2023 Singapore Grand Prix Heroes and Zeroes

[Jericoke]

Heroes:
RBR:  yes, they had a poor (for Red Bull) weekend, but by doing so, we got a very exciting race indeed!  I know that the FIA is trying to adjust the rules so we get these races every weekend, and it's damned hard to do over a full season, but it was great today.  Also, they showed that they can use strategy to turn a bad day into damage limitation, not just relyin on having the best car.

Sainz:  what a race!  Obviously the car was fast, but I think over race distance the Ferrari was only third fastest.  He did a fantastic job of 'managing the race'.  Yes, it's easier to 'manage' a race in street circuit canyon, but between strategy, managing the distance to second place, Sainz demonstrated that there is more to being a race winner than driving fast and braking late.

Norris:  McLaren didn't have any 'tricks' to pull out.  No strategy calls to shake things up.  An excellent race car, and a present driver squeezed out a damned near perfect performance.

Hamilton:  His first lap was a little naughty, using the run off so aggressively.  Kudos for not crashing though, and taking risks through out the day.  Second or a win might've been in the cards had everything gone perfectly, but third place with that number of mistakes is an impressive result.

Max:  Fighting back from 11th to 5th isn't too shabby.  A car that had no pace, no grip was saved by skill and strategy.

LeClerc:  who thought he'd be playing 'rear gunner' for Sainz, and doing it so effectively?  I don't know if this is Vasseur's work, but I can't imagine Ferrari from the last few years pulling this off.

Lawson:  first points in F1, that's always worth a celebration!

Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin:  both cars looked fantastic under the lights.  In the past the whole grid did, but everyone has that dull paint job, or heavy black which just looks... dull.

Zeroes:
Aston Martin:  "If we're going to get a good result, we're going to have to do something different from the front runners"  "Well, the front runners are going to have a flawless race so.... different is as many mistakes as possible, right?"

Don't really want to pick on anyone else.  Some bad luck on a track that penalizes a moment of inattention.  Everyone finished on the lead lap.  Most cars looked like they could make a top 10 finish with a little luck.  For all the close fighting, there could've been a lot more problems than we had.

[lkjohnson1950]

Mostly agree. Mild zero to George and Mercedes for not putting more pressure on Sainz early.

[Dare]

I wonder if Lewis could have got past Russel could
 he have won? Looked like he had the fastest car at
the end

Ferrari may have to think who the number one driver is

[Jericoke]

I wonder if Lewis could have got past Russel could
 he have won? Looked like he had the fastest car at
the end

Ferrari may have to think who the number one driver is

I thought about that, but it was a very narrow window where Hamilton was clearly faster, and there was enough race left for Hamilton to actually try.  I think overall Mercedes made a lot of 'small' mistakes, but had the talent to cover it up.  Who could have predicted that Sainz would use a Mercedes customer team to block the Mercedes works team?

Certainly out of WDC contention, it doesn't really matter who the #1 driver is, so I would expect it's based on race conditions to maximize points, but I've never seen someone win the way Sainz did today.  Usually we see a first place car hold off a faster second place car, but to actually use the slower second place car to hold off the faster third place car?

[Dare]

I wonder if Lewis could have got past Russel could
 he have won? Looked like he had the fastest car at
the end

Ferrari may have to think who the number one driver is

I thought about that, but it was a very narrow window where Hamilton was clearly faster, and there was enough race left for Hamilton to actually try.  I think overall Mercedes made a lot of 'small' mistakes, but had the talent to cover it up.  Who could have predicted that Sainz would use a Mercedes customer team to block the Mercedes works team?

Certainly out of WDC contention, it doesn't really matter who the #1 driver is, so I would expect it's based on race conditions to maximize points, but I've never seen someone win the way Sainz did today.  Usually we see a first place car hold off a faster second place car, but to actually use the slower second place car to hold off the faster third place car?

I was thinking next year for Ferrari. Has Sainz
finally found his potential. T me Carlos is one of the
more likable drivers

[John S]

I wonder if Lewis could have got past Russel could
 he have won? Looked like he had the fastest car at
the end

Ferrari may have to think who the number one driver is

Think Lewis breathing down his neck added immensely to George's workload.

Was that Merc just trying to prove they can allow toe to toe a la Ferrari at Monza, or was Lewis just selfishly out for glory?

On the Ferrari Numero Uno question I guess there's a lot for LeClerc to get his head round too. 

Oh - and I nearly went out for a walk about 10 laps into Singapore race.
So glad I didn't it turned into a real humdinger! 

[Alianora La Canta]

It looks to me like Ferrari had already decided on a Number 1 and Number 2, because even if you grant that Leclerc himself requested the first stint involve him pinning the rest of the field back (I think to prove a point to Ferrari that Sainz should have done this for him at certain points in the previous 18 months, and that Leclerc is the more versatile of the two), then neither ordering Sainz to drive so much slower than his capacity in the first stint nor refusing to put Leclerc on the obvious strategy makes any sense - unless it's to prevent the remotest chance of Leclerc being allowed to challenge Sainz for victory. That comes across as obvious No. 1/No.2 behaviour, despite this being outright hazardous to Ferrari (they lost a 1-2 today, lost a 2-3 in Monza for similar behaviour). It's coming across as Ferrari preferring to self-destruct than let Leclerc drive to his capability. Even 2010-era Ferrari was subtler.

I was in the opposite boat to John S as finished the race wishing I'd missed it. It felt less like a race and more like a stage performance, accentuated by something that in any sensible race would merely have been a cherry on the cake of excitement: Norris and Russell hitting the wall and nearly double-DNFing because they were trying not to hit Sainz and Norris respectively and missed their braking points. With the above context, it meant that Ferrari's manipulations messed up the whole of the front pack, including the ones who were allowed to race.

I'll save hero/zero picks for races where wanting to race isn't a punishment detail.

[Willy]

The first race in a while that I enjoyed.

I will admit it was due to the RBR issues that caused them to not be huge factor or run away in front as has been the case.
In fact I cheered when both Max & Sergio did not make Q1 in qualifying.

Carlos proved he has the chops to run at the front as #1 in Ferrari. It seems that manpower changes there have had some desired results.

All the other guys who never get a chance to be contenders were allowed to this race and it was nice to see all the action and lots of good racing. Lots of comments on them from others here already.

George has skill but needs to be able to handle the pressure from a 7 time champ running up his a&&.  He will get there in time.

I was annoyed at the TV director who felt he had to spend time showing every single pass that Max made as he attempted to claw his way through the field, even if there was great racing happening elsewhere on track. Then a replay just in case you missed it.
I was as if he was getting paid by RB to be sure to show the brand at every opportunity.
That can't be true........could it?
 

[Andy B]

What Willy said! 

[lkjohnson1950]

Yup, Willy nailed it. I did a little cheer when Max fell out of Q2. There has been some speculation on other sites that part of R/B's problems were due to stiffening the wings to meet the new FIA directive. Remains to be seen if it will affect them in Japan.

[rmassart]

Yup, Willy nailed it. I did a little cheer when Max fell out of Q2. There has been some speculation on other sites that part of R/B's problems were due to stiffening the wings to meet the new FIA directive. Remains to be seen if it will affect them in Japan.

Well, Max is lapping almost a second faster than the rest of the field in Japan, so I think that's the answer to that speculation! Normal racing has resumed.

This is the first race in a long time that I had not managed to watch and wish I had (I've missed plenty of races in the last two seasons and am happy I did!). Instead I had to follow the live timing which was quite exciting in itself!