Sweltering humidity, sweat and safety cars. This weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix could have been the crowning glory for Max Verstappen. Instead, the night race produced what it has done far too often over the past decade. Limited racing, multiple shunts and, ultimately, disappointment for all fans watching on.
The rain poured down ahead of the race which not only caused an hour long delay, but gave the track a good drenching, despite the best efforts to clear the standing water by the stewards. The temperature wasn’t too much of an issue, 29 degrees, but these downpours only increase the humidity. Over the course of the race it stood at between 80% and 100%.
Imagine driving in those conditions. It’s like being in a tumble dryer filled with wet towels. Even after two hours of racing, anywhere outside of the racing line was greasy which made overtakes dangerous, as we saw when Lewis Hamilton overcooked a move on Sebastien Vettel.
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This is an endurance sport. But each driver losing 4kg over the course of a race is pushing that to its very limit. All of this could be forgiven though if the product of this effort was entertainment and enthralling racing. But let’s be honest now, the Singapore track is woeful.
As previously mentioned, if there has been any form of rain, which there almost always is because of the climate, side-to-side racing becomes impossible. Even when DRS was eventually enabled this weekend, Charles Leclerc lost ground on Sergio Perez and Hamilton couldn’t get past the Aston Martins.
Then we have the run-off areas which have been drastically increased to allow drivers to make mistakes without being hugely punished, but the fact we have such large run-offs only points to the fact that the track isn’t suitable. Driver safety is obviously paramount but where else in the world do you see such huge cushioning on each wall in crash-prone areas?
Multiple front wings were damaged having been caught in this as drivers tried to reverse out of the sticky situation they found themselves in. It must be said that eventual winner Sergio Perez drove masterfully to deal with these conditions, but those behind him struggled desperately.
It certainly wasn’t a spectacle for the fans. The yellow flags stopped any momentum and pit strategies went out of the window. One of the key factors of the criticism is that this race, far too often, doesn’t finish. Not in a metaphorical way, even if watching it on Sunday afternoon felt like a never-ending exercise, but in a very literal sense.
Instead of the scheduled 61 laps, once again, the race timed out after two hours. For the fourth time in 13 races, the Singapore Grand Prix wasn’t run to its full completion. Most of the time, F1 races absolutely fly by. But on the slowest track on the F1 calendar, with 23 corners, the cars trudged round, mostly in yellow flag conditions. Only 14 cars finished this weekend and that includes George Russell who was in a race of his own, two laps behind the pack.
It’s plain and obvious why the sport is still visiting Singapore. Money. Earlier this year the sport agreed a new contract to continue going there until 2028. With 24 races on the calendar next year, we need to make sure the drivers are properly looked after and this Grand Prix simply doesn’t do that. Unless mistakes and crashes are your thing, it doesn’t provide much entertainment either.
In comparison to the Malaysian Grand Prix, axed in 2017 after 18 years, it’s a far worse race track. But Singapore has the finances and Malaysia doesn’t. With more races than ever before on the horizon, the FIA are in danger of devaluing their own product, whilst making more money than ever before.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
