Round 18 of the 2024 Formula 1 season takes us under the lights and to the streets of Singapore, where we have seen four different winners in the last four races.
The Marina Bay Circuit is also one of the most visually stunning and iconic circuits on the Formula 1 calendar, but with high temperatures and humidity it is always a physical challenge for the drivers to compete in the sweltering conditions.
Race preview
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McLaren enter this race with high confidence having overtaken Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship last time out in Azerbaijan, where Oscar Piastri's sensational drive to win the race was complemented by Lando Norris's superb comeback drive from P15 to P4.
Red Bull will now need to step up quickly if they are to regain their place at the summit, but with Max Verstappen complaining about car balance issues in Baku, it is unlikely that the team will be able to solve this in time for Singapore or possibly even the rest of the 2024 season.
Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez raced impressively in Baku once again, and he was on for a podium finish until late on when he collided with Carlos Sainz and caused a double DNF, which rounded off a disappointing weekend for the team.
For Ferrari, it was a case of so close yet so far after Charles Leclerc was ousted from P1 by Piastri and he could not get past the Australian despite his best efforts, and while Leclerc had to settle for P2, his aforementioned teammate Sainz ended up in the wall after his collision with Perez.
Mercedes had an unexpected but very welcomed podium finish after George Russell profited from the Perez and Sainz incident to take P3, but Lewis Hamilton only managed a handful of points with his P9 finish.
That said, the seven-time champion will be fancying his chances this weekend of a higher finish given the nature of the circuit in Singapore.
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Similar to Ferrari and Mercedes, Aston Martin also had mixed results as Fernando Alonso's strong P6 finish was offset by Lance Stroll's early retirement from the race, but the English team are very much secured in finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship, so in many ways a lot of their focus might already be on the development of next year's car.
RB had a retirement of their own with Yuki Tsunoda's DNF and Daniel Ricciardo could only manage P13 for the team, and in recent days rumours are rife about Ricciardo potentially being replaced by Liam Lawson – with some even suggesting that Singapore could be his last race for the team.
Haas meanwhile will have been delighted that stand-in driver Ollie Bearman was able to pick up one point for them with his P10 finish; the young English driver replaced Kevin Magnussen after the Dane was suspended from Azerbaijan for accumulating too many penalty points.
Nico Hulkenberg was unfortunate to not score points alongside Bearman with the German finishing in P11, although he has been the main points earner for Haas this season as the team currently occupy seventh.
Williams undoubtedly had their best weekend of the season in Azerbaijan with Alex Albon and rookie Franco Colapinto taking P7 and P8 respectively, but Singapore is a very different track to Baku in terms of downforce and car setup, so it will be interesting to see if they can carry their form over to a completely different track layout.
Elsewhere, Alpine and Sauber had yet another disappointing weekend with zero points scored in Baku, and heading into this weekend it would be a great result if either team were to even score a solitary point in Singapore.
Track Guide
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First appearing in 2008, Singapore is one of the most high-downforce circuits on the Formula 1 calendar, featuring 19 turns and three sectors that are all unique from one another.
The teams will therefore need to adjust their cars to have better speed entering and leaving the corners, but they will ultimately have to sacrifice their straight-line speed for greater cornering ability.
There have also been modifications heading into this year's race, one of which is adding a fourth DRS zone to assist in overtaking, and the maximum pit lane speed limit has also dropped significantly from 80kph to 60kph, meaning that drivers are likely to lose 28 seconds on average for a pit stop and this should only add to the intriguing tactical battle from the teams.
In terms of the finer details, sector one has a couple of long straights where we see the majority of the overtakes and with the recent modifications, sector three also now offers many more overtaking chances – we saw 85 overtakes in 2023.
The previous layout of this circuit also had an awkward double chicane from Turn 15 to 19, but last year this entire section was removed to one long straight section of the track and this led to dramatically faster lap times and more overtaking opportunities.
The second sector is the most technically challenging part of the circuit and the most wearing on the tyres and balance of the cars, with a number of tight, twisting turns on this part of the track which is where the necessity for a high downforce setup comes into play.
With 61 laps and drivers at full throttle for just 49% of each lap, degradation in the corners means that we usually expect to see two pit stops in Singapore, and knowing when to pit and calculating track evolution and degradation could hold the key to victory on Sunday.
In terms of the race start, the run down to the first turn is not particularly long but it has produced many exhilarating moments and first-lap incidents, most notably in 2017 when Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Verstappen crashed out as they headed towards the second turn.
Singapore is also the only F1 track to feature a 100% chance of a Safety Car appearance, with 24 since the first race here in 2008, so similar to last time out in Baku, this has an impact on the race strategy as teams must balance the early undercut versus holding on and hoping to pit under a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car.
Driver Standings
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 313
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 254
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 235
4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 222
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 184
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 166
7. George Russell (Mercedes) - 143
8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 143
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - 58
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 24
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) - 22
12. Yuki Tsunoda (RB) - 22
13. Alex Albon (Williams) - 12
14. Daniel Ricciardo (RB) - 12
15. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - 8
16. Ollie Bearman (Ferrari) - 7
17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) - 6
18. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) - 5
19. Franco Colapinto (Williams) - 4
20. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) - 0
21. Logan Sargeant (Williams) - 0
22. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) - 0
Constructor Standings
1. McLaren - 476
2. Red Bull - 456
3. Ferrari - 425
4. Mercedes - 309
5. Aston Martin - 82
6. RB - 34
7. Haas - 29
8. Williams - 16
9. Alpine - 13
10. Sauber - 0
We say: Oscar Piastri to win
Piastri raced superbly last time out in Baku and the Australian appears to be brimming with confidence in recent weeks, and the car is certainly responding in kind.
His McLaren teammate Norris and Mercedes could also be contenders here, but we expect Piastri to make it two wins out of two this weekend thanks in part to a car that looks primed for this Singapore circuit.
