MEXICO’S Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez dominated Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, taking the lead at the start to head Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, these three going on to claim the top three podium places.
Behind came the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, both benefitting from a well-timed pit stop during a safety car period.
World Championship leader Max Verstappen was a disappointed 7th, having started from 8th place on the grid due to a mistake by the team during qualifying. The Dutch driver also made a couple of errors, recovering positions after a poor start only to lock the wheels of his car and take to the escape road while trying to pass Norris.
Similarly Lewis Hamilton made an untypical mistake while attempting to race for a podium finish, locking up, hitting the wall and damaging his front wing. He finished 9th.
The race was delayed for an hour as the result of torrential rain, leaving the drivers to deal with tricky conditions and a mid-race switch from intermediate to dry weather tyres.
“This was so typical of the Grands Prix we have seen in Singapore and nearby Malaysia over the years, heavy rain affecting the race which meant it was so easy to make a mistake,” said Mika Hakkinen. “We started racing in this part of the world more than 20 years ago, and nothing prepares you for the amount of heavy rain. It can make racing impossible.”
“This was a weekend when Max could have won the World Championship, but the mistake by the team in qualifying on Saturday really cost him. It is quite unusual for a team to ask a driver to abort a qualifying lap, especially one which was actually looking pretty good, but to then discover you don’t have enough fuel to complete another lap was embarrassing. Red Bull has been operationally very strong all season, so this was pretty surprising.”
“I think a lot of people expected Max to recover well from 8th place on the grid but the conditions meant he made a poor start and then lost time fighting in the midfield. This was a weekend to forget. These kinds of races happen, even in a season where you are extremely competitive, and you just have to move on and focus on making sure the next weekend goes much better. I have no doubt the Red Bull will suit the Suzuka circuit in Japan this weekend and that Max can claim the title. The team just needs to make sure they don’t make any more mistakes.”
What. A. Performance! #SingaporeGP @SChecoPerez pic.twitter.com/6JzwFTVHFX
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 2, 2022
“Checo Perez did a brilliant job for Red Bull,” continued Mika. “This was a perfect race, taking the lead away from Charles at the start, controlling the race, making no mistakes and bringing the team the win. When Max does not win for Red Bull, Checo is waiting to jump in. This was his second win of the year and it reminded everyone why he is the perfect team mate to Max.”
“I was really happy to see McLaren 4th and 5th. The team timed the pit stop on lap 36 to perfection. Lando and Daniel both drove a strong race, an important result for the team on a day when both the Alpines retired from the race, moving McLaren into 4th place in the team’s championship. It was also good for Daniel who has yet to finalise what he is going to do next season.”
“The mistakes from both Max and Lewis showed just what a fantastic job everyone else was doing! It is so easy to lose grip in conditions which are too fast for intermediates but really challenging on slicks, and this reminds everyone that any driver – even experienced World Champions – can get it wrong when pushing at the limit. I think we all expect perfection from drivers like them, so when they make a mistake it can seem quite a shock!”
