Ferrari confirm no changes to any components were necessary to comply with TD018 or TD039

In Singapore, Ferrari continues to shine and Carlos Sainz secures the pole position, his second consecutive one following the Monza Grand Prix. The Spaniard has found a strong connection with the SF-23, allowing him to perform at his best. The Ferrari front row was disrupted by an excellent lap from George Russell, who also continues to show great form, managing to stay ahead of Charles Leclerc and threaten the pole time. However, the surprise of the day is not even McLaren’s Lando Norris, but rather the double elimination in Q2 of the RB19, the car that has dominated this season. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished behind a remarkable Liam Lawson, who, in his first appearance in Singapore, made it to Q3. A real blow for Red Bull, which was surprisingly slower than AlphaTauri today.

Ferrari: Carlos Sainz Perfectly Secures the Pole, Leclerc Loses it in the Final Sector
The SF-23 brought to Singapore has been brilliantly prepared by the Maranello technicians. The setup studied on the simulator immediately produced positive results and required minimal adjustments on the track to adapt to evolving conditions and driver preferences, mainly adjusting the front-end balance with flap modifications. The aerodynamic configuration, therefore, was not altered during the race, and neither were the ride heights, which proved competitive and aggressive from the very first laps of FP1. The introduction of the weekend focused heavily on the updated TD018 and TD039, with the latter causing significant problems for the F1-75 in 2022. However, Maranello was not concerned and arrived here without making any structural changes to wings, underfloor, or nose structure, areas where the FIA has increased scrutiny. Ferrari was conservative in this regard and did not make any alterations to the SF-23 in response to the new directive.

Carlos Sainz has had a perfect weekend so far. The car now fits him like a glove, as he has repeatedly stated, confirming that he feels increasingly confident with the SF-23. His driving style differs from Leclerc’s, who had to adapt to the 2023 car, which inherently understeers and better suits Sainz’s natural abilities, whereas Leclerc prefers a more pointed front end and a lighter rear. After finding the right setup, the Spaniard is proving to be just as competitive as Ferrari’s young talent. Leclerc will appreciate the internal challenge, which will motivate him even more, especially being aware of his recent limitations and mistakes, as Carlos Sainz himself acknowledged, “the best Carlos since I joined Ferrari, for sure,” he said.

Saturday’s pole position was all about Carlos Sainz, who delivered a flawless and error-free lap. However, Charles Leclerc attempted to take it away until the very end and secure an all-red front row, but he made a fatal error in the final sector. As he approached Turn 16, his SF-23’s rear became unstable, causing oversteer and limiting his traction phase, nullifying the advantage he had built up until then – he was over a tenth ahead at the time of the actual pole lap – ultimately ending up behind his teammate and even George Russell. “The car has been understeering all year, and I had to adapt my driving style a bit,” he reiterated, responding to Mara Sangiorgio’s question on Sky Sport F1.

“This pole position, and in general, the result of this qualifying, is the product of a solid weekend from all points of view, where the whole team has worked very well from the free practice sessions, both here on the track and in Maranello,” commented Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, praising his team and immediately shifting the focus to Sunday’s race.

Singapore is a very particular circuit where tire preparation and execution of the lap time require perfect balance. This has been a characteristic of the RB19 throughout the year, but it has dramatically disappeared here. Any connections to the consequences of the TDs are speculative, as a failure to bring the tires up to temperature can result from an incorrect setup, which has happened even in dominant eras like Mercedes’, leading to disastrous weekends. Certainly, the feeling today is that the window of tire usage has shrunk considerably, preventing the RB19 from finding the right balance. Despite technicians adjusting the base setup at the simulator, making changes between Friday and Saturday, and even before Qualifying, and reverting to the old floor specification, this seemed very similar to what happened to the Ferrari F1-75 last season with the introduction of TD39, from which it never recovered in terms of downforce. Today’s RB19 also appeared to struggle with ride heights and unexpected sliding.

It is not unlikely that the Milton Keynes team will make further setup changes, including fitting new Power Unit and gearbox components, to better tackle the end of the season and try to find a solution to improve their Sunday pace, reversing a rather anonymous weekend thus far. In the spotlight, alongside Ferrari, was Mercedes, which has shown balance and competitiveness throughout the weekend and came close to challenging Carlos Sainz’s pole, although George Russell didn’t have high hopes, saying, “We saw that the Ferraris were too fast, and I’m happy with the lap I did,” leaving Lewis Hamilton trailing by almost half a second. The W14 will certainly be a formidable opponent in tomorrow’s race, with an overall better-balanced car and, on paper, superior tire management to the SF-23, albeit with a slight disadvantage in top speed.

Behind them, McLaren and Aston Martin confirm their positions in different ways. Lance Stroll had an incredible accident in Q1 that put him out of contention, fortunately without physical consequences, despite a strong impact at the final corner, losing control on the curb after excessive entry speed induced significant understeer. Oscar Piastri lost his good lap behind him and couldn’t capitalize on the potential of a non-updated MCL60, which performed well here. Lando Norris did a good job and expressed satisfaction in “giving 2 tenths to one of the two Mercedes,” never having thought about the concrete possibility of fighting for the pole. Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, had to settle for a disappointing seventh position, which, although showing excellent race pace in FP2, complicates matters for himself and the team, as the AMR23 struggles to exploit new tires effectively.