The Singapore Safety Car Grand Prix where every driver was frustrated, according to Crofty. Its hard to argue with safety, but it the race seemed awfully delayed for the amount of water on track. Singapore is a rather slow circuit, so the spray from the cars is not like it would be at Spa for example. It would have been exciting to see teams start on full wets, and then transition to inters, and then to slicks. If it wasn't for all the minor incidents, this race was dreadfully boring.
Red Bull wanted some performance from Perez, and he delivered. A great start which was key to victory. Didn't crack under pressure. A wonderful drive by Perez. Verstappen has every right to be upset with his team, as the mistake in qualifying (where he was easily on route to getting pole) put him in a bad position and the track is very difficult to pass on. When the drivers could go to slicks, they had to stay on the narrow dry line, as it was still very damp and slippery off line, which made passing exceedingly difficult. As for the penalties for Perez. As of writing his, none have been issued, but I don't think a penalty is deserving for Perez getting close to the SC. He surely was more than 10 car lengths behind at one point, but immediately closed that gap. Penalty or not, its unacceptable that the Stewards didn't make a decision while the race was going on. These investigations being decided after the race is way too common and it is unfair to all the viewers and teams.
Ferrari overall had a very good day. If it was a normal weekend, the Ferrari's best result is still 2-3, maybe even 2-4. Leclerc was incredible at times. His driving pace was second to none, especially in the wetter conditions. Putting 20 seconds on his teammate in so few of laps, and staying close to the faster Red Bull, very impressive. Sainz had the least impressive podium ever, but it's still a podium, so that's great for him and the team.
McLaren had a huge day. Has to be their biggest of the season. The pace wasn't bad, and they got a bit lucky, but the team absolutely maximized every opportunity and the double points was enough to jump them ahead of Alpine in the WCC. Lando is expected to outperform Ricciardo, but Daniel getting a top 5 is a feel good result since his career in F1 may be coming to an end.
Aston Martin also had a huge day. Their car often sits right near the back of the grid, so to come out with a double points finish is massive. Stoll is widely considered one of the lesser drivers in F1, but in all fairness he performs very well in wet conditions, and definitely deserved the 6th place finish. I think everyone was hoping Vettel could hold onto 7th, but his car just wasn't a match for Verstappen's Red Bull in the end.
Mercedes will leave thinking about what could have been. The rain really appeared to hurt their performance relative to others. Hamilton drove at a very high level, particularly in qualifying and appeared to be considerably faster than Sainz in the wet conditions. Of course he made a couple of mistakes, but his good fortune remains. He plowed into the wall at a very high rate, yet was able to back out and continue with very little damage. We can appreciate Russell's willingness to take risks by going onto slicks early, but he was unimpressive in wet conditions, got thoroughly beaten by Lewis, and once again caused a completely unnecessary collision while alongside another car. He did this in Imola vs Bottas, and at Silverstone vs Zhou. Mick appeared to get damage from that collision, forcing him to pit, and thus warranted a penalty to Russell that the Stewards somehow decided was a racing incident. I'm starting to believe George Russell is overrated.
AlphaTauri had a strong start to the race, and perhaps looked better in wet conditions. As the race drew on, they kept moving backwards. Gasly getting a point is great, but had the half the field not dropped out, he was looking at 13th at best. Tsunoda still can make a costly mistake, but a lot of drivers did, so can't be too harsh on him. He's still having a solid season.
Alfa Romeo was pretty much in the same boat as AlphaTauri. Coming to the end of the season the car isn't there anymore. Bottas continues to underperform, and Zhou still has lousy luck in the races. Even with all the opportunities this race provided, they still couldn't get points. Could be a tough end to the season for them.
Haas also has up all the potential from their car. Magnussen maybe not as far ahead of Schumacher as he was at the start of the season, which probably means Mick has improved. Schumacher defending his position against Russell should be applauded. Fight against the faster cars, it helps develop himself as a driver.
Alpine had the worst day by far. Alonso was dynamite against a much faster Verstappen. Reminiscent of his defense on Hamilton in 2021. The fact he can still fight with the best drivers on the grid shows he still is one of the best drivers on the grid. Ocon probably also had enough pace for points today, but the double power unit failure put an end to that. Alpine did say at the beginning of the year that they focused on performance over reliability, and that reliability might be showing it's ugly face as all their engine's are worn out.
Williams looked like a horrendous car to drive. Just a fundamental lack of grip everywhere. Lots of mistakes by Albon, and of course Latifi... but we always expect that from the latter.
Driver of the Day: Sergio Perez. His great start was key as track position is so important. Didn't throw it away from the pressure of Leclerc. When the team said push, he built the gap in the closing laps.
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Originally Posted by stasera
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