Singapore: post-race analysis
A somewhat frustrating
race, and very much so from a betting perspective. Not only did the
main bet not come off (more below on whether that was ill-judged or
unfortunate) but the 3.75 dead cert on Merhi not to be classified was
actually settled as a loss. I immediately sent off an e-mail to
Ladbrokes about this and will report back on the result.
Off the line it was
formation flying at the front. Verstappen, starting 8th,
found his car wouldn’t start. He was pushed back to the pit lane
and managed to get going but was a full lap down on everybody else.
Vettel immediately
pulled out a massive gap (about 3s after lap 1). He probably
overcooked it, because later on he was a bit more delicate with the
tyres. Ricciardo could outpace Raikkonen, but found it difficult to
match Vettel’s times. However, the Red Bull was easier on its
tyres, which raised the prospect of Ferrari either shifting to a 3
stop (and gifting victory to Ricciardo) or seeing if they could make
2 work and risking the tyres degrading, or even falling off the
cliff.
There were two safety
cars. The first was due to debris on the track (I forget whose) near
the end of the first stint. This harmed Kvyat, who had pitted just
before and slumped from 4th to 6th, where he
remained. The top three all pitted at once.
The second occasion was
due to some fool sauntering on the track, and meant degradation and
strategy didn’t play a role whatsoever in the race. This was Red
Bull’s best hope (they were easier on the tyres than the Ferraris).
So, the bet might have come off had the two safety cars, one of which
only occurred due to an idiot, made an appearance. That said, F1 is a
sport where this kind of thing happens. Sometimes it’s helpful.
Today it was not.
Anyway, the top three
trundled to the podium, with Rosberg claiming 4th, Bottas
5th and Kvyat a lacklustre 6th (though he was
very unlucky with the first safety car). Perez scored a good 7th
for Force India, and was followed by Verstappen and Sainz. Nasr got
the last point.
Late on, Verstappen was
ordered to let Sainz past (his team mate had, it seems, let him
through earlier). The young Dutchman refused, twice, and finished
8th, Sainz 9th. A proper bollocking is in
order. We’ll see whether the Toro Rosso boss (Franz Tost, I think)
is more Ross Brawn or Christian Horner when it comes to laying down
the law.
Alonso was in the
points when his car stopped working. Dire for McLaren, who also
retired Button.
Hamilton had to retire
for the first time since Belgium last year when his engine lost
massive power. Others suffered engines shifting to neutral (possibly
due to electronic/metro interference).
On the Merhi bet: I’d
imagined this would be voided, but, if not, it was a dead cert
winner. As you can imagine I was not pleased when it was counted as a
loss by Ladbrokes, and sent the firm an e-mail. Didn’t get a reply
but the next day it seems to have been voided. Pleased by the prompt
action, displeased the bet counted when it meant me losing out but
got voided rather than counted as a win. However, I did always think
it would be made void [so, a shot to nothing], so I’m not too
irked.
Mercedes’ form
falling off a cliff is quite perplexing. This didn’t happen at the
very similar circuit of Monaco. Conspiracy theorists are talking
about them being given duff tyres, but I think that a bit much.
Anyway, Hamilton’s
retirement means things have tightened up a little, but he still has
a comfortable cushion.
Hamilton 252
Rosberg 211
Vettel 203
If Hamilton doesn’t
turn up to the next two races (and there’s only six left) and
Vettel wins both, the German will have a lead of 1 point. The concern
for Hamilton will be that the engine problem he suffered was not the
weird neutral issue which seems confined to Singapore, but a proper
problem with the engine. He should still walk to the title, though.
The good result for Red
Bull also means that the Constructors (3rd and 4th)
had tightened a bit:
Williams 198
Red Bull 139
Williams need to have
some good races or that gap could yet be closed.
The next race is this
coming weekend, in Japan, on a proper circuit.
Morris Dancer
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