This week the F1 circus rolls into the unique Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore. After months of late night finishes, F1 staff are now faced with the proposition of finishing work in the daylight as they stay on ‘European time’.
After a frustrating outing at their home race and failing to convert a front row lockout into a race victory, Ferrari will hope their traditional advantage over Mercedes will help get theirs, and Vettel’s season back on track. With the deficit to Hamilton now at 30 points, Vettel can not afford a repeat of last year, where a dominant weekend ended with both Ferraris (along with Max Verstappen) being eliminated in a first lap incident.
Recent history suggests that Singapore will be Ferrari territory, despite only winning once in the last 3 visits. With the short straights and tight, twisty sections, even Mercedes themselves have conceded that this will be their most difficult race of the season.
The other side story of the weekend will be Raikkonen’s departure from Ferrari, which comes at a time that could be seen as a return to form for the Finn and may well prove a major coup for the struggling Sauber team. With the iceman departing from the Scuderia, questions will be asked as to whether he will be willing to play the team game and give Vettel the needed points. On the flip side there will now be added pressure on the rising star that is Charles Leclerc. The Monégasque driver has had an incredibly strong season, often outperforming the hardware that he occupies, but having secured a top driving seat for next season, the spotlight will firmly be on his performances for the remainder of the season.
“This is what happened. It’s not up to me and it’s not my decision.” – Raikkonen
It would be considered a safe bet to bank on one of the Ferraris occupying the top step, however Lewis Hamilton has proven in recent weeks that form ‘on paper’ doesn’t mean a lot when in comes to this seasons F1 championship. Even so we predict it will be the Iceman Kimi Raikkonen who claims victory.
