Singapore GP 2022 - Race: When it rains, it Singa-pours - Perez clenches win away from Ferrari
It was a rainy, time limited evening in Marina Bay, as rain hit the track an hour before the race. Sergio Perez drove to the line, taking the chequered flag before anybody else. Charles Leclerc lead a Ferrari 2-3, followed by Carlos Sainz in P3.
The Singapore Grand Prix could easily be renamed to 'Singapour' Grand Prix, as rain flooded the track, approximately an hour before the race. The entire race start procedure was delayed by an hour and 5 minutes, with the formation lap starting at 21:05 local time (14:05 GMT).
Pre Race: Information provided from the FIA and the race organisers stated that the 3-hour clock started to count from 21:05, and not from 20:00, like everyone initially thought.
Insight: The 2022 Singapore GP marks Fernando Alonso's 350th race start,
Race Start: Sergio Perez managed to take the lead off Charles Leclerc's hands by T1, as Carlos Sainz overtook Lewis Hamilton for P3. Max Verstappen had a rather bad start, and lost 4 places, as he had to deal with wheel spin.
Lap 7: A clash between Zhou Guanyu and Nicholas Latifi triggered the safety car to emerge the track, as Zhou tried to overtake Latifi. The Canadian squeezed the Chinese driver against the wall of T5, resulting in a double DNF.
Lap 11: Max Verstappen regained his starting position, after clearing Sebastian Vettel for P8. On the same lap, the 2021 World Champion overtook Pierre Gasly as well, finding himself up to P7.
Lap 18: Carlos Sainz reported that the crossover point between intermediates and slicks wouldn't be far away.
Lap 20: Verstappen warned his team about a "massive lag on the upshift," with the Dutch having to deal with engine issues, combined with the tricky "interslicks" conditions that started to form.
Lap 21: A VSC was enabled, as Fernando Alonso didn't only break the 350-race-starts benchmark, but also his engine, and parked his car at the exit of T10.
Lap 22: George Russell was the first driver to gamble and switch to slicks, but the choice seemed like it wasn't paying off very well in the beginning of his stint.
Lap 26: Another one: The second VSC of the day came out on track as Alex Albon lost the brakes of T8 and damaged his front wing, leaving debris at the track. The Thai driver returned to the pits, where Williams retired his car.
Lap 28: A 2/2 for Alpine, as Esteban Ocon's engine died, with smoke coming out of his car. The Frenchman parked his car at the runoff of T13.
Lap 33: Lewis Hamilton lost the brakes and went straight into the wall of
Lap 36: Yuki Tsunoda switched to slicks and slid into T10, losing the brakes and ending up in the barriers. Safety Car out. Major opportunity for most drivers to switch to slicks.
Order after SC Pit Stops: 1 PER, 2 LEC, 3 SAI, 4 NOR, 5 VER, 6 RIC, 7 STR, 8 VET, 9 HAM, 10 GAS.
SC Restart: Sergio Perez is being investigated for a SC infringement, as he came next to the SC before the restart. The incident will be investigated after the race.
Countdown started at 40'
33' left: Max Verstappen tried to overtake Lando Norris and massively locked up at T7, destroying his fresh set of mediums, and having to take another tour through the pits to switch to a new set of softs. He rejoined at the back of the field.
31' left: George Russell seemed to have a puncture, after a battle with Mick Schumacher, with both drivers switching to new tyres.
26' left: DRS got enabled for the first time in the race, giving the opportunity to Charles Leclerc to fight for the lead of the race against Sergio Perez, who, at the same time, reported having some difficulties with the drivability of the engine.
The DRS opened a whole new dimension for the battle of the lead, with Leclerc pressuring Perez and forcing the Mexican to make mistakes. Ferrari's driver didn't seem to benefit from those mistakes, as Perez managed to extend his lead over the Monegasque. Ferrari warned Leclerc to try and stay within the 5 sec margin from Perez, as a post-race penalty seemed very possible for Red Bull's driver.
13' left: Max Verstappen re-entered the top 10.
8' left: A 12-Title fight for 7th took place until the end of the race, with Vettel, Hamilton and Verstappen being in a DRS train for the remaining of the race. Hamilton lost the brakes towards the end, trying to overtake Vettel, locked-up and dropped behind Verstappen.
Sergio Perez took his second victory of the season, followed by Charles Leclerc in P2 and Carlos Sainz in P3, in a very eventful race under the dazzling lights of Marina Bay.
Lando Norris lead a McLaren 4-5, followed by Daniel Ricciardo. This result came on the perfect moment for the British team, benefitting from a surprisingly good pace from their side, as well as Alpine's double DNF. They are now 4 points ahead of Alpine in the Constructors Championship.
A great result for Aston Martin as well, as Lance Stroll finished in P6, and Sebastian Vettel in P8, split by Max Verstappen in P7, who drove an unusually unstable race, and wasn't able to secure the Championship in Singapore.
It looked like Lewis Hamilton could score another podium, but things didn't pan out very well for him, as he made two mistakes, and only finished in 9th place. Pierre Gasly completed the top 10, scoring another point for AlphaTauri.
Full Race Classification:
