Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Singapore Grand Prix
Photo from Motorsport Images
Formula 1 returned to the streets of Singapore for the first time since 2019 yesterday, and it was somehow an exciting yet also boring race.
Regardless, it was nice for them to be back.
Here are the winners and losers.
Losers
5. Alpine
Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were both having really solid races, but both of them ended due to engine failures.
Maybe it’s reliability. Maybe it was simply a difficult race on the engines due to the heat of Singapore.
Regardless, a good weekend ended in smoke.
4. Nicholas Latifi
Latifi is not very good.
And he showed that again yesterday when he ignored his mirrors and everyone around him when he ran into Zhou Guanyu and ruined both of their races.
If it was anybody else, they’d be number 1. But this is expected from Latifi, unfortunately.
Which is a shame. Because he does seem like a genuinely good guy.
Just not a good F1 driver.
3. Lewis Hamilton
Lewis was set up for a good weekend, qualifying third and having some really great times in practice.
But careless mistakes and lock ups dropped him back down for a lowly 9th place finish.
This and Singapore were the last hopes for a Mercedes win this season, and it was not a good team result.
2. Max Verstappen/Red Bull
It all started in qualifying when Verstappen was on a lap that would easily give him pole position as he fought to win a championship, but was forced to box because the team under fueled the car.
So Verstappen had to start way down the grid, and it got worse as his start was awful which dropped him back to 13th.
But a safety car got him back into it, only for him to lock up the tires and be forced to pit again.
He still worked his way up to 7th which was good, but it could’ve been even better if not for his and the teams mistakes.
1. George Russell
Russell switched from intermediate tires to dry tires too early, he caused a few accidents due to his own mistakes and then had the audacity to complain about Mick Schumacher racing him hard when Schumacher is racing to keep a seat for next year.
As I said above, this was supposed to be a good weekend for Mercedes.
And they finished with a total of 2 points, with their driver of the future finishing last of all qualified finishers.
They better hope that Japan this weekend is better…
Winners
5. Mick Schumacher
Schumacher finished 13th, which doesn’t help him or his team very much, but I can always appreciate a driver getting his elbows out and pissing off one of the top teams when they’re battling for the same position.
Mick has actually done this with a few drivers, and it’s a really good sign to see that he is willing to fight.
Will it help him keep a seat for next year? I’m not sure.
But it’s a good sign.
4. Sebastian Vettel
A tough qualifying for both Aston Martin drivers, but Vettel knows how to succeed in Singapore so it was no surprise to see him find his way into the points for his last ever race there.
3. Lance Stroll
And Seb was only outdone by his teammate Lance Stroll, who showed once again how good he can be when he stays consistent and focused as he ran a quiet race to finish 6th.
But a quiet race with a 6th place finish is a great day for Aston Martin.
2. Sergio Perez
Checo was quick all weekend and got himself a win, but I couldn’t give him the top spot due to his penalty for manipulating the safety car.
Despite that, when under the threat of a 5 second penalty and just a few seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc in second, Checo hit another gear and extended the gap to 7 seconds to make sure he got the win.
That deserves some plaudits.
1. Daniel Ricciardo
Ricciardo’s place in Formula 1 is not set in stone for next season, especially since the sport is getting younger and younger.
And it didn’t look to be a good weekend to keep him in F1 after he qualified 17th.
But Sunday showed that the Honey Badger still has some fight in him, as he drove his McLaren all the way up to a 5th place finish.
If he can continue to get consistent results, Haas or Williams may have a spot for him to occupy next season.
