Team by team analysis of the Singapore Grand Prix

Team by team analysis of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, round 17 of the 22-race Formula One season (listed in championship order):

Red Bull (Sergio Perez 1, Max Verstappen 7)

Perez took his second win of the season, and fourth of his career, from second on the grid. He led into the first corner and finished 7.5 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Leclerc. He was given a five second post-race penalty and reprimand for safety car breaches. Verstappen started eighth, was 12th after lap one and fought back to fifth. He then went down an escape road after a failed attempt to pass Lando Norris, and pitted with half an hour remaining to replace damaged tyres. He went from 14th to 10th with 15 minutes remaining and then passed Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. He leads Leclerc by 104 points.

Ferrari (Charles Leclerc 2, Carlos Sainz 3)

Leclerc started on pole for the ninth time in 17 races but lost out with wheelspin at the start. Sainz passed Hamilton at the first corner, making contact with the Mercedes driver who ran wide, but then struggled for pace on the intermediate tyres. Leclerc and Perez are now Verstappen’s only mathematical rivals for the title.

Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton 9, George Russell 14)

Hamilton started third, dropped to fourth on lap one and remained there until he locked up and went into the tyre barriers at turn seven on lap 33, losing a place to Norris before pitting for a new front wing. Russell started from the pit lane, made a bold switch to slicks on lap 21 with the track still damp and was set for points until a late collision with Mick Schumacher left him with a puncture. He set the fastest lap, without a bonus point due to being out of the top 10.

McLaren (Lando Norris 4, Daniel Ricciardo 5)

McLaren overtook Alpine to go fourth overall. Norris started sixth, while Ricciardo had his first top five finish of the season after starting 16th. Both did 36 laps on the intermediates, the longest stint of anyone. Norris then went onto mediums and Ricciardo softs.

Alpine (Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso retired)

Alpine’s first double retirement of the season dropped them to fifth. Alonso was making a record 350th grand prix start, lining up fifth but losing out to Norris on lap one. The Spaniard ran sixth but retired on lap 21, saying ‘engine’. Ocon stopped on lap 27, also with a power unit problem.

Alfa Romeo (Valtteri Bottas 11, Guanyu Zhou retired)

Zhou stopped on track on lap seven with broken suspension after a collision with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi put him into the wall at turn four, bringing out the safety car. Bottas started 15th but just missed out on the points.

Aston Martin (Lance Stroll 6, Sebastian Vettel 8)

Aston moved up two places, three points clear of the two teams behind, with their biggest haul so far this year. Stroll’s result, from 11th at the start, was also his best of the campaign. Vettel returned to the scene of his last win, with Ferrari in 2019, and made a strong start. He was passed by Verstappen right at the end.

Haas (Kevin Magnussen 12, Mick Schumacher 13)

Magnussen was shown a black and orange flag, forcing him to pit for a new front wing after contact with Verstappen damaged the endplate on lap one. Schumacher suffered a rear left puncture after contact with Russell. Haas have now gone six races without scoring.

Alphatauri (Pierre Gasly 10, Yuki Tsunoda retired)

Gasly’s point lifted AlphaTauri level with Haas on 34 points, but he should have scored more. The Frenchman lost out after pitting too early for slicks. Tsunoda went into the barriers at turn 10 on lap 36, triggering a safety car.

Williams (Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi retired)

Latifi retired after the collision with Zhou. Albon, returning after missing the Italian GP with appendicitis, spun on the opening lap and later went into the barriers and lost his front wing. That triggered a virtual safety car as marshals retrieved debris. He then retired in the pits on lap 27.

—Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ken Ferris

Team by team analysis of the Singapore Grand Prix
Source: Political Elections PH