Two weeks after the Italian Grand Prix, the teams arrived at the Marina Bay Street Circuit for this year’s Singapore Grand Prix. It’s a race that frequently ends prior to the race distance and has a high probability of a safety car under the lights in Singapore.
Max Verstappen get the weekend off to a start on Friday, topping the time charts at the end of the first free practice session, with his teammate narrowly behind him. Both Mercedes drivers were down in P4 and P5, surrounded by the Ferrari drivers. Nico Rosberg made a mistake late in the opening session, hitting the wall in turn 18 after locking up the tyres. Rosberg showed his critics what he could do in the second session, as he set the fastest lap. Kimi Räikkönen improved greatly, as he collected P2 on the time charts. Max Verstappen continued to out-perform his teammate, setting the third fastest time of the session. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was only able to claim the seventh position on the table, as a mechanical issue sidelined him for a large portion of the session.
Pascal Wehrlein had a poor start on Saturday, as he hit the wall only ten minutes into the session, bringing out the red flag. Rosberg set the fastest lap of the final practice session, as he narrowly beat Verstappen. Hamilton continued to show signs of struggle, as he suffered a spin and was only able to set a lap time worthy of P8. Formula One’s animal fan base couldn’t resist getting up close and personal with the cars, as a giant lizard was seen crossing the track. Rosberg continued with his fast pace, as he claimed the pole position at the end of the day. Hamilton improved his performance to get the third fastest time, while Daniel Ricciardo will start alongside his teammate. In a strange turn of events, Sebastian Vettel was unable to qualify any higher than last position due to a suspension issue.
Sunday started with an almost instantaneous safety car, as Nico Hülkenberg crashed on the front straight off of the grid. Max Verstappen got a slow start and Carlos Sainz moved to the right to get around, but he didn’t see Nico Hülkenberg alongside and tagged the Force India. Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture on the first lap and Jenson Button lost part of his front wing. The safety car came in a few laps later, perhaps a little too early, as a track marshal had to run off of the track when the cars came racing towards him. Verstappen was stuck behind Carlos Sainz, but not for long, as Sainz was shown the black and orange flag because of some loose bodywork supposedly from his first lap contact. After creating a sizable gap at the front, Rosberg received a warning from the team to work on his brake management. Hamilton was also warned about his front brakes, showing a flaw in both Mercedes cars. This was good news for Daniel Ricciardo, although the gap to the leader continued to grow. During the pit stops Mercedes opted for an endurance strategy, while Red Bull returned to the super soft compound, meaning that Daniel Ricciardo would be faster than the Mercedes drivers. Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat had a good battle after the pit stops. Kvyat put up a good fight, but Verstappen was eventually able to get by. While managing his pace, Hamilton quickly fell within striking distance for Räikkönen. After Hamilton locked up and ran a bit wide, Räikkönen was able to make the overtake on the Mercedes, although Hamilton didn’t make it easy, as the pair made a little bit of contact. Räikkönen pitted shortly after, giving Hamilton the position back before the Brit pitted the following lap. During the final pit stops, Hamilton was able to get the undercut and end up in front of Räikkönen, although the Ferrari would have DRS. Rosberg opted to stay out, but Ricciardo had pitted and was able to gain a lot of time on the fresher tyres. Despite closing the gap to within a second, Rosberg was able to finish in front of Ricciardo. Hamilton managed to complete the podium, although he lost the World Drivers’ Championship lead to his teammate.
The teams will have a week off, as the next round of the 2016 season will not take place until the weekend of October 2. This will be the Malaysian Grand Prix, which takes over its new position in the schedule.
