Everything You Need To Know About The Singapore Grand Prix
As the only race in SEA, the Singapore Grand Prix has been one of the most awaited by Southeast Asian F1 fans. The drivers were all looking in their finest forms, ready to rewrite history as they went. But the biggest question that lingers is, will Max Verstappen ever win a Singapore Grand Prix?
FREE PRACTICE
A few teams have revealed new liveries for the weekend in Singapore. VCARB has made the first-of-its-kind denim livery in collaboration with HUGO, driving off in style.
Still not over how 🔥 this livery is…#Orlen @TeamORLEN @GrupaORLEN pic.twitter.com/0zqKFsXOzQ
— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visacashapprb) September 21, 2024
McLaren also had a new livery as a tribute to their MP4 era, Legend Reborn. It also honored drivers such as Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and Niki Lauda, who drove the MP4. The names of the 13 drivers who contributed to the iconic history of the car were also integrated into the livery.
Introducing our @okx livery for the Singapore GP, inspired by our very own MP4 era. 🧡#OKX #LegendReborn pic.twitter.com/ElSgvT386G
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 19, 2024
Mercedes also had a new paint job for the weekend as a celebration of their 50th anniversary with PETRONAS.
Get up close and personal with our new @Petronas green look for Singapore 🔍 pic.twitter.com/dtLRYNjfV7
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 18, 2024
For FP1, it was a great start for some of the drivers, including the Ferrari duo Leclerc and Sainz. Carlos Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix in 2023, and they were hoping for another Ferrari win for the weekend.
A funny radio interaction with Alonso and his radio engineer surfaced, when he wobbled into the track a few times.
Chris Cronin: Just to check, Fernando, you pushed the pit button. Is that on purpose?
Alonso: No, to avoid a crash with this car, I pushed the buttons. All the ones I have.
The prancing horses continued on a great performance in the second session of free practice. However, the papaya team was sure to answer as well as Lando Norris took the fastest lap, pushing down Leclerc and Sainz to 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively.
It was in FP3 when the lizard showed up on the track, opting for a red flag. Some marshalls had to chase down the quite fast lizard, cornering it out of the track. Safe to say, the lizard could have gotten the purple with his pace.
At the F1 Singapore Grand Prix, there was an unusual incident where a large lizard wandered onto the course, causing practice sessions to be temporarily suspended.
— Figen (@TheFigen_) September 22, 2024
It showed the official time measurement screen with the driver's name "LIZARD" on it.😂pic.twitter.com/cEUo7dmfiI
Mercedes driver George Russell surprisingly missed a turn but slid back into the track slick. He eventually took P2, and Piastri followed him to P3. Norris remained the quickest in the last session of free practice.
QUALIFYING
While the weekend started strong for Ferrari, there were obvious struggles in FP3 that they also took to Qualifying. Sainz became a driver at risk in the last lap for Q1, but eventually saved himself to earn P6. Despite looking like a sigh of relief, the start of qualifying did not look good for the Spaniard.
With that, he pushed down Ricciardo to the elimination zone together with Stroll, Gasly, and the two Saubers, Bottas and Guanyu.
2022 Singapore Grand Prix winner Sergio Perez continued to struggle with his car, becoming a driver at risk in Q2.
2-time Singapore Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso managed to put himself into the safe zone, pushing Perez down to the elimination zone. This, in turn, put Tsunoda as a driver at risk.
Looking like a great few races from the two Williams drivers Colapinto and Albon, they fought hard to get out of elimination zone. But Tsunoda, in their new denim livery, managed to set a lap time at P8, pushing both Williams out of Q2. Perez, Magnussen, and Ocon joined the eliminated drivers as well.
In Q3, Sainz zoomed into a wall. The crash brought out a yellow flag that turned red not long after. Ferrari’s dreams of taking pole position eventually got thrown out the window when Leclerc only managed to set a time for P9.
McLaren’s Lando Norris took the pole position, joined by Verstappen and Hamilton in P2 and P3, respectively.
RACE
The Marina Bay Circuit became historical as Lando Norris kept the lead after Lap 1 of the race. He had a good start, and it was merely a wonder of whether he would be able to widen the gap and lead the race until the end.
By Lap 15, Williams driver Alexander Albon faced issues with his car. It seemed to have overheated which ultimately caused the car’s retirement.
Many drivers brushed the walls of the circuit, but luckily didn’t sustain any tremendous damages on their fronts.
It was at Lap 19 when Russell and Piastri started to battle for third. The Australian couldn’t quite get there, and Russell managed to widen the gap between them.
Norris was pushing as the race leader, with his time interval from Verstappen at P2 widening to 13s by Lap 19, which was definitely what the McLaren team had been hoping to achieve.
By Lap 24, Norris had a +18s gap with Verstappen at P2.
However, Norris made slight contact with the wall which might have damaged his front wing. After pitting at Lap 31, they didn’t opt to change it and he managed to come out of the pits still as a race leader.
It was at Lap 39 when Australian driver Oscar Piastri was asked to box. He came out right behind Hamilton, placing himself at P5. He impressively overtook the Mercedes car at Lap 40.
Ferrari struggled to overtake, but Charles Leclerc finally got the moment right at Lap 41 when he pushed Alonso to P8.
It was yet another battle between Russell and Piastri at Lap 45, and this time, the Australian won. He took P3 from George Russell, but it wasn’t an easy one.
At Lap 50, another Silver Arrows car is bumped down a place. Charles Leclerc overtook Lewis Hamilton, placing himself at P5.
Norris managed to push the car further, widening the gap to +29s by Lap 55.
It was important to note here that if Norris would win every succeeding race and takes the purple, while Verstappen comes 2nd, they would be tied before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
By the last lap of the Singapore Grand Prix, with Kylie Minogue all ready to wave the flag, Daniel Ricciardo achieved the fastest lap, ending the “Grand Slam” dream of Norris.
This also got a radio exchange between Max and his radio.
Lambiase: Your old pal, Daniel, picked up the fastest lap at the end as well.
Verstappen: Thank you, Daniel.
Lando Norris won the Singapore Grand Prix, leading every lap to his victory.
