Here's the full title of this race for you:Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024
Singapore has a twisty, turny track, it's also a night race and it is one place where we know for sure that the Red Bull car has struggled over the last couple of years, so I guess we can expect to see more of the issues we've already seen the team have lately this season. Verstappen and Red Bull have even more competition this year than they did last year and we know this track hasn't suited their car, so it could be painful for them again this year potentially. If their car is no better here than it was in the last two seasons, they will be lucky to score points, let alone get on the podium I'd say. Leclerc will be itching to make up for losing to Piastri in Baku. Perez will no doubt be looking to make things up to the Red Bull team after that coming together with Sainz in Baku, (which I note is still being discussed). Norris will be hoping for a better qualifying and Max Verstappen will be hoping for a better car. Whether any of these things will happen or not, we'll have to wait and see I guess. Only Piastri, of the front runners, can go into this race with a big smile on his face and nothing to regret from the last race. McLaren lead the constructors championship and they will look to maintain that lead if at all possible. They have two good drivers who will give it their all to make it happen, you can bet on that, even if Ferrari do try and spoil their party.
When was the track built?
The Marina Bay Circuit arrived on the scene in 2008. A street track with the city's famous skyline as its spectacular backdrop, the initial circuit plan by Herman Tilke was refined by KBR Inc, while the event has quickly established itself as one of the standouts on the F1 calendar. There were some amendments made to it in 2023 as well.
When was its first Grand Prix?
In 2008, Singapore had the honour of hosting the first night-time race in F1 history. The Grand Prix – the 15th round of that season – proved a huge hit with the teams and drivers, while Renault’s Fernando Alonso claimed a controversial victory after the infamous crash-gate incident.
What’s the circuit like?
The Marina Bay Circuit is one of the most physically demanding on the calendar, its bumpy street surface coupled with humid conditions giving the drivers plenty to think about. Even with a revised 2023 layout reducing the number of corners from 23 to 19, they are working the wheel a lot, too, around the high-speed lap – the physical stress causing them to lose as much as 3kg in body weight over the course of a race.
First Grand Prix
2008
Number of Laps
62
Circuit Length
4.94 km
Race Distance
306.143 km
Lap Record
1:35.867Lewis Hamilton (2023)
You can fiind the race highlights for 2023 here:
What happened last year?
The 2023 Singapore Grand Prix was held on 17 September 2023 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore and was the 15th round of the season. At this point in time, Max Verstappen led the Championship by 145 points from Sergio Perez, with Fernando Alonso in 3rd, another 49 points behind. Red Bull had a massive lead of 310 in the Constructors' Championship ahead of Mercedes, with Ferrari another 45 points behind. Red Bull could also have tied up the championship at this race but it wasn't to be as the Red Bull advantage they had enjoyed elsewhere just wasn't with them at this track.
The drivers and teams were initially the same as the season entry list, with the exception of Liam Lawson, who was still subbing in for the injured Ricciardo in the seat which had originally been held by Nyck de Vries.
FP1 saw Charles Leclerc topping the session, with Carlos Sainz 2nd and Max Verstappen 3rd. In FP2, the Ferrari boys were still 1st and 2nd but Carlos Sainz edged his teammate to be fastest. George Russell was 3rd. On the Saturday, Carlos Sainz took 1st on the timesheets ahead of George Russell in 2nd and Lando Norris in 3rd when they had FP3.
Qualifying
In Q1 Yuki Tsunoda had the fastest time ahead of Sergio Perez and Nico Hülkenberg after a heavy crash for Lance Stroll brought out the red flag in the closing moments. That was the end of Stroll's weekend, even though he was deemed fit to race after being checked out at the medical centre. Q2 was headed by Carlos Sainz, with George Russell 2nd and Fernando Alonso taking 3rd. The most remarkable thing being that both Red Bulls went out in this round. Liam Lawson was the person who dropped Max Verstappen out with a time that was 0.007 faster. It was the first time that neither Red Bull made it into Q3 since the Russian GP in 2018. Q3 saw Sainz take pole position ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc, his and Ferrari's second consecutive pole after doing the same thing at the Italian Grand Prix. Following qualifying, Max Verstappen and Logan Sargeant were given reprimands for various impeding incidents.
Race
Lance Stroll withdrew before the race following his qualifying crash and Zhou Guanyu started the race from the pit lane due to power unit changes.
At the race start, Carlos Sainz held the lead and Charles Leclerc got ahead of George Russell to take second place thanks to his choice of soft tyres. Russell's teammate Lewis Hamilton took to the turn 1 run-off and was noted by the stewards for gaining an advantage, so he had to give back to Russell the position he'd gained.
Yuki Tsunoda suffered a puncture early in the race after a coming together with Sergio Perez, he retired on lap 1 due to damage to his sidepods. He parked his car safely behind the barriers. His retirement triggered a yellow flag for a brief time. Not long after that incident happened, Logan Sargeant crashed into a barrier and broke his front wing. He limped back to the pit lane while his car threw debris onto the track, that triggered a safety car. Red Bull decided not to pit their drivers during the safety car, that meant both were running on older hard tyres at the restart. As a result, George Russell, Lando Norris, and Hamilton were quickly able to pass Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, who were both struggling. Verstappen and Perez were forced to come into the pits, coming out 15th and 18th respectively. They were able to recover to 5th and 8th by the end of the race. The race resumed with Sainz holding his lead. A few laps later, Esteban Ocon stopped on track with a gearbox issue, this only triggered a virtual safety car. Mercedes took advantage of this and double-stacked their drivers in the pits. Fernando Alonso, who gained a penalty during the earlier safety car, due to crossing the pit entry line, had a slow stop, leaving him last. Russell and Hamilton both passed Leclerc to claim 3rd and 4th respectively.
As the race entered the closing stages, Carlos Sainz cleverly allowed Lando Norris, running in 2nd at this point, to remain within DRS range. That made it almost impossible for Russell and Hamilton (3rd & 4th) to overtake Norris and therefore challenge Sainz for the lead. On the final lap, George Russell seemingly got frustrated and clipped the wall which broke his suspension. This caused him to slam into the wall at turn 10 and ended his podium hopes. Lando Norris had clipped the same wall just before George Russell's crash but he was luckier and his car was undamaged. Having led the entire race, Sainz took the win. It was his first since the 2022 British Grand Prix and Ferrari's first since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. It broke the Max Verstappen and Red Bull's winning streak. Lando Norris was 2nd, with Lewis Hamilton in 3rd place. In only his 3rd F1 race, Liam Lawson was 9th scoring his maiden points for AlphaTauri. Max Verstappen's 5th place was the only race where he did not finish on the podium for the entire 2023 season.
The timetable for this race is as follows, all times are local to Marina Bay.
Friday 20th September
Practice 1 17:30 - 18:30
Practice 2 21:00 - 22:00
Saturday 21st September
Practice 3 17:30 - 18:30
Qualifying 21:00 - 22:00
Sunday 22nd September
Race 20:00
As happens in this part of the world, there is a high chance of high humidity and therefore, heavy showers of rain. We all know that when it comes down here, it buckets down, so good luck to all of those playing Guess The Pole
I hope you have enjoyed my efforts over the last few races. It's been a pleasure to lend a hand but I am sure you will all be relieved to know that normal service will resume next race when it comes to these threads I suspect.
2019 GTP Accuracy Champion 
