2023 Singapore Grand Prix

FLRacingFan

FLRacingFan

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Seems like there could be potential for a fresh winner this weekend as Verstappen went 3rd and 8th in the first two practices, Perez 7th in both as the Red Bulls struggled with balance. They were a bit better in long run pace compared to one-lap speed, but still not tops overall.

Ferrari were very quick in qualifying sims but Alonso and Mercedes looked best in race sim.

www.motorsport.com

The times that suggest Red Bull's F1 dominance could be ended in Singapore

www.motorsport.com www.motorsport.com
 
With Haas and Ferrari making it to Q3 , something tells me (just a hunch) that new
Ferrari upgrades landed and are working well .
 
Well, that was a surprise. The signs were there that Red Bull would struggle but I don't think anyone foresaw that poor of a performance from them. I still expect Max will move up and maybe with a fortuitous yellow or two could work his way into the fight.
 
Shocking qualifying, thought Red Bull would struggle a bit but both cars knocked out in Q2 is just nuts. Brundle is right, that looks like the worst car to drive this weekend, just sliding all over the place. What a bizarre stinker from that team.

Stroll’s massive crash was also shocking, glad he’s okay.

There are probably four or five drivers who can win tomorrow, it should be pretty fun.
 
The Red Bull was good at Monoco, and it was good at Baku, so what's different about this street circuit that's hurting them so much? I wouldn't have been surprised if Max was third or fourth, but out of Q1 completely?

We saw the same thig in 2014 when Mercedes was killing everyone and when they got to Baku they were nowhere, but not nearly as bad off as Red Bull was today. Hopefully for them their race pace will be better, but it wouldn't hurt anything if we got a different winner. It's still a long race and anything can happen, and sorry I won't be able to see it. Thanks, Spectrum.

Anyone have a link to a stream?

How about that Liam Lawson?
 
Doc Austin said:
The Red Bull was good at Monoco, and it was good at Baku, so what's different about this street circuit that's hurting them so much? I wouldn't have been surprised if Max was third or fourth, but out of Q1 completely?

We saw the same thig in 2014 when Mercedes was killing everyone and when they got to Baku they were nowhere, but not nearly as bad off as Red Bull was today. Hopefully for them their race pace will be better, but it wouldn't hurt anything if we got a different winner. It's still a long race and anything can happen, and sorry I won't be able to see it. Thanks, Spectrum.

Anyone have a link to a stream?

How about that Liam Lawson?
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Didn’t Spectrum come to a new agreement with Disney earlier this week?

I’ve also been really impressed with Lawson so far, hopefully he secures the ride full-time for next year.

There’s a new technical directive that went into effect this week that clamps down on flexi wings. Don’t know if that’s at the heart of Red Bull’s struggles, but it’s something new for teams to think about starting now.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Didn’t Spectrum come to a new agreement with Disney earlier this week?
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Thanks for mentioning that. I'll check ESPN and see if I can get it again.

FLRacingFan said:
There’s a new technical directive that went into effect this week that clamps down on flexi wings. Don’t know if that’s at the heart of Red Bull’s struggles, but it’s something new for teams to think about starting now.
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Red Bull has gotten slapped a few times for flexi parts. That's the one place they always seem to be pushing the limits of the rules. So, I'm sure it hurt them a little, but they are out to lunch this weekend. Let's hope they can find some race pace, and that would truly make an interesting race.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Didn’t Spectrum come to a new agreement with Disney earlier this week?
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Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I've got ESPN again! This is the one race all year we can't miss and now we won't.

I love Singapore because it's a night race. There's always something magical about night racing. Personally I'de like to see more.
 
My boss at Extreme Flight (who knows aerodynamics) says the technical directive hit Red Bull the hardest. Like I say, Red Bull has been under constant suspicion of flexi parts as long as I can remember. They have done something that allows the underfloor to stall when the DRS is open, but this weekend they seem to have lost that advantage.

There doesn't seem to be a better explanation. The red Bull has won every street race this year, and going away too, but now they are hopeless? Doesn't make sense other than they had to stiffen up the parts that were giving them the advantage. The big question is why didn't the FIA look into this last year?

What could this mean for the rest of the season? We could certainly have a different winner tomorrow, but further, this could make a Red Bull/Mclaren/Ferrari/Mercedes/Aston fight even more likely. Can you imagine ten cars fighting for the win? It's been terrific racing up and down the field, all year, and if Red Bull is hobbled like this the rest of the season, we could finally see this kind of racing at the front.

As far as predictions, I'de say the Bulls will come forward in the race, but they are probably too far back to challenge for the win, at least this time. Red Bull probably had the entire balance of the car screwed up by this, and they only had a couple of weeks to figure it out. Red Bull will definitely be back, but at this point it would be a shame to see them lose that perfect season. They have really put it on everyone this season and it can all go up in smoke with the Bulls buried in the midfield chaos. I'm betting at least one of them gets into argy bargy.

As far as my favorite tomorrow, Carlos is my guy, but George and Charles are int there too, and you can't never count out Hamilton. This is probably going to end up being the best race of the year.

Glad I got ESPN back!
 
Stroll is so mid. They now say a stroll will miss the race because he’s still feeling “the after effects”.

I have a sneaking suspicion they just couldn’t salvage the car to make it race-able and opted to call it a day.
 
Does Alonso get a penalty for overshooting the pit entrance?
 
Time will tell but I think Max should have pitted as well when the safety car was deployed. I know he needed to try something different for track postion but I think he is sitting duck and he still has to make a put stop later on.
 
Speedbowl14 said:
Wonder if anyone goes for 2 stops given how crap Max's tires have gone?
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I dunno but I would go for track position first and run the tires to almost failing unless there is a safety car.
If that were to happen I would get new tires.
 
Greg said:
Time will tell but I think Max should have pitted as well when the safety car was deployed. I know he needed to try something different for track postion but I think he is sitting duck and he still has to make a put stop later on.
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Hindsight is 20/20 but you would think that at least one of the Red Bulls would have got new tires when the safety car was deployed.
 
Doing what it takes to watch on the way back from Bristol. Come on Ferrari!
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George is fast but he’s an incompetent fool.

What an amateur.
 
Reck said:
George is fast but he’s an incompetent fool.

What an amateur.
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Disagree. Bigger problem is that a car 2 seconds faster than the cars in front needs to push so hard to complete the pass he crashes. That ain't right, imo
 
Speedbowl14 said:
Disagree. Bigger problem is that a car 2 seconds faster than the cars in front needs to push so hard to complete the pass he crashes. That ain't right, imo
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Hamilton was pushing just as hard if not more.

It’s a question of nerves. I like George a lot, I really do. But man, these are amateur plays in the bottom of the 9th. At least Lewis gets a podium so that’s good.
 
Funny how we've complained all year about the domination, and then off to a magic place like Singapore when it all gets turned upside down.

Brilliantly controlled race by Sainz.

The Red Bull thing is puzzling. They were good at the other street races, so what made Singapore so badly suited to their car? You could see from the onboards the front would give up and then the rear, and none of it was progressive. The car would just give up and not turn, or the tail would snap around. This may not be a circuit specific problem. This may have more to do with the technical directive. Red Bull has been under suspicion multiple times over the years for flexy body parts and wings. The newest TD was meant to clean that up and plug any loopholes, and while a little early to declare the TD has crippled them, I don't remember the last time Red Bull ever looked this bad. Maybe the circuit doesn't play to their car, but Red Bull went from unstoppable to hopelessly hapless in just two weeks, so there has to be something more to it than that.

It's going to be fascinating to watch their recovery next week.
 
I missed the first 20 laps, so if they said why Stroll was sitting out, I missed it. The way his head was bouncing around in that crash I was afraid he got concussed, and that's my suspicion now.
 
Greg said:
Time will tell but I think Max should have pitted as well when the safety car was deployed. I know he needed to try something different for track postion but I think he is sitting duck and he still has to make a put stop later on.
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Max got screwed by the timing of the safety car, it was too early. Everyone else started on mediums while he started on hards, so the early intervention probably screwed his race no matter what. If he had pitted to swap hards for mediums he’d have to take the softer set a really long way to the finish and. Just unfortunate timing.
 
Speedbowl14 said:
Disagree. Bigger problem is that a car 2 seconds faster than the cars in front needs to push so hard to complete the pass he crashes. That ain't right, imo
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More emblematic of street racing imo. Yeah, there’s more dirty air this year than last, but no matter what here you need a sizable pace advantage or be exceptionally bold to pull off passes in a tight track like this. Some of these corners and sections are so narrow. I thought it was pretty electric after the safety car, with a fair amount of passing. We had the top four covered by just over a second and a half in the closing laps, that’s awfully tight.
 
Imagine being so dominant that the world thinks your fifth place was a savage beatdown!

It was a bit shocking to see Max having to fight so hard with cars he previously blew off the track. The car looked awful with slow turn in and snap oversteer/wheelspin coming out. That's the worst condition you can have. On it's worst day, the Red Bull was still fast enough for fifth, even though the yellow screwed their strategy.

However, they went from unbeatable to having a pig, so I can't help but wonder if the problem has less to do with the circuit and more to do with how the technical directive hit them. Either way, it will be fascinating to see how they bounce back, or maybe even more interesting, don't.

I'm starting to see that Verstappen is a lot like Hamilton in that he's at his best when his back's against the wall. That car was on the edge all race long, and not only did he hang on to that pig, but he got a remarkably good result.

I read on my MSN feed that Lando says he made the same mistake on the same lap as George, only he got away with it. Two out of the top three have accidents on the last lap. You can't make this stuff up. The rest of the season could be extremely interesting.
 
Russell was torn up in a big way over the last-lap crash. I know he only has one podium so far this season, but jeez…just, damn.



 
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