The data
We know that the conditions of the Marina Bay track are always a real challenge. rebus to be interpreted by drivers and teams, especially due to the change in temperatures between the afternoon free practice sessions and qualifying, which instead takes place at night. Furthermore, the heavy rains during the night completely cleaned the track, which in the third free practice session was no longer dirty, but obviously not rubberized either.
Norris emerges forcefully In all this, at the first attempt at a qualifying simulation, Lando Norris found a lap that was sensational. The gaps to the rest of the group speak for themselves, with Russell second at half a second and the others at 8 tenths and more. An incredible gap, which can be explained by a Norris in clear moment of grace on this track, but also with a competition that still has to find the right solution.
Taking a look at the telemetry data of the best laps of this session as always we try to understand something more about what happened on the track.
The first thing we notice in the graph is Norris and McLaren’s strength in the insertion phasewith the Englishman appearing to have a phenomenal, precise and safe front end, which gives him the confidence a driver needs on a street track, which then has a multiplier effect on performance.
The gap to all his opponents clearly has a stepped pattern: at each braking phase and corner entry Norris extends his lead over the competition and that is where the gaps are so large. Russell’s Mercedes is the only one to stay around a tenth of a gap in the first and third sectors, recovering in traction what was lost when entering turn 4 and the 16-17 chicane, indicating a balance slightly more shifted to the rear and a more effective aerodynamic load compared to the first day of testing, with some evident improvements in set-up between ground clearance and stability. The W15, however, remains a car that is very sensitive to track conditions, and the change in conditions will be the protagonist in view of qualifying. Red Bull shows significant improvements and Verstappen is in fact the only one to keep up with Norris in many of the circuit’s corners, such as the initial sequence up to 4 or the one at the start of the second sector of 7-8-9. The Dutchman however gives up in the very tight changes of direction and in the chicanesa sign of some remaining problems with the car’s responsiveness and suspension setup.
It should be noted, however, that it is clear from the numbers that the Power Unit of the Milton Keynes team is still the one with the least horsepower available in free practice, and not with marginal but rather substantial differences: Verstappen is the only one with a gap that grows linearly in all the stretches of the track in an obvious manner.
Ferrari Loses Front End Grip: Track or Setup?
Concluding with the Prancing Horse team, the third free practice session was a Bad awakening for Sainz and Leclerc and after the excellent Friday. The main problem is identified, both from the data and from the feedback from the drivers themselves, on a front end that has completely stopped working. There is no grip, the car suffers from a complicated understeer, which in addition to lowering the pure performance, takes away an enormous amount of confidence from the drivers, who no longer have a car that responds to their inputs with precision and are forced to take extra margins on the driving, which obviously has a significant impact on the lap time. The difficulty was so high and unexpected that even Leclerc had the pressures of the front tires lowered directly at the pit stop, an unusual procedure and, as reported by the Federation, expressly not permitted by a technical directive, so much so as to be worth an investigation to the detriment of Ferrari. The unknowns therefore start from how much Ferrari has modified the starting set-up after the excellent Friday and how much the track conditions, both in terms of the environment and of the asphalt after the overnight downpour, have influenced the performance. It is therefore difficult to predict whether the red car will find itself struggling again in qualifying, or whether the track that will be rubberized and a setup more calibrated to the different environmental conditions of the evening will give Leclerc and Sainz the chance to fight for the pole, so important in Singapore. Curiosity also reigns over Lando Norris: will the Englishman be able to confirm the alien-like performance seen in free practice, even compared to his teammate Piastri? The number 4 McLaren starts as the absolute favorite for the pole, but the surprises on this track are continuous, especially in qualifying, which once again promises to be extremely interesting.
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