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It’s a battle underneath the lights at Marina Bay Road Circuit as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen put together to line up side-by-side on the entrance row for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver secured pole place after a fast last lap in Saturday’s qualifying, which noticed a purple flag throughout Q3 when Carlos Sainz hit the limitations. Crimson Bull has struggled with its automotive recently, however Verstappen nonetheless managed to place collectively a lap that was 0.203 seconds off of Norris. The 2 are separated by 59 factors within the drivers’ standings, with Verstappen nonetheless holding onto the lead regardless of not successful a race since Spain in June.
Verstappen’s second-place begin, although, starkly contrasts teammate Sergio Pérez’s Q2 knockout. It’s the primary time since Hungary that the Crimson Bull driver hasn’t superior to Q3, and he’ll line up P13 on Sunday. After which there’s Crimson Bull’s sister workforce, RB. Yuki Tsunoda superior to Q3 for the primary time since Hungary, whereas teammate Daniel Ricciardo was knocked out in Q1. Hypothesis continues to swirl across the Australian driver’s F1 future.
In the meantime, Lewis Hamilton shook his qualifying woes and can begin third on Sunday’s grid alongside teammate George Russell. Mercedes’ current efficiency has been an eyebrow-raiser. It appeared to make strides earlier this yr, successful three of the ultimate 4 grands prix earlier than summer time break, but it surely has since hit a bump.
It has been a reasonably newsy few days in Singapore, because the race weekend began with discussions about swearing and McLaren’s wing. On Saturday, the off-track conversations continued after Verstappen dealt with the FIA post-qualifying information convention with brief solutions. He was ordered to finish public curiosity work for swearing on Thursday.
On Sunday, everybody’s focus seemingly will shift again to the brewing title fights and who would be the subsequent grand prix winner in a season that’s seen seven completely different drivers stand on the rostrum’s prime step. Listed here are the on-track storylines we’re following through the Singapore GP.
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Norris and Verstappen’s title struggle faces a vital second
When Verstappen may solely muster fifteenth in second follow on Friday evening in Singapore, it seemed like Norris would have a chance to make critical inroads on the prime of the championship.
Norris was speedy all through follow and translated that into pole place on Saturday with a commanding but comfy efficiency, conscious he didn’t have to overdo it to prime qualifying.
However a sequence of in a single day adjustments on Verstappen’s Crimson Bull, mixed with some high quality laps from the three-time world champion, put the Dutchman again into competition. After shedding his first lap in Q3 to double yellow flags, he went marginally faster along with his last run on the finish to seize second place on the grid.
Verstappen was delighted with P2 on the grid. Whereas his information convention protest after qualifying was the primary story surrounding him on Saturday, his on-track kind put him into competition with Norris in opposition to all expectations. On a observe the place overtaking is a problem, it signifies that even when Norris has the tempo tomorrow to run away on the entrance, a second place to restrict the injury within the title race is actually in Verstappen’s grasp.
It’s a vital second within the drivers’ championship race. Verstappen’s factors buffer stays wholesome, however the competitor inside received’t let him again out of a struggle in opposition to Norris. The pair have battled just a few instances this yr, most notably in Austria, the place it led to a late crash. However the stakes have now modified.
The race to Flip 1 between Norris and Verstappen could possibly be emblematic of their championship struggle — and, regardless of the end result, have penalties on the end result.
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Ferrari falls again to earth with a bump
From the excessive of Charles Leclerc’s emotional victory at Monza and his slender defeat to Oscar Piastri in Azerbaijan, Ferrari got here again right down to earth with an enormous bump on Saturday in Singapore.
Given how sturdy Ferrari was in Monaco, this was a observe that almost all anticipated would swimsuit the SF-24 automotive. Leclerc and teammate Sainz, who received in Singapore final yr, confirmed flashes of tempo via follow, solely to finish up ninth and tenth on the grid for lights out on Sunday.
Sainz’s Q3 ended early after a wierd crash on the last nook. He slowed to maneuver out of the best way of Piastri, who was on a sizzling lap after which tried to begin his personal flyer earlier than getting in Verstappen’s method. The mix of chilly tires and soiled air from the rear of Piastri’s automotive induced Sainz to lose management as he bought again up to the mark, sending him rearwards into the barrier.
🚩 RED FLAG 🚩
Sainz goes into the limitations on the last nook 💥
He seems to be okay 👍#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/s0zVabG6gS
— Formulation 1 (@F1) September 21, 2024
It left Leclerc, a qualifying specialist, with a single lap to nail on the finish of the session, just for the Monégasque to search out his entrance tires weren’t as much as temperature, costing him grip. He set a time that might have been ok for seventh behind Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg, but it surely was deleted for exceeding observe limits.
Leclerc was frank in his disappointment post-session, saying Ferrari “threw every little thing within the bin with the Q3 tire temperature points.” He thought as excessive as second place on the grid was inside attain.
“We had been in a very good place,” Leclerc stated. “We’ve been aggressive additionally because of the great job we’ve performed. However I don’t know what occurred out of the field temperatures, as a result of it went all improper from that second onwards.”
It leaves Leclerc and Sainz dealing with a troublesome race from the fifth row, stunting Ferrari’s current momentum, which had made it appear like a possible menace to McLaren’s championship ambitions. Ferrari trails McLaren’s lead by 51 factors.
Hamilton was all smiles after qualifying on the second row. (SIPA USA)
An opportunity for Mercedes and Hamilton
It’s a curious scenario for qualifying to develop into a weak point for the driving force with extra pole positions than anybody in F1 historical past. However that’s been the fact of Hamilton’s yr. This era of vehicles, notably via Mercedes’ current challenges, have felt like they’re on extra of a knife’s edge. It makes constructing confidence onerous, particularly round a road circuit like Singapore.
On the website of arguably his greatest-ever pole lap in 2018, Hamilton rediscovered a few of that spark to seize third place on the grid, narrowly beating teammate Russell as Mercedes locked out the entrance row.
Hamilton admitted to some shock, saying he was “trying very poor” via follow and scuffling with understeer, just for some adjustments between FP3 and qualifying to end in an evening and day distinction.
“I’ve not been up right here (within the prime three) for some time, qualifying has been a nightmare for fairly a very long time,” Hamilton stated. “So it feels nice to be up right here. I really feel very, very grateful and really, very completely happy.” He hoped that he and Russell may preserve the strain on Verstappen and Norris on the entrance and preserve Piastri’s McLaren and the Ferraris again.
Off the pre-summer break excessive of three wins in 4 races, Mercedes’ kind has dipped barely since Zandvoort, even when it hasn’t taken a large step again. The margins on the entrance are so high quality that a bit of little bit of growth or just getting the tires in the proper window, as Russell discovered in Baku and once more in Singapore, could make or break a session.
Realistically, Verstappen and Norris is perhaps out of attain for Mercedes, however Hamilton and Russell are in a great place for an vital haul of factors.
Ricciardo wants a standout Sunday
Rumors and hypothesis proceed to swirl round Ricciardo’s F1 future and whether or not he’ll end out the season or be on the grid subsequent yr. Liam Lawson is ready for his likelihood at a full-time seat after having quite a few standout performances final season when he stepped in after Ricciardo suffered an damage. It’s anticipated a call shall be made about their futures after the Singapore GP weekend. However a Q1 exit seemingly doesn’t assist issues.
Qualifying P16 comes as a little bit of a shock after Ricciardo’s lap instances throughout Friday’s follow classes noticed him within the prime 10. However he was down within the backside 5 throughout third follow earlier on Saturday. When requested what occurred throughout qualifying, Ricciardo stated, “It was most likely extra what occurred in the present day. I don’t know. We didn’t actually change a lot. Clearly, we had been in a very good place yesterday, so we had been fairly upbeat about it, and we weren’t chasing our tail.”
The RB driver stated the medium tire “was good” earlier within the day and “felt like we began off on the identical foot as yesterday, however then I put the mushy on, and I used to be nowhere. So we did a little bit of fine-tuning for quali and we thought we’d be okay. However, I didn’t really feel, let’s say, comfy on the mushy.”
Ricciardo wanted a very good qualifying — and went out in Q1. (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Photos)
He’s not the one driver who has criticized the tires. Russell raised complaints in Baku final weekend. Ricciardo admitted that he did battle with all three mushy tires he used Saturday and stated the tires are “positively a bit extra fragile within the hotter climates.”
This isn’t the primary time this season that questions on Ricciardo’s F1 future have surfaced. He known as the Hungarian and Belgian GPs an important races of his profession, however at the moment, he superior to Q3 in Budapest. What is feasible from a P16 begin as he races to safe his F1 future?
“Hopefully, a well-timed security automotive,” Ricciardo stated earlier than making a joke about the 2008 grand prix and Crashgate. “Carry (Nelson) Piquet (Jr.) again and let’s make it occur!”
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Pérez faces one other uphill battle
For the primary time since Hungary, the second-to-last race earlier than summer time break, Pérez is beginning Sunday’s grand prix exterior of the highest 10. It’s not practically as dangerous because the July race the place he lined up P16, however the Crimson Bull driver certified P13 in Singapore, behind the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto.
This marks Pérez’s seventh early qualifying exit of the yr. He was roughly nine-tenths of a second in need of Verstappen’s quickest Q2 lap.
“I don’t know, Q1 was trying very nice and easy,” he stated. “I truly had a mistake on my lap into Flip 13 the place I misplaced round two (or) three-tenths, however I simply went slower in Q2. I felt I used to be sliding much more, couldn’t get the tire as much as temperature. It was simply very, very difficult afternoon.”
Crimson Bull made adjustments to the automotive earlier than Saturday’s classes, and Pérez feels “we most likely went within the improper course. It’s not so clear in the intervening time, however we actually had been in a nicer window yesterday, we simply misplaced a whole lot of competitiveness.”
Contemplating Crimson Bull is 20 factors behind McLaren within the constructors’ standings, the Milton Keynes-based crew wants to beat its current struggles and discover the proper set-up, one thing that may be tough to pinpoint at Singapore. Nonetheless, Pérez should even be nearer to the highest of the grid to kind the one-two punch Crimson Bull must compete in opposition to Norris and Piastri.
“I feel it’s going to be a really tough race,” he stated when requested what’s potential on Sunday. “Hopefully we will do some magic with the technique and are available via, that would be the key for us.”
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High picture: SIPA USA
