F1 Fanatic readers gave the Singapore Grand Prix one of the lowest scores of the season so far.
It was only the third race of the season to be rated lower than seven, which again shows the high standard of races this season.
Here’s what F1 Fanatic readers had to say:
Daykind summed up the general view of the races expressed by several commenters:
The start was very exciting, as was everything leading up to the safety car. After that, it went a bit quiet.
Even so, it was a good race, but by 2011 standards, maybe not brilliant. That shows just how good this season’s been; a race which was very exciting is probably going to be voted as one of the worst this season.
daykind
JamieFranklinF1’s assessment was more positive:
Despite the championship being all but over now, I think that Singapore was a great race.
Some very good action on track, the strategy kept me on the edge of my seat and I really enjoyed watching Di Resta do so well too.
JamieFranklinF1
ratings so far
| China | 9.241 |
| Canada | 9.095 |
| Germany | 8.43 |
| Hungary | 8.344 |
| Britain | 7.96 |
| Malaysia | 7.775 |
| Belgium | 7.772 |
| Monaco | 7.684 |
| Italy | 7.494 |
| Spain | 7.319 |
| Turkey | 7.306 |
| Australia | 6.751 |
| Singapore | 6.39 |
| Europe | 3.871 |
Once again there were claims the Drag Reduction System made overtaking too easy during the race:
DRS again makes passing too easy, it’s a complete joke to watch; easy, dull & boring push of a button passes.
The fact that the most exciting passes all happened outside the DRS zone shows just how much of a joke that system actually is.
Dave_F1
PSynrg was full of praise for the champion-elect, and defended him from questions over his overtaking ability:
2011 has been the crowning not just of the ninth consecutive world champion in F1 history but also the youngest.
I think his critics are confusing passing ability with the ability to drive flawlessly in both qualifying and race consistently from the front.
They underestimate the level you have to be at in F1 in order to do this.
pSynrg
Prisoner Monkeys and Gerald Carpenter would like to see some changes to the track:
Not particularly exciting. I still maintain that the circuit needs work. I appreciate that it’s hard on the drivers, but it’s too stop-start in places for me.
Prisoner Monkeys
It really is a boring track and this is coming from someone who has lived there for 24 years.
They should look into whether the track layout or configurations can be tweaked.
As it stands, only turn seven allows any overtaking at all and the rest of the circuit only aids a procession race, hardly what fans want to see.
Gerald Carpenter
As sumedh noted, the race contained several themes that have recurred during 2011:
Vettel winning, Button conserving tyres, Hamilton getting a penalty, Webber messing up his start, Alonso driving the wheels off his car.
sumedh
Does the Singapore Grand Prix deserve its place near the foot of the rankings?
Have your say in the comments.
2011 Singapore Grand Prix
mantolwen (@mantolwen)
4th October 2011, 17:19
Third race to be rated below a seven? Australia and Europe being the other two.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th October 2011, 17:30
Chenged it, thanks.
icemangrins (@icemangrins)
4th October 2011, 17:28
personally, it was a great race until the Schumi’s mistake and the safety car. Button vs Vettel would have been a great fight but for the traffic. This should have been closer to Turkey or even above.
dennis (@dennis)
5th October 2011, 16:37
There wouldn’t have been a fight without the safety car. And if it wasn’t a street circuit there probably would have been no need for a safety car…
Predictable and boring race.
W-K (@w-k)
4th October 2011, 17:56
The comments probably say all that is needed, take away the fact it is a night race run under lights, with good side shows and what have you got left. Another boring, fiddly, bumpy street circuit that has one overtaking corner, which was compromised with it being at the end of the DRS zone.
daykind (@)
4th October 2011, 18:00
Yay I was mentioned!!!
BasCB (@bascb)
4th October 2011, 19:21
:-)
George (@george)
4th October 2011, 18:00
I think the race was about as good as Melbourne, so it’s rating is ok. The race was pretty good, just goes to show how good the rest of the season has been.
I thought the DRS was pretty good actually, most the passes were close and plenty of drivers managed to defend against it.
George (@george)
4th October 2011, 18:02
Ugh, wish I could edit out some of those good’s (any news on that feature Keith?)
OmarR-Pepper (@)
4th October 2011, 18:24
not GOOD news about editing or having the possibility to follow our own comment, not yet, but we know it’ll appear soon. I almost fell asleep on the second half of the race (here in Peru the live coverage is at 6am on Sunday so… hard to keep my eyes open in the end
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 13:52
I was struggling to keep my eyes open during the afternoon! Unfortunately my girlfriends couch is far too comfortable to keep my eyes open during a boring race.
Fixy (@)
5th October 2011, 16:16
:P
BasCB (@bascb)
4th October 2011, 19:22
Yes, it is fair to say that the standard has been so high to get a race that could have been amongst the top 5 in past years in between the lowest ranked.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
4th October 2011, 19:30
Looking at the scores so far (and how the season has developed in terms of on-track action), I guess we all went over the top far too early! China being ahead of Canada, Hungary, Britain and Germany seems a bit weird to say the least.
Or maybe it’s me who doesn’t remember that race so much…!
bosyber (@bosyber)
4th October 2011, 19:48
Canada started quite boring, was very special with the break in the middle, having the presenters trying to fill a late night hour for us, and then an awesome and quite unexpected finish. It was spectacular.
What I remember from the Chinese grand prix is the long fight for the lead, with Hamilton having to overtake several cars, and the race being between him, Button and Vettel at least until Button made the Red-Bull stop and lost out his race, but even then it was tight between HAM and VET; they had a strong fight between them, seemingly a continuation from the Barcelona race.
So, a race long fight, both in strategy and in race craft between two teams and drivers for the lead. And that in the dry. For me it showed off the different racing we have had in 2011 very well, in comparison to 2010 where most exciting races were rain races.
dennis (@dennis)
5th October 2011, 16:45
I still don’t get why people found the chinese grand prix so exciting. It was clear rather early, that Vettel was on the wrong strategy and Hamilton pitted just right. Even my girlfriend who has no interest in the sport could tell Hamilton would have no problem passing Vettel.
Unlike Canada, in which it was anybody’s guess until Vettel lost it. I personally rate Canada much higher than China.
Hyoko
5th October 2011, 18:30
Of course China was highly rated here, just remember who won it, the rest doesn’t matter.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
5th October 2011, 18:08
Exactly why I think we got a bit over the edge too soon. 2010 was so dull that just Chine fulfilled our hopes of better racing this year. If China happened last weekend, it’d get a mid-7 score.
UKfanatic (@)
4th October 2011, 22:50
It was a good race if you only consider Vettels victories.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
5th October 2011, 2:04
My personal opinion on all the GP’s so far:
China – 9.241 6 different leaders, Rosberg leads for some time. Hamilton overtakes several cars in the final laps to win. Webber’s insane drive from 17th to 3rd. Best race of the season for me.
Canada 9.095 Crazy race in the rain where Kobayashi, Massa, Vettel, Button, and Schumacher all had their time to shine.
Germany 8.43 – Fantastic first half, decent 2nd half with Hamilton’s banzai move on Alonso, and Vettel wasn’t on the podium!
Hungary 8.344 – Can’t judge, I was on holydays.
Britain 7.96 – Great race, not a lot of overtaking, but the tension was there nonetheless. Some passes were quality (Hamilton vs Alonso through Copse!)
Malaysia 7.775 – Boring first half, very good 2nd half with Alonso vs Hamilton, Schumacher vs Kobayashi, Webber charging and Petrov flying!
Belgium 7.772 – Good start with Rosberg leading and Alonso’s great moves on Hamilton and Massa. Schumacher and Button charging through the field. Ferrari screwing up Alonso’s strategy ruined an exciting finish imo. Monaco 7.684 – Great race spoiled by Hamilton destroying Maldonado’s race and the Red flag rule.
Italy 7.494 – Great battles at the start, calmed down in the 2nd half.
Spain 7.319 – Great race tbh! No real overtaking or crashes but a lot of tension!
Turkey 7.306 – Easiest overtakes of the season were made here, DRS ruined it.
Australia 6.751 – Average race, nothing special apart from Petrov’s podium.
Singapore 6.39 – Underrated! Plenty of overtaking, even for a street circuit. Hamilton charging from 19th to 5th, Button and the backmarkers causing drama at the end. Easily as good as Belgium.
Europe 3.871 – Averageby 2010 standards, very boring by 2011 standards.
roberttty (@roberttty)
5th October 2011, 2:05
I agree Singapore deserved its low score when compared to other races this season – and this is coming from a fan of the Singapore GP (note: GP, not the circuit layout)
Unlike last year, there was no much racing between the front two runners and the silly DRS made passing too easy. Can you imagine if every run down Turn 7 was as close as Hamilton-Massa’s – epic!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
5th October 2011, 3:32
The race was good but 110% agree what @ daykind said.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
5th October 2011, 3:57
Note this:
China: Hamilton
Canada: Button
Germany: Hamilton
Hungary: Button
Britain: Alonso
Malaysia: Vettel
Belgium: Vettel
Monaco: Vettel
Italy: Vettel
Spain: Vettel
Turkey: Vettel
Australia: Vettel
Singapore: Vettel
Europe: Vettel
I do find this odd…
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 13:49
I don’t. People love an underdog.
dennis (@dennis)
5th October 2011, 16:41
Same statistic in Germany would probably look very different.
But it certainly shows something’s cheesy when races like Belgium or Italy are so far down that it might have something to do with people rating the result and not the race.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
5th October 2011, 18:17
People expect a lot more from F1 races than at the start of the season though. Any of these races (appart from Europe) could’ve got a very decent score last year.
You start comparing great races against great races, instead of great races vs dull rubbish. And we had a run of 3 or 4 consecutive REALLY exciting GPs this year.
One thing I remember: people giving low scores for the Monaco GP because of the red flag allowing everyone to change tyres.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 21:19
Yea I remember that. Admittedly the red-flag did dilute the experience a little but personally I found it pretty hard to mark it down based on that. It’s just circumstances, the race was by no means dull. @fer-no.65
91jb12 (@91jb12)
5th October 2011, 17:20
I was just thinking the 5 races Vettel didn’t win are the 5 highest ranked… Silverstone was OK, Hungary pretty good but top 5??? Spa was up there for me.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
5th October 2011, 18:10
Perfectly reasonable. Hamilton, Button and Alonso had to fight for their wins, meaning it was a lot more exciting than Vettel cruising till the checkered flag.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 13:51
I’m still going to defend DRS. It needs tweaking, yes. Is it a joke? No. It addresses a serious concern and I think that even if we don’t agree with its implementation we should at least respect what it’s trying to achieve.
Doance (@doance)
5th October 2011, 14:48
No one wants to see a DRS overtake.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 21:21
Depends on the situation, in my opinion. Chasing drivers have suffered for years with dirty, turbulent air. That hinders their ability to over-take. DRS addresses that issue, but it does need some serious scrutiny if it is to return in 2012. @doance
Johnny
5th October 2011, 15:26
That was a fail for another year in a row. For nearly two hours, almost absolutely nothing happened, exciting or not… It was just some cars going round and round.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
5th October 2011, 21:23
We had the closest finish in recent history between Alonso and Vettel and Hamilton had that moment with Webber. Last year was certainly a better race. @Johnny