In the last few years, the Formula 1 calendar has increased its number of events reaching its current 22-race size mainly ass a result of the addition of several new street tracks.
Yet the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay is not an artificial street circuit similar to Jeddah or Miami International circuit, purpose-built and lined with walls out of design rather than necessity. And despite the fact that it goes through real city streets, just like in Monte Carlo, the Marina Bay has far longer straights and provides several more chances for drivers to attempt overtaking moves, as compared to the Monaco Grand Prix.
With its energy-sapping humidity and punishingly race length, that frequently skirts the two-hour maximum limit, the Singapore event has become known for being the most difficult from a physical point of view, the biggest challenge drivers face during the entire championship. At the same time, one other major factor is the 100% Safety Car deployment rate in the previous 12 races, which means that the Singapore Grand Prix is definitely not a straightforward race.
However, eight of the last 12 races in Singapore, which is Formula 1’s original night race, were won by the drivers who started from P1: this means that Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc can be confident ahead of today’s event, as the Monegasque driver took pole position yesterday, despite the fact that he made a small mistake on his pole lap, but took advantage of rare a mistake made by Red Bull, which prevented Max Verstappen from setting a final fast run.
“Not my last lap, but the one just before was really good and was the lap for pole. And my last lap, unfortunately I did a mistake. It wouldn’t have changed anything, but maybe if Max had finished the lap, we probably would have lost pole for this mistake.” – the Ferrari driver said, at the end of the qualifying session in Singapore.
However, Charles Leclerc is aware that he had a limited running in the three practice sessions at the Marina Bay Street Circuit and the lack of data could become an issue ahead of the main event this evening:
“Overall, I think the feeling with the car has been great all weekend long. Yes, we are missing a little bit of data for the race tomorrow but that doesn’t concern me too much. We just need to try and do everything perfect. And I’m pretty sure the result will be there. Strategy’s going to be very important” – Charles Leclerc added, as the Ferrari driver remembers very well how he lost the win in Singapore back in 2019, when he started from pole position but finished behind his Maranello teammate Sebastian Vettel due to the pit stop strategies: “I think we are in a bit of a different situation compared to 2019 with the strategy. It should make it more exciting, but the undercut will definitely be a thing tomorrow.” – he added.
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While Charles Leclerc is aware that he can never be safe from Max Verstappen potentially charging through the field yet again, just like was the case in Monza, he will also not need reminding about the plethora of frustrating means by which the Maranello team and he have lost likely wins during the current Formula 1 campaign. Yet the Monegasque driver is confident he and his team are better prepared to take victory this weekend:
“Before coming to this weekend, our focus for the last part of the race is to improve on the Sunday execution. So we’ll put all our effort to have a two-hour clean Sunday and if we do then I’m pretty sure the performance will be there.” – Charles Leclerc concluded.
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