Daniel Ricciardo has been so near and yet so far to victory in Singapore in recent seasons.
Can he deliver this weekend? Will the track expose Mercedes’ weakness on the hyper-softs? Here are more questions on the upcoming race weekend.
Can Mr Second Place win at last?
Second, second and second again: Ricciardo’s results in the Singapore Grand Prix have been consistent, but what he really wants is a win.Red Bull have been in a kind of no mans’ land in recent races: comfortably clear of the midfield but unable to challenge the big two on outright pace. That may be different in Singapore, a track where they have historically done well thanks to its short straights and frequent corners, which emphasis aerodynamics, traction and braking over outright speed.
Monaco played to their strengths and Ricciardo took maximum advantage. However he and team mate Max Verstappen are concerned the gains Ferrari and Mercedes have made since then, especially in qualifying, rule Red Bull out of contention even on a track like this.
Do Mercedes fear the hyper-softs?
Pirelli will bring the softest tyre in its range for the third time this year. However Mercedes’ rivals seem to like the hyper-soft better than they do: Red Bull won on it in Monaco and Ferrari did in Canada. Mercedes, meanwhile, has taken the fewest sets of hyper-softs of any team this weekend.
If this does prove to be a weakness for them it will be a concern for the championship hopes. The hyper-soft has been nominated for three of the six races which follow Singapore.
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Vettel’s start tactics
This year as the final round of flyaway races begins Vettel needs to put a stop to Hamilton’s recent gains. But Singapore is likely to be more than just a case of Ferrari versus Mercedes.
Will Haas get Monza points back?
Romain Grosjean’s exclusion from the Italian Grand Prix remains under appeal by his Haas team. Do they stand any realistic chance of getting their points back?
Barring any new evidence the team may be able to present, it seems unlikely. They can expect to face questions over why they chose to enter their car in a condition which the stewards seem to have given ample indication was not in conformity with the rules.
The Force India saga
Force India are also ruing a loss of points. Had the 59 points they scored in the first half of the season not been confiscated after it returned to the championship following a sale to new owners, they would be fourth in the standings at the moment.
But the team’s strong showing since the summer break has raised hopes they may recover much of that lost ground. So much so the management has indicated it is may prefer not to tamper with its driver line-up, despite persistent rumours Lance Stroll will find his way into the team sooner or later. Meanwhile Sergio Perez has indicated he hopes to confirm his future plans by this weekend.
How competitive the VJM11 will be this weekend is therefore doubly important, as how well they do on Sunday could have a bearing on their plans for the balance of the season. Spa and Monza, where they raked in big points hauls, have always been strong venues for this team, Singapore less so. But the money received following their rescue has been put to good use: A significant performance upgrade is expected this weekend.
However while key rivals Renault struggled due to their power disadvantage in recent races, and the consequent inability to run high downforce levels which exacerbated their traction problems, that shouldn’t be a concern for them at Singapore.
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Are you going to the Singapore Grand Prix?
If you’re heading to Singapore for this weekend’s race, we want to hear from you.
Who do you think will be the team to beat in the Singapore Grand Prix? Have your say below.
And don’t forget to enter your predictions for this weekend’s race. You can edit your predictions until the start of qualifying:
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Matthijs (@matthijs)
12th September 2018, 9:10
Interesting, Ricciardo has been so poor and unlucky the last couple of races, that I almost forgot about him. Hopes his run of bad luck ends here.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
13th September 2018, 4:35
Mostly unlucky really, when you have to start from the back every time and the car breaks before you even get the chance to get to the position that your car deserves (generally 6th without other retirements with a red bull starting from the back), you can’t do much, but he was absolutely on course for 6th place given more laps than he had, not only at monza but also in belgium had he not been 2 laps down but simply chasing from the back like bottas (and raikkonen but damaged car).
Patrick (@anunaki)
12th September 2018, 9:26
He’ll probably needs the strategy fall his way plus Max making a mistake
JohnH (@johnrkh)
12th September 2018, 10:23
Well I’m not sure Verstappen need to make a mistake as he has been out performed by Ricciardo at the track three yrs in a row.
As far as the strategy “falling his way” well that will be interesting won’t it.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
12th September 2018, 11:14
@johnrkh How can you be out performed when your race only lasts a few hundred yards (2017)?
vjanik (@vjanik)
12th September 2018, 12:49
if your team mate goes two hundred yards maybe?
Esploratore (@esploratore)
13th September 2018, 4:37
There’s no discussion here, verstappen outperformed ricciardo in 2017 and the only reason he didn’t get pole is that ferrari was superior to red bull in singapore.
He was unlucky to be caught in the crash, but ricciardo couldn’t even threaten hamilton, red bull 2017 was a decent wet car, verstappen would’ve been closer.
krxx
14th September 2018, 18:54
Esploratore, how can VER have outperformed RIC if his race only lasted a few hundred yards and RIC got second? And if it’s up to you, there’s even no discussion. LOL, typically. FBoy talk at it’s purest, hahahahahhahahah. Yup, VER would’ve put his RB right there in between the 4.5sec gap that existed between HAM and RIC, hahahahahah. Keep making up stuff, son’t stop making your own reality.
Patrick (@anunaki)
12th September 2018, 13:16
Well RIC was just able to keep teenaget Max behind him. But it looks like 20 year old Max is already to fast for him
Ross
13th September 2018, 2:01
Am I right in thinking that it’s taken a string of technical DNF’s for RIC for the 20yr old VER to catch up to him in the championship standings…But sure whatever you think about your almighty Lord Verstappen is probably unbiased.
Ryan F
12th September 2018, 10:51
No chance, engine will go pop after the first pitstop.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th September 2018, 11:10
Can Mr Second Place win at last? – Hopefully, yes.
Do Mercedes fear the hyper-softs? – Too early to judge.
Will Haas get Monza points back? – No, they won’t simply because it isn’t a possibility anyway once the results get posted under the ‘final’ status. The results of any given race are amendable only as long as they’ve come out under the ‘provisional’ status only (about 25 minutes after the end of the race in question with the ‘finalization’ of them taking place a few hours after the chequered flag), i.e., as long as they’re yet to get finalized, so, therefore, kind of a useless question, and nothing but a waste of time by Haas to appeal something that can’t be reverted anymore anyway.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th September 2018, 11:11
Is Sebastian Vettel risking too much at the start of races? – Yes.
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2018, 11:29
@jerejj Vettel knows you have to make risky moves to win championships. His problem is implementing them.
mystic one (@mysticus)
12th September 2018, 21:40
brave =/= risky…
hamilton can risk while ahead, but he keeps it clean and bank as he goes, vettel’s moves are unnecessarily risky… he goes nearly all in every time he could make huge/minor gains guaranteed but he choose the moves that lose a lot more!
David BR (@david-br)
13th September 2018, 11:10
@mysticus I agree about the difference between them, I don’t know if the moves are the wrong decision, though, or just poorly executed. But I think Vettel generally has the right idea about what’s necessary. I even think that Alonso, for instance, risked a little too little in the two years at Ferrari where he had a chance for the title. Had Hamilton been driving the Ferrari rather than the Mercedes, he could well have won one of the titles that Alonso failed to.
mystic one (@mysticus)
14th September 2018, 23:47
I think his moves are unnecessarily risky, and many times outcome proves how costly they are… cant blame him as he is only human but he is not a rookie! Same mistakes were done by Nico first two years and Hamilton chew him. 3rd year though, even though he made some questionable moves, he banked and proceeded with his head down and mind his own business and we know how he won at the end with a little luck in msia… But after that he played it all safe… Vettel keeps making confrontational and aggressive moves! His anger is getting the best of him… Instead of taking what is available, he is trying impossible greedy decisions or make his moves without thinking twice! Watch hamilton, if he thinks he can make it stick, he goes for it, else he drops back when he cant reach and bank what is available and call it a day!
And Vettel’s mood swings and attitude even towards his own team is sign of his weakness… he cracks under pressure so easily… His rude attitude after accidents almost make u forget he is 4 time WDC and more like Verstappen…. Yeah when he cools down he is ok and funny and all
anon
12th September 2018, 18:48
@jerejj, as I have previously pointed out, the very form that you refer to clearly contradicts your assertions and shows you are wrong.
When the “final” classification was published in Monza, it clearly stated that the results were “Pending the outcome of the protest against Stewards’ document No.42” – so the stewards clearly stated that document is not “final” and that Grosjean could be reinstated in 6th if Haas’s appeal against the penalty was successful.
Furthermore, there are historical examples of race results being changed multiple weeks after the supposedly “final” results were released.
In 2001, Jarno Trulli was originally disqualified from the US Grand Prix, which was the penultimate race of the season. Jordan went on to appeal that decision and, nearly a month later, the FIA rescinded their disqualification and went back to the original classification.
With that, the FIA not only changed the results a month after the original “final” results were issued, that change took place two weeks after the 2001 season had actually finished (the last race was on the 14th October, and the ruling was on the 28th October). Not only that, the FIA changed the final finishing order of the WCC as well – Jordan would have finished behind BAR if the disqualification stood, but were instead moved up into 4th place, and BAR demoted to 5th, when Trulli’s 4th place was reinstated.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
13th September 2018, 4:41
Not sure but I have a feeling fisichella took some time (more than the 30 mins the other poster said) to win the 2003 brazillian grand prix, raikkonen was the winner for a while.
anon
13th September 2018, 18:24
@esploratore, you are correct that, back in the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, the stewards initially wrongly classified Kimi as the winner in that race when they incorrectly worked out when the race was red flagged.
They mistakenly took the results from lap 53, believing Fisichella hadn’t started his 56th lap when he had just started it shortly before the flag was flown. Kimi was originally declared to be the winner at the circuit but, in a review hearing held five days later, the FIA agreed Fisichella was the rightful winner and amended the results to demote Kimi to 2nd place and reinstate Fisichella in 1st.
Again, it does emphasise the point that, contrary to the mistaken assertions of Jere, the FIA does in fact have the power to amend the results of a race, even if the results were initially declared to be “final”.
toiago (@toiago)
12th September 2018, 12:04
@keithcollantine
I think that should read: “…, dealing Vettel’s title hopes a hammer blow.”, no?
Esploratore (@esploratore)
13th September 2018, 4:29
Definitely, funny to read though, I don’t mind these mistakes to spice things up!
Todfod (@todfod)
12th September 2018, 12:20
Interesting theory if Mercedes really fear the hypersofts. I don’t know if it’s true… but if it is… then they’re out of luck. 3 of the next 6 races post Singapore will have hypersofts.
Asanator (@asanator)
13th September 2018, 11:19
Will they need them in Singapore though. If they are not fighting for the two front rows do they need to qualify on the softest tyre?
schooner (@schooner)
12th September 2018, 13:05
Will Haas get their points back? I’m thinking very unlikely, and I’m also wondering if there ever has been a case where points have been restored due to an appeal?
IJW (@)
12th September 2018, 13:25
@schooner Didn’t James Hunt (in 1976?) get some of his points back on appeal?
anon
12th September 2018, 18:51
@schooner, as I have pointed out in response to Jere, the answer is indeed yes – there is the example of Jarno Trulli being given back his 4th place, and the 3 points that went with it, in the 2001 US Grand Prix, with the FIA retrospective amending the results of that race – and the final finishing order of the WCC that year – after that appeal succeeded.
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
12th September 2018, 13:15
Detail question re Force India. Their car is shown as the VJM11, which is derived from Vijay Mallya of course. Are they allowed to re-name it mid-season?
Todfod (@todfod)
12th September 2018, 14:24
Really don’t think they want to start referring to it as the STR1 mid season… Toro Rosso might mind :P
Robbie (@robbie)
12th September 2018, 14:37
Lol
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
12th September 2018, 18:39
@todfod
Obviously they would start their series STRxxx at 011 anyway ;-)
L (@lebz)
12th September 2018, 15:34
Vettel needs RBR’s engine to cooperate this weekend, because if he turns out to be the track favourite this weekend, the Red Bulls are his only hope in taking points away from his direct rivals should they finish behind him.
he is the one
12th September 2018, 16:10
Danny Ricardo, Danny Ricardo???, i have heard of him, was he not driving for RB, That’s a while ago he has done something which put him in the spotlight.
Justin Spencer
12th September 2018, 21:21
Unfortunately the spotlight has been on his engines.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
12th September 2018, 23:36
What happened to Danny Ricardo? He changed his name after he didn’t get the Ferrari drive.
Adub Smallblock
12th September 2018, 20:51
Vettel needs to outscore Lewis for Championship points, Max is desperate to show improved form and Danny wants to win Singapore. The one who can control themselves for the first lap may just well win. Those that try to grab it at first may be out. Who will avoid the carnage?
Asanator (@asanator)
13th September 2018, 11:22
I expect it to be the classic F1 story, Ferrari drop Kimi, Kimi wins race.
Thecollaroyboys (@thecollaroyboys)
12th September 2018, 21:51
I just about to head for the airport to go to Singapore. It’ll be my last race there for a while so I really hope RIC can give me a win.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
12th September 2018, 23:40
Wish I could be there too. Say g’day to Andrew when you see him – he’s the one with the glow-in-the-dark shoey on his head.