Singapore race strategies: Ferrari aiming for one pit stop, Mercedes for two; crucial race start. Ferrari aiming for one pit stop, Mercedes for two.

The start has always been a critical moment in Singapore, but it’s at even greater risk of being crucial this season, with the two drivers on the front row opting for different strategies: Carlos Sainz wants to manage the pace and tires of his Ferrari, while Mercedes aims for an aggressive two-stop strategy with Russell.

The start could be the crucial factor in determining the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix. The conditional tense is necessary because the history of races at the Marina Bay circuit is full of unexpected events, starting with the safety car, a frequent visitor to Singapore.

Team simulations, confirmed by Pirelli, indicate that the best strategy is a one-stop race, transitioning from the medium tires used at the start to the hard tires (planned for the second stint) between the 20th and 30th laps. The single pit stop strategy is also encouraged by the total duration of the tire change operation, which costs a significant 28 seconds in Singapore.

Taking the lead into the first corner will be crucial to dictate the desired pace of the race. In the case of Ferrari, if Carlos Sainz can maintain the lead at the end of the first lap, there will be an opportunity to slow down the pace, enjoying two advantages.

The first is tire longevity, as Friday’s long runs showed a gradual overheating of the tires on the two SF-23 cars. A slower pace would help Carlos preserve tire life, reach the expected pit stop window, and at the same time shield Carlos Sainz from a potential undercut. This is because at a reduced pace, the pack remains close together, and an early pit stop would result in returning to the track in traffic.

Mercedes, on the other hand, has set up the weekend with the expectation of a two-stop race. This is not to be ruled out if tire degradation proves to be higher than expected, especially if the safety car enters the track at a critical moment. For this reason, Russell and Hamilton have preserved a set of medium tires (Mercedes drivers are the only ones, along with Williams, to have two sets of ‘yellow’ tires) and this availability allows them to tackle the first part of the race at a faster pace, considering the positive results seen in Friday’s simulations.

This is why George Russell’s crucial challenge will be at the start, in the 280 meters that separate the starting line from the braking zone of turn 1. If the Mercedes driver manages to take the lead, he can impose a higher pace on the race, with the hope of putting the tire management on Carlos Sainz’s car under pressure.

Pirelli’s simulations indicate the two-stop strategy (soft-hard-soft) as the second option. The use of the softer compound could be an advantage at the start, but the need to manage two pit stops carries the risk of encountering traffic, a significant variable in Singapore where overtaking is only possible with a substantial tire gap, considering the compound and laps completed.