Hot on the heels of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is a night race in Singapore, now with a fourth DRS zone added!
MAG is back after his one-race suspension, so BEA is back on the bench.
Not much time for any news, but Red Bull have been up to their usual tricks – this time they’ve been claiming the McLaren’s rear wing is illegals. The FIA conducted a “random”(?) check on PIA’s car and found it completely legal.
Rumours continue to circulate that RIC will be replaced by Liam Lawson very soon. There are 6 more races (after this weekend) so I wonder why RB (Red Bull’s 2nd team) don’t wait until the end of the season?
The weekend starts with a penalty for VER for “language during the FIA Thursday Driver Press Conference”; VER has been handed an “obligation to accomplish some work of public interest”.
Free Practice
- FP1: LEC (1:31.763), NOR, SAI, VER, TSU
Mercedes race-specific livery looks a bit like Aston Martin!
PIA’s car had an issue with the rear-left corner
PER ran off, and had a big lock-up a few laps later
ALO had a big wobble but kept it out of the wall
GAS nearly hit the pit wall when exiting his garage
PER complained another driver’s line but it was PER who clearly impeded someone else - FP2: NOR (1:30.727), LEC, SAI, TSU, PIA
HAM struggled with a lack of grip, and oversteer
COL accidentally stopped in the Alpine box
PIA and NOR both grazed the wall
RUS ran into the wall and removed his front wing - FP3: NOR (1:29.646), RUS, PIA, VER, LEC
A lizard ventured onto the track, resulting in a red flag while track staff chased it away
The track is still slippery
RUS took to the run-off area a couple of times
ALB got a puncture when he hit a wall
Penalties
Ferrari fined €5,000 because the made a tyre pressure adjustment to LEC’s car without following the sporting regulations
Qualifying
Air temperature 29°C; track 32°C; humidity 79%
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
LEC 1:30.896
SAI runs wide, recovers … but he’ll be penalised for not rejoining correctly
NOR 1:30.724
**Arrgh! Technical problems mean I’ll have to watch Quali after the race 🙁
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are GAS, BOT, ZHO, COL, STR
COL P8 relegating OCO to P16
STR P16
OCO P14, RIC P16
ZHO P19
BOT P18
GAS P18
Back of the grid: RIC, STR, GAS, BOT, ZHO
Qualifying session 2
VER runs wide but keeps it out of the wall
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are PER, MAG, OCO, ALB, COL
ALB P10, TSU P11
COL P11
TSU P8, ALB P11
PER P13
Middle of the grid: ALB, COL, PER, MAG, OCO
Top 10 shootout is between PIA, VER, LEC, HAM, NOR, SAI, HUL, RUS, TSU and ALO
Qualifying session 3
SAI off, backwards into the wall; yellow flag quickly becomes red [video]
Replay shows SAI was just picking up pace after letting PIA through on a quick lap
HUL 1:30.848
PIA 1:29.953
NOR 1:29.525
Chequered flag; order is NOR, PIA, HUL; no times yet for the other runners
ALO P4
LEC P4
HAM P2
VER P2
RUS P4
TSU P8
LEC’s time is deleted
Front of the grid: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, TSU, LEC, SAI
Provisional grid: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, TSU, LEC, SAI, ALB, COL, PER, MAG, OCO, RIC, STR, GAS, BOT, ZHO
Penalties
SAI was fined €25,000 (€12,500 of which is suspended for the remainder of the 2024 season on condition that there is no further breach of a similar nature) for crossing the track after his accident in Q3
SAI was also given a warning for failing to follow the Race Director’s Event Notes when he rejoined the track incorrectly in Q1
Race
Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
Air temperature 31°C; track 37°C; humidity 75%
VER’s practice start is bit clunky
Anthem’s finished but Aston Martin mechanics are still working on the brakes on STR’s car
Grid: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, TSU, LEC, SAI, ALB, COL, PER, MAG, OCO, RIC, STR, GAS, BOT, ZHO
This will be HAM’s 350th Grand Prix start
NOR leads everyone away on the formation lap
Looks like everyone’s starting on medium compound tyres except HAM and RIC on softs, and MAG, STR, BOT and ZHO on hards
NOR’s going to fast – there’s a huge gap so he’ll have a long way before the grid completes forming up
01/62: NOR leads through Turn 1
ALO and LEC cut the corner
02: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, LEC, COL, PER, TSU, SAI, OCO, MAG, ALB, RIC, GAS, STR, BOT, ZHO
DRS enabled – don’t forget, there’s 4 DRS zones this weekend
VER has DRS behind NOR
03: NOR fastest lap 1:38.480
Radio from RUS saying HAM needs to pick up his pace
04: NOR f/lap 1:38.406
05/62: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, LEC, COL, PER, TSU, SAI, OCO, MAG, ALB, RIC, GAS, STR, BOT, ZHO
06: VER f/lap 1:37.906
07: NOR f/lap 1:37.843
08: NOR f/lap 1:37.621
09: NOR f/lap 1:37.082
Radio for NOR asking if he can open a 5-sec gap over VER; NOR seems OK with that
10/62: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, LEC, COL, PER, TSU, SAI, OCO, MAG, ALB, RIC, GAS, STR, ZHO, BOT
NOR f/lap 1:36.715 – his lead is over 4.5sec
PER closing on COL
11: ALO and LEC have DRS behind HUL
RIC pits from P16; medium tyres go on; rejoins P20
12: NOR f/lap 1:36.651 – now has 5.7sec lead over VER
ALB pits from P15; hards; P19
COL gets very close to the wall at Turn 17
13: NOR f/lap 1:36.495
Radio from HUL reporting he’s sliding around
14: SAI pits from P12; the 40mph pit lane speed limit looks so slow; hards go on; rejoins P18, inches ahead of ALB
15/62: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, LEC, COL, PER, TSU, OCO, MAG, GAS, STR, ZHO, BOT, SAI, ALB, RIC
How long will HAM’s soft tyres last?
16: ALB seems to have lost pace, dropped to P20
ALB pits; retires the Williams; he’s reported it’s overheating
18: HAM pits from P3; hards; P13
19: NOR’s lead is over 13 seconds clear of VER
SAI takes P16 from ZHO
20/62: NOR, VER, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, LEC, COL, PER, TSU, OCO, MAG, HAM, GAS, STR, SAI, ZHO, BOT, RIC; out: ALB
HAM past MAG for P12
21: Radio from HAM reporting he thinks he clipped the wall coming into the pit lane, asks the team to check his car
Replay shows HAM had a slide on pit-in but it didn’t look like he hit the wall
Radio for NOR telling him to preserve his tyres, they want VER to pit before them
22: SAI takes P15 from STR
HAM past OCO for P11
23: Radio from HAM, “I’m already struggling with this tyre”
24: Radio from LEC, frustrated behind ALO; “keep calm”
25/62: NOR, VER, RUS, PIA, HUL, ALO, LEC, COL, PER, TSU, HAM, OCO, MAG, GAS, SAI, STR, ZHO, BOT, RIC
NOR over 19sec ahead of VER
LEC takes P6 from ALO
26: ALO pits from P7; hards; P15
HAM past TSU but then cuts the corner and TSU reclaims P9
27: PIA is on RUS’ tail
Radio from VER reporting “rear tyres are quite bad now”; he’s told “shouldn’t be too long”
28: RUS is told to box as PIA threatens to pass
RUS pits; hards; P8
LEC tucked up behind HUL
29: LEC dives through to takes P4 from HUL
PER pits; hards; P14
Radio from NOR reporting front wing damage – he touched the wall in Turn 14
30/62: VER pits from P2; hards; P3… no, LEC passes just as VER rejoins
VER on the radio to complain about the strategy, not realising LEC has yet to pit
31: NOR pits from P1; hards; no need to replace his nose; rejoins still P1
Replay shows NOR locked up and had to brush the wall in order to make the turn
Half distance
32: NOR, PIA, VER, LEC, RUS, HAM, TSU, SAI, ALO, HUL
(PIA, LEC and TSU yet to pit)
Incident involving HUL and has been noted
34: TSU pits from P7; softs; P15
Radio for PIA telling him they want to delay his pit stop but it means he’ll have to pass HAM after he stops; PIA doesn’t like that plan
35/62: NOR, PIA,VER, LEC, RUS, HAM, SAI, ALO, HUL, PER, COL, GAS, RIC, ZHO, TSU, OCO, MAG, STR, BOT; out: ALB
36: RUS looks at a pass on LEC but cuts a corner; LEC maintains P4
37: NOR f/lap 1:36.216
Incident involving COL noted – leaving the track and gaining an advantage
LEC pits from P4; hards; P8 just ahead of HUL
Radio from PIA reporting “it’s getting very tricky now” – will McLaren put him on soft tyres?
38: PIA and GAS are the only ones yet to pit; will RIC do a 2nd stop?
GAS pits
39: PIA pits from P2; hards; P5
40/62: NOR, VER, RUS, HAM, PIA, SAI, ALO, LEC, HUL, PER, COL, RIC, TSU, OCO, MAG, STR, ZHO, BOT, GAS
No further action on COL
PIA has DRS behind HAM… and takes P4
41: LEC past ALO for P7
TSU is shouting at his engineer again, expecting them to tell RIC to let him through
42: RIC lets teammate TSU take P12
PIA closing on RUS
LEC f/lap 1:36.166 – he’s 14sec behind HAM but 1sec/lap faster
43: NOR’s lead is just over 24secs
PIA f/lap 1:35.888
44: PIA has DRS behind RUS
LEC f/lap 1:35.849
45/62: NOR, VER, RUS, PIA, HAM, LEC, SAI, ALO, HUL, PER, COL, TSU, RIC, OCO, MAG, STR, ZHO, BOT, GAS
Radio for RUS warning him that LEC might catch him right at the end of the race
LEC f/lap 1:35.849
PIA around the outside of RUS to take P3
46: LEC f/lap 1:35.639
HUL continues to defend P9 from PER
47: Radio for HUL telling him his tyres look very good
LEC f/lap 1:35.371
OCO and MAG dive inside RIC to steal P13 and P14
48: Replay shows NOR hit a wall with his rear-right wheel
RIC pits; softs; P19
Radio from PER saying “I have no traction, mate – it’s bouncing like a kangaroo”; “keep your head down”
49: NOR f/lap 1:34.925 – obviously tapping the wall didn’t do any damage
Radio for NOR telling him “full concentration now, take a drink”
50/62: NOR, VER, PIA, RUS, HAM, LEC, SAI, ALO, HUL, PER, COL, TSU, OCO, MAG, STR, ZHO, BOT, GAS, RIC; out: ALB
Radio from MAG reporting he’s got a puncture – apparently he hit the wall at Turn 5
51: LEC easily past HAM for P5
MAG has made it to the pits; softs go on; P19
52: Radio from RUS reporting “I have understeer and I have oversteer”!
53: 10 laps left; NOR is 28secs clear of NOR
Radio from RUS reporting he “just kissed the wall”
PER still on HUL’s tail
54: MAG f/lap 1:34.754 – no bonus point for him but that denies NOR
NOR almost has a pit stop’s worth of lead but I think it’s too risky
55/62: NOR, VER, PIA, RUS, LEC, HAM, SAI, ALO, HUL, PER, COL, TSU, OCO, STR, ZHO, BOT, GAS, RIC, MAG
Radio for NOR, “Just chill out, bring this car home”
MAG’s previous lap time was deleted so NOR reclaims fastest lap
56: If PER makes a move on HUL, what are the chances of a safety car?
57: NOR laps COL (P11) – that’s taken some pressure off PER
LEC has DRS behind RUS
60/62: NOR, VER, PIA, RUS, LEC, HAM, SAI, ALO, HUL, PER, COL, TSU, OCO, STR, ZHO, BOT, GAS, RIC, MAG; out: ALB
MAG pits, as does RIC
MAG retires
RIC gets new softs; rejoins P18 – Red Bull want to deny NOR the bonus point
61: NOR has lapped everyone up to & including HUL (P9)
RUS hits a kerb, gets a lots of bouncing and that lets LEC get even closer
62/62: RIC fastest in Sector 1…. and S2
RUS still defending P4
NOR laps ALO (P8)
RIC f/lap 1:34.486
NOR takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: NOR, VER, PIA, RUS, LEC, HAM, SAI, ALO, HUL, PER; COL, TSU, OCO, STR, ZHO, BOT, GAS, RIC
DNF: MAG, ALB
Fastest lap: RIC on that final lap, but he won’t get the bonus point because he’s outside the top 10 places
There were no post-race penalties(!)
As far as the Championships are concerned: VER is 52 points ahead of NOR, with LEC a further 34 points back
McLaren lead the Constructors’ Championship, 41 points ahead of Red Bull, with Ferrari and Mercedes some way behind.
[2024 calendar and driver line-up]
