F1 | Singapore GP: analysis of qualifying

Rain, wet asphalt, tires and petrol. Under the floodlights of Marina Bay, qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix once again provided a spectacle, leaving the fight for pole position open until the final moments of a session full of unknowns and with an atypical conclusion. Unusual not because it was Charles Leclerc who won, making his ninth personal start this season, but because the confirmation arrived while the Monegasque was already in the pits, waiting to understand with his mechanics whether that time could be sufficient to treat yourself to another Saturday as a protagonist.

An apnea held with his heart in his throat until the unexpected liberation, when to everyone's amazement Max Verstappen had entered the pit lane without completing that lap that could have taken him to the top of the time rankings. Potentially the Dutchman had all it takes to end the evening in first position, but this does not take anything away from the merits of Leclerc, capable of striking at the most favorable moment on a particularly treacherous track. Joining the Ferrari driver on the front row will be a Red Bull, but not that of the reigning world champion, but rather that of his teammate, Sergio Perez, only twenty-two thousandths behind the leader.

A particularly hard-fought session, as demonstrated by Lewis Hamilton's third place, only half a tenth behind Leclerc. With a Mercedes capable of competing for the top positions, thus respecting internal expectations, the Englishman almost achieved what would have been his first pole of the season, missed only by an error in turn sixteen in the decisive lap. Fourth place for the other Red of Carlos Sainz, who also, despite himself, made some small mistakes in the still humid areas. Opening the third row will be Fernando Alonso, once again capable of maximizing the situation and getting the best possible result for the team, thanks to a valuable fifth place which places him ahead of his direct rivals in the midfield. An excellent result for the Spaniard, visibly satisfied at the end of qualifying, which allowed him to put Lando Norris behind him, sixth with a McLaren that presented itself in Singapore with a substantial package of updates.

On a circuit more suited to the characteristics of the AT03, full of slow corners and poor in fast corners, the real Achilles' heel of the Faenza single-seater, for the second time during this championship the AlphaTauri was able to bring both cars in Q3. A significant seventh and tenth place, especially because they could bring important points in the constructors' standings, in a weekend where, among other things, the team worked intensely to compare the packages available: after having alternated them for all three tests free practice, the new front wing was confirmed for qualifying, including a revised nose in the external structure. Verstappen and Magnussen came between Gasly and Tsunoda, with the Dutchman from Red Bull forced to return to the pits even before completing the last lap to avoid running out of the fuel needed to pass the post-qualifying regulation checks. An error in the calculations which cost the reigning world champion dearly, but which finds an explanation in the change of strategy implemented by the wall during the race, enticed by the opportunity to carry out another round (initially not foreseen) on a track that it was progressively drying out.

George Russell was out of the top ten, slowed down by problems with the brakes and accelerator (which remained partially open) which did not allow him to attack the corners as he would have liked, leading him to have to fight understeer while traveling. The two Aston Martins will start from twelfth and fourteenth position, having led the way for the competition, playing for the slick wildcard in the last attempt of Q2. A move that did not yield the desired results and which, in part, fueled a sense of regret, because with the intermediates the passage to Q3 would probably have been feasible. The two Alfa Romeos were excluded in the early stages, still far from their best form on the damp asphalt, as was Esteban Ocon, forced out of Q1 due to a brake problem.

Leclerc: the right lap at the right time

Nine pole positions of the season, the eighteenth of his career. Like three years ago, under the starry sky of Singapore it is once again Charles Leclerc who conquers the scene and the headlines, good at imposing himself even in difficult conditions. Despite a mistake in what should have been his last attempt, which had pushed him to abort and return to the pits, the time achieved in the immediately preceding lap proved to be enough to put the rest of the group behind him. The secret was to have completed an overall clean lap, without major flaws, because even if it is true that at that moment the track was not yet in the best condition, the time lost with a possible mistake would still have been higher than the time gained. thanks to the progressive improvement of the asphalt.

Equally fundamental was the choice to observe his rivals and discard the intermediate at the beginning of Q3, fitting the soft like his rivals: without this move, Charles would have lost several minutes, making it more complicated to bring the tires up to temperature for the final assault .

Changing conditions that represented the biggest obstacle of the entire session, with wet sections even in the last minutes and almost dry areas: “The last sector was quite complicated, because there were many wet parts. Turn 13 was also quite complicated. So the conditions were not the same throughout the circuit, so we had to adapt and follow the improvements of the track. But yes, mine... Not the last lap, but the one just before it was really good and it was the lap for pole" – explained the Ferrari driver, underlining how clean driving was fundamental to prevail on a Saturday of so difficult to interpret -. “And on my last lap, unfortunately, I made a mistake. Nothing would have changed. But maybe if Max had finished the lap, we would have lost pole due to this mistake. But overall it was a positive Saturday", added Leclerc, underlining how the long run in turn 16 on the last lap deprived him of the opportunity to improve his time, despite the fact that in the first two sectors he had been able to remove about three tenths.

However, sometimes you also need a bit of luck and this time Lady Luck did not betray the Monegasque, interrupting Verstappen just when pole seemed to be in his hands. This is an opportunity not to be missed, aware that Saturday's result represents only half the work and that tomorrow strategy will play a key role.

The lack of data from the long-distance simulations, due to the time lost in making an important set-up change during the second free practice session, does not scare Leclerc, who is however overall satisfied with the balance found during the weekend: "In general, I think the feeling with the car was excellent throughout the weekend. So yes, we are missing some data for tomorrow's race, but that doesn't worry me too much. We just have to try to do everything perfectly.”

Verstappen: wrong strategy

If at the top of the standings Ferrari enjoys a pole which guarantees good opportunities ahead of the race, the situation is different for Red Bull, only half happy. Sergio Perez's second place, just twenty-two thousandths of a second off the top, represents an encouraging result with which to think we can put the Italian team under pressure in the race, but on the other side of the garage we cannot hide the regret for an error that deprived Max Verstappen of an almost certain first position.

The Dutchman was the first to leave the pits at the start of Q3, putting himself in front of the group. The objective was to complete five laps, consisting in sequence of a preparation pass to warm up the tyres, two spin laps, one to recharge the battery and, finally, the final attempt. A plan also confirmed live by Verstappen's engineer himself, who at the end of the preparation lap had indicated to his driver: "Max confirmed, we will push for two laps, then a slow lap and then a fast lap again."

Nothing unusual, except that during the slow-lap the wall had decided to change strategy after having glimpsed the opportunity to complete not a single hard lap, but two, or one more than initially expected. It is clear that, when they refueled in view of Q3, the team had carried out its calculations on the basis of five laps (to which out-lap and in-lap should have been added), not six, so it was then made it necessary to abort the last attempt to avoid being left without a sufficient quantity of petrol for the post-session FIA technical checks. An important mistake, which deprived the Dutchman of the opportunity to fight for pole, given that even the previous lap, interrupted precisely to avoid traffic in the last lap, would have been enough to fight for a place in the front rows.

The error relating to the fuel on board, however, is not the only one committed by Red Bull on the difficult Saturday in Singapore. When the team had opted for the change of strategy during the race, from their calculations the window available to make the plan work seemed to be really narrow, just five seconds, which is why it would not even have been possible to slow down the pace to properly recharge the battery and take up space from the cars in front of him. However, observing the available references, it emerges that that window was actually wider, between 10 and 15 seconds: a rather important error, which meant that in the first of the two hard laps Verstappen was forced, under the advice of the team , to lift his foot to avoid meeting Gasly's traffic, aborting that lap that could have given him pole position.

“Today we couldn't complete the push lap because we wouldn't have had enough fuel in the car, it was a mistake we didn't see during the session. We were a little surprised by the possibility of doing an extra lap at the end, we didn't expect to be able to do it. I was about to do a good lap when I stopped before starting the final lap, but that lap could have been enough for pole. In hindsight we should have finished the penultimate lap, but instead I had to stop two laps, but talking with hindsight is easy. We'll see what we can do tomorrow, but I think it will be a frustrating race, starting eighth here is similar to Monaco, there aren't many overtaking opportunities and it's really difficult to pass", explained Verstappen at the end of qualifying, clearly frustrated with a pole which seemed to be in his hands. Although it is true that the RB18 favors race performance over flying lap performance, being able to finish ahead of everyone on Saturday could have been an important signal in view of the race, limiting what on several occasions proved to be a bit 'Red Bull's weak point during this world championship. For the world champion it will be an uphill Sunday, especially due to the difficulties in completing overtaking compared to events such as Spa or Monza, where on the long straights the Dutchman was able to compensate for the handicap of the penalties.

Hamilton: only 54 thousandths missing

Before arriving in Singapore, there was a certain amount of confidence in Mercedes for what the Marina Bay event could have been. Type of corners very similar to each other, pure traction and, despite the asphalt full of bumps, the hope was to be able to compete for an important result. Friday's practice had provided mixed sensations, with Lewis Hamilton not particularly satisfied with the feeling with the car at the end of the second free practice session, although the pace shown was still encouraging. The arrival of the rain and the different weather conditions, however, had changed the prospects again, giving the two riders the opportunity to fight for a place in the front rows.

Unfortunately, a brake problem during the second session had led to George Russell's premature exclusion, leaving the task of defending the Star colors on the shoulders of Lewis Hamilton. The prospects finally seemed to be the right ones to be able to achieve the first pole of the season and the split times recorded in the first two sectors seemed to point him precisely in this direction: the times, in fact, would have been sufficient not only to overcome the best lap achieved by Leclerc, but also to beat the Ferrarista's last attempt, which was then aborted due to a mistake in turn 16. Unfortunately, a slight overshoot in the same corner, among the most treacherous due to the presence of patches of water in the braking area, had deprived the seven-time champion in the world of those few cents needed to transform a second row into what could have been a first position.

“I was pushing hard and I was incredibly close. It was very difficult to reach a position that would allow us to fight for first place and on the last lap I didn't have enough grip. Coming here, we didn't know how close we could be this weekend. We knew we would be stronger than in Monza, but we didn't know exactly how much. However, I am grateful to be on the second row tomorrow. And I'm grateful to the team for continuing to push. We just have to keep our heads down and hope for a positive day tomorrow,” Hamilton explained in interviews.