2024 Singapore Grand Prix Recap

23 September 2024

One of the fun things about starting new blogs is that authors need to find their voice and topics. I’ve been watching Formula 1 since I was turned onto Netflix’s Drive to Survive in 2021. At that time I knew very little about the sport. The show did a wonderful job getting me interested and I immediately started watching Formula 1 in one of the most exciting seasons¹. I watched the domination of Red Bull through the next few years. While watching, I learned to appreciate all the aspects of the sport. Even in boring races, there is a lot of storylines to follow.

One experiment that I want to do on the site is to recap each Grand Prix. I watch every single one. I try to watch most live, but with timezones and schedules it is hard. Often, I forget some of the interesting story points. Writing is a great way to remember things.

Qualifying

Qualifying was exciting. With the ascension of McLaren to domination and Red Bull’s stumble, all talk has turned to the championships. With Sergio Perez struggling to consistently get points, the Constructor is all but sowed up by McClaren. Having two storng drives consistently getting wins and podiums will do that. The Drivers championship is close, but I don’t think Lando Norris is going to be able to pull things off. The narrative on the F1 media is all about it, but there’s not a lot of time. It was nice to see Lando take pole and Max take P2. Last week with Lando in P15 and Max starting P6 made the distance harder to appreciate Lando’s challenge.

Other things I noted:

• It was surprising to see the Mercedes in P3 and P4 after reading about their Free Practice performance.
• Hulkenberg in P6. There’s no way he finishes there, but he took advantage of Ferrari’s struggle in Q3.
• I love seeing the resurgence of Williams with Albon P11 and Colapinto P12.
• What is going on with Checo? Having him so far back is not ideal as he then tries to push his luck and that’s how we got the crash the previous weekend in Baku.
• It’s hard to see Ricciardo in P16. I’ll miss him if this is his last GP, but it’s time for some younger drivers to oget a spot on the grid.
• What is Kick Sauber doing in F1? It’s hard to see them consistently in the back and will likely go pointless this season.

Here is the starting grid:

1. Lando Norris
2. Max Verstappen
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. George Russell
5. Oscar Pistri
6. Nico Hulkenberg
7. Fernando Alonso
8. Yuki Tsunoda
9. Charles Leclerc
10. Carlos Sainz
11. Alexander Albon
12. Franco Colapinto
13. Sergio Perez
14. Kevin Magnussen
15. Esteban Ocon
16. Daniel Ricciardo
17. Lance Stroll
18. Pierre Gasly
19. Valtteri Bottas
20. Zhou Guanyu

The Race

The primary question a lot of us had with Lando on pole is: will he still lead after the first lap? I knew it was only a matter of time before he got a good start, and this was it for him. Lewis started on softs and almost got the jump on Verstappen, but it didn’t work and that doomed his chances for a podium. This race ended up being a little boring as Lando notched the win almost immediately. He just needed to keep it on the track. He had two close calls in the heat and humidity of the Singapore evening, but he could easiliy have won by 30+ seconds. In the end he led every lap. He would have gotten the fastest lap too if not for some shenanigans with the Red Bulls.

Here are the notes I took while watching the race:

• Hearing Albon complain about Colapinto’s start seemed to indicate that he’s not used to a teammate that could challenge him. With his strong showing, Franco has demonstrated that Williams spent too much time with Logan Sargent.
• This was the first Singapore Grand Prix without a safety car. It’s always a bummer when they’re deployed, but there wasn’t much drama outside of the pitstop strategies.
• I wish Max could be a little less snippy on his radio messages. He is getting a reputation. I can understand it as it looked to be hot as hell out there.
• Piastri is going to be one hell of a driver going forward. This is his second season and those passes on the Mercedes after his pits was one of the most exciting parts of the race.
• I saw Ricciardo pitting at the end. I wasn’t sure if that was to retire the car, but they put on softs to take the fastest lap. Since I’ve been watching Formula 1, I have never seen a backmarker do this and for good reason. The fastest lap bonus point is only awarded for drivers and teams that finish in the top 10. This was done by the Red Bull sister team to deny a point to a challenge. Having two teams owned by the same parent team is still odd and I’m not sure how I feel about this. If they did it to allow Daniel Ricciardo to have one flying lap left of his career I guess I’ll forgive it, but if the directive came from Red Bull proper than I’m not as cool with that.
• The Drivers championship lead is now down to 52 points. There are six races left. If Max gets at least P2 in all the races, he’s guaranteed the championship. Anything can happen with 4 constructors in the mix. Lando can still win, but I’d put money on it not happening for him this year.

Here’s how things ended:

1. Lando Norris (-)
2. Max Verstappen (-)
3. Oscar Piastri (+2)
4. George Russell (-)
5. Charles Leclerc (+4)
6. Lewis Hamilton (-3)
7. Carlos Sainz (+3)
8. Fernando Alonso (-1)
9. Nico Hulkenberg (-3)
10. Sergio Perez (+3)
11. Franco Colapinto (-1)
12. Yuki Tsunoda (-4)
13. Esteban Ocon (+2)
14. Lance Stroll (+3)
15. Zhou Guanyu (+5)
16. Valterri Bottas (+3)
17. Pierre Gasly (+1)
18. Daniel Ricciardo (-2 fastest lap)
19. Kevin Magnussen (DNF -5)
20. Alexander Albon (DNF -9)

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