Some quali shocks today.
Stroll & Red Bull especially

Stroll not particularly a shock. Glad he’s OK, but his driving has been going downhill all year. Because of him, AM is losing money in the form of championship money at the end of the season, and he’s costing the team money with his crashes.

Red Bull was a big surprise. Were they affected by the new TD on flexi-wings? I wouldn’t think that would have much affect on a high downforce circuit like Singapore. Really interested to see what happens next week in Japan to see if anything has really changed.

It'll be interesting to watch what Max can do from there tomorrow.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
Red Bull was a big surprise. Were they affected by the new TD on flexi-wings? I wouldn’t think that would have much affect on a high downforce circuit like Singapore.

Max was complaining of a lack of rear end grip and the car "bottoming out" during braking.

The impression I got was that they adjusted something "too much" and it went from "a little too much" to "not enough"

The lap time spread was very close so it didn't take that much to get them bumped out. I don't think it,s the tech stuff, just they had to compromise the design somewhere and this place was it. Maybe missed a few adjustments too.

I still wouldn't count Red Bull out just yet as their race pace and tire wear has been better than most at other tracks and this track seems to be high on tire wear.

Singapore has also had a safety car at every GP they've had so an alternative strategy could benefit someone that takes a gamble.

Stroll seems to be especially unmotivated lately. He's not an Alonso for sure but he shouldn't be performing as bad as he is. His first race this year when he had a broken hand seems like a high water mark for his season. I expect him to be .3 to .5 off Fernando but the last few months he's seemed especially poor like his mind is somewhere else.

The Mercedes has a better tire selection available with new mediums so that may help. George seems like their best bet but Lewis somehow seems to show up towards the end .

The Ferrari's, who knows. They've had pace before but tire wear and terrible strategy have done them in recently.

Both Haas cars in front of the Bulls. Doubt it will last but a good effort anyway.

Lawson's done a good job improving and not making any big mistakes and he's slowly improving his speed. Also ahead of both RB's.

Should be interesting tomorrow and lots of people will be taking risks in turn 1 as it's been hard to pass there before.

I expect a long 1st stint setup from the RBR pair, as long as the hard isn't a terrible option on heavy fuel.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I expect a long 1st stint setup from the RBR pair, as long as the hard isn't a terrible option on heavy fuel.

I like that idea too.

The track will be at its warmest, weight the highest and if it happens in the first few laps they will be on almost equal tires to everyone else. The others will have had to pit while they stay out so they should go right to the front.

Sounds like the others will start on mediums but the Mercedes will have new and the rest have used sets. They also said most may need two stops due to higher wear.

That was a pretty good race with a nail biter finish. George Russell is going to be on suicide watch after blowing it on the last lap. Thankfully this wasn't a WWE audience because everyone would be chanting "You f***ed up! You f***ed up!." I was scared Red Bull might have had a shot during the first safety car, but thankfully they lost places on used tires. Aston Martin had a weekend to forget and has to look behind them because McLaren is clawing it's way into 4th.

Poor George Russell!

For once, Ferrari had a race strategy that actually worked. Sainz allowing Norris to get DRS so Norris could hold off the hard-charging Mercedes was good thinking.

So I see that finally someone other than Red Bull is atop the podium. RB's unbeaten streak is dead and buried, but I'm surprised that neither car even made the top three. I missed watching the race but congrats to Ferrari and Carlos. Hope the event was actually interesting and a close one to the end for those who did watch; F1 certainly could use a few of those kinds of races.

There was some dull in the middle, but a safety car and a VSC played a big part into the big finish. If Mercedes didn't get a chance to put new tires on Russell and Hamilton towards the end, they'd be finishing about 6th and 7th instead of fighting for a podium.

Carlos did an awesome job of making his tires last and using Lando to hold up both Mercs. The Ferrari earlier strategy to keep the pack bunched up really paid off in preventing others from double stacking

I liked his radio traffic when the pit wall was concerned that he was falling into Lando's DRS range and he answered back that he was doing it on purpose

Poor Charles couldn't hold off Max to hold onto 5th...his tires must have been really toast.

Congrats to Lawson for scoring his first points

I was really hoping Alex would pick up some points after running in the top ten most of the day...until his encounter with Checo

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

Poor Charles couldn't hold off Max to hold onto 5th...his tires must have been really toast.

What? Leclerc finished 4th and Max was 5th. He just barely held on by a couple of 1/10s, but did hang on.

Red Bull had to do something different to win but I didn't understand their strategy at all.

If the yellow had happened on the first lap or early and they pit, they then have to use reds or yellows and can't go the distance without another stop.

If they don't and the rest do, they are at the front but I doubt the others would pit that early as they had everything to loose and little to gain as a second stop would be guaranteed. That's the only way this works for them.

Otherwise, this was a not too exciting chess match for 2/3's of the race and spectacular the rest of the way.

Somehow the organizers need to do something to shorten the pit stop times at these races so more stops are beneficial.
Either reconfigure and shorten the lane where possible or increase the speed on the entrance/exit part by 10 mph.

Red Bull expected the Hards to last longer than they did and for Max and Perez to hold their positions instead of falling back so they could 1 stop the race. Considering all the 1 stop races we've had this year, it was a reasonable enough plan.

As far as pit stops go, they could bring back refueling and make teams use gravity fed pumps instead of the pressurized tanks that set everything and everyone on fire. It would also make the car smaller and weigh less. Or just limit the pit crew to 7 or 8.

Great drive by Sainz, well managed
Perfect timing by the MB team, they had amazing pace, all for GR to bin it at the end.
Thought Max was going to get Charles at the end, barely held it.

More retirements than expected, heat, for those that didn't crash out?
Did Yuki just have a puncture & call it? Bummer for Ocon & Bottas.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Did Yuki just have a puncture & call it?

Wasn't that caused by contact with Piastri?

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Did Yuki just have a puncture & call it?

Wasn't that caused by contact with Piastri?

I caught a brief glimpse of that in replay, car didn't look bad enough to retire in the small replay, didn't notice a puncture.
Lawson did great & definitely should give the team something to consider

I've always hated this race, just a grind. Removing four turns in a jog around a grandstand seemed to have opened things up considerably.

Good for Sainz who all along has consistently showed he's smarter than his team. This is three races in a row he's held off better cars, he's Ferrari's biggest asset.

Sainz is definitely one of the few to call out strategy, logically instead of emotionally.

Had the SC been later/longer, RBR [Max] likely would've been back on the podium at minimum