Singapore GP Race Report

Tuning into the Singapore GP coverage, it was dry, then it was very, very wet.  And the race was delayed.  Then, just as abruptly, the rain stopped.  Water was cleared from the track and off the cars went to the grid.  

As predicted, Ferrari had put on woolen wheels and Perez took LeClerc at the start.  Hamilton lost out to Sainz and Verstappen was down to 12th from 8th.  Predictably it was a Williams that spun first, less predictably it was Albon not Latifi.  Hamilton radioed in to his team to say that they should have listened to his tyre call.

Zhou was the first driver to retire, colliding with Latifi (of course).  The first Safety Car was out.  It was too soon for anyone to take advantage and pit.  Latifi, having sustained a puncture and got back to the pits, was also out of the race.

By Lap 11, Verstappen was back up to 8th.  Brundle thought this put Verstappen back into contention for the podium.  A third of the way through the race and Verstappen was stuck behind Alonso.  The old man, out for his Sunday drive, must have been thinking that he'd done this 350 times before and will be doing it another 350 times in the future.  Unfortunately the Alpine engine, thought otherwise and conked out.  A Virtual Safety Car was called.  The only driver to pit was George Russell, who gave slick tyres a go.  As the Safety Car ended, we watched the Mercedes slip and slide over the track.

There was a third (Virtual) Safety Car for Albon, who collided with a barrier.  He managed to extricate the car but left his front wing behind in the wall.  That was two Williams out.

Next Ocon's Alpine engine died.  That was two Alpines out.   Fourth Virtual Safety Car and now Ted Kravitz was hallucinating slick tyres.

Rather brilliantly, Hamilton slid into a corner but managed to pull back out in between Norris and Verstappen who were battling.  He massively held up the championship leader, who then radioed in frequently that Hamilton's wing was about to fall off.  The floodgates opened for cars to come in for slick tyres: Gasly, LeClerc, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Vettel, Hamilton.  LeClerc overshot his pit spot and caused himself a 5+ second pit stop and cost himself the win.

Tsunoda couldn't keep his slick-tyred car on the track and, lo and behold, a fifth Safety Car.  At the restart, a frustrated Verstappen attacked Norris and went straight on down a slip round and did a handbrake turn.  He came back on track in...8th!  And needing to pit again.

Next up, Schumacher and Russell rub tyres and Russell picks up a puncture.

With 14 finishers, for Verstappen to start 8th and finish 7th was abysmal.  It wasn't like he was up and down but kept plummeting down and regaining the position.  It was certainly a fantastic race for Perez.  Nobody had Ricciardo finishing the race 5th, right behind his team mate.  Nobody had Latifi finishing the race and he didn't.