Hello fellow F1 fanatics, we are back for the Singapore Grand Prix edition of F1 Newsbites. Let’s dive into the latest news from the paddock.

 

 

Raikkonen fastest in FP2 as Vettel hits wall

 

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the quickest on the time-sheets in Free Practice Two for the Singapore Grand Prix.

 

The Finn went fastest early in the session posting a 1:40.510 on the ultrasofts and pipping Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.030 seconds.

 

During the early stages of the 90 minute session, championship leader Lewis Hamilton went off at turn 14’s escape road after a close call with title-rival Sebastian Vettel.

 

Hamilton was charging towards the rear of the German’s SF71-H racer when he locked up into the right hander and just avoided the Ferrari.

 

When the drivers switched to the faster hypersoft rubber for their qualifying simulations, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas went quickest momentarily before Silver Arrows team-mate Hamilton moved to the top with a 1:38.710.

 

Raikkonen then jumped ahead of Hamilton by 0.011 seconds with 53 minutes left on the clock, posting the benchmark time of a 1.38.699.

 

Vettel was on course for challenging the quickest time set by his Ferrari team-mate and Hamilton until he hit the wall with the right side of his car at the exit of sector three’s turn 21 left hander.

 

The German was able to make it back to the pits, but reported he suffered some damage with the car leaking fluid as it was moved back into the garage.

 

Vettel was unable to complete the rest of the session, ending the day ninth quickest due to his earlier run with the ultrasoft compounds, which saw him 1.694 seconds adrift of team-mate Raikkonen’s pace.

 

Red Bull’s promising earlier pace did not translate in it’s qualifying simulation runs with Verstappen 0.522 seconds off Raikkonen in third place and just narrowly a tenth quicker than team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

 

In the later stages, Verstappen reported to his team of misfire at the exit of turn seven and also told them the problem was continuing.

 

The pace from the two RB14’s meant Bottas was dropped to fifth and 0.699 seconds adrift of his fellow Finnish compatriot.

 

McLaren-bound Carlos Sainz was best of the rest, taking sixth in his Renault RS18 and three tenths quicker than Haas F1 Team’s seventh placed Romain Grosjean.

 

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso finished eighth fastest and ahead of the aforementioned Vettel by just under two tenths as the other Renault of Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten.

 

Force India brought it’s major upgrade to Marina Bay with Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez ending the day 11th and 13th respectively with Marcus Ericsson splitting the pairing in his Sauber C37 in 12th place and the latter also suffered a spin later in the session.

 

Ericsson’s team-mate Charles Leclerc recovered from his FP1 error, when he clipped the wall and smashed his front-right suspension to finish 14th quickest.

 

The other Haas of Kevin Magnussen was 15th fastest and 2.455 seconds adrift of Raikkonen’s benchmark and narrowly quicker than McLaren’s 16th-placed Stoffel Vandoorne by 0.010 seconds.

 

The Honda-powered Toro Rosso’s followed next with duo Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly finishing in 17th and 18th respectively while Williams Martini Racing duo Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin ended the evening at the rear.

 

Stroll encountered a brake fire to his Mercedes-powered FW41 racer during the session but was able to contain it by slowing down and cooling the brakes as he made it back to the pits.

 

Earlier in the day it was Red Bull dominating the proceedings in FP1 with Ricciardo ahead of team-mate Verstappen by 0.201 seconds with the two Ferrari’s of Vettel and Raikkonen in third and fourth respectively whilst Renault’s Hulkenberg rounded out the top five.

 

A Glimpse into the Future

 

 

Brilliant aesthetics and style. Formula 1 has been working with the sport’s governing body the FIA and the teams to create a car for the future that provides better racing and looks. These are the first impressions of the concepts but are set to evolve over the next year.

 

Ferrari have given Mercedes a long run for it’s money this season with Red Bull getting close and challenging for the occasional victories too as the sport works on the designs of the future car that will provide battles right across the field year after year.

 

The major plan is for the cars to follow each other closely and increase the opportunities to overtake along with the idea that the aesthetics are look brilliant for people to put photos up on their walls.

 

 

“When we started looking at the 2021 car, the primary objective was to enable the cars to race well together,” explained Formula 1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn. “What we established early on in our research is the cars we have now are very bad in following each other.”

 

“Once the cars get within a few car lengths of each other, they lose 50% of their downforce. That’s a substantial amount of performance lost. So we set about understanding why that was and how we can improve it. I’m pleased to say we’re at about 80%,”

 

“As time has gone on, another of the primary objectives was to make great looking cars. We want cars that look better than what you see in a video game, cars that kids want to have up on their walls. At each stage, as we have been evolving the car, we’ve had someone we are working with create a graphic representation artist to give us a feel of what the car could look like,”

 

 

“That is not to control the development, because it’s critical this development achieves its objectives, but why shouldn’t we have great looking cars as we’re evolving the cars? We want a car that is inspiring. F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and the car should look sensational.” Brawn concluded.

 

Brawn hopes the sport will set the 2021 regulations in stone by the end of next year.

 

Sauber optimistic ahead of Singapore GP weekend

 

 

The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team reflected on it’s first outing at the Singapore Grand Prix weekend in the midst of the midfield battle in both sessions.

 

The Hinwil-based outfit focused on tyre management in preparation for tonights qualifying with the team looking competitive in both FP1 and FP2.

 

Ferrari-bound Charles Leclerc took on the challenging Marina Bay Street Circuit for the first time and got used to the track very quickly despite a minor setback clipping the wall and damaging his front-right suspension.

 

The Monegasque-youngster ended FP1 in ninth place with his practice programme completed just before his incident. Leclerc ended FP2 in 14th place.

 

On the other side of the garage, team-mate Marcus Ericsson had a strong and consistent run finishing 11th in FP1 and 12th in FP2.

 

“It was a good day. We tested all of the different tyre compounds for the weekend, which is a positive start,” explained Ericsson. “It is a tricky circuit, with various types of corners and high temperatures making it a challenge to drive. We learned a lot today, and the car felt good.

 

“We are reasonably competitive, and have some work ahead of us to advance in what is still a very tight midfield. I look forward to being in the fight tomorrow.” Ericsson concluded.

 

Leclerc reflected on his first day at Marina Bay. “It was an interesting day for me. I drove on the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the first time, which was exciting,”

 

“The track lives up to its reputation and is a good challenge, especially in terms of tyre management. FP1 went well. I made a small error at the end of the session and touched the wall, but thankfully we had already gone through the planned programme and didn’t lose any running time. The team did a great job in fixing up the car in time for FP2,”

 

“The second session took place at night, which is more representative of the conditions we will have during qualifying and the race. We are competitive and will work hard tomorrow to fight for good start positions. I look forward to being back in the car.” Leclerc concluded.

 

Vettel: “We can recover”

 

 

Sebastian Vettel ended his day early after a setback in Free Practice 2 when he hit the wall on his first qualifying simulation run, with the German completing 12 laps under the bright Marina Bay lights. But despite admitting his incident was not ideal, the German is confident that he can bounce back and challenge for pole position.

 

Vettel, a four-time winner of the Singapore Grand Prix, was third quickest behind the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in FP1 and then was stuck in his garage following the hit of the wall at turn 21 in FP2, which saw Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fastest in the session.

 

On first viewing, it looked to be minor damage on his right-rear wheel after hitting the wall but when Vettel returned to the pits, it was worse than expected with the four-time World Champion’s Ferrari leaking hydraulic fluid from the back of his SF71-H racer.

 

Vettel however, believes that this only setback was missing out on running during the most representative conditions in the night that drivers will face in today’s qualifying and tomorrow’s race – and is still hopeful he can get the job done this weekend.

 

“The bad was obviously the touch to the wall which made the session come to an end,” explained Vettel. “Obviously there was a bit more than just a kiss, then we took precaution and decided not to run.”

 

“We lost some time, which is not ideal, but nevertheless I think I’ve got a good feel for the car and thankfully I’ve been here before so I know the track. Tomorrow I think it will be key to find the right balance and feel the car a little bit better than this evening and then we should be fine,”

 

“I tried a little bit too hard and we lost some time but I think overall the car is working and I think we can improve it from where it was. So it’s not yet where I want it to be but I think for tomorrow we should be in a better place,”

 

“This morning there were some phases that were really good. In the evening we tried something, maybe it didn’t work, so I think we’ll probably go back but that’s normal,”

 

“You try different directions. But I think the lap that I had up to the kiss with the wall was OK – but I wasn’t very happy with the car so I think there’s still (work to do).” Vettel said.

 

Heading into the race weekend, Red Bull was predicted to be challenging the Scuderia for the win but Vettel said to not rule out Mercedes either.

 

“It’s very close. I think with all the three teams, (but) maybe Red Bull are a bit closer – especially on the long runs they look quick,” Vettel continued. “We’ll see. We won’t know before Sunday but obviously here the qualifying is important.”

 

“I think it’s difficult to really read too much into the times. Also when people had traffic and so on, it’s difficult to say how much they were struggling with tyres or not. I think tyres will be key on Sunday, Red Bull looked very strong, especially later in the stints, so we will see.” Vettel concluded.

 

Vettel currently sits 30 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, can the German bounce back?

 

Hamilton: “Singapore more physically demanding this year”

 

 

The Marina Bay Street Circuit is one of the most physically demanding circuits on the calendar with it’s bumpy surfaces and the heat but championship leader Lewis Hamilton believes the challenge just got harder.

 

Speaking after FP2, the Briton who ended the day second quickest behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in FP2, said he lost almost two kilos in sweat after 20 gruelling laps behind the wheel of his W09 EQ Power+.

 

“The track is incredible,” explained Hamilton, the defending Singapore Grand Prix winner. “We’re a lot quicker than we were last year, but that also makes the lap so much harder than it was even last year because the G forces have gone up, we need to react quicker and it is crazy hot in the cockpit,”

 

“You’re sweating even before you get into the car; in the second session, I think I lost almost two kilos, so I will lose even more [in the race] on Sunday.”

 

Ferrari went into the Singapore Grand Prix weekend as favourites with Red Bull are rated close behind as dark horses but Hamilton suggested that Mercedes are not out of the picture just yet.

 

“We got through our programme, tried some different options and got some good results from it,” championship leader Hamilton continued. “We were close to the Ferraris, but we will only find out tomorrow how quick they really are. It’s looking like it might be a three-way fight between Ferrari, Red Bull and us.”

 

Red Bull: “More to come in Singapore”

 

 

As Red Bull Racing achieved a one-two in FP1 at the Singapore Grand Prix – it’s first since Monaco, had the Formula 1 paddock talking. And although Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo ended the day behind both Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton in the later FP2 session, the pairing believe they are still in with a shout of a solid weekend.

 

Ricciardo topped FP1 and was 0.286 clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who was third with the Red Bull showing promise in the hot Singapore afternoon.

 

However, both RB14’s looked less promising in the evening with Verstappen ending under the lights in FP2 as the quickest Red Bull but were half a second down to Raikkonen and Hamilton with the top two split by 0.011 seconds.

 

“The [first] session went better than this evening’s one,” explained Ricciardo. “I was just a bit more comfortable with the car, I think the lap times show that. But a personal feeling, taking lap times out, we were more comfortable on the hotter track, which is a bit weird. I’m not concerned. I think we can find a good balance for the evening – that’s when qualifying takes place,”

 

“I think we know where we stand. I think we’ll be alright.”

 

Team Principal Christian Horner agreed with Ricciardo’s statements, saying the set-up their cars ran prevented them from showing the RB14’s one lap potential in the cooler FP2 conditions – which importantly are similar to the conditions that Ricciardo and Verstappen will face in qualifying and the race.

 

“We’re not delivering the energy perhaps early enough,” explained Horner. “We just struggled to get the balance on the hypersofts, the pink tyre, absolutely nailed. So we have a bit of work to do tonight. The long runs looked encouraging. But I think we have to tidy up the hypersoft tyre. It’s quite sensitive.”

 

Red Bull have a tough decision to make, to either go for one lap pace in qualifying and take the risk of damaging their strong long running pace shown in FP2 (the ideal conditions in which the race is run under) or take the pain in qualifying and lose crucial track positions for the race.

 

Ricciardo however, was leaning towards the qualifying option, where track position is key and the goal is to get on the front row of the grid. His team-mate Verstappen remained on the cautious side about the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s prospects for Sunday’s race.

 

“I don’t think we have the pace to fight for pole,” Verstappen said. “At the moment, we’re a bit too far away so we still need to improve the car a bit more. But we have another night to work on that and we’ll see where we end up.

 

“I’m not entirely happy,” there will be more to come.” Verstappen concluded.