Singapore Grand Prix: What did we learn?
F1’s first ever wet night race served up a pivotal first corner crash and some tense strategic moments, but ultimately proved anti-climactic as Lewis Hamilton took a third consecutive victory to open up a 28 point lead in the Drivers Championship. Here’s what we learned from the Singapore Grand Prix;
A critical championship crash
After coming into the weekend with a three point lead, Hamilton leaves Singapore with a 28 point advantage over Sebastian Vettel. The German squeezed Max Verstappen into Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen at the start, taking all three out of the race as Hamilton made a great start to end up with the lead. Vettel scored no points as Hamilton cruised to a third consecutive win. Vettel is now firmly on the back foot with six races still to go. With Mercedes set to be strong at many of the remaining circuits, it may be too much of a mountain for Vettel to climb.
Mercedes are comfortable in the wet
Throughout practice and qualifying in the dry Mercedes looked like the third fastest team behind Red Bull and Ferrari. The Silver Arrows could only manage fifth and sixth on the grid as their long wheelbase car struggled on the tight and twisty Singapore circuit. But in the wet Mercedes, especially Hamilton, seemed to have the confidence and stability to push hard despite the difficult conditions. Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull had no answer for Mercedes’ sudden pace, and the Australian finished a distant second despite looking set to compete for the win after qualifying. Mercedes’ strength in wet conditions could bode well for both Malaysia and Brazil, the two biggest threats of rain left on the calendar.
Mega deal members shine
On Friday a huge three team deal was announced that confirmed several rumours about the 2018 grid. The deal is great for Formula One, but also seemed to take pressure off everyone involved in Singapore. Although Fernando Alonso was taken out thanks to the chaotic first corner incident, team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne showed the strength of McLaren’s chassis with a strong seventh place. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer, currently without a drive for 2018, bucked his bad luck and finished sixth for his first points of the year.
But the best performance came from the man who will replace Palmer at Renault next year; Carlos Sainz. When it came time to switch to slicks, Sainz gambled on the more durable super soft while the majority of the field chose the faster ultra softs. After fending off immediate pressure from Sergio Perez, the young Spaniard gradually built a gap to finish fourth; the best result of his career.
