Motor Racing
Singapore Grand Prix preview
Formula One returns this weekend in Singapore and if we get a race with half the drama as the previous one in Azerbaijan, then we are set for an exciting weekend.
Azerbaijan saw McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secure his second Grand Prix victory of the season from Charles Leclerc, who avoided a last-lap pile up between his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
That saw the pair hand their third and fourth placed finishes to George Russell and Lando Norris, with Norris gaining further ground on Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship race, which looks set to go down to the wire for the first time in a while.
Singapore preview
We have another street race here, as the drivers head to the Marina Bay Street Circuit. One of the tougher assignments in the calendar, the track features 19 tight corners and high temperatures which will test both driver and car to the limit. The nature of the track doesn’t lend to easy overtaking opportunities; however, a fourth DRS zone has been added to aid that.
The Drivers’ Championship is finely poised with seven races remaining and Lando Norris has another chance here to eat into Max Verstappen’s lead. He finished a position in front of the Dutchman and got fastest lap last time out, now just 59 points behind Verstappen and has shortened into 13/8 for the Drivers’ title, which could look big if he keeps up this rate of catching him.
Norris is once again favourite for the race at 15/8 and it isn’t hard to see why. The Brit finished fourth in Azerbaijan and crucially ahead of Verstappen, despite qualifying in 15th. Securing fastest lap in the process, he looked extremely quick scything through over half the pack. It’s all looking up at McLaren who look to have sewn the Constructors’ title after Piastri’s victory, who also produced a brilliant defensive drive to grind out his win.
The McLarens are seriously hard to look past again here and there is a good way to get them onside. Due to the nature of the Marina Bay Street Circuit and its lack of overtaking opportunities, the 10/3 for Norris and the 7/1 for Piastri to be the fastest qualifier and race winner look good value. The pair are in the top three in the market to qualify the quickest and if either start well from pole on Sunday, the track and the speed of the car may just make it hard for them to be pegged back.
In the Red Bull garage, they desperately need to get back on track after falling behind in the Constructors’ Championship, where they looked to have an unassailable advantage at a point this season. Max Verstappen is driving well in the circumstances, but it’s now been seven Grand Prix’s without a win, his longest dry spell since his first championship. Sergio Perez will be looking to bounce back from his last lap DNF after what was a good drive before the unfortunate accident with Sainz which the Red Bull really couldn’t do a lot about.
