Grand Prix 2018 Singapore Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

It is an oft quoted statement that if God had meant man to fly he would have given him wings. Similarly, if F1 cars were meant to race at night God would have given them headlights.

In the good old days of BE Ecclestone money talked very loudly and when the government of Singapore entered the offices of FOM with multiple suitcases full of dollars all Bernie could do was smile and pocket the cash. "But what about our TV audience," muttered one of Bernie's minions, "aren't they all in Europe?". "Oh crap" said Bernie "I know, let's run the race at 2pm GMT then I'm richer and all the mugs are happy". "Won't it be dark then though?" muttered a minion.

Bernie experimented with a 6v LED torch, he "acquired" from B&Q, strapped to the front of one of his old Brabhams but Bert Millander kept crashing it so Bernie went back to the nice people in Singapore and told them to turn all the street lights up to 11 as the race would be at night "to ensure that the primary TV audience was kept happy". Presumably those who would like to attend a race live without a 12 hour international flight don't matter.

Enough of my griping, this year is the tenth anniversary of F1's first night race. I don't think it's possible to forget the first race in 2008 but it did, at least, rid F1 of a large Italian gentleman as a team principal. Last year the race was suppose to be a slam dunk for Ferrari but Sebastian Vettel all but destroy his chance of taking the World Championship when he wiped out himself, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen before they had reached the first corner. Might something similar happen in 2018?

But what of Singapore itself? It was founded by Stamford Raffles in 1819, although I'm sure there must have been something there before this chinless British no-mark wandered up and decided to build some stuff. This does explain the Raffles Hotel and bar though. When the Empire crumbled It was originally part of the federation of Malaysian and became independent in 1963. The Singaporeans and Malaysian didn't get on too well so in 1965 Singapore went it's own way and in the process created the largest city-state in the world. That said, when your competition is Monaco and The Vatican you are probably going to win.

It has the 39th largest economy in the world, which for a country with no natural resources and a population of 5.6 million is quite astonishing. What is more astonishing is that it has the 3rd highest GDP per capita in the world! Since independence it was increased it's land mass by 23% but hasn't had to invade anyone to achieve this, it's all land reclaimed from the sea.

Although 2008 saw the first Championship Grand Prix, the first Grand Prix was held in Singapore in 1966 at the Thomson Road circuit (Thomson Road Grand Prix circuit - Wikipedia). Racing continued there until 1973, the poor safety record being a major contributor to events being stopped with 7 drivers losing their lives in 11 years. If you take a look on Google Earth the circuit layout is still there - Google Maps

To set you up for the GP round one of the cleanest cities on the planet here are a few weird facts.
  • You can't buy chewing gum in Singapore or bring it in to the country.
  • If you travel between Singapore and Malaysia in a Singaporean registered car you must have more than 2/3rds of a tank of fuel (this will be checked at the border) to stop people traveling to Malaysia for cheaper petrol.
  • Michael Fay, an American student, was once sentenced to 6 strokes with a cane for theft and vandalism. Bizarrely the United States, a country which still has the death sentence in many states and regularly puts adulst with the IQ of a child in the electric chair, considered this punishment harsh. It didn't seem to change the boy much as he has gone on to have a number of further run-ins with the law.
  • The longest human tooth was extracted in Singapore, it was 3.2 cm long
  • If you can get your hands on a 1,000 Singapore dollar bill the entire national anthem is printed on the back (in very tiny print)
  • Israel trains the Singapore army
Enjoy the race.
 
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So will Kimi play nice and help Seb and the team this weekend? If he doesn't that's going to make it really hard on Vettel when Bottas is already doing anything the team ask him to do to aid his team mate towards the title.
I don't believe Räikkönen will play along. He will do his own thing, a that is that. I for one think that it is mistake to let him drive next to Vettel for remainder of the season.
 
Interesting and hard to interpret. Usually the FP3 is the most meaningful, except this one is run at night, like qualifying and the race. I will adventure a few comments:

1. It appears that Ferrari is faster than Mercedes
2. It appears that Mercedes is faster than Red Bull (this has got to be disappointing for them....as this is one track where they should shine).
3. I am guessing that best of the rest is Haas. I gather Grosjean is back on form...and that form is faster than Magnussen's. Suspect Haas will be remain loyal to its two drivers for 2019.
4. Vandoorne remains unexplainably slow.....sort of making the argument why he won't have a drive next year, regardless of his complaints and comments.
5. Sainz is starting to look better the second half of the season (he did not in the first half). He may be rejuvenated now that he knows he has a home.
6. Alonso is Alonso...he always performs no matter how bad the car is.
7. I gather Ericson, Ocon and Vandoorne need to prove something, as they may all be out of a ride this year.
8. Vettel kind of needs pole here.
 
vettels looking very good in a race he has to win as a 2017 repeat & the title is over. but what isnt going well is that red bull are huge shock in that session to be 1.2 secs off in the qualifying sims on red bulls favourite track. which Mercedes are rubbing their hands with that because they came to Singapore, thinking right we are going into finish 5th behind Ferrari & Red Bulls. we'll go to russia with a 15pt lead. so to lose only a 1/3rd of lead instead of half is huge
 
Caught up on qualifying. Yet another special pole lap from Hamilton. I know he has the pole record but i feel he will still go down as 1 of greatest qualifiers, as i can't remember seeing another driver who can deliver laps multiple times at critical time. He is closest i think to what & if race is same top 3 then barring DNF or crashes. Thats season over at singapore gp in consective years. Because a 40pt gap would be chasm

But outstanding from verstappen, from where they were in FP3 to stick it on the front row better than both ferrari's & bottas, arguably on a par with Hamilton pole. Its dejavu because like i said 12 months ago if verstappen sticks 1 up the inside let him go as there no need to fight him
 
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Hamilton's first qualifying lap (the one that stood up) was so good even he was not able to repeat it. His comments after qualifying confirmed that. Hard to say what happened with Ferrari.....as not only was Hamilton faster than Vettel by 0.6 seconds...but Bottas was 0.1 ahead of Raikkonen. Still....Hamilton was almost 0.6 seconds ahead of his teammate !!!

Anyhow, that may be the lap of the season....as I suspect this pole, at a track where Ferrari was supposed to have an edge.....may give Hamilton an unbeatable advantage. Races can be tricky things.

A few things to watch for tomorrow:
1. The Vettel and Verstappen duel.....right behind Hamilton. Can't imagine that this will not end up in tears.
2. The Perez, Grosjean, Ocon duel (as they are starting as the best of the rest in 7th, 8th and 9th). One of these drivers may not be in F1 next season.
3. The Hulkenberg, Alonso, Sainz duel. Is Sainz, in a superior car, able to beat the man he is going to replace next year at McLaren.
 
I think with all the talk of Vettel throwing the championship away we're overlooking what sensational form Hamilton is in at the moment.

I agree with that. As logic says he shouldnt have won at monza & shouldnt be on pole in Singapore. But he taking the car beyond where it should be. Which is not great for bottas as said before because matching that is almost like the impossible job & when currently bar verstappen & Vettel maybe alonso. I dont see anyone else with the potential to match him


Just need to complete what i saying. I double checked it for errors as well :givemestrength:

He is closest i think to what Senna would be for fans in 80s & 90s
 
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Of course he should’ve won Monza. Bottas helped him by forcing Raikkonen to follow him and destroy his tyres and decrease the gap to Hamilton.
He should also be on pole in Singapore. It’s not magic. Every car is subject to the laws of physics and neither Matt Adore nor Hamilton can push their cars beyond that limit.
The onboard laps of Hamilton and Vettel show that the Mercedes rotates a lot better than the Ferrari and so did the Red Bull of Verstappen. Even without the small errors Vettel wouldn’t have been on pole or in second. Verstappen was actually quicker than Hamilton in most of the turns, but lost time on all the straights.
The gap between Hamilton and Bottas is just as big as last year. Since when is Bottas’ form the baseline of Mercedes’ general performance - isn’t he just an average Joe according to most viewers who should be sacked for Ocon?
 
Of course he should’ve won Monza. Bottas helped him by forcing Raikkonen to follow him and destroy his tyres and decrease the gap to Hamilton.
He should also be on pole in Singapore. It’s not magic. Every car is subject to the laws of physics and neither Matt Adore nor Hamilton can push their cars beyond that limit.
The onboard laps of Hamilton and Vettel show that the Mercedes rotates a lot better than the Ferrari and so did the Red Bull of Verstappen. Even without the small errors Vettel wouldn’t have been on pole or in second. Verstappen was actually quicker than Hamilton in most of the turns, but lost time on all the straights.
The gap between Hamilton and Bottas is just as big as last year. Since when is Bottas’ form the baseline of Mercedes’ general performance - isn’t he just an average Joe according to most viewers who should be sacked for Ocon?

very interesting post, I didn't manage to watch qualy but in a few lines you gave me all the info that I needed :thumbsup:
 
1. The Vettel and Verstappen duel.....right behind Hamilton. Can't imagine that this will not end up in tears.

I'm not into betting but if I was I'd put some money that there will be fireworks from Vettel and Verstappen and that Vettel will be the one who loses out most. And if anything happens chances are that no matter what caused the accident Vettel will receive some sort of penalty 8-)
 
Honestly I'm hoping Mad Max will come into effect and take Hamilton out allowing Vettel to win to bring the title battle closer again.
 
Clay I have to say that Merc car car confuses the hell out of me. In Q1 there were times it looked impossibly stiff like it didn't want to turn at all and it was no surprise to see Hamilton running wide and over kerbs. By the time we got to Q3 though it's it's charactetistics seemed to have changed completely and it was cornering like a dream.
 
on the bbc the open question was who were the most overrated and underrated drivers in F1 some responses included

Underrated -: Hulkenberg - I dont disagree

Overrated : Ricciardo - :facepalm:guess they have not checked Daniel's record at Red Bull since he got promoted included thrashing Vettel

Hamilton ;- Trying to compare against when he got in a quick car straight away :facepalm: He still managed to race and compete hard against Alonso and yesterday's lap was Senna like and no one saw it coming
 
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