Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix Sprint Singapore rain redesigned the sprint race in its own way

Contrary to even the most optimistic predictions, Singapore's first ever Formula One sprint turned out to be perhaps the most interesting sprint of the season. It was held in difficult wet asphalt conditions, and the riders needed high skill to not only keep their cars on the track, but also to drive them to the finish line. As a result, only 13 riders out of 22 who started saw the checkered flag.

The rain prevented the spectacular start from the place at the exact appointed time. He was so strong that he had to put special tents to cover the cars on the starting grid. Having not received approval after several test drives of the medical vehicle along the highway, the start time was postponed by 30 minutes. Given the short 4-hour interval between the scheduled start of the sprint and the start of the main qualification, the stewards did not wait until the road surface was completely dry. The riders followed the safety car, which through 2 warm-up laps had to let their cars go to "free swimming". But it turned out that the asphalt dried quickly due to the high temperature, and, to the general joy, a message appeared on the monitors in the press center that the start would be given "from the spot". This is significant

The rain completely stopped, but no one ventured to switch to "slicks". The asphalt remained too wet in a few corners. But the intrigue remained. It was hard to believe that on the "intermediate" tires (this is a variant of rain tires with a shallow tread to divert small streams of water, — V.V.), the pilots would drive all the remaining 20 laps of the distance. On dry asphalt, and even in 30-degree heat, such tires break very quickly, losing traction with the road surface. Although, on the other hand, the urban type of the Singapore circuit does not provide much opportunity for overtaking. And having lost time at the pit stop, the rider who decided to change the tires will definitely roll back to the very tail of the peleton. And it is not a fact that later he will be able to return to the leading group even with a great advantage in speed.

Bravo, Lewis! "Great," George! The starting lights were barely extinguished, thus giving a countdown to the race, as the cars, scattering clouds of spray around them, rushed to the first turn. Former Mercedes teammates George Russell and Lewis Hamilton reacted fastest to the start signal. Their reaction rate was 0.18 and 0.17 seconds, respectively. For comparison, pole holder Max Verstappen had 0.21 seconds. In addition, the Red Bull car itself in the hands of the Dutch champion was not as fast at dispersal as Russell's car. As a result, George managed to capture the advantage on the straight and enter the first turn as the leader.

From his 6th position, Hamilton made an even more successful start. Lewis managed to see the released narrow strip on the left side in the stream of spray, and he rushed there without hesitation in order to be ahead of the rivals by the first left turn. There were only one car seats, and if any of the opponents had shifted to the left, the British champion would have been on the grass. But the starting breakthrough of the Italian scuderia pilot was so rapid that the rivals did not have time to react to it. It was interesting to watch as the Ferrari and McLaren cars, four in a row, rushed for a few seconds to the first corner, and in the end Lewis was first on the apex, and Charles Leclerc behind him. The McLaren pilots followed.

In front of everyone, George Russell must have experienced an incredible sense of euphoria. Still! After all, at the start, he managed to overtake Max Verstappen himself, a 4-time world champion, and even one of the coolest specialists in piloting on wet asphalt. Now there was already a clean track in front of the Mercedes pilot, there was no splashing from the cars of rivals, and only 19 laps of the city race remained. According to statistics, he now had the highest chances of winning this sprint. But, apparently, this most joyful euphoria overshadowed the mind of George. At the exit from the last corner, he did not calculate his speed and allowed his car to go a little wider on the trajectory before the starting line. The right wheels glided treacherously along the white dividing strip and then lost traction with wet asphalt.

After numerous views of the recording of this episode, you come to the conclusion that the ridiculous "childish mistake" with hitting the wet ridges almost cost the life of the rider. In the stream of spray, the rivals miraculously managed to avoid the car that blocked their way, which then, by inertia, was attributed to the opposite side of the starting line. In fact, no one was hurt, except for purely mechanical damage to George's Mercedes.

The safety car that drove onto the track was forced to lead the pelleton of the remaining cars through the pit lane, while the marshals were engaged in the evacuation of the crashed car, which did not long rejoice in the leadership of George Russell. The pilot himself admitted his ridiculous mistake after the accident, however, he mentioned the role of the electric component of the Mol power plant, the return from the battery at that moment was stronger than he expected. And this is what provoked the non-observance of the planned trajectory of the last turn. George's fault, in his opinion, was only that he could not foresee this, although he should have known this dangerous feature of the machines of the new regulations. Well, well. An extra stone in the garden of those who were so in favor of changing the regulations in favor of electric motors. I hope when such stones are collected

Rows of race participants quickly thawed Active struggle for positions was not only in the forefront of the pelleton. The Marina Bay circuit, taking into account the interference of rain in the development of the plot of the sprint race, became an unbearable test for both riders and their cars. Suffice it to say that when there were less than 5 laps left before the finish, there were already 8 pilots in the list of those who descended, that is, more than a third of the total number of participants. 6 "stables" lost one pilot each, and the full Cadillac team amicably left the race. First, on the first lap, Mexican racer Sergio Perez was noted in the accident with Lance Stroll's Aston Martin, and then on the 6th lap he did not share the track with Audi Gabriele Bortoleto Finn Valtteri Bottas.

By the way, it will be noted that from Malaysia, the Finnish veteran traveled to Singapore "on his own", that is ... on his own bicycle, covering a distance of 373 km from the Sepang Autodrome to Marina Bay in 3 light days. It's no secret that Formula 1 drivers are well-trained athletes. A great media move by Bottas, besides, it is probably also useful for health. Only he did not affect the improvement of Valtteri's performance on the track in Singapore for the better. Lando Norris surprised everyone The head of the McLaren team Zach Brown, being in high spirits before the start of the sprint, admitted to journalists that he was waiting for an exciting race. But the British manager could not imagine that his pilots, who started from the 4th and 5th positions, then because of the mistake of the current champion in the last lap

Having passed themselves ahead at the start of Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, without much effort, have already restored the status quo in a couple of minutes. In this they were helped by the gathering of George Russell, who crashed his Mercedes at the beginning of the second round. In the course of the subsequent race, the reigning champion, driven by Kimi Antonelli, who actively pressed him throughout the distance, tried several times to impose the fight on his partner. Oscar Piastri, in turn, could not create conditions for himself to overtake Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. All four cars drove as if tied to each other, trying not to make mistakes.

By the end of the race, the drying asphalt began to have a destructive effect on the "intermediate" tires. It turned out that no one dared to go to the pits for "slicks", since the track was not yet completely dry, and the race distance was shortened. In fact, there was a meager opportunity then on the new tires to try to improve their position. In any case, it never occurred to anyone to rush into the boxes in such conditions. Especially since the points for the sprint are not as big as in the race. For victory — 8, for the second — 7, and so on to the 8th place, for which you get 1. Moreover, 3 hours after the end of the sprint, qualification for the race is planned, and it was imprudent to risk even a small damage to the car.

But it turned out that the enthusiasm of the rider and the desire to win at any cost are not always friendly with prudence. At the very last lap, when only a couple of kilometers remained to the finish, the reigning champion decided to attack his partner, who, in turn, chased Charles Leclerc's Ferrari car. It seems that Lando Norris decided to take Oscar Piastri by surprise, but did not very accurately calculate his overtaking maneuver. Unable to avoid contact, the Briton sent both McLarens into a spectacular waltz-like reversal. Oscar was less fortunate. His car hit the fence and was damaged. Lando continued to move, but remained only on the 8th line in the protocol, although he could really finish in 5th place.

Kimi Antonelli took advantage of the situation. He not only managed to outrun the “dancing waltz” of his rivals, but also almost overtook Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver miraculously managed to defend his third position, fighting no longer with an opponent, but with his car, which was barely holding the road on worn-out tires. Monegasque has fallen behind his teammate by more than 16 seconds over the past 4 laps. And at the finish, Charles was only 0.3 seconds away from the leader of the championship who pursued him.

Having earned 5 points, Kimi Antonelli increased his lead over his partner in the fight for the championship title to 89 points. A significant advantage, given that there are only 6 races left until the end of the season.