Singapore Sling! What a potent mix of drama and unexpected results!

Singapore is an island city state in Southeast Asia famous for Raffles, humidity and the Singapore Sling. It is a beautiful island/city with an amazing history that stretches back millennia. Recent history includes British rule from early 19th century until 1942, and a horrific episode of Japanese occupation after they easily outwitted the British by taking the colony via land instead of attacking by sea. Singapore gained independence from Malaysia in 1965.

Today Singapore is a vibrant and exciting city with many amazing buildings from the old colonial Raffles Hotel to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The city also boasts an amazing underground transport system, the MRT, which gets you around the city at low cost and with air conditioning! And there is also the odd bit of shopping if you are that way inclined! Singapore is really, really safe and you can wander around at any time and feel completely at ease. We love Singapore – but it is very hot and humid all the time.

Singapore and F1. Singapore held the first night race in F1. This year the track has been changed slightly by removing a part of the circuit that went around a grandstand and now just goes straight! This has sped up the track (fewer corners) and shortened the overall distance. Hamilton holds the race record for the “old” layout and the new layout is a first in 2023! We are going to witness F1 history in the making.

After Monza where Max Verstappen beat Vettel’s 9 in a row wins with Max’s tenth, everybody is expecting the Red Bull charge to continue and Max to make it 11. Ferrari has shown promise, Mercedes seem to be getting better as the year progresses and no-one is underestimating McLaren’s surge!

To watch this race we decided to take the three ticket option which basically gives you three different race positions over the weekend. It was a great option which only Singapore seems to offer, and all three seats had differing views of the track and were all great. Our race-day seats were on the starting grid, which was amazing. Singapore also offered some amazing acts after the race featuring Post Malone, Madness, Kings of Leon and Robbie Williams to name a few. Speaking of Williams their livery for the race was ultra cool – using the Gulf colours. Really retro. They should keep this livery!!

A preemptive apology – this is going to be a long report because SO MUCH happened!

Now the moment we have been waiting for … the racing.

The practice sessions threw up some very interesting situations! Ferrari were looking awesome Mercedes were looking okay and Red Bull were up there but not their usual dominant selves! Dare we hope? Practice sessions don’t mean much as the cars are testing different set-ups and tyre runs.

Qualies is where it counts! Q1 was really exciting with Ferrari taking top spot followed by Norris and the Mercedes pair. Max was fifth. With a few minutes to go in Q1 it was all on. Lots of drivers waiting to get that all import last run to make it into the top 15. Max was holding the line up in the pit-lane for no other reason than to reduce time for other drivers and was investigated for this (impeding). With two minutes to go – disaster! Stroll had a major crash which prevented several drivers from being able to get a good time in. Stroll was okay but his car was a mess. Most notable loses in this were Bottas and Piastri! They were out in Q1. Max was let off with a slap on the wrist from the FIA stewards in another example of inconsistent and biased decision making with regards to Red Bull – a major offence and he is given a “reprimand”! Very poor FIA.

Q2. Ready to go! In Q2 it was Mercedes’ Russell showing the pace with Alonso in second followed by Sainz! Wait a minute – where are Red Bull ? They always place in the top three during Qualies! Another impeding incident from Max Verstappen against Tsunoda, preventing the Japanese driver from getting a lap time. Down to the final run then. Disaster for Tsunoda – with Cheko spinning and ending the session before he could get a time in. Also disaster for Red Bull as both of the drivers fail to qualify for Q1. Red Bull in trouble! What? Red Bull are struggling? What is going on? Is the Lord intervening and making F1 less predictable – that is the only realistic option as Red Bull never get it wrong. Once again, Max gets a “reprimand” for impeding Tsunoda, who ultimately could not set a time due to Verstappen and the crash. FIA you really must get your act together and apply some consistent rulings, if it had been anyone else they would have had penalties.

So Q3 without either of the Red Bulls. We are not used to that and there were lots of very happy non RB fans around the stadium. Other great news is the Kiwi driver Lawson, has made it through into the top ten. Amazing achievement which must be making Daniel very nervous. 

There was an intense battle between Sainz and Russell, with Sainz taking the honours and Russell second and Charles third. Two Ferraris in the top three. Norris was fourth with Hamilton fifth. Alonso made seventh and Lawson 10th, and no Red Bulls in the top ten. No-one predicted this set up.

What a race this is going to be! Ferrari are salivating at the prospect of a one, two, Mercedes fancy their chances and McLaren are in the mix! What a cocktail? (Apologies for that one).

The excitement is very high especially for Ferrari fans. Everyone is half expecting Max to pull off another from behind win, as no doubt their car set up issues will have been sorted overnight. So again, how long before Max gets there? We start –  and wow! I do not know what is different here but the cars are moving at incredible speed! Ferrari are out in front and doing a great job of keeping the others at bay. Sainz then Leclerc, Norris, Russell and Hamilton. Safety car! Logan Sargeant hits the barrier, an all too often occurrence, and Sainz holds onto the lead and tyre strategy is all important. Have Ferrari made the correct decision to go with hard tyres for Sainz? Will other teams change to faster mediums or soft tyres? How long can the tyre last? Another safety car! This is the telling moment- who will do what? Russell announces over the team radio (which all teams can hear) that they will only go for new tyres if Ferrari do, then promptly dive in for new medium tyres with Hamilton double stacking, losing only two places in the process with Ferrari not coming in at all! Brilliant strategy – the race is well and truely on! Ferrari and McLaren on older hard tyres, Mercedes both on new medium (faster) tyres. Leclerc falls victim to both Mercedes and now only Norris and Sainz ahead for Russell.  About ten laps to go, can Sainz hold on? Sainz and Norris drive beautifully and it is down to the last couple of laps with Russell on the tail of Norris. Suddenly, last lap and Russell is gone! Russell hits the wall attempting to overtake Norris! Sainz gets his second F1win with Norris second and Hamilton third. WHAT A RACE! Ferrari win it! 

P.S. Lawson got ninth. An amazing achievement from a driver thrown in the deep end a couple of weeks ago. Proud to be Kiwi’s and witnessing his upwards trajectory!

What a weekend in Singapore. Singapore has been the best so far, amazing racing, amazing acts, amazing transport to get us in and out of the track. This would definitely be one to return to.

I cannot leave without a huge shout out to Kerry (my niece) and her husband Regan who put us up and put up with us arriving back very late each night. You were both amazing hosts. Thank you. Also a huge hello to Pauline and Roger Knaggs who caught up with us at the race, had a G&T, a beer, a chat and foolishly offered to take stuff back to NZ for us!