F1 Singapore, the report cards of those promoted
1. Carlos Sainz. There are no doubts and there cannot be any. Carlitos is the best in Singapore: he is first or second throughout the weekend, a privilege that usually goes to Verstappen, but the Schumaxer and Red Bull holiday weekend offers the spotlight to an underwater world. Sainz takes advantage of this: thanks to him, for the first time in the season, we see a decisive contribution from the driver who changes the history of a grand prix. The phenomenal Max (a regular reader of this column) doesn’t hold it against me, but it’s clear that Red Bull presents itself at every race with the role of the great favourite. Ferrari wasn’t supposed to be this weekend, and even with the pole position the pace of the race didn’t leave one at peace: in fact at the end of the grand prix the Mercedes, with the choice to fit new tyres, was needed for the victory. Except that Sainz responds with a force and a force tactical sagacity that not even Zhukov in Stalingrad: here, this is the pilot’s victory. Without taking anything away from Ferrari, which made no mistakes on a strategic level right from the start and indeed without the setback to Leclerc perhaps they would have brought it home more easily.
2. George Russell. Victories of the driver, I wrote. And then I also reward Russell. Praise to the only one fighting with Ferrari, who gives half a second in qualifying to someone who has 104 poles in his career and therefore isn’t exactly stupid. Even in the race he is always there, and if Sainz doesn’t invent an alliance with Norris he will go on to win. Then he makes a mistake, for goodness sake, but the fact that both he and Hamilton stopped for the new mediums must suggest that neither Mercedes nor the drivers were looking for a placing. He tries and it goes badly. I don’t agree with the insufficiencies I read around: do we complain about computer pilots and then reject those who aren’t satisfied with a second place?
3. Lando Norris. It’s not fair that this guy still has zero wins in F1. He also put some effort into it (Sochi 2021 cries out for revenge) but in general the car allows him this. Nine podiums driving – when it’s really stupid – the third car on the grid is no joke. He can attack Sainz but understands that by doing so he will lose the podium, so he holds out his hand to his ex-teammate to cheat Russell. Friends, friends and then…
F1 Singapore, the report cards of those who failed
3. Aston Martin. A whole season waiting for Monaco and Singapore, Monaco arrives and they get the timing of the decisive stop wrong, Singapore arrives and they are seventh in qualifying. Then Alonso picks up a piece of debris and retreats, but the damage was already done on Saturday. Stroll: sorry for the accident, but the world is full of many other sports besides Formula 1.
2. Red Bull. For once, they are wrong. And since they always want to excel, they get everything wrong, starting with the car for the weekend. Now I doubt that a directive can lower a car by a second and a half in relation to the competition: this car, at least with Verstappen, gave seven tenths, not took them. Maybe on the perfect geometries of the RB19 a minimal variation has relatively more impact than on other models, but this much – I trust the FP technicians – is difficult. And then we’ll find out soon: now comes Suzuka, where in theory the RB19 must dominate. This weekend, however, shows how everyone is in difficulty when faced with pressure, Red Bull too, which in the race causes Verstappen and Perez to start hard on a track with a high Safety risk, exposing them to the scenario of finding themselves fighting with those who stop for free (which then happened). Max is saved, fifth and close to Leclerc, Perez always oscillates between disaster and mediocre normality.
1. FIA. This morning I wanted to take a shower but I found Verstappen’s Red Bull in the bathroom. This year it has already happened in Austria with a impeding oceanic on Hamilton: in Singapore Max narrowly escapes at least twice (if not three). Closing your eyes only fuels the culture of suspicion, damaging the driver and the credibility of the sport. It’s frankly embarrassing that he didn’t receive penalties, that a team doesn’t send a rider to the stewards so as not to receive calls from Austria, and that the Federation accepts all this as if it were normal.
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