F1 2012 - A Retrospective Part 15: Singapore
Qualifying
It was a third pole position in four races for Lewis Hamilton, giving McLaren four in a row. He was half a second quicker than the chasing pack. This was the 24th pole of his career and it was one of his best ever laps.
The 2008 World Champion was sixth tenths quicker than his teammate Jenson Button, who qualified in fourth place.
Sandwiched between the two were Pastor Maldonado and Sebastian Vettel. The Williams driver was on the front row for the first time since Spain, and was looking for his first points since taking victory there in the fifth race of the season.
Vettel was disappointed with his final lap time, he thought the car was quick enough to compete with Hamilton. However, he remained optimistic that the victory was up for grabs come Sunday.
“I’m a little disappointed, especially with Q3. Nevertheless, it’s a good place to start from on the grid. The pace is there within the car but we didn’t do the last step in qualifying and it’s a shame it didn’t come together at the end,” said Vettel.
Fernando Alonso, who went into the race with a 37 point lead in the championship, was only fast enough for fifth. He was much more pessimistic about his chances of victory.
Felipe Massa was even further back in 13th, showing the Ferrari didn’t have the same pace as its rivals at the Marina Bay circuit.
Paul di Resta qualified sixth in the Force India. This was his best Saturday performance since claiming the same spot in the 2011 British Grand Prix. The Scot finished ahead of Mark Webber in the other Red Bull.
This was Webber’s best qualifying performance since his second place in Britain. He was still well off the pace of his teammate though. Ever since signing that new deal with Red Bull, following his Silverstone victory, his form dropped well away from the championship hunt.
Romain Grosjean returned from his one race suspension to qualify eighth. He was ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who missed Q3 for the first time since Canada. The Finn was 12th.
The two Mercedes drivers both opted not to set a time in Q3, they rounded out the top 10 with Michael Schumacher claiming ninth ahead of Nico Rosberg.
Pre-Race
David Croft and Martin Brundle both drove home the point that the Singapore Grand Prix is always one of the toughest on the drivers. The circuit consisted of 23 corners in 2012 and started at 8pm local time. It was the only night race on the calendar.
“Punishing,” was the key word used by both commentators. It was the longest race of the year, with 61 long laps awaiting.
Both commentators were also very optimistic that this race was going to deliver another exciting couple of hours of racing, with Croft claiming it was “a race that promises an awful lot.”
“I think it’s going to be fascinating to see who’s got the head, who’s got the speed, who’s got the fitness, and the reliability is tough on the cars here,” replied Brundle.
The pair continued to emphasise that this was no normal circuit. The drivers were preparing for a gruelling drive that tested the limits of their physicality.
There was an excellently observed minute’s silence before the race got underway.
Between the Italian and Singapore Grand Prix, the legendary Professor Sid Watkins passed away. He was an essential figure in improving the safety of the sport following the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
The drivers all honoured him superbly.
The tyre choices for the race were between the Soft and the Super Soft compounds. The Mercedes had a free choice of which to start on by not setting a Q3 lap time, but they both opted for the Super Softs.
Nico Hulkenberg (11th), Sergio Perez (14th), Jean-Eric Vergne (16th) and Kamui Kobayashi (17th) all started on the Soft tyres.
The difference between the compounds was believed to be around 1.5s a lap, but the Super Softs were only expected to last between 9–12 laps. This was likely to be a two or three-stop race.
The first Singapore Grand Prix was in 2008 and in the four previous years Formula One held an event there it had a 100% Safety Car rate, so another one at this race was sure to help cars get through a two-stop.
“The other thing, Crofty, is it gives you a few metres off the start, the stickier tyre, and that’s critical,” pointed out Brundle, saying the Super Softs might be the better tyre for the opening lap.
“It’s quite a short run down to the first corner, so the stickier tyres will definitely gain you three or four metres, or half a grid slot. You can’t afford to give that away, otherwise you’ll be losing position.”
Three of the last four pole sitters converted it into a win in the lead up to the 2012 edition. The last two victors won having led every lap in the process. But they didn’t have Maldonado to contend with at the first corner.
Race
The opening series of corners went off without a hitch. Hamilton led Maldonado into Turn One, but the Williams driver understeered and left the door open for Vettel at Turn Two.
The damage was done and Button followed behind, the 2009 World Champion not being one to turn down such an invitation. The Venezuelan was down to fourth by the time they entered Turn Five.
Right behind, Alonso was overtaken by di Resta into Turn One, but the Spaniard got back ahead into fifth by Turn Five.
In the midfield, both Rosberg and Webber went off at Turn One. They took the escape road and rejoined the track safely. However, the stewards announced they were under investigation, along with anyone else that took the same route.
The 2012 edition of this Grand Prix was the last to feature the Singapore Sling at Turn 10, a notorious chicane that the drivers feared more than any other on the calendar. The curbs were toned down from the 2008–2009 variant at this point, but it was still a tricky sequence of corners to deal with.
Hamilton led Vettel by 1.2s at the end of the opening lap. It was disappointing for the McLaren driver that Maldonado couldn’t hold off the German for a few laps while he tried to drive off to build a lead, but he had Button there to keep the pressure on the Red Bull.
Meanwhile, catastrophe struck for Massa, who was limping at the back having suffered a puncture. His left rear was in tatters, a disaster for the Brazilian who was fighting for his seat at Ferrari for the 2013 season.
“For a thrilling race, that was a good start,” said Brundle, who wanted to see Vettel and Hamilton duel for the victory under the lights.
Alonso was dropping behind the leaders, he was 7s behind Hamilton by the start of lap three. The Ferrari’s pace was nowhere near the McLaren and Red Bull once again, it seemed. Button, too, was falling away. The gap to Hamilton was 5.4s by the end of that lap.
Further back, Schumacher was informed that Raikkonen had DRS behind him, but that he also had to drop away from Rosberg ahead. They needed to cool down the engine, as overheating was a big problem at Singapore.
On lap six it was announced there was to be no further action for the Turn One incident involving a number of drivers from the race start.
On lap eight, Massa, who was on new tyres having come in for his opening lap puncture, started setting times .8s quicker than the leaders, the Ferrari driver was quickest on track on his new Soft tyres.
Webber came in at the end of that lap, he was the first of the scheduled pit stops to change tyres. He was now on a new set of the Soft compound.
“There must be better logic to that than first appears standing up here,” said Brundle, who was confused to see the Australian come out in 20th and at the back of a queue of traffic.
By lap 10, Button was starting to gain on the leaders. Over the last three laps, the gap was down by .2s, .3s and 1s on the front two. The chase was on as drivers prepared for their first pit stop.
Vettel came in at the end of that lap, he was the first to blink. He changed to a set of Softs. Coming in this early meant they were hedging their bets on being able to complete a two-stop strategy, but they could just as easily have been planning a three-stop.
Vettel came out in 12th place. Brundle was once again unsure of Red Bull’s strategy. He came out right behind a set of cars unlikely to pit anytime soon. Perez was in 11th and on the Soft tyre. However, Vettel made quick work of the Mexican, passing him at Turn Nine.
Ahead, Button was down to 5s to Hamilton and gaining at .8s a lap. Alonso and Schumacher were next into the pits. Alonso was now 12th. On track, Vettel was now ahead of Hulkenberg as well, he was making light work of the cars yet to stop.
“I have a funny feeling,” said Hamilton over the radio. He was uncomfortable on the old set of Super Softs and came in on lap 13. He later said his right rear felt “strange.” Rosberg and di Resta also came in.
Hamilton retained his lead over Vettel. He was helped by Raikkonen holding up the German, but he got by the Lotus driver at Turn Seven under DRS.
McLaren admitted that Hamilton stopped earlier than they were planning. They felt it was safer to dump the tyres given the race leader’s concerns. This meant that Button could potentially extend his stint which could come back into play later in the race.
Maldonado and Raikkonen were next to stop. On track, Vettel was going fastest as he set the quickest lap of the race so far.
Massa was told his pace was good. He was now a useful tool for Ferrari’s data team as a measurement of the tyre life of the Soft compound. Unusually, Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley sounded very quiet over the radio, as if he was making a 911 call while hiding in the closet during a home invasion.
Button opted to come in sooner rather than later, given Vettel’s incredible pace advantage on newer tyres. He came in at the end of lap 14. This meant Hamilton now re-took the lead of the race.
Maldonado was up to fourth place after a shaky overtake of Hulkenberg. He almost lost control of his Williams going into the corner, but managed to keep it pointed in the right direction before closing the move under braking.
Alonso was all over the back of Perez just behind. He overtook the Sauber in the run up to Turn 14 for sixth.
On lap 17, Alonso moved into fifth, passing Hulkenberg into Turn Seven. On lap 18, Webber overtook Perez who was now struggling on his old and worn out Soft tyres. His lap times dipped into the two-minute mark.
Perez and Hulkenberg finally came in at the end of that lap. They were now 16th and 14th respectively.
Up front, Hamilton was urging McLaren to tell Button to push in order to put pressure on Vettel, whose pace was matching Hamilton’s.
Massa came in at the end of lap 19, showing Ferrari and everyone else just how far a new set of those tyres could go.
“It’s about now, when they hang you out a pit board that says 41 laps to go. You really can’t believe it because it all seems pretty hot and sweaty in there and you feel like you’ve been racing a long time and you’re not even a third of the way through the race,” said Brundle.
He painted a wonderful picture, but it showed just how tough this Grand Prix was on the drivers. It was particularly hard given that Monza the race beforehand was the quickest of the season and Singapore was the longest.
Alonso was more comfortable on the Soft compound and was now lapping 1s quicker than Hamilton. The three-stoppers were expected in for round two in the next few laps, according to Ted Kravitz.
On lap 23, the camera cut to show Hamilton was going slowly! The graphic showed his car was stuck in neutral! His engine turned off, his race was over! Vettel inherited the race lead and Maldonado was promoted to the final podium position.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Brundle as the cameras showed Hamilton shaking his head in dismay. He was sure to finish, at worst, on the podium before a gearbox failure ended his race. He pulled over at Turn Two, no Safety Car was needed to recover the car.
“We did everything we could yesterday,” he was told, but McLaren insisted there were no signs of an issue overnight between Qualifying and Race start.
Hamilton had complained about an issue one lap before he was forced to pull over, but there was nothing his team could do to salvage the problem. This was a disaster for his title chances.
Back to the action, and Alonso was gaining on Maldonado. The Spanish Grand Prix winner was struggling on his tyres, having locked up a number of times. Alonso was catching the Williams driver by 1s a lap, with the gap to the leader now at 8s.
Senna was the first to come in for the next phase of pit stops. He changed for a set of Super Soft tyres, which was unexpected. He came in on lap 25. Webber was next in, he changed for a set of Super Softs as well, on lap 28.
By lap 29, there was one hour, three minutes on the race clock but we were yet to reach half distance. The lap times were always improving, but it was going to be tight as to whether this race finished on lap 61 or timed out at the two hour time limit.
Alonso and Maldonado both stopped for a second time at the end of that lap. They opted for different tyre sets, with Alonso sticking with the Soft compound, but Maldonado went the same way as his teammate and changed for the Super Softs.
The red marked tyre was quicker, but it didn’t last as long and surely indicated he was going to need to stop again.
The pair came out behind Rosberg and Grosjean. They were getting held up, which was allowing Alonso to apply intense pressure on Maldonado. At Turn 14, he was forced to defend deep on the championship leader, who was using as much of the track as he could to force Maldonado into a mistake.
It was immaterial as, on lap 33, the Safety Car (SC) was brought out after Narain Karthikeyan crashed under the bridge at Turn 18.
Raikkonen was the first to make use of the SC to come in for his second stop. He was the first of many to take advantage of the “free” stop.
Webber was one of the few front runners to stay out. Alonso, too, stayed out having only come in a few laps prior. Curiously, Maldonado came in for a third stop, having pitted at the same time as the Spaniard.
This SC continued Singapore’s 100% record for requiring it at some point during a race. In fact, by this point in the history of the Grand Prix, only Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso led more laps at this track than Bert Mylander, the SC driver.
Croft and Brundle claimed this was yet another example of Alonso’s “magic dust” helping out his championship bid. First, there was Hamilton’s DNF and now the SC bunched the pack up. He was now right behind Button and Vettel having been nowhere near them up to this point.
While the cars were still under the SC, Maldonado was instructed he had to retire the car with a hydraulic issue. He was set for another podium before the SC, but then he dropped to 10th and was now unable to complete the race. However, strangely, he stayed out that lap.
He went around one last time before peeling into the pits and pulling into his garage. His race was over. That meant both drivers that started on the front row were now out with mechanical issues.
While waiting for the SC to come in, Brundle read out a tweet joking that Alonso was partial to one in Singapore. Naughty. It came in on lap 38.
While Vettel was controlling the pace of the pack before restarting the race, he confused Button into thinking he was driving off, but he was just warming up his tyres.
Button sped up and needed great reaction times to avoid rear ending Vettel when he slowed back down to warm up his brakes.
That was very nearly a race ending crash between the front two while under the SC. Now that would have been “magic dust” for Alonso.
The race got back underway without incident. Vettel controlled the race from the front, with Button right behind. Webber pressured Hulkenberg, they fought over several corners but the Australian made the move stick finally at Turn Nine. He was now fifth.
The SC was back out by the end of the lap! Schumacher drove right into the back of Vergne at Turn 14. The German completely misjudged the corner and Vergne was an innocent bystander ahead who got wiped out. Wrong place, wrong time.
The two shared a pat on the back when they got out of their cars, which was good to see. They walked away from the crash no problem, but this SC almost certainly ensured this race was going to hit the two hour time limit.
Webber, Hulkenberg and Perez all pitted. Everyone else stayed out. Webber was now 15th.
Brundle and Croft discussed the incident, with the blame fully on Schumacher. The two wondered how much his age was affecting his driving. This was a similar mistake to the previous year at this same circuit, and was also similar to the crash with Senna in Spain of this season.
He was 43-years old at this point and there was mounting speculation that he was set to announce his retirement from the sport. As a contrast, the man he crashed into was the youngest on the grid at 22-years old.
Brundle defended Schumacher by claiming he could have been distracted messing with the buttons on his wheel. He followed that up by telling a story of Aryton Senna crashing into him at Monza for that very same reason, which was a fun anecdote while the race was effectively on pause.
Meanwhile, on track, the top 10 now read as follows: Vettel, Button, Alonso, di Resta, Rosberg, Grosjean, Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo, Senna and Massa.
Massa was now in the points having been last at the end of the first lap. He was certainly helped by the double SCs, but that was still quite a feat from the Brazilian.
The SC dove into the pits at the end of lap 42, and Vettel led the way on the restart once again.
Raikkonen took a look at passing his teammate into Turn One but Grosjean defended and held off the Finn for now.
Massa was eyeing up Senna for ninth place and was all over the back of him throughout the lap. He eventually got side by side with his fellow countryman going into Turn 13 and somehow found the space to dive down the inside of him at the entry of the corner.
He somehow avoided crashing into Senna at a very narrow corner and he took the position. Senna did extremely well to give Massa room once they were side by side.
Massa also somehow was able to control the car after almost losing it on entry to the turn. It was amazing that they avoided contact. An incredibly fun overtaking move.
Turn 13 was described as “not normally an overtaking place,” which added to the entertainment of the pass. Up next for Massa was Ricciardo.
Out front, Vettel led by 1.3s over Button, with Alonso a further 2.2s back.
The stewards announced they were investigating Massa for cutting the chicane at Turn 12 in the lead up to his overtake on Senna, but they later cleared the Ferrari driver from any wrongdoing.
On lap 46, Massa’s pressure on the Toro Rosso driver paid off. They battled through Turns Six, Seven, Eight and Nine, but Massa got the move finished on the run up to Turn 10. He was now eighth.
On lap 47, Grosjean was told that Raikkonen behind was quicker so he shouldn’t hold him up. He complied and the Finn was now in sixth.
Vettel and Button were setting the pace now, they dropped Alonso behind and led by 6s over the championship leader. However, only 1.6s separated the front two.
There was a four car squabble in the midfield. It started with Perez colliding with Hulkenberg at Turn 13. Perez attempted the same move as Massa did on Senna, but Hulkenberg didn’t leave enough room on the exit of the corner and they touched. Perez lost a part of his front wing as a result.
This carried over into the next lap, with Webber pressuring Kobayashi just ahead.
Webber overtook the Sauber around the outside of the exit of Turn Seven. Hulkenberg took advantage of the gap left by Webber and sailed through to overtake the Japanese driver. However, he did so without leaving room for Kobayashi and they touched!
Kobayashi’s front wing was damaged, much more than Perez’s, and Hulkenberg was left with a puncture! Perez overtook both of them for 12th place. Webber was also under investigation for overtaking Kobayashi with all four wheels off the track. What a mess that was.
Brundle firmly blamed Hulkenberg for causing the collision, saying that he failed to leave any room for Kobayashi. He also believed Webber illegally overtook Kobayashi.
Kobayashi and Hulkenberg were forced to pit at the end of it all, both of their races were ruined.
On lap 54, or with only 10 minutes remaining, Webber caught up to the back of Senna in 10th. He gained on the Brazilian by 3s over the previous three laps. He eventually passed him on lap 55 at Turn Seven with the help of DRS. Senna ultimately retired from the race with an engine issue.
The front three were all secure in their positions as the race drew to a close. Kravitz was reporting that the mood in the McLaren garage was “sombre.”
They felt they could have won this race, but instead it looked like Vettel had it in the bag. However, in contrast, the Ferrari pit crew were in a happy mood, they felt third was as good a result as they could’ve hoped for, given the pace difference to their rivals.
Webber was on a late charge and caught up to the back of Ricciardo in the battle for ninth. However, the two Aussies didn’t change places as the race drew to a close. Ricciardo held on for the position, and Webber was handed with a 20s penalty post-race, so finished down in 11th.
Vettel took the chequered flag on lap 59 of 61, the two hour time limit was reached and the German was comfortable out in front. Button and Alonso took home the final podium places as expected.
The final standings were as follows
Championship Standings Top Five (Round 14)
Alonso’s championship lead was down to 29 points with six races left to go. Vettel moved up to second thanks to Hamilton’s DNF. Raikkonen stayed in third despite not having a great weekend.
Hamilton’s DNF dropped him to fourth. He was now 52 points behind the leader and time was running out. He needed a near-perfect finish to the 2012 season if he was going to become a two time World Champion.
The championship was slowly whittling away contenders. Webber was now surely out of contention, the gap of 62 points in six races was far too much ground to catch up with in way too little time.
Raikkonen was still worthy of being in the conversation but Lotus’ pace had dropped off ever since the Summer break. They had their chances to claim victory, but the failure to convert was holding them back from being serious challengers to Alonso and Vettel.
Post-Race
Vettel was ecstatic over the radio, this was the most vibrant and excited he sounded all year. He loved the Singapore street circuit, this was his second race win in a row here which made him the first driver to achieve that feat.
“You’re back in this championship, well done,” replied Christian Horner to Vettel’s wild cheering inside the cockpit.
“It’s brought him right back into play,” said Brundle, emphasising how important of a win this was for the two time defending World Champion. He was still in the hunt for a third title and he was not about to lie down without a fight.
When Vettel calmed down, he dedicated the victory to the late Sid Watkins.
“This one is for you. This is for Mr Watkins up there, Sid Watkins — to be remembered forever,” said Vettel over the radio. A touching tribute.
Brundle was saying that Horner claimed he’d never seen Vettel so focused before the race began than in Singapore. Vettel was very happy with his day’s work.
Brundle also pointed out that second place in the championship kept changing. It was Webber, then it was Hamilton and now it was Vettel. However, through all that, Alonso kept earning podiums to keep his lead at arm’s length.
Eddie Jordan took to the podium for the interview process. Vettel told the Irishman that he could see oil leaking out of Hamilton’s car a few laps before his race was ended prematurely. He also reiterated his dedication of the victory to Watkins, which Jordan welcomed.
Outside of the championship hunt, this was the best result of di Resta’s F1 career. He finished fourth behind Alonso.
Driver in Focus
There was only one man the centre of attention could be on for this race. This was effectively the end of Lewis Hamilton’s attempt to win a second world championship. He led for the majority of the opening 23 laps and was controlling the race from the front.
However, another issue at McLaren scuppered his chances and left him far too back to be a true contender for Alonso’s lead. It was still possible for him to win, but it would require a huge points swing against Alonso, while also competing against Vettel and Raikkonen.
What was most significant about this race, however, was not what it meant for Hamilton’s title bid.
Only five days later, Hamilton announced his decision to leave McLaren for Mercedes. The story goes that Niki Lauda convinced Hamilton to make the move, with the DNF in Singapore being the final blow. Hamilton’s trust in the team was gone.
This was a huge news story. While there were rumours he was considering a new team, everybody was expecting him to re-sign with McLaren.
“It is now time for me to take on a fresh challenge and I am very excited to begin a new chapter,” said Hamilton
“Mercedes-Benz has such an incredible heritage in motorsport, along with a passion for winning which I share.
“Together, we can grow and rise to this new challenge. I believe that I can help steer the Silver Arrows to the top and achieve our joint ambitions of winning the world championships.”
He debuted with McLaren in the 2007 season and won his first championship with the team the following year in the most dramatic of circumstances. But his 2012 campaign spiralled, despite the team having one of the quickest cars for the majority of the 20 races.
He was set to replace Schumacher for 2013, who now had to decide whether it was time to call it a day or seek out a new team. For McLaren, they were disappointed with Hamilton’s decision, but quickly moved to bring in Perez as his replacement.
“Mercedes is a great partner of ours and they are a great team. But for anyone leaving McLaren, and he wants to win, I think that’s a mistake because I have faith and belief in this team,” said Martin Whitmarsh.
“Whether you measure it over the last four races, four years or 40 years, we’re a fantastic team.
“So I would say to any driver who wanted to win in this sport: ‘Come and join McLaren and aspire to join McLaren’. I wouldn’t advise anyone to leave McLaren if they want to win.”
Obviously, Whitmarsh was always going to back McLaren given he was the team principal, but for those outside the team the potential at Mercedes was clear to see.
The consensus was, at the time, that the biggest loser in this deal was undoubtedly McLaren for they were losing a driver that was irreplaceable.
“He’s right to do what he thinks is best and it’s certainly not for me to be judgmental on him in that respect. Had I been his manager then I think I would have said ‘let’s do a short-term deal at McLaren, for one or two years, and let’s see what is out there and see who is moving’. He has taken a gamble,” said Brundle of the decision.
“Having said that, I do think Mercedes-Benz will be much better this year and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he wins a race in 2013 — in fact, I would be surprised if he doesn’t win a race because Lewis has got such speed.
“If Mercedes can harness that speed and give him the car, he will drag another quarter of a second per lap out of it somewhere and I think he’ll do a great job. Time will tell. I wasn’t sure Jenson Button was right to go to McLaren but he was. I don’t like guessing, I like waiting to see what happens.”
And, of course, the rest is history. Hamilton was vindicated in his move to Mercedes where he, as of writing, is now a seven time World Champion. But that’s a story for another day.
Race Verdict
The Singapore Grand Prix is always a difficult one to judge. As Croft and Brundle pointed out on commentary, it is a track that tests the drivers’ physicality like no other. This edition reached the two hour time limit, which hadn’t happened since the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix.
However, it is also a track that lacks overtaking potential. Historically, it is a bit of a procession. It has never been quite like Monaco, but it struggles with the same pitfalls. Having said that, the 2012 race did have some great on-track action.
The battles after the second Safety Car for the last remaining points positions were very entertaining and creative. Massa’s move on Senna, in particular, was very exciting and impressive.
There was no fight for the lead. After Hamilton’s DNF, Vettel took the lead and never really looked like losing it.
This was a mixed bag, there was drama and tension, but there was an inevitability to the battle for the race win. It was entertaining, if never thrilling. Considering the intensity of the two hour grind, going around 23 tough corners for so long, that can be somewhat forgiven.
Result: 3/5
Next up: JAPAN
This series is drawing to a close in the coming weeks! I hope, dear reader, that you’ve been enjoying it up to now.
The series will conclude with a Review section following the final race in Brazil. As of now, that is planned for March 5.
This will be followed by a week off from the newsletter, before returning on March 16 with regular written words about whatever is happening around then or whatever comes to mind.
Until next time, have a great week and stay safe!
Previous entries in the series can be found here:
Part 14: Italy