Race Review: Singapore GP 2024

Remember the Singapore Sling Chicane that guaranteed some form of race fueled drama during the Singapore Grand Prix? Well, I'm not lying when I say that we could have done with it during this "snooze-fest" of a race in 2024, despite it being AWOL for the past decade. It's a shame that a race with great anticipation is being labeled this way, but with Lando Norris finishing twenty plus seconds ahead to second place man; Max Verstappen, it's hard not to feel a little subdued after missing out on what could have been a potential "spicy" battle in this interesting and nail biting championship.

With Norris starting on pole, alongside rival Verstappen, many were questioning as to whether the McLaren man could break his habit of "bottling" his start while on pole. Alas, he did, heading into a very clean, bar a couple of cars going wide, turn one, ahead of Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The leading pair would quickly drop Hamilton and his Mercedes, while trading fastest laps, giving us fans the reckless optimism that we needed to believe this race was going to go down to the wire. However, Norris had pace that Verstappen did not. With some encouragement from the McLaren team he would soon leave the Red Bull for dust, quickly gapping him to over five plus seconds.

So, with the leading battle over as quick as it begun, attention turned to the mid-pack, where Daniel Ricciardo would be the first to pit on Lap 11, almost all but confirming that he was on a two stop race, which could potentially have been his last in the series, as rumours go. Could this be why he took his time to let his frustrated VCARB team mate through in the latter stages of the race while on different strategies? Doubtful.

In what has been a common theme in modern day Formula One, tyre talk was definitely on the radar at the Singapore Grand Prix. "I'm sliding around like hell," Kevin Magnussen, returning from his one race ban, would tell his Haas team. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz would also pit early on for a change of compound. Disappointingly for Albon, his pitstop would mark the beginning of the end of his weekend, with an overheating engine marking him as the first retirement from the race.

As for his teammate; Franco Colapinto, there was nothing but praise for the young Argentine, only in his 3rd Formula One race after replacing Logan Sargeant at Williams for the remainder of the season. "He's very good. Difficult to pass Colapinto." Sergio Perez tells his Red Bull team, after once again finding himself stuck in the mid-pack behind Colapinto and his Williams. However, Albon may not have the same opinion on his teammate if this race is anything to go by, accusing him of "divebombing" at Turn One of Lap 1. Oh, we do love heat of the moment radio messages.

There seemed to be plenty of frustrated radio messages being aired up and down the field during the race. Something to keep us entertained at least. Most notably was Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari. A poor qualifying saw the Monagasque start the race in 9th, before getting stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso throughout the majority of the early stages of race. The Marina Bay Street Circuit is difficult to pass on. Like Monaco, qualifying is crucial and could be the undoing of a perfect weekend, just as Ferrari would discover, with only late-race team orders enabling them a crucial 5th place finish for Leclerc. After Sainz's early and only pitstop, at best he managed 7th.

Regardless of the overtaking difficulty Singapore brings to the calendar, there were still several moments throughout the race that would wake me up, hooking me to the action. If you can really call it that. Take Hamilton's late move on Yuki Tsunoda which would nearly see the Mercedes driver in the wall. Or, the moments several drivers, including Norris, would find themselves brushing up against the barrier. And, what about the George Russell and Leclerc battle towards the end? The moments were there. It was just unfortunate they had no consequences on the race itself. Remember the Safety Car? We haven't seen it in over 8 races!! No wonder the majority of my Twitter feed were calling for Magnussen to park his car up on track when he received a puncture in the closing stages. Spoiler; he got back to the pits, but later retired after posting a, now deleted, fastest lap.

One driver to watch during the race was McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who won last time out in Azerbaijan. After starting in 5th, the Australian would take advantage of astounding pace McLaren seemed to have accrued in recent times. After pitting, and finding himself back behind the Mercedes duo, the youngster would have some work on his hands as he fought his way back to 3rd. But, this was Norris' race, from the moment he walked through the paddock entrance on Saturday morning. Red Bull, however, would claw back as many points as they could, interestingly using Ricciardo and their sister team to steal the fastest lap point away from Norris.

For both McLaren and Red Bull, this race was promising. Are we being too optimistic in hoping for a down to the wire championship battle in the drivers and constructors? I for one hope not.

Next up: Texas baby!