4 things we learned from the Singapore Grand Prix: Why Lewis Hamilton won't be worried
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Updated 22/09/2015 at 11:07 GMT
For the first time in 20 races, Lewis Hamilton failed to finish. But with Mercedes floundering around the Singapore street circuit, how much damage did it really do?
This picture taken on September 20, 2015, shows Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team's British driver Lewis Hamilton (C) looking on prior to the start of the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix in Singapore
Image credit: AFP
HAMILTON AND MERCEDES AREN’T WORRIED
Two things hit Hamilton last weekend – the astonishing lack of pace in his Mercedes and the sudden loss of power just when he thought he had a chance to chase down Sebastian Vettel for victory but one suspects neither will be truly troubling him as he re-focuses on Suzuka this weekend. Why? Because both are extremely unlikely to happen again.
Mercedes had expected their advantage to be cut by their rivals in Singapore. The circuit rewards braking and traction and limits the benefit of the Silver Arrows’ trump cards: power, ERS boost efficiency and high-speed aerodynamics. That said, they didn’t expect to be caught and passed. And certainly not to the level that Ferrari achieved, with Vettel qualifying on pole some 1.415s ahead of the closest Mercedes.
That, it seems, was down to tyre performance. The super soft tyre that proved so effective in some hands was a disaster when fitted to the Mercedes. The tyre is easy to overheat and has a very limited working range, and it seems Mercedes could simply not find the sweet spot. Degradation was huge and they could not push for fear of eating their tyres. In contrast, Vettel and Ferrari hit that sweet spot bang on.
So with the two sides at the opposite extremes of performance gain and loss, the gap became jaw dropping. But because it was such a track-specific issue, that won’t happen again. It was a freak occurrence – which is also how Mercedes described Hamilton’s retirement. His sudden power loss was down, simply, to a unique failure when a metal clamp on the turbo broke and caused a boost leak.
Hamilton would have been a bit more perturbed about his retirement had Nico Rosberg not finished fourth. But as it is, he still has a healthy championship lead with 41 points over Rosberg and 49 over Vettel. In fact, the biggest thing that will have bothered him last weekend is probably the fact that it was Vettel, not him, who was first to pass Ayrton Senna’s record of 41 race wins.
CAN VETTEL REALLY DO IT?
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Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel celebrates after winning the race
Image credit: Reuters
Although Ferrari has not actually made the massive jump forward we saw in Singapore, they have moved on a significant step. And that will worry Mercedes. At the start of the year, the target was three wins this season. Four, and boss Maurizio Arrivabene said he’d run 100km barefoot. He’ll be a bit worried about that now – but in truth he will probably be ok. There are six more races to go, and all are dominated, more or less, by power and high speed aero. That is back in Mercedes territory.
Ferrari’s upgrade is said to have put them level on power and now, with all power tokens used up, the rest of the season is all about chassis development. It will be exciting to see what happens at Suzuka and if Ferrari really has drawn level, it could add some spice to the season.
There are 150 points on the table so Hamilton can still cruise to the title by finishing second behind either team-mate Nico Rosberg or Vettel in every race. But if either (and let’s be honest, it’s more likely the Ferrari-driving German than the Mercedes one) can out-psyche Hamilton and pressure him into a mistake, more than half his advantage could quickly be wiped out.
Only then can it really be game on.
WILLIAMS’ RECORD SURVIVES
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Williams Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil comes into the pit with gear selection problems during the Singapore F1 Grand Prix night race in Singapore September 20, 2015.
Image credit: Reuters
Williams have Vettel to thank for keeping one of their hardest to beat records from tumbling last weekend. The former champions dominated races in the early 1990s and with their high-tech active suspension cars in 1992 and 1993 they clocked up an incredible 24 pole positions in a row. At that time, that was one and a half seasons of starting from the front.
The recent dominance of Mercedes has seen the Silver Arrows come ever closer to that tally and Williams, whose expected challenge this season failed to materialise, could do nothing but watch as Mercedes drew ever closer. That kind of run is rare, but Mercedes looked virtual dead certs to beat it this weekend. But then Vettel upset the form book.
LOOK AT MANOR FOR VISION OF THE FUTURE?
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Manor Marussia Formula One driver Alexander Rossi of the U.S. drives at the Marina Bay street circuit during the third practice session of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix September 19, 2015.
Image credit: Reuters
F1’s latest vision of a cost-cutting future seeped out at Singapore – and controversially it appears to include cut-price but cut-performance engines and the demise of the windtunnel. And you only have to look at backmarkers Manor to see how that could work out.
Budgets in F1 reportedly range from nearly £350m (Red Bull) to just under £60m (Manor) and the sport urgently needs to reduce both the base budget required to go racing and the astronomical amounts spent at the upper development levels seeking extra performance advantage.
The sport’s Strategy Group comprises six team representatives – from Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull, Williams and Force India – and six representatives from the FIA and commercial rights holder FOM. Each has one vote, and all met to discuss their ideas in Singapore.
Despite reports suggesting Williams, Ferrari and Mercedes voted against a windtunnel ban, both that and a proposal to supply cheaper year-old engines were voted through and could be rubber-stamped by the F1 Commission and the FIA World Motor Sport Council on September 30. Step forward Manor to explain why the WMSC should reject it.
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Manor Marussia Formula One team members move the damaged car of Alexander Rossi of the U.S
Image credit: Reuters
When the team first entered F1 as Virgin Racing, it was with a car designed entirely using CFD (computational fluid dynamics). It was a cost decision, as well as a long-held belief of technical director Nick Wirth that this was the way to go. It wasn’t. They did no wind tunnel testing – which most teams now use to verify CFD as much as develop new concepts – and were planted at the back of the grid.
Eventually, they hired a tunnel and got things right. Now, running as Manor after rising from the ashes at the end of last year, they are using a year-old Ferrari engine. It helps their bottom line, but not their desire to get off the back of the grid. In Singapore they qualified more than seven seconds adrift. And that’s when engines don’t matter so much.
What they need is good engines, more affordably. Their boss, John Booth, said: “I don't think F1's the correct arena to have two tiers of performance.”
But more worryingly, Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn warned it could “set a precedent” which could ultimately lead to the introduction of customer cars – something the top teams have been keen to do for some time.
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