The Official 2018 Singapore Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[angrymoby]

Vettel to win all remaining 6? ...he'll be lucky if he gets half that

even when everyone was talking up their chances with supposedly the faster car they were only winning 2 out of 6

all over ...& mathematically will be all over before Abu

Edited by angrymoby on Monday 17th September 10:03

[anonymous-user]

LDN said:

I don’t believe that. It was only a few races ago that I was convinced Vettel had it in the bag. The obvious pace advantage and overall package pointed at that. Only Hamilton’s stunning wet weather drives and Vettel’s lacklustre performance have turned things around. And so things will be clearer in another couple of races.

Edit to add; replying to Jim.

Vettel move on Verstappen at the start of the race shows the performance advantage for the Ferrari compared to the Red Bull.

But the Ferrari tactics were shocking and basically gave Verstappen 2nd place.

As a team and a driver, you can't give Mercedes these own goals.

I just can't see Lewis giving away 40 points. Vettel yes but Hamilton no.

[anonymous-user]

oyster said:

Not this st again!!!
How can both Monza AND Singapore be tracks suited to the same car? Unless that car is light years ahead of the opposition.

What similar characteristics are there between the 2 tracks?
Virtually none.

It's well known that the Ferrari has a horsepower advantage and a traction / throttle pickup advantage out of low speed corners. For those reasons, Monza and Singapore are both tracks that should have favoured their car. The problem has been translating that potential into actual performance come race day (through free practice and qualifying, they looked strong). If they don't drop the ball in qualifying, they most certainly do during the race.

Tyre allocations have been bizarre the last few races, and given how that decision's made a while in advance, you'd have to assume on the strategy front, they've probably tied one hand behind their own back for Sochi already.

It's a very, very strong car, but they've failed to use it. Merc in contrast, have got 100% out of a slightly weaker car.

[iandc]

In the cold light of day was the race (as opposed to qualifying) such a disaster for Ferrari? They finished in their qualifying positions at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult. I think everyone thought Ferrari had it in the bag for a 1-2 lockout in qualifying and therefore could have controlled the race. The race was lost for Ferrari in qualifying. Lewis was also a tad lucky to make it out of quali 1.If he had started 15th we would have been having a different discussion about tactics!!

[kambites]

I think they will have been expecting at least second, especially once Vettel managed to get past Verstappen at the start.

You are of course right though that qualifying was the disaster; the race was just a failure to limit the damage of that disaster.

[swisstoni]

Anyone who has watched F1 (or any sport come to that) for very long would not be saying it's all over.
There are 6 races to go with tons of points to be won or lost.
And endless possibilities for slip ups, trip ups, finger trouble and stuff breaking.

[anonymous-user]

swisstoni said:

Anyone who has watched F1 (or any sport come to that) for very long would not be saying it's all over.
There are 6 races to go with tons of points to be won or lost.
And endless possibilities for slip ups, trip ups, finger trouble and stuff breaking.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1018564/Lewis-Hamilton-Eddie-Jordan-F1-title-prediction-Singapore-Grand-Prix-Sebastian-Vettel

[angrymoby]

swisstoni said:

Anyone who has watched F1 (or any sport come to that) for very long would not be saying it's all over.
There are 6 races to go with tons of points to be won or lost.
And endless possibilities for slip ups, trip ups, finger trouble and stuff breaking.

only watching for 40 odd years

sure, you get the odd anomaly that stand out & that's why you remember them ...but most of the time it goes with form & averages

but ill bookmark this

[Jasandjules]

I find it a bit odd to say it is over. Whilst I hope it is in terms of Lewis winning the WDC, a DNF can happen easily in any race.... I mean, can you imagine Ocon thought his race would end as it did?!?!

And it would only take one with a Seb win to bring it all back into contention.

[E34-3.2]

I think that people get carried away. 6 races to go. Plenty of things can happen. A DNF for Hamilton and Vettel is in the fight. Fingers crossed, Hamilton will have a good race in Russia. Not sure which car should perform the best out there though?

[LaurasOtherHalf]

iandc said:

In the cold light of day was the race (as opposed to qualifying) such a disaster for Ferrari? They finished in their qualifying positions at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

I'd say yes considering VET was in second position and ended up third.

[angrymoby]

Jasandjules said:

I find it a bit odd to say it is over. Whilst I hope it is in terms of Lewis winning the WDC, a DNF can happen easily in any race.... I mean, can you imagine Ocon thought his race would end as it did?!?!

And it would only take one with a Seb win to bring it all back into contention.

because, history?

whats the biggest deficit comeback with 6 races to go?

Seb's 31 in 2010?

the only other recent standout for me was Kimi's 17 in the last 2 races ...but he was 'only' 20 pts behind with 6 to go

any others?

[kambites]

We haven't had the new points system all that long. If you think about coming back from a win and two thirds down with six races remaining (ie 17 points in the old system) I suspect there have been a few?

[RichB]

REALIST123 said:

[...Let’s hope next year brings a real change though from what I’m hearing it won’t.

I think it may; we've seen Max rising to the challenge so a new era perhaps? Forget about Vettel and Ferrari - Mercedes and Red Bull as the top teams with McLaren and Ferrari fighting over 3rd and 4th place, that would be funny. All we need then is Liberty to stop Ferrari's $100m additional payments for "being Ferrari" and then we'd have a level playing field.

[kambites]

I think you'd get pretty good odds if you want to bet on a Honda powered car winning the championship next year and Mclaren ending up in the top four.

[angrymoby]

kambites said:

We haven't had the new points system all that long. If you think about coming back from a win and two thirds down with six races remaining (ie 17 points in the old system) I suspect there have been a few?

a quick rack of the memory banks & a wiki scan...

'86 Prost was 7pts adrift with 6 races to go
'83 Piquet was 6pts with 6 to go

so both less than a (10 pts? ) race win

[anonymous-user]

I think we all have to accept that there is no clearly best car right now. The Ferrari and the Mercedes are pretty even when one lap pace and race pace on each of the tyre types are taken into account. It's a weird season as there are tracks where I would expect the Ferrari to walk it based on earlier season form and they aren't doing and vice versa with Mercedes. What I think is making the difference is the weight of expectation on Vettel's shoulders versus some genuine brilliance form Hamilton.

I feel a but sorry for Vettel as I think he's better than some of his recent showings, but the pressure has just got to him at times and the team are making mistakes at others. The next 6 races will be a real test of his mental strength and even if he doesn't win the title I would hope he can out up a good fight for the health of F1.

Ona side note one can only wonder at what Red Bull could do with a Ferrari or Mercedes engine.

[numtumfutunch]

cb1965 said:

Ona side note one can only wonder at what Red Bull could do with a Ferrari or Mercedes engine.

Package it so it doesnt work properly?

[Derek Smith]

The Surveyor said:

Singapore is a track where overtaking near the front of the grid is almost impossible as Bottas found out trying to get past the back-markers. Ferrari pitted Seb at the right time for a 2 stop strategy, swapping the Hypersoft qualli tyre for an Ultrasoft to give them pace for the undercut which would fit into their 2 stop strategy. Ferrari had already set their stall-out for a 2 stop by their tyre selection so Mercedes were able to use the 'soft' tyre which everybody knew would easily last on a 1 stop strategy. Vettals race was neutralised once Ferrari asked him to run 45 laps on a set of Ultrasofts.

There was no way Ferrari could have made a 2 stop strategy work at Singapore when everybody else (including Kimi) was on a 1 stop. Ferrari's tactical errors again gifted Mercedes an easy win.

I thought that Ferrari might have been depending on an SC to give SB a change of tyres towards the end, back onto hypers. As it was, without softs, Ferrari had to try something.

With just the one SC I would assume that part of the cruising, especially by LH, might have been down to fuel worries.

This was a poor race for the front 6. They finished as they started. The only challenge was SV on MV, and they threw that away. We saw some absolutely brilliant laps in qually. MV and LH were awe inspiring. Then very little from the top three teams.

[swisstoni]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

swisstoni said:

Anyone who has watched F1 (or any sport come to that) for very long would not be saying it's all over.
There are 6 races to go with tons of points to be won or lost.
And endless possibilities for slip ups, trip ups, finger trouble and stuff breaking.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1018564/Lewis-Hamilton-Eddie-Jordan-F1-title-prediction-Singapore-Grand-Prix-Sebastian-Vettel

Eddie Jordan. He has to come up these proclamations. That's his schtick. Doesn't matter to him whether he's right or wrong.