As usual, when we go to the OG night race, everything looks amazing in Singapore; the car livery's dazzle, the lights shine out, drivers choose sparkling helmet designs. All was not going so glisteningly well for the FIA. Having had to prostrate themselves for the wet running conditions software glitch last week in Bahrain, sorry Malaysia, no, sorry, Bahrain, a similar incident was triggered when Perez crashed his Cadillac in Sprint Qualifying 1 and a Red Flag stopped the session. Something about this meant that when the drivers went back out again, some of them had limits put on their Power Units. Is this what all that fuss was about a fortnight ago when we were told that AI would kill us all?
I didn't see the whole incident but I do feel that Cadillac possibly need to sack both drivers and start afresh next year. And I am not asking them to hire Ocon. Piastri, Verstappen and Hadjar were all effected by the timing of the Yellow and Red Flags and had one shot to put in a quick lap to get them through to the second session. They all managed it, indeed Verstappen went fastest of everyone. Out went Linblad, Stroll, Alonso, Perez, Bottas and Sainz. Sainz was one of the drivers who the software failed for and it seems unfair that he should be starting behind Perez. The results show that Williams just don't seem able to pull themselves back into any kind of contention again. If they finish the year battling with Cadillac, this is a new low and think they should rebrand as a new kind of Formula 1 team and bring back Sargeant and Latifi, with Stroll as reserve driver.
Former championship challenger, Russell, had a huge lock up in the first series of runs in the second session and nearly put himself out of contention. The Ferraris look very fast at this circuit and Leclerc was quickest in the session. Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Bortoleto, Alonso and Ocon were dismissed.
The final session was straight-forward. Several drivers could have taken pole but the Mercedes did not seem to be in contention, certainly not that of Antonelli, perhaps it was past his bedtime? Verstappen took pole, followed by Russell (who should be cheered), Leclerc (deserved second?), Piastri (from out of nowhere), Norris, Hamilton (should have had a better result), Antonelli, Hadjar (will be looking to get closer in the proper Qualifying), Lawson and Gasly. Lawson's year continues to look much better than the last one.
One can only assume that Verstappen on Sprint Pole for the Sprint means Sprint victory and Sprint points for the Red Bull driver. Lots of Red Flags and Safety Cars are the only way out of a procession. As I said, where are Latifi and Sargeant when you need them?
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