by Alex Johnston
As much as I love Monaco - the history, the tradition, the circuit and the test - Singapore to me is the ultimate street course. It’s like Monaco on steroids, the lights, the tight walls and the top speeds down the main straights…they are all part of the excitement of the Marina Bay race.
With that of course, comes entertainment - here’s five moments from recent history that got people talking.
Lawson outqualifes Verstappen, 2023
In just his third Formula 1 outing, Liam Lawson was at the centre of a qualifying shocker in the ‘junior’ Red Bull team, Alpha Tauri, as he not only outqualified his more experienced teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but also ‘senior team’ Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen as well as Sergio Perez.
Lawson’s lap in Q2, the second qualifying session, saw him into Q3 with a last gasp lap that saw Verstappen start outside the top 10 - a rarity, given his Championship winning form.
Clearly this circuit was an outlier for the Dutchman and for Red Bull, while New Zealander Lawson thrived in the heat to finish ninth in the race.
Leaders(and Alonso) collide at Turn 1, 2017
Drama is, and always will be, part of Formula 1 and that was never more evident than the race start in Singapore in 2017.
Starting from pole, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel got a great launch but seemed unaware of the drivers behind him - Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Vettel’s team mate Kimi Raikkonen - having equally strong starts.
As the trio(and the chasing pack) hurtled toward Turn 1 the two Ferrari’s squeezed together, sandwiching Verstappen and culminating in a shower of sparks and carbon fibre, taking out Fernando Alonso on the way - an innocent bystander after making a strong start himself around the outside.
Lewis Hamilton would go on to win, literal streets ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, while Nico Hulkenberg missed out on that elusive podium after his car was as dogged by mechanical issues forcing him to retire from a strong position.
Sainz the genius, 2023
Carlos Sainz disrupted the Red Bull dominance in 2023, ending Max Verstappen’s 10 race winning streak under the lights in scintillating fashion.
Starting from pole, the Spaniard took a lights to flag win, but that’s just half the story of the race.
The former McLaren and Renault driver was bold and smart in his race winning strategy, allowing the car behind - Lando Norris - to stay in his DRS, meaning the car following in third - George Russell - could stick close and challenge Norris rather than get too close to his own car.
Russell would end up in the wall as a result, with Lewis Hamilton inheriting his place on the podium, but the plaudits all went to Sainz for his performance but also the way in which he was thinking incredibly under pressure to have the presence of mind to make decisions that culminated in him triumphing at Marina Bay.
Vettel’s final coronation, 2019
Sebastian Vettel has the most wins at Marina Bay of any driver, and it is the site of his final race triumph in Formula 1.
The German took his 53rd and final victory after a stunning battle with teammate Charles Leclerc that saw Vettel get the jump on his teammate, undercutting him in the pit stops, despite a slower stop than his Monegasque counterpart, and taking the checkered flag just over two and half seconds ahead of Leclerc for what would be his final crowning as a race winner, not only as Ferrari driver but as a Formula 1 driver.
Hamilton’s magic quali lap, 2018
Every now and then we see a moment from a driver that reminds you just how good they really are at what they do - for Lewis Hamilton, one such moment occurred in 2018.
Setting off for a final lap in Q3, Hamilton appeared to be less driver and more automaton, an extension of the W09 car he was piloting for Mercedes.
Every entry, every apex, every exit, every gear change and turn of the wheel appeared nigh on perfect for Hamilton as he drove to pole position, and this lap was his very own ‘Lap of the Gods’, emulating his hero Ayrton Senna’s 1993 European Grand Prix exploits at Donington.
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Sky Sports, ESPN.
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