Checo bounces back in style
Sergio Perez wins the Singapore Grand Prix. Checo was sublime today, got the lead from the start and never put a foot wrong. He is really showing that he is the king of street circuits. Charles Leclerc pushed him for most of the race and ended up finishing second whilst his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz rounded out the podium.
The Biggest Talking Point
The biggest talking point is there are so many big talking points. The race was delayed for over an hour which made no sense given the fact that these are meant to be the best racing drivers in the world, and we do have a full wet tyre. In the race, there were six DNF’s. George Russell had multiple incidents including contact with Mick Schumacher that saw the German suffer a puncture. Alpine had a terrible day with both cars retiring due to reliability issues. It was particularly a shame for Fernando Alonso as a top 5 finish was on. Alex Albon locked up and went straight into the wall and both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen made mistakes. The 7-time World Champion couldn’t stop the car from flying straight into the wall at Turn 7 but luckily for him, he was able to keep going whilst last season's champion went deep trying to overtake Norris for P4. The mistake saw Verstappen needing to pit and he ended up being in last, well over 20 seconds behind the next car. The on-track racing wasn’t the best but if you watch the highlights, you will see a lot of chaos.
The Standout drives in the race
I handed out 3 perfect 10’s for the race. The first one was obviously Sergio Perez. This was arguably his greatest ever drive, particularly given how tough the last few races have been for him. He did what Red Bull wanted of him, be there to win when Max isn’t. Perez became the first person to win both the Monaco and Singapore Grand Prix’s in the same season since Sebastian Vettel in 2011. The guy really is a street circuit merchant.
The Second guy that I have given a perfect 10 to is Lando Norris. Lando was incredible, he overtook his main rival Fernando Alonso at the start, and he continued to build a gap to the Spaniard. He didn’t put a foot wrong whilst others did, and he found himself finishing in 4th position. Another mega weekend from Lando.
The final guy I have given a 10 to is Lance Stroll. Stroll drove a terrific race and brought his car home in P6. He managed to jump his teammate without needing to benefit from the safety car and in the final 30 minutes, he kept the gap to his teammate behind. Easily the Canadian’s best race of the season but is that a surprise given these are conditions he absolutely loves. I nearly gave Daniel Ricciardo a 10 because P16 to P5 is amazing but, he jumped multiple cars due to the timing of the safety car and also, he finished 32 seconds behind his teammate which isn’t very good given he was right behind him with 33 minutes to go. Sebastian Vettel also had a really good race.
Drivers who had a horror race
I gave three drivers a rating of 1. For the first time all season, George Russell receives the worst possible grade. He really struggled to get through the pack and a more patient head would have seen the Brit score some points. He outbroke himself trying to pass Valtteri Bottas and that cost him as he was then stuck behind the Alfa Romeo for ages. He then pit for slicks which was a terrible idea as by the time the tyres were quick enough, he was over 50 seconds behind the next car. He then had another incident with Mick Schumacher which was definitely hit fault and he ended up finishing 2 laps down. It was like he was back to being in a 2019 Williams.
Yuki Tsunoda also received a 1 because he crashed the car. He was running decently before he made a mistake even though it didn’t help that the car seemed to cut out. He carried on and then had a massive impact with the barrier at turn 10, resulting in terminal damage. That’s not the way you want to be repaying the team for extending your contract.
The Final driver who has received a 1 is, you guessed it, Nicholas Latifi. It took just 7 laps to make a stupid mistake were this time, he left Zhou Guanyu no space and ended up putting him in the wall and ending both drivers' day. This is the first year that I have rated the drivers after each race and it’s a shame because I would have been intrigued to see who was rated lower between Latifi and Nikkita Mazepin. That may seem harsh on Latifi but that’s where his career is going. Both Haas drivers struggled as well as Alex Albon and Lewis Hamilton who both put their car in the wall.
Overall Race Result and my Rating
Sergio Perez: 10
Charles Leclerc: 8
Carlos Sainz: 7
Lando Norris: 10
Daniel Ricciardo: 9
Lance Stroll: 10
Max Verstappen: 5
Sebastian Vettel: 9
Lewis Hamilton: 3
Pierre Gasly: 7
Valtteri Bottas: 5
Kevin Magnussen: 3
Mick Schumacher: 2
George Russell: 1
Yuki Tsunoda: 1 (DNF)
Esteban Ocon: 3 (DNF)
Alex Albon: 2 (DNF)
Fernando Alonso: 6 (DNF)
Nicholas Latifi: 1 (DNF)
Zhou Guanyu: 3 (DNF)
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