will be tough to have a sniff at the podium.
However, the Ferrari SF24 is handy in race mode, and they should be able to get ahead of those immediately in front of them on the grid, but reeling in the McLarens, the Mercs, and Verstappen will be a tough ask.
Williams is arguably one of the most improved teams in this latter half of the season. Alex Albon qualified P11 with increasingly impressive rookie Franco Colapinto, just shy of his time for P12. An all Williams sixth row.
In Baku, both Verstappen and Sergio Perez were lost with the setup on the Red Bull RB20. Even in Singapore Grand Prix practice, there was no evidence of a front-row shot for Verstappen. Clearly the Dutch ace drove around the issues, as his P2 testifies, but not so teammate Sergio Perez, who again fluffed his qualifying,
From P13, the Mexican veteran will have a hard afternoon of graft to even score points. Should he end up in the top ten, it will be another blow for Red Bull's F1 constructors' title aspirations if McLaren outscores them again. The Woking outfit leads the points standings by 20 points, with seven rounds (including six Sprint Race weekends) remaining.
Singapore Grand Prix Pirelli Info
Singapore Grand Prix Facts & Stats by Reuters:
- Round 18 of the 22-race FIA Formula 1 World Championship
- Marina Bay Street Circuit
- Lap distance: 4.940km. Total distance: 306.143km (62 laps)
- 2023 pole position: Carlos Sainz (Spain) Ferrari one minute 30.984 seconds.
- 2023 winner: Sainz
- Race lap record: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:35.867 (2023)*
- Start time: 1200GMT (2000 local)
- *New circuit layout in 2023, reduced from 23 corners to 19.
- The hot and humid night race is one of the season's biggest physical challenges. Drivers can lose as much as 5kg of weight during the race through sweating.
- The race debuted in 2008 and Sunday's will be the 15th in Singapore.
- Four active drivers have won there -- Fernando Alonso (2008, 2010), Hamilton (2009, 2014, 2017, 2018), Sergio Perez (2022) and Sainz (2023).
- Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari have won four times each.
- Hamilton has been on pole four times. The race has been won from pole position nine times.
- The lowest winning grid position is 15th for Alonso in a now-notorious 2008 race in which Brazilian teammate Nelson Piquet crashed his Renault deliberately on team orders.
- The safety car has been deployed in all 14 editions.
2024 Formula 1 World Championship Standings
- Red Bull's Max Verstappen leads McLaren's Lando Norris by 59 points after 17 races.
- McLaren are 20 points clear of Red Bull.
Grand Prix Victories
- Seven-times world champion Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 349 starts, Verstappen has 61 from 202.
- Four teams -- Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes -- have won this season, the most since 2021 when Red Bull, Mercedes, Alpine and McLaren won.
- Seven drivers have triumphed, the most in a single season since 2012 when there were eight.
- Red Bull, who won all but one race last year, have now gone seven without a win.
- Verstappen has won seven times this season. McLaren four, Mercedes and Ferrari three each.
- Sainz won in Melbourne, Norris in Miami and the Netherlands, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Monaco and Italy, Mercedes's George Russell in Spain, Hamilton in Britain and Belgium and McLaren's Oscar Piastri in Hungary and Azerbaijan.
- Ferrari top the all time list with 246 wins, McLaren have 187, Mercedes 128 and Red Bull 120.
Formula 1 Pole Positions & Podiums
- Verstappen has had eight poles this year. That includes the first seven, equalling Alain Prost's 1993 record, and eight in a row including the last race of 2023 -- equalling Ayrton Senna's 1988-89 record.
- The Dutch driver was last on pole in Austria in June.
- Charles Leclerc took pole in Monaco, Belgium and Azerbaijan. Russell was fastest in Canada and Britain. Norris took the top spot in Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands and Italy.
- Hamilton has a record 104 poles, his most recent in Hungary in July 2023.
- Verstappen has 108 career podiums, Hamilton a record 201.
- Verstappen and Norris have been on the podium 10 times each this season, Leclerc nine, Piastri six and Sainz five.
Singapore Grand Prix Milestones
- McLaren are leading the constructors' championship for the first time since 2014. Red Bull had led since 2022 -- 55 races, or 847 days.
- Williams rookie Franco Colapinto, eighth in Baku, is the first Argentine to score in Formula One since Carlos Reutemann in 1982.
- Hamilton has raced more than 100,000km in his grand prix career -- only Fernando Alonso has done more. He will be starting his 350th race this weekend.
- Sainz will be starting his 200th race.
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