#Formula1 Singapore Airlines #SingaporeGP 2019 Preview – F1
Formula 1 2018 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix race start, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay, Singapore. Image credit to Getty Images.
After Charles Leclerc withstood pressure from both Lewis Hamilton and later Valtteri Bottas to bring Ferrari to glory at their home Grand Prix Monza in-front of the passionate “Tifosi” and scored back-to-back victories, round 15 of the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns to the streets of Marina Bay in Singapore under the lights for the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019. This will be the twelfth running of the Singapore Grand Prix as part of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
A look at the Marina Bay Street Circuit
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is a street circuit around Singapore’s Marina Bay in a harbour-side similar in style to the Circuit de Monaco (Monaco Grand Prix). The circuit is designed by KBR.inc, a modification of the original one first proposed by Hermann Tilke.
It is a twisty circuit that is the slowest in Formula 1 running at normal race distance above 305 kilometres (190 miles) which features walls leading to frequent safety cars, regularly nudging the race distance above two hours. The bumpiness, heavy braking zones, lack of daylight and humidity makes the 61-lap race very demanding for both man and machine. It has some 90-degree turns, but is pretty variable, featuring technical sections and quick direction changes. Overtaking is mostly done at the end of the first sector, where top speeds are at their highest. Runoff areas exist at the end of the long straights but are very short by Formula 1 standards. At most parts of the circuit, cars run very close to the walls.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit has undergone a couple of changes since being part of the Formula 1 Calendar since 2008 including a slight re-profiling of the circuit in 2009 where turns 1, 2 and 3 were modified to aid overtaking and also turn 10 (formerly Singapore Sling) where high kerbs caused many accidents. In 2013, a configuration change of the “Singapore Sling” turn 10 with a single apex left hand bend which has seen corner entry speeds up to 40km/h faster. This year it has undergone minor changes ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, the modifications run from turn 11 to 13; drivers will still turn right at turn 11 but it will now kink to the left slightly on entry with the track shifting to the left-hand side of Fullerton Road. This will change the profile of turn 12, as drivers will now use the other side of Anderson Bridge while the turn 13 hairpin has been widened by a metre to increase overtaking opportunities.
While in Monza the cars ran in a low downforce configuration, Singapore requires a high downforce configuration. The cars run at 46% full throttle over a lap and the circuit is one the least fuel-efficient races of the year due to its stop-start nature. Marina Bay is also very tough on brakes, with about a quarter of the lap spent braking and while wear is not a major difficulty, problems are caused by the temperatures the brakes reach due to a lack of opportunities for cooling. After the power and speed circuits of Spa and Monza, Singapore will require different attributes which could pay in the favour of both Ferrari and Red Bull and bring them a lot closer to Mercedes.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is 5.063km (3.147mi) in length with 23 corners and runs in an anti-clockwise direction.
Race distance is 308.828km (191.897mi) in length with 61 laps in total.
Kevin Magnussen holds the fastest lap record with a 1:41.905 set at last year’s event in his Ferrari-powered Haas F1 Team VF-18.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel share the record for most victories at the Singapore Grand Prix with four each to their name.
Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport are the most successful constructors at the Singapore Grand Prix with four victories.
A Lap of The Marina Bay Street Circuit
Here is last year’s onboard pole position lap of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, set by Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton. The Briton posted one of the most stunning laps in history and broke the track record with a 1:36.015. You can relive this spectacular moment here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI3JzYCL3K0
The Last Five Winners
2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2017: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2016: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1. 2015: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari. 2014: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1.
Tyres
Pirelli will be bringing with them to Marina Bay, the softest compounds in its range; the white-side walled P Zero C3 Hards, the yellow-branded P Zero C4 Mediums and the red-marked P Zero C5 Soft tyre along with the green-marked Intermediate and blue-branded full wet tyre in case of rain.
Formula 1’s top three outfits have selected different tyre allocations for this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon and Max Verstappen have opted for an aggressive ten sets of the red-branded C5 soft compounds, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel having a set fewer than the Red Bull pairing with nine each and Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas selecting eight sets of the softs each.
Racing Point followed Red Bull’s approach with ten sets of the softer rubber, while the Williams pairing will have the lowest amount of soft compounds in the field with seven each for George Russell and Robert Kubica.
Mercedes and Ferrari have given all their drivers three sets each of the C4 yellow-marked mediums while the Red Bull duo will have just one set of the mediums each for their respective drivers.
DRS Zones
There will now be three DRS Zones at the Singapore Grand Prix, the first detection zone is at the exit of turn four with the first activation zone 53 metres after turn five. The second detection point is 102 metres before turn 13 with the activation point 78 metres after turn thirteen. The final detection point is 180 metres before the apex of turn 22 with the third activation point 48 metres after the turn 23 apex.
ICYMI: Italian GP Rewind – Leclerc takes Ferrari to Italian GP triumph
Charles Leclerc withstood intense pressure from both Mercedes to give Ferrari a triumphant Italian Grand Prix victory and earn back-to-back wins.
Leclerc was left to fight alone for the victory at Ferrari’s home race after team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered a spin early on whilst running fourth and chasing Bottas.
Hamilton pushed Leclerc to his limits over more than 20 laps before Bottas took over Mercedes’ attack for his attempt at the end, but Leclerc kept his cool and both behind to win again just seven days after scoring his first victory at Spa.
Leclerc held Hamilton at an arm’s distance for the initial stint of the Grand Prix but came under attack from the Briton after stopping one lap later than his rival – and putting on harder compounds to Hamilton’s mediums.
Hamilton’s earlier stop made him within striking distance immediately and the pairing went into a massive battle lasting more than 20 laps.
During that period, Hamilton got close enough to mount two serious attempts.
The first one came on lap 23 when Hamilton saw a minor delay as Leclerc passed the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg at Parabolica to force the Monegasque youngster to defend into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane – where Leclerc took an excursion into the run-off.
Leclerc defended once more into the Variante Della Roggia chicane but cut across to the right, made slight contact with Hamilton and forced the Briton into the run-off area.
Leclerc was shown the black and white flag warning for that move and was lucky to get away with what Hamilton called as “dangerous” on the 36th lap.
A little lock-up from Leclerc sent the Ferrari driver over the run-off area at the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane and gave Hamilton a fight out of the corner.
With Hamilton looking to make the move around the outside through the Curva Grande, Leclerc pulled to the left to block the Mercedes path – shutting down the former’s attack.
Over the next few laps, Hamilton kept close but could not mount another serious attack on the Ferrari before locking up at the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane at the start of the 42nd lap.
Hamilton went into the escape road, allowing team-mate Bottas to sweep by into second after the Finn had quickly made his way back to the battling leaders at the front due to his long initial stint giving him an eight lap fresher tyre advantage.
It was Bottas’ turn to fight, three seconds off Leclerc, and almost got within DRS range with six laps left before losing time in the third sector.
The Finn’s best opportunity came with three laps remaining when he got to within half a second behind Leclerc, but Bottas ran too deep into Variante Del Rettifilo and fell back.
Bottas once again made it to DRS range on the final lap, then made another small mistake at the Variante Della Roggia chicane, which ensured that Leclerc crossed the line by 0.835 seconds.
Hamilton ended the race a distant third after putting on a fresh set of softs to grab the bonus fastest lap point meaning the Briton’s championship lead over team-mate Bottas is at 63 points.
Whilst Leclerc held on to clinch his first Italian Grand Prix victory as a Ferrari driver to earn legend status amongst the ‘Tifosi’, team-mate Vettel had a disastrous race and finished in 13th place.
He was in fourth and close to catching Bottas early on until the German spun after hitting the kerb at the Ascari chicane on the sixth lap.
Vettel then rejoined the track while cars were flying by and clipped Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who was running seventh into a spin.
Stroll was able to continue and rejoined as Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was exiting Ascari – which forced the Frenchman to run through the gravel.
Vettel was hit with a 10 second stop-go penalty for returning to the track in an unsafe manner, the harshest penalty available and only short to a disqualification, whilst Stroll’s actions were narrowly less severe and the Canadian was slapped with a drive-through.
With Vettel and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen’s absence, who started at the rear due to an engine penalty and the latter’s race was compromised by a first lap collision – Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo took the French-Anglo alliances season-best result of fourth.
Ricciardo dropped behind team-mate Hulkenberg in the early stages but quickly repassed the German to take fourth when Vettel spun.
The Australian held a comfortable gap over Hulkenberg until the end of the Grand Prix, whilst the latter – who had momentarily passed Vettel on the opening lap – remained in fifth and in-front of Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon to give Renault a huge haul of points.
Albon needed to regain some ground after touching wheels with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and going through the Lesmo gravel trap and received a five second time penalty for corner cutting when battling Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen.
Behind Albon, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez benefited strongly from a virtual safety car deployment during his pit-stop window to take seventh place despite starting a low 18th.
Verstappen fought his way back into eighth after stopping on the opening lap for a front wing change, having broken it when the pack clustered into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane.
Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi claimed points at his home Grand Prix in a ninth-place finish while McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top ten after starting 16th on the grid.
The aforementioned Gasly, Stroll and Vettel finished 11th, 12th and 13th respectively and in-front of Williams’ George Russell who was 14th and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen who took 15th.
Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean came home in 16th and ahead of ROKiT Williams Racing’s Robert Kubica who finished at the rear two laps down.
There were three casualties at the Italian Grand Prix, as two came shortly after making their pit-stops.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz lost a likely strong points finish for the Woking-based squad when the front-right wheel of his MCL34 racer was not attached properly at his pit-stop.
Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was also running well into the top ten, until his Honda-powered STR14 racer came to a stop after exiting the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane after his own pit-stop.
Magnussen was the final driver to retire. The Dane had already fell out of the top ten after locking up at turn one and went into the run-off area and eventually stopped due to a hydraulic problem.
The Situation
Lewis Hamilton returns to Marina Bay sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship with 284 points and a 63 point-advantage over team-mate Valtteri Bottas who is second on 221 points while Max Verstappen is a further 99 behind the Briton in third on 185 points.
Mercedes come to Singapore comfortably at the top of the Constructors Championship with 505 points and a 154 point-lead over nearest rival Ferrari who are second on 351 points while Red Bull Racing are third and a further 239 behind the Silver Arrows on 266 points.
Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship Standings – Top 10
- Lewis Hamilton – 284 Points.
- Valtteri Bottas – 221 Points.
- Max Verstappen – 185 Points.
- Charles Leclerc – 182 Points.
- Sebastian Vettel – 169 Points.
- Pierre Gasly – 65 Points.
- Carlos Sainz – 58 Points.
- Daniel Ricciardo – 34 Points.
- Alexander Albon – 34 Points.
- Daniil Kvyat – 33 Points.
Formula 1 2019 World Constructors Championship Standings
- Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 505 Points.
- Scuderia Ferrari – 351 Points.
- Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda – 266 Points.
- McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 83 Points.
- Renault F1 Team – 65 Points.
- Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 51 Points.
- SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team – 46 Points.
- Alfa Romeo Racing – 34 Points.
- Rich Energy Haas F1 Team – 26 Points.
- ROKiT Williams Racing – 1 Point.
The Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019 weekend begins Friday September 20 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday September 21 and the 61 lap Race Sunday September 22.
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