This weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix is widely tipped to be Red Bull Racing’s best chance at securing a race victory in the second half of the season, owing to it’s high-downforce requirements.
Advertisement
For every grand prix this season, the only question before the race has been which of the two Mercedes drivers would win.
Are Formula One drivers, and Mercedes teammates, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton friends off the racing track?
And after seeing another potential victory slip through his fingers from pole within seconds of the lights going out at the last race in Monza, Hamilton replied when asked if he welcomed the increased variability: “Not really, because if you gauge my season then the championship could be lost through starts”.
Red Bull and Ferrari, who haven’t won since Vettel’s Singapore victory previous year, will fancy their chances at the city centre circuit which has 23 corners – the most of any F1 venue – and few high-speed straights. Daniel Ricciardo came in for fresh tires before the pit crew was in position, so he had to drive back out and come in again next time around.
They would also have to overcome stiff competition from rival teams Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, whose drivers took the top three places in the Singapore race a year ago.
“It’s pretty hard to start the races – it has been the same for years – but it’s just more difficult now in terms of getting a consistent getaway”, he said. “I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself or them (the team) for this weekend but deep down, we want to win”. I believe we are a group of winners, so if there is a bit of pressure on us to get it done then I think we will thrive off that.
“Considering I have had a lot of pole positions, I have lost the race from the starts”.
Ricciardo has finished on the podium four times this season, with three of those coming in the past four races. Fail to win here, and the Italian team will be staring at the very real prospect of another winless season to match 2014.
“I like this track, it’s a place that I always enjoyed”, said Vettel.
“I think this track should suit us better”.
“You have to make Mercedes favourites but they had a hard time here last season”.
Mercedes has closely investigated what went wrong here, and it would be a surprise if it was as far off the pace in 2016 as it was in 2015. New start regulations this year mean the drivers have to operate the clutch with a single paddle on the steering wheel (as opposed to the two paddle system in previous years) and are not allowed to receive feedback from engineers about how to prepare the vehicle. “But a lot of work went into understanding that”.
“Ferrari and Red Bull will be on it I’m sure, so we’ve got a big fight on our hands if we are up at the front. But if we do, we’ve got the tools to correct it”.
Advertisement
The Briton leads his German rival by two points with seven rounds remaining but his seemingly unstoppable charge towards a fourth world title has stalled in the last two races, allowing Rosberg to close the gap at the top of the standings.
