Intense heat, humid weather, sizzling light; this can only mean one circuit, among the most stylish venues on the roster. And who better than Lewis Hamilton to have bettered all discomforts to emerge on pole at the Singapore Grand Prix?
As Hamilton powered by his robust machinery put a gold of a performance for the Silver Arrows, arch-rival, Sebastian Vettel could only capture a third on the grid.
While also delivering the goods on the crucial pole- since the qualifying is a curtain-raiser for the Grand Prix – was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who drove a monster lap to claim second, Vettel completed the top three at the front for the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix.
But in some ways, as expected, Marina Bay did ultimately unfurl three of the fastest and most powerful cars on the grid. With the pecking order for the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix reading a clear Mercedes vs Red Bull vs Ferrari show, one can expect some action-packed titillating stuff for race-day on Sunday.
Did Ferrari disappoint?
Well, maybe there’s a sense in saying they’d feel crestfallen.
That said, upon the completion of the qualifying, it appears that the fight between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, in the context of the 2018 championship seems to be slowly falling away from Vettel’s grasp increasingly into the favour of the king of Silver Arrows.
Not only have Ferrari not been able to convert their pole at the previous race- at Monz- into a win, they haven’t been able to do a repeat of their 2017 effort that saw Verstappen, within seconds from the start, sandwiched by the two Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen, that ultimately led to an opening lap disaster.
That said, Vettel will have some work to do, as Hamilton’s teammate, Bottas is stacked just behind the car.no 5, currently running second in the championship, at 226, is trailing Hamilton by 30 points.
At a time where the Scuderia were expected to continue making use of their new power unit, in a bid to take the fight to Mercedes even further, one sees only one Ferrari in the top three.
With Monza’s heroics effort that yielded a lap-record behind him, it didn’t really seem that Raikkonen would manage a moderately impressive fifth, a position he’ll have to drive hard to defend from Ricciardo, stacked nine-tenths of a second behind on sixth.
Hamilton win could spell disaster for Ferrari
Last year, Hamilton, who couldn’t clinch a pole, went on to win an accident-marred Grand Prix made ominous within the opening few seconds in the run to Turn 1 as the trio of Verstappen, Raikkonen and Vettel collided, in a sorry move triggered by the German.
This year, however, it seems, Hamilton, who’s tallied his qualifying record at Singapore with Vettel- both drivers having clinched a pole at the Singapore Grand Prix on 4 occasions- will again claw Ferrari having sealed his 79th career pole.
But what makes that achievement even more brilliant is the feisty margin with which Hamilton has put his car right at the front.
While the circuit may have been sparkling thanks to the shiny night lights, what made the Singapore qualifying an illuminating spectacle was Lewis, who went at a blasting 1:36:015, going around 3.4 seconds quicker than his last year’s qualifying effort.
There will be a lot that will be going on in Vettel’s mind
Vettel’s foremost task, in order to catch Hamilton, who can be expected to go flying right from the task would be to make a move early on. But on the other hand, that’s not all.
The real task would be to steal a win in order to keep his championship hopes alive.
For that, it’d require him to counter the daring Max Verstappen, who’ll begin right behind Hamilton. That said, the German driver will have to contend with competition from further down the grid as well, with the likes of Ricciardo and Raikkonen expected to be involved in a tussle for breaking into the top five.
Can Daniel do something special?
Purely on past performance, it’ll be disheartening for Daniel should he miss out on the podium, especially given his consistency at the Singapore Grand Prix.
There hasn’t been an occasion yet, since 2014, where Daniel hasn’t finished on the podium. This includes a hat-trick of second-placed finishes that the Australian has gathered since 2015.
At a track where he broke into the top ten very early on in his career, gathering ninth in the qualifying in 2012, in his Toro Rosso, Ricciardo, who’d retire eventually that year has a strong tally of finishes at the Singapore Grand Prix.
For now, all eyes are fixated on the top three at the front. Is Hamilton running away with another thumping victory or is there more to Marina Bay tomorrow than meets the eye (currently)?