So much for the expert consensus that Ferrari wouldn’t even be in the fight for a podium, let alone a race victory, at Marina Bay. The Italian outfit’s updates on its front-end proved decisive and provided Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc with the balance and front downforce that they had lacked at slow-speed circuits through the rest of the season. The high-speed masters became street fighters overnight.
Scuderia Ferrari’s advantage at high-speed circuits such as Monza is well documented, but the developments on the SF70H have now somewhat recalibrated the calculus for the rest of the campaign.
With three wins in as many grands prix it may seem that the Prancing Horse that is the team to beat in the remaining races of the season. While this has come too late for both championships in 2019, it does suggest that the men from Maranello will also be in the mix for the title next season. However, as reported earlier today by leading German automobile magazine ‘Auto motor und sport’, in Singapore Mercedes did not have an ideal setup and had problems with the bumps and kerbs at the Marina Bay street circuit. A similar situation to that of Red Bull, as Helmut Marko confirmed at the end of the race that the team had a complete wrong setup and wrong downforce level (which they could not fix during the weekend anymore). Hopefully Scuderia Ferrari’s aero package is not just looking amazing because the others underperformed or made mistakes. It is definitely a step forward, but by how much we have to wait for the next races. Regardless Ferrari was the only team to absolutely nail it in all areas in Singapore.
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