What was staged in the first Asian trip could easily be mistaken for a preview of the ice speed championship. A Singapore that looked like Pragelato, where there was no corner in which the drivers did not drive in counter-steering, repeatedly exceeding the holding limit and then correcting themselves and regaining grip. Whether it’s rain or dry, in Monza or on the Asian toboggan, however, the winner is always Red Bull, able to prevail over the best Ferrari as seen from the return from the summer break.
Even the best are wrong. Paradoxically, Sergio Perez’s victory comes in the worst weekend for Red Bull since the now distant Australian Grand Prix, indicative of the high standard maintained throughout the season. The seemingly infallible army of Milton Keynes at first wasted a pole position within reach due to a fuel misjudgment, while then in the race Verstappen’s enthusiasm led him to a conspicuous blockade that precluded an otherwise possible podium. Even Perez himself, although the author of an excellent performance, was not free from errors, having risked losing the victory for not respecting the maximum distance from the Safety Car. In this regard, Sebastian Vettel’s precedent in Hungary in 2010 occurred with completely different dynamics, since the German was second at the time and did not close the gap from his teammate at the head of the race in time for the restart, causing damage to pursuer Fernando Alonso. In Singapore, Perez, on the other hand, did not take advantage or hinder those chasing him, an observation which alone does not preclude the penalty, but which certainly prevents any comparison with the previous Hungarian.
Verstappen’s departure on Saturday allowed Perez to take on the leading role, but this does not detract from the fact that the Checo from Singapore was a reborn version compared to the one that in the previous weeks was struggling to impose itself on Ferrari and Mercedes. It is no coincidence that this happened on a citizen, where the tuning tends to stabilize the rear, meeting the driving style of the Mexican as already demonstrated by the success of Monaco. Sergio, however, had to take the position on Leclerc at the start, syielding the departure on the inside with less residual rubber, which in wet conditions turns out to be terribly slippery. In fact, from the even pitches Sainz took the position on Hamilton, as did Norris on Alonso and Tsunoda on Magnussen, while going back in time the departures of Verstappen and Raikkonen in 2017 are still etched in everyone’s memory.
Already on Saturday, a dynamic in contrast with what had been seen during the season emerged, which was then confirmed in the race, that of a Ferrari more able to keep the tires in temperature on an asphalt below 30 ° C, not cold but certainly not hot. In the first laps launched after the start and neutralizations, Leclerc recorded times in line or faster than those of Perez.
PEREZ | LECLERC | |
Second round | 2’01”4 | 2’01”2 |
Restart before Safety Car | 1’59 ” 6 | 2’00 ” 2 |
Restart before Virtual SC | 1’58 ” 3 | 1’58 ” 4 |
Second Virtual restart | Immediately neutralized | |
Virtual third restart | 1’57 ” 5 | 1’56 ” 3 |
Second Safety Car restart | 1’53 ” 7 |
1’53 ” 3 |
The trend is confirmed by the first laps of the final stint on slick tires, when the temperature and the extra grip in the F1-75 tires led Leclerc to look for every possible gap, recalling Mansell’s desperate overtaking attempts on the Senna in Monaco in 1992. What would seem to derive from a particular choice of set-up by the Cavallino, however, has been taken for granted with greater overheating and degradation over the long haul. Leclerc’s moments of greatest crisis occurred in the longest stints without neutralization, like the one from the 11th to the 20th lap, in addition of course to the end of the race, where the aggression behind the wheel certainly did not help. However, it was once again evident how much Red Bull and the top teams in general are quicker to warm up their tires than the rest of the group. It is eloquent that almost all of Verstappen’s overtaking took place immediately after the restarts: Magnussen and Tsnuoda on the second lap, then Vettel and Gasly after the first Virtual and finally the near maneuver on Norris after the Safety Car.
Impossible to complain to Ferrari at the end of a perfectly managed weekend where both Red Bull and Mercedes have fallen into the many traps present. Net of a Sainz in great difficulty, for the whole weekend Leclerc’s Red was closer to Perez’s Red bull than ever seen after returning from the summer break. It is difficult to say how and how much the gap from the competition would have changed in dry conditions, without neutralization and above all in the presence of Verstappen, just as it will be necessary to wait for Suzuka to understand if the critical issues of the recent period have been resolved in Maranello or if instead Singapore has masked the limits of F1-75. Meanwhile, Ferrari took home the fourth pole position on the seven editions of the Singapore Grand Prix held in the turbo-hybrid era, two of which converted to victory and two others affected by rain and episodes. From the history of a torturous citizen like the Asian one, a picture emerges in which the stability of the rear and the quality of the suspension groups are the real strength of the technical and cultural background of the Gestione Sportiva of Maranello.
However, what shines most of all in the Singapore night McLaren. The episodes have facilitated the double finish of the MCL36 in points, but the risk of waiting one more lap to put on the slick tires is also paid, taking advantage of the entrance of a Safety Car which was highly probable as there are so many riders in difficulty in warming up their tires. The team from Woking thus puts the arrow and overtakes Alpine in the championship, a great result considering the enormous difficulties of the beginning of the year. A technical improvement perfectly reflected by the full-bodied evolutionary package introduced in Singapore on Norris’ car. On the other hand, the night in the house is dark Alpine, again slowed by reliability. The technical problems of Ferrari power units have often been talked about, but the Renault units appear equally critical, running at an average of five engines per car in the season.
The race of Aston Martin, sixth and eighth respectively with Stroll and Vettel, mounting the same rear suspension as Mercedes, often indicted by the Brackley team for its excessive stiffness. Thanks to an excellent strategy and the absence of errors, a double point finish is achieved, which follows the one conquered in Imola, underlining the affinity of the team and the car in managing wet conditions, as well as the great effectiveness of the AMR22 in the slow. In the championship Aston Martin overtakes AlphaTauri and Haas in one fell swoop, in turn reached on equal points by the team from Faenza. The new ranking better reflects the current potential of the British car, decidedly discontinuous in performance, but which on the slower and more tortuous tracks has proven to be able to assert itself as the fifth force. The recovery in the standings also reflects that on a technical level, since at the beginning of the season the AMR22 was the rear of the grid, only to be reinvigorated by a development that shows no signs of stopping, as evidenced by the changes to the fund made in Singapore. The gap of fifteen points from Alfa Romeo appears to be anything but unbridgeable.
In closing, the lack of grip is confirmed to be the perfect recipe for giving life to lively and unpredictable races. It was in Monza that we discussed together with Mario Isola, Simone Resta and Mario Almondo of the difficulty for Formula 1 to find the right compromise between spectacle and technology, which translates directly into grip on the tires. For a sport that makes innovation its mantra, it would be unthinkable to artificially halve the grip of current cars, but when this occurs due to the intervention of the weather it is always a welcome surprise. In Singapore there was a fair amount of overtaking, while in Monte Carlo, always in wet-humid track conditions, changes in position were much rarer. The comparison becomes eloquent of the elements necessary to have even the slightest possibility, at least in variable weather conditions, to attend a real race on a city track and not just a train. Formula 1 made its own by modifying the cars, finally managing in 2022 to allow close chases, a milestone thanks to the combined action of tires and aerodynamics. LHowever, adaptation of the cars alone is not enough if not supported by the modernization of the circuits. Singapore presents itself to the world as a modern Monaco, a narrow citizen with a tortuous design that deserves to be present in a calendar of 22 races, but at the same time with extensions and above all spaces that do not prevent any overtaking maneuvers. On the other hand, it is unthinkable to hope to witness a race worthy of the name in 2022 on a circuit like Monte Carlo, created to host cars from fifty years ago and beyond, with much more space and braking distances. Singapore thus paves the way for an adaptation of the Principality’s runway, a change that does not necessarily imply changing its identity as a city toboggan.
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