Singapore: pre-qualifying 2022

The calendar for next year, with a foolish 24 races including a ridiculous three in the USA, has been published:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.f1-announces-24-race-calendar-for-2023.7oNRaq4kZ2bwTAmL7r6dqg.html

Alex Albon is racing despite minor complications during his recent surgery.

And, at the time of writing (Saturday morning) the F1 website isn’t showing the practice results, but I recall Hamilton was top of first practice (less than a tenth ahead of Verstappen on a slower tyre) and Sainz was quickest in second practice.

Edited: ah they can be seen but it must be via the link on the reports page. Peculiar.

Anyway, first practice had Hamilton on soft less than a tenth ahead of Verstappen on the medium tyre. Leclerc was four-tenths off the ultimate pace, and also four-tenths ahead of Perez. Russell, Sainz, Ocon, Stroll, Gasly and Alonso completed the top 10.

Second practice was a Ferrari 1-2 with Sainz two-tenths the faster. Russell and Verstappen were a tenth off Leclerc, with Hamilton a quarter of a second further back. Ocon, Bottas, Alonso, Perez, and Stroll followed.

Red Bull have had relatively little running due to setup fiddling.

 

Third practice was pretty much a washout (I just missed out on making some long odds bets on backmarkers being top 2). The first drivers out went on the wets over halfway into the session, so the times are not super useful. Qualifying may or may not see more rain.

Rain washing away rubber will also be bad for tyre warmup, and see substantial improvement (probably) in qualifying. This may adversely affect Mercedes who have been slower to switch on tyres than other top teams. In addition, the Mercedes looked worse than others on inters. Fastest times were set on intermediates. 

Leclerc was fastest, half a second ahead of Verstappen. Sainz was next, a second off his team mate, with Alonso six-tenths further back. Perez was a tenth off the elder Spaniard, with Stroll over a second slower. Ocon was six-tenths further back, then came Vettel, Russell, and Ricciardo.

The wet running does suggest if conditions recur then Mercedes may be out of contention at the sharp end. Once again, Verstappen and Leclerc look likely but changeable conditions and crashing potential mean Sainz and Perez should not be overlooked.

 

Too short on time to wait for the markets to wake so no tip.

Qualifying is at 2pm.

 

Morris Dancer

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