The only post-Qualifying penalties were for Mercedes:
- RUS qualified P11 but took on variety of engine changes so he was sent to the back of the grid [F1]
- The Mercedes team were fined €25,000 (£22,000) for filling in a form incorrectly! [F1]
Meanwhile there’s lots of chatter about two teams being over the budget cap but apparently a nose ring is a bigger issue for the FIA. Could that be because one of those teams is Red Bull? Whiny Spice (Christian Horner) has called it speculation, which of course it is because the alternative would require inside information. Oh, and the petulant idiot is threatening to sue anyone (looks directly at Toto Wolff) who makes such a claim. Grow up! [BBC]
Provisional grid: LEC, PER, HAM, SAI, ALO, NOR, GAS, VER, MAG, TSU, STR, SCH, VET, ZHO, BOT, RIC, OCO, ALB, LAT, RUS*
*RUS will start from the pit lane
A downpour soaks the track; race control announces a delay to the starting procedure
Mechanics are up to their usual antics, with one “rowing” across the pit lane
Just over an hour after the planned time, the drivers take up their places on the dummy grid
The race is usually one of the longest, but the conditions may well mean they hit the 2-hour limit before completing 61 laps
Air temperature 26°C; track 30°C (Remember it’s dark in Singapore but it is still humid)
Risk of rain during the race: 20%
Apparently some of the painted run-off areas have more grip than the real track
LEC leads the field (except RUS) away on the formation lap; everyone’s on intermediate tyres
01/61: Poor start for VER – down to P11
PER leads into Turn 1
SAI takes P3 from HAM – was there contact?
ALB off backwards at Turn 7; rejoins
02: PER, LEC, SAI, HAM, NOR, ALO, GAS, VET, TSU, STR, MAG, VER, RIC, SCH, OCO, BOT, LAT, ZHO, RUS, ALB
VER on the radio reporting MAG has front wing damage
VER past STR for P10
Replay of the start – SAI nudges HAM off track at Turn 1
No further action on SAI/HAM incident
Also no further action for VER leaving the track at Turn 1 and gaining an advantage
03: Radio from HAM complaining of lack of grip
VER inside TSU for P9
04: ZHO reports a lot of understeer
Replay of ALB’s spin on lap 1 – can hear him hit the wall but he doesn’t appear to have any damage
05/61: PER, LEC, SAI, HAM, NOR, ALO, GAS, VET, VER, TSU STR, MAG, RIC, SCH, OCO, BOT, RUS, LAT, ZHO, ALB
PER fastest lap 2:00.310
06: LEC f/lap 2:00.219 – his Q3 time was 1:49.412 on softs
VER closing on VET, but VET is closing on GAS
Radio from NOR, “As you can tell, not drying up very quick”
07: PER f/lap 2:00.094
Black and orange flag for MAG, telling Haas to pit him and fix the front wing
ZHO off at Turn 5
LAT has a puncture – was there contact with ZHO?
Replay shows LAT cut across ZHO, squeezed ZHO into the wall; LAT hit ZHO and then the wall
08: MAG pits; front wing is replaced
No safety car as ZHO is well along the run-off area at Turn 5 but the Alfa Romeo will probably need to be lifted rather than pushed away
SC deployed
09[SC]: LAT pits; mechanics signal that it’s over
Replay of RUS diving inside BOT, out-braking himself and having to spin around in the run-off area
10/61[SC]: PER, LEC, SAI, HAM, NOR, ALO, GAS, VET, VER, TSU, STR, RIC, SCH, OCO, BOT, RUS, ALB, MAG; out: LAT, ZHO
SC in at the end of this lap
PER is a long way behind the SC – he’s supposed to be within 10 car lengths, I think
11: VER steals P8 from VET, and then dives inside GAS for P7
12: Stewards are investigating VER/MAG incident and LAT/ZHO incident
VER closing on ALO, and they’re both catching NOR
It’s ALO’s 350th Grand Prix so VER isn’t going to unsettle him
13: LEC f/lap 1:59.328
15/61: PER, LEC, SAI, HAM, NOR, ALO, VER, GAS, VET, TSU, STR, RIC, SCH, OCO, BOT, RUS, ALB, MAG; out: LAT, ZHO
No further action for VER/MAG incident
16: Radio for NOR, “Goal is to make inters last longer than anyone else does”
17: Radio from NOR, “Tyres are getting more slick”
20/61: PER, LEC, SAI, HAM, NOR, ALO, VER, GAS, VET, TSU
VER reports “massive lag on upshifts”
ALO asks his engineer if they can see a dry line because he can’t
21: ALO has pulled off at Turn 10, handing VER P6
Replay shows the Alpine’s engine just cut out
22: VSC deployed
TSU gets it wrong, almost hits the wall; STR, RIC and SCH squeeze past
RUS pits from P15; medium (dry) tyres go on; rejoins P17 (last)
RUS squirming but he can’t get up to speed (and therefore tyre temp is low) until the VSC ends
23[VSC]: VSC ending
24: VER f/lap 1:58.377
25/61: PER, LEC, SAI, HAM, NOR, VER, GAS, VET, STR, RIC, SCH, TSU, OCO, BOT, MAG, ALB, RUS; out: ALO, LAT, ZHO
PER f/lap 1:58.332
RUS is well off the pace but he says he wants to stay out on the mediums
26: Yellow flags; ALB is in the tyre wall
ALB reverses but leaves his front wing in the wall; looks like he has a puncture too
VSC deployed
27[VSC]: ALB pits; the mechanics replace the front wing, put soft tyres on, but then tell him to turn the engine off; they’ve retired the car
Marshals have extracted ALB’s front wing
VSC ended
VER right on NOR’s rear wing
Radio from HAM complaining he’s losing time behind SAI
28: SAI is nearly 16sec behind teammate LEC
Yellow flags – OCO off at Turn 13 – lots of smoke from the Alpine
OCO is rolling back towards the track but the engine’s silent
29[VSC]: Replay shows OCO’s engine go bang
30/61[VSC]: PER, LEC, SAI, HAM, NOR, VER, GAS, VET, STR, RIC, SCH, TSU, BOT, MAG, RUS; out: OCO, ALB, ALO, LAT, ZHO
VER dives inside NOR but they’re still under VSC – ought to be a penalty
VSC ending
Half distance
31: RUS is still the only one on dry tyres
32: LEC f/lap 1:56.259
Radio for PER, “RUS still struggling (for grip) in the final sector”
VER all over NOR’s rear wing
33: VER locks up a little but he’s still under 1sec behind the McLaren (but DRS has not yet been enabled by the race director)
Yellow flag – HAM is in the tyre wall at Turn 7!
HAM frees himself and rejoins the track between NOR and VER
Radio for LEC, “Opposite (pit stop) to Red Bull” … but there’s SC/VSC
34: VER’s on the radio complaining about HAM’s damaged front wing
GAS pits; medium tyres go on
VER is desperate to get the stewards to bring HAM in
35/61: LEC pits from P2; mediums too; rejoins P3
HAM pits; new front wing; mediums too; drops down to P9
36: PER pits; clean stop (unlike LEC’s); rejoins still P1
SAI pits too, as does VER
Yellow flag; TSU in the tyre wall at Turn 10; he’s told to turn the engine off – that’ll mean a VSC/SC
SC deployed
37[SC]: PER, LEC, NOR, SAI, RIC, VER, STR, VET, HAM, GAS, SCH, BOT, MAG, RUS; out: TSU, OCO, ALB, ALO, LAT, ZHO
NOR pits, followed by teammate RIC
NOR takes on mediums but RIC goes for soft slicks (BOT’s the only other one not on mediums)
39[SC]: LAT has been given a 5-place grid penalty for the next race for causing the collision with ZHO
SC in at the end of this lap
40/61: VER locks up; spins around and rejoins
Incident involving PER noted – SC infringement (He’s too far back from the SC again)
41: VER pits; switches from mediums to softs; rejoins P14 (last)
RUS has a puncture
42: Replay shows RUS and SCH banged wheels at the restart; they’re both limping back to the pits with punctures
Turn 1 incident involving RUS and SCH noted – causing a collision
43: PER complaining about an engine problem
DRS enabled for the first time in this race
45: Turn 1 incident involving RUS and SCH – no further investigation
46: PER locks up but continues ok
48: VER takes P11 from MAG
Radio for BOT, “GAS 2.5 ahead; we need to get him”; “I’m trying”
51: RUS passes SCH cleanly this time
Incident involving PER will be investigated after the race (SC infringement)
Radio for NOR warning him about a bump in turn 7; “It changes every lap”
53: RUS pits again; softs go on
55: Radio for NOR telling him to exit turn 6 more to the right; “I’m doing the same thing every lap”
56: PER trying to extend his lead in case he gets a time penalty for the SC infringement
58: HAM looks inside VET but locks up and lets VER through to take P8
Looks like the next lap will be the last one as the 2-hour clock is about to run out, but that’s only 2 laps early
59: PER has 7.5sec lead, so a penalty is unlikely to have any impact
VER passes VET for P7
PER takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: PER, LEC, SAI, NOR, RIC, STR, VER, VET, HAM, GAS; BOT, MAG, SCH, RUS
DNF: TSU, OCO, ALB, ALO, LAT, ZHO
Fastest lap: RUS 1:46.458 (lap 54)
PER given 5-sec penalty so the result is unchanged [F1]
It’s only a few days until Japan, where LAT already has a 5-place grid penalty [F1]
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