The Singapore GP is one of the most exciting tracks on the calendar. With tight narrow corners and blisteringly fast straights, Singapore GP is a track that stands out as one to look forward to. The race itself rips through the streets during the night. Singapore GP is 1 of 6 street circuits including Australia.
The track was introduced in 2008 on a 5-year deal and has stayed on the calendar since. It is safe to say the race is both physically demanding and mentally demanding. Tight corners mean that remembering breaking points is crucial to the car returning at the end of the race. Since 2008 a safety car has been brought out every race proving how difficult of a track it is.
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As seen by the table, Red Bull has the most success on the track. Red Bull’s track record here has been relatively consistent since 2008. Put this in comparison to McLaren who had successes in the early runnings of the race but have since fallen and Mercedes who have recently had success in the last 5 years or so.
As for Ferrari, they have had a fair few podiums too while being competitive in race wins at the same time. Teams like Haas whose business model is to create a low-cost, high-innovation F1 team which is relatively new to the sport means that they have not been able to “prove” themselves.
Singapore GP
Previous history at the track can only be taken with a pinch of salt in terms of predicting Sunday’s race. It is important to take into account how teams perform at tracks similar. Tracks similar on this year’s calendars would include, Monaco, Saudi Arabia, Australia and aspects of Miami.
Singapore has many straights which is going to benefit teams like Williams and Red Bull. However, the narrow track and tight corners might favour teams like Aston Martin and Ferrari.
Okay now let’s look at how the teams on the grids did in similar races.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia in my opinion is probably the most similar to Singapore. They both have very fast sections designed for high-throttle action while having areas requiring drivers to be more technical. In Saudi Arabia, the Red Bulls dominated with a 1-2. It is not useful for predicting this weekend’s results for obvious reasons. However, if we look below those places we see that Aston Matin had a good weekend with Alonso finishing in 3rd. Other notable teams include Mercedes with their 4th and 5th place finishes possibly hinting at a good race for them this weekend.
Australia
This race offers a little more insight than Singapore. The track itself has several tight corners and long straights requiring perfect exits from corners to capitalise on them.
Verstappen won, we all know that but 2nd place Hamilton again indicates how the Mercedes are going to have a good weekend. Their car is a “good” car at everything, however, in a field of cars which they have to beat you have to be “great” in a few areas. Aston Martin again impresses proving they have a very good car. They finished 3rd and 4th, capitalising on the slow final corner as well as medium-speed corners in the middle of the track. In terms of using this race to help predict Singapore it again has to be taken with a pinch of salt due to the vast amount of DNFs.
Monaco
Verstappen wins again so let’s look past that. Alonso finches P2. Seems to be a running pattern with Aston Martin and tracks with slow and very tight corners. The Mercedes too have a good race here. Their 4th and 5th place finish gives me confidence that they will have a decent race this weekend.
They have been fairly constant across all types of tracks proving they have a “good car”. Ferrari does not have a good weekend at all for multiple reasons. McLaren too did not have the best of weekends. This might hint at a difficult weekend for both teams.
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It’s essential to take into account the team’s drivers and how their experience and knowledge of how an F1 car handles around the track is crucial to a team’s success. An experience like Alonso’s will be vital to helping Stroll. With this vital experience, the team is likely to succeed more than Alpha Tauri whose drivers hold very little experience in comparison.
Lewis Hamilton who has won at the track will be able to provide the team with useful feedback to tune the car allowing the Mercedes pair to carry on their decent form at similar tracks. The Red Bulls will undoubtedly have a good weekend especially if Perez’s form improves. The Williams will be the dark horses of the weekend. Their car is without a doubt one of the fastest in a straight line which will be crucial to this fast track.
Now for the predictions:
Overall this is set to be an exciting race full of drama. The first corner will throw challenges to all drivers.
There will undoubtedly be DNFs and safety cars to further add to the weekend’s funfair. I’m sure the race will be taken in every direction and maybe Verstappen won’t run away with this one??. We can hope. This race certainly has the potential to be the race of the season. Follow all the action here from the Singapore GP.
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