It’s flyaway season again for Formula One as the world championship returns to the Far East and the physically demanding and perennially entertaining Singapore Grand Prix. Be sure to tune in on The Roar from 9:50pm (AEST) for live coverage and lap-by-lap updates of the race.
The original F1 night race sees its fourteenth running this year and has been a calendar mainstay, apart from the two pandemic-affected seasons. Even though the race is run at night, the conditions and humidity still make it the most challenging of the season.
2023 sees some changes to the track layout, that will hopefully see more overtaking on this typically tight street circuit. Four corners in the final sector from last year’s Turn 16 to Turn 19 have been removed – with a straight now going past that waterfront stadium section.
As a result of the circuit length being reduced to 4.9km from 5km, the total lap count for the grand prix has gone from 61 to 62 laps as well. That hasn’t changed the fact that Safety Cars will remain a high probability and variable two-stop strategies will be utilised given Pirelli have the softest compounds on hand here.
Championship leaders Red Bull also have their first opportunity mathematically to go back-to-back in the constructor’s championship this weekend. They’ll need to score a one-two finish and rely on Mercedes to score no points.
Though despite the imperious run of form from the energy drinks giant and reigning world champion Max Verstappen, with 10 wins on the bounce this season – Red Bull after practice looked as if they might have more of a fight on their hands in Singapore.
Neither Verstappen nor 2022 race winner Sergio Perez made it into Q3, with the reigning world champion investigated for three counts of impeding during the session.
This meant a second straight pole position for Carlos Sainz, by a slender 0.072-seconds over George Russell in the Mercedes. 0.005-seconds behind in third was Charles Leclerc, who heads up the second row of the grid with Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri will have to work his way through the field on a track notoriously hard to pass on, after being caught out on his final flying lap by the nasty shunt by Lance Stroll at the final corner.
Ferrari have admitted they don’t quite have the race pace of the Mercedes and McLaren, though regardless of who it is – can Red Bull’s stranglehold on Formula One be broken here?
Lights out: 10pm (AEST)
Venue: Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
TV: Fox Sports
Streaming: Kayo Sports
Grid
1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 2. George Russell (Mercedes), 3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 4. Lando Norris (McLaren), 5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 6. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 9. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), 10. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri), 11. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 13. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 14. Alexander Albon (Williams), 15. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 16. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 17. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 18. Logan Sargeant (Williams), 19. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
andrew
Roar Rookie
Good to see Ferrari back on the winner's list and also Norris and Oscar both getting points. McLaren's certainly turned their season around and I hope it won't be too long before Oscar is standing on the podium.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
What a race that was Roarers! And good on those out there who believed and were optimistic that Red Bull wouldn't win every race this season. Congratulations to Ferrari and Carlos Sainz, because I've been on the record saying Ferrari won't win this season. But great to see the good mates Sainz and Lando Norris on the podium together. Verstappen recovers to fifth, Oscar in the points and maiden F1 points for Liam Lawson too! Thank you joining me for this live blog on The Roar and I'll be back for the Japanese Grand Prix (which starts at 3pm AEST!) in a week's time. Until then, bye for now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 374 - Max Verstappen 223 - Sergio Perez 180 - Lewis Hamilton 170 - Fernando Alonso 142 - Carlos Sainz 123 - Charles Leclerc 109 - George Russell 97 -- Lando Norris 47 -- Lance Stroll 45 -- Pierre Gasly 42 -- Oscar Piastri 36 -- Esteban Ocon 21 -- Alexander Albon 9 --- Nico Hülkenberg 6 --- Valtteri Bottas 4 --- Zhou Guanyu 3 --- Yuki Tsunoda 3 --- Kevin Magnussen 2 --- Liam Lawson 0 --- Logan Sargeant 0 --- Nyck De Vries 0 --- Daniel Ricciardo
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 597 - Red Bull Racing 289 - Mercedes AMG 265 - Ferrari 217 - Aston Martin Racing 139 - McLaren Mercedes 81 -- Alpine 21 -- Williams Mercedes 12 -- Haas Ferrari 10 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 5 --- Scuderia AlphaTauri
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT A thrilling conclusion to another gruelling Singapore Grand Prix has seen the Red Bull run of victories in 2023 broken, as Carlos Sainz broke through for Ferrari and held on in an intense finish to the race. Sainz and former teammate Lando Norris both on 42-lap hard tyres, held off both Mercedes cars who pitted for fresh mediums under a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 45, with George Russell crashing out on the final lap – under pressure from teammate Lewis Hamilton who finished third. From pole position, Sainz led his teammate Charles Leclerc – who on the soft tyre was able to leapfrog Russell who started on the front-row of the grid. The Spaniard controlled the pace of the race from the outset, with the likes of Russell left frustrated with the slow proceedings. Hamilton at the start had a moment going off the track on the outside of Turns 1 and 2, where he jumped into third and then had to return the position to Russell and subsequently losing out to Norris also. The only full Safety Car was deployed on Lap 20 when Logan Sargeant found the barriers at Turn 8 and left debris from his front-wing on the track. The American was able to continue on, though the track needed tidying under the Safety Car. Pit-lane became a hive of activity with the entire field pitting and double stacking in the case of Ferrari and Mercedes. Leclerc in trying to back the pack up behind Sainz, was victim of being held up upon release from his pit-stop and lost four spots. Both Red Bulls had not pitted, due to starting the race on the hard tyres from outside the top ten. While Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez found themselves amongst the leaders, their tyre offset meant that they plummeted quickly. The race then settled into a holding pattern, as Sainz again controlled the pace ahead of Russell, Norris, Hamilton and his teammate Leclerc. Before Esteban Ocon suffered a gearbox failure and stopped at the inside of Turn 2 at pit-exit which triggered the Virtual Safety Car. Mercedes were the only ones of the leading quartet to gamble on a fresh set of tyres, which set up the grandstand finish where Sainz gifted Norris the DRS to defend from the Silver Arrows and Russell under succumbing under pressure. Leclerc being the sacrificial lamb for Ferrari secured fourth with the Russell retirement, while Verstappen benefitted from fresh mediums at the end to pick off Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri – who also finished in the top seven from outside the top ten. An excellent race for Liam Lawson too, with the Kiwi in only his third race in Formula One, securing AlphaTauri’s best finish of the season in ninth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR UPDATED STANDINGS & RACE REPORT
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by David Coulthard SAINZ - "An incredible feeling and an incredible weekend." "We did it perfect." "All Italy and all Ferrari will be happy." "We gave Lando a bit of DRS at the end." "I'm over the moon right now." NORRIS - "Carlos very generous trying to help me get DRS." "It was going to be tough as soon as the Mercedes boxed." "Super happy!" "Good points for the whole team with Oscar there." HAMILTON - "Firstly, congratulations to Carlos and Lando." "We rolled the dice this weekend and I felt like it was a two stop."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 62-LAP SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 1 C. Sainz 2 L. Norris 3 L. Hamilton 4 C. Leclerc 5 M. Verstappen 6 P. Gasly 7 O. Piastri 8 S. Perez 9 L. Lawson 10 K. Magnussen 11 A. Albon 12 G. Zhou 13 N. Hülkenberg 14 L. Sargeant 15 F. Alonso RET G. Russell RET V. Bottas RET E. Ocon RET Y. Tsunoda DNS L. Stroll
Damo
Roar Rookie
Well, that was much better last 10 laps than I was expecting, what a cracker. Well done to Sainz and Lando to hold on.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
CARLOS SAINZ WINS THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX! The Red Bull streak is broken and what an epic conclusion to this race. Lando Norris holds on to finish second, to complete the Car-Lando bromance on the podium. And Lewis Hamilton benefits from his teammate crashing out to secure third for Mercedes.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/62: DRS benefit again for Lando, as Hamilton pressures his teammate Russell. But Russell has binned it! Russell is in the wall and that is the race over for the Brit.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/62: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 61/62: Onto the penultimate lap, as Norris still benefitting from the DRS behind Sainz and both Mercedes cars having to watch each other as well. Russell and Hamilton beginning to squirm a little in the dirty air behind each other.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 60/62: Norris defending hard, but doesn't have the DRS now as Russell is breathing down the back of the McLaren driver. Hamilton as well all over the rear of his teammate which will be interesting too, as Russell will have to look in his rearview mirrors to defend from Hamilton.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 59/62: A brief yellow flag at Turn 13 with Albon stopping and now getting going again. This is going to be an intense finish!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 59/62: Norris is using DRS now behind Sainz, which is a huge boost for the McLaren driver. Russell and Hamilton too have the DRS behind the McLaren. 1.5.-seconds covers the top four.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 58/62: Verstappen meanwhile in seventh is going for Gasly's sixth place. And indeed Max gets it done going into Turn 14.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 57/62: The top four is now covered by just 5 seconds. We're going for a grandstand finish then with those Mercedes cars coming in hot.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/62: Norris has upped his pace a little and is close to within a second of Sainz in the lead, while Russell's gap to the McLaren is down to 3.7-seconds currently.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 55/62: Verstappen has passed Piastri for seventh, as the Dutchman continues to take advantage of his 13lap old medium tyres.