Pink Bull arrived in Singapore following their worst run of kind in years.
On common, they have been 0.46% off the tempo over the earlier three races. This from the group which started the season with seven consecutive pole positions.
Extra worryingly for them, Singapore had been their sole weak observe for his or her all-conquering RB19 final 12 months. But when they might present a greater flip of tempo at Marina Bay, it will certainly bode properly for the remainder of the season.
Per week in the past in Baku, Pink Bull claimed they’d made some enhancements to their automotive’s dealing with on Friday, earlier than set-up modifications on Max Verstappen moved it out of its consolation zone, consigning him to a fifth-place end.
In Singapore, the group look very a lot their outdated selves. Verstappen didn’t look snug at any time throughout apply, however in qualifying the automotive got here to life. On prime of which, in a difficult Q3 the place most drivers solely received a single flying lap in, he received nearer to his potential than a number of of his rivals, and his reward was a greater qualifying place than his automotive arguably deserved.
Sector occasions
| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Final lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | 26.493 (1) | 37.63 (1) | 25.296 (4) | 1’29.419 (+0.106) |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 26.603 (5) | 37.652 (2) | 25.284 (3) | 1’29.539 (+0.101) |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 26.556 (3) | 37.797 (5) | 25.228 (2) | 1’29.581 (+0.260) |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 26.56 (4) | 37.663 (3) | 25.361 (6) | 1’29.584 (+0.096) |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 26.533 (2) | 37.759 (4) | 25.419 (7) | 1’29.711 (+0.036) |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | 26.667 (7) | 37.913 (8) | 25.227 (1) | 1’29.807 (+0.060) |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 26.728 (8) | 37.939 (9) | 25.3 (5) | 1’29.967 (+0.148) |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 26.75 (9) | 37.866 (6) | 25.492 (11) | 1’30.108 |
| 9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 26.769 (10) | 37.897 (7) | 25.536 (13) | 1’30.202 (+0.087) |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 26.647 (6) | 38.13 (12) | 25.437 (8) | 1’30.214 |
| 11 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | 26.841 (13) | 37.939 (9) | 25.656 (16) | 1’30.436 (+0.045) |
| 12 | 11 | Sergio Perez | 26.822 (11) | 38.143 (13) | 25.489 (10) | 1’30.454 (+0.125) |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 26.839 (12) | 38.06 (11) | 25.575 (14) | 1’30.474 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | 26.864 (14) | 38.268 (14) | 25.496 (12) | 1’30.628 (+0.025) |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 26.993 (16) | 38.296 (15) | 25.48 (9) | 1’30.769 |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 27.079 (17) | 38.308 (16) | 25.698 (18) | 1’31.085 |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 26.873 (15) | 38.53 (18) | 25.691 (17) | 1’31.094 |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 27.088 (18) | 38.568 (19) | 25.648 (15) | 1’31.304 (+0.008) |
| 19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | 27.189 (19) | 38.4 (17) | 25.963 (19) | 1’31.552 (+0.020) |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | 27.236 (20) | 38.783 (20) | 26.035 (20) | 1’32.054 |
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Underpinning all this was a major enchancment by Pink Bull at their bogey observe of 2023. Neither of their vehicles reached Q3 final 12 months, however right this moment Verstappen grabbed a spot on the entrance row by lapping nearly two-and-a-half seconds quicker than he managed 12 months in the past – the best enchancment of any group.
McLaren, nonetheless, stay a formidable adversary throughout a variety of tracks. At this race final 12 months the group launched its second important improve of the season. However it has continued to develop its automotive strongly since then, and other than Pink Bull solely Williams have wrung extra from their automotive at this observe within the intervening interval.
They are going to be ruing their failure to lock out the entrance row of the grid, nonetheless. Oscar Piastri clearly had the tempo to take action, however will line up three locations decrease than his automotive was able to, regardless of being considered one of solely two drivers to finish a pair of flying laps in Q3.
Mercedes capitalised beautifully on their rival’s struggles. On paper the W15s needs to be on the fourth row, not the second.
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That is the second occasion to be held on the shortened model of the Marina Bay circuit which bypasses the harbour entrance part of the observe. Lap occasions at the moment are 16 seconds quicker than they have been when F1 first raced on this observe 16 years in the past, when it featured 4 further corners and the clumsy ‘Singapore sling’ chicane. Norris’ pole place time of 1’29.525 is a brand new file for the course.
For the fourth race in a row, nonetheless, Sauber have been furthest from the mark. Other than their C44s lapping 2.29% off the tempo the remainder of the sphere is nearer than it’s been all 12 months, 1.39% masking the quickest group to the second-slowest. However preserve a way of perspective: 2.29% off pole place was ok for tenth on the grid at that inaugural Singapore race.
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