Circuit Marina Bay Street Circuit
Date 16.09.2018
Laps 61
Distance 308,706 km / 191,862 miles
No Driver Ferrari S/N Team Result
5 Sebastian Vettel SF71H Scuderia Ferrari 3.
           
7 Kimi Raikkonen SF71H Scuderia Ferrari 5.

 

Singapore Grand Prix – Marina Bay, 16 September

Posted: 16.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Maurizio Arrivabene: ”Today’s winner deserved the victory. After Sebastian overtook Verstappen, we went for an aggressive strategy, trying for the undercut on the Ultrasoft tyres. Unfortunately, during the one lap that would prove to be crucial, we found ourselves behind another car and so we were unable to run at a fast enough pace. Despite today’s result, not all is lost. Now, calmly and with determination, we will tackle the remaining six races, fighting all the way to the end.”

Sebastian Vettel: ”It’s never easy to come and win even if, obviously, that was our target. Yesterday the qualifying didn’t go the way we wanted and we couldn’t extract the best out of ourselves. Today, starting from third position, we had to try something different, but it didn’t work out and we finished where we started. We were running second after a good start which allowed me to get past Max, I was happy and confident when I got the call to box, I knew I needed a mega out lap to try and challenge for the lead but it didn’t work. I lost time behind another car and the brakes got a little too hot, it was close but we got the worse of it. I fully support the team’s decision because, as I am sitting in the car, I can’t be aware of everything that goes on, so I rely on them. Our target was not to finish third, but today we just did not have enough speed.”

Kimi Raikkonen: ”Not much happened today in the race; the car was behaving well and we had a fair speed, but most of the time we were stuck behind somebody and taking care of the tires. On this track it’s impossible to overtake, unless the guy in front makes a massive mistake. I could see Bottas struggling with his front right tire and locking it sometimes, I could get closer to him but not enough to pass. Through the middle part of the track it was even difficult to follow him because we were losing downforce. In the first stint we stayed out longer hoping for a Safety Car, but it did not happen. The qualifying here is the key and obviously, when you start behind, your race ends up being a bit boring, getting stuck behind other cars. There was no way we could use our speed. Obviously we wanted more, we did what we could, but this is what we have got today.”

 

Singapore Grand Prix – Boredom the winner in Singapore

Posted: 16.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb on the podium, Kimi fifth, in their starting positions

Marina Bay, 16 September –The Singapore race ran true to form, in that in the Monaco of the East, anything can happen, but usually nothing does. Sebastian made it to the podium in third spot and Kimi was fifth, meaning Scuderia Ferrari finished where it started. It was a shame, because the start had let us hope for better, but Seb had to deal with traffic, which partly compromised what was an aggressive strategy.

FILM OF THE RACE: The top ten were all on Hypersofts. At the start, Seb attacked Verstappen, right with him after the first corner and then getting past at the gentle curve of Turn 6, just before the yellow lights came on, because Ocon was in the wall. Kimi meanwhile had maintained his fifth place off the grid.

The restart came on lap 5, with no passing moves. At this stage, Ferrari was mainly focusing on tyre and fuel management. Only after lap 10 did the pace pick up, while on the pit wall, thoughts were already turning to pit stops. Vettel came in for his at the start of lap 15. As he came out, he would have to give it his all to try and pull off the undercut. Seb took on the Ultrasofts and Hamilton came in for Softs, rejoining still ahead, while Vettel was fighting with Perez. In the pit stop race, the Ferrari had gained a few tenths, but it wasn’t enough.

As for Kimi, he went long on his stint, while his team-mate got past the Force India on lap 17. But he’d lost a lot of time and he found himself right behind Verstappen as the Dutchman emerged from the pits. Kimi was leading and running a strong pace. Seb had to cool his brakes before speeding up again. Raikkonen made his pit stop on lap 23 and, unlike Vettel, he fitted a set of Softs, the hardest compound available here. Surprisingly, a few drops of rain fell. Out in front, it was Ricciardo now, who had yet to change tyres, which he did on lap 28, taking on Ultrasofts.

At two thirds distance, the leaders came up behind the first of the backmarkers. Kimi made the most of it to close on Bottas, but this is Marina Bay and overtaking is a rare sight. The battle in these closing stages livened things up a bit in the Singapore night, but really, now is the time to think about the remaining six races.

 

Singapore Grand Prix – “Anything can happen tomorrow”

Posted: 15.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb, and Kimi not pleased with Quali session but already focused on the race

Marina Bay, September 15 – Third and fifth place in qualifying was clearly not what Scuderia Ferrari had hoped for, having consistently been fastest in free practice at Singapore’s street circuit However, both Seb Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen – who qualified in that order – are now looking to the opportunities that such a long race can offer tomorrow. Both Ferraris used Option (Ultrasoft) tyres for a planned attempt in the first run of Q2, then reverted to the Hypersoft compound as conditions proved that the track was extremely tyre-sensitive in tonight’s session.

“Our laps today were not ideal”, said Seb “and, all in all, our qualifying session was not as good as it could have been. I think we didn’t take the best out of the car. We didn’t have a smooth session, that’s it. The gap seems big but it’s partly because this is a very long track, so I am not worried. I think Lewis had a very good lap but he was not impossible to beat. Obviously, it’s always better to start from the front row, but I think tomorrow it will be fine. The car is good, so I believe we can stay with the group of the cars in front and then we have two hours of racing to work something out. You never know what can happen. Obviously, we should have done better because we had all the ingredients, but today we didn’t put them all together. I’m not completely upset because third is not a disaster, but for sure we wanted to qualify on pole and that was up for grabs today. However, we now turn the page and see how we can fight tomorrow”.

“This qualifying was a bit more tricky than we expected”, Kimi commented. “In general, we struggled to ‘switch on’ the tyres straightaway and make them work as easily as  it had been all weekend; so I was a bit surprised. Things can change quickly from practice to qualifying, that’s why there’s no reason to look at the lap times in practice, especially in places like this. The end result obviously is not great; this is the kind of circuit where if you get everything right your lap can be very good, but if you have some difficulties, the time difference gets big very quickly . Tomorrow will be a long day, everybody seems to be quite close to each other; it will be a long, tough and hectic race , and usually many things happen here. We’ll try to make the right decisions and the right calls”.

 

Singapore Grand Prix – Ferrari 3rd and 5th

Posted: 15.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb ahead of Kimi in qualifying

Marina Bay, 15 September – Sebastian Vettel secured third place on the grid for tomorrow’s race, with a best lap of 1’36”628, while Kimi Raikkonen will start from fifth, having set a time of 1’36”794. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers ran the same tyre programme, using the Ultrasoft and Hypersoft compounds.

Tomorrow’s race start at 20:10 at night local time, 14:10 CET.

 

 

 

Singapore Grand Prix – P3, Ferrari 1-2

Posted: 15.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Seb first ahead of Kimi

Marina Bay, 15 September – Come the end of the final free practice session for the Singapore GP, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers topped the time sheet, with Sebastian Vettel fastest in 1’38”054 and Kimi Raikkonen second in 1’38”416. Both drivers ran Hypersoft tyres for the entire session, working on quick laps and race pace simulation. Next up is qualifying at 21h00 (15H00 CET.)

 

 

 

Singapore Grand Prix – A Smile and a Kiss

Posted: 14.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Kimi fastest as Seb brushes the wall: “There’s potential in the car”

Singapore, September 14 – The first day at Marina Bay is mostly about adapting to the challenges of the 23-corner course, with a first practice session held still in daylight and a second one run after nightfall. Kimi Raikkonen came out as the fastest man – incidentally setting a new unofficial track record, allowing for the fact the circuit has been shortened by 2 metres – at the end of P2, while Seb Vettel was the only driver not to benefit from the clear advantage of the Hypersoft compound. A contact with the barrier out of the last chicane meant that his SF71H had to be driven back to the garage for repairs, which took till the end of the session. However, the car seemed to be quick and the battle is very open for tomorrow.

“Today everything felt OK and things ran pretty smoothly,” said Kimi. “In the first session we checked many things and made some changes; in the second one everything seemed to work . It was a normal Friday, but obviously  this track is  different to many others and the second session is held in different conditions from the first one. The tires behaved pretty much as we expected. The Hypersoft  is the one that provides the best grip for sure, so it is very useful here, at least for the short runs. Obviously they are not going to last as long as the other compounds, but we are aware of that. I tried two different floors; there’s not a night and day difference between them, but  we wouldn’t use something if we didn’t think it is better. Now we‘ll keep on doing our job and see what it brings tomorrow. For sure it will be close”.

“After hitting the wall”, said Seb “we took some precautions and decided to stop running. We lost some time, which is not ideal, but nevertheless I got a good feeling with the car. Luckily, I’ve been here before and I know the track so I can make up for lost time. Tomorrow I’ll be keen on finding the right balance to feel the car a little better than I did this evening. Then, I think it should be fine. On the other hand, Kimi’s data is very important too and it’s good to know he had a smooth session. I lost a bit of time today, but it can happen. In the evening we tried something on our car which didn’t work very well, but the car is good and has potential. I believe we can improve and tomorrow it will be better. Also, I think on Sunday tires will be an important factor, so we’ll see”.

 

Singapore Grand Prix – Ferrari on top in P2

Posted: 14.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Kimi quickest, Seb clips the wall on quick lap

Singapore, 14 September – Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in the second free practice session at the Marina Bay circuit, taking his Ferrari round in a time of 1’38”699, running the Hypersoft tyre. Sebastian Vettel’s best lap was a 1’40”633, good enough for ninth on the time sheet, using Ultrasofts. The German’s session came to a premature end, as he hit the barrier on the exit of turn 21, when on a fast lap on the softest compound tyre. The mechanics did not have enough time to fix his SF71H so that he could go out for the rest of the session. FP3 starts tomorrow at 18:00 (12:00 CET.)

 

Singapore Grand Prix – Singapore is underway

Posted: 14.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari 3rd and 4th

Marina Bay, 14 September- the Asian F1 tour got underway today with the first free practice session for the Singapore GP. Sebastian Vettel was third fastest with a time of 1’39”997 and Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in 1’40”486. Both drivers ran the Hypersoft tyres. The second session takes place at night, starting at 20:30 (14:30 CET).

 

Singapore Grand Prix – “Same focus, same objectives”

Posted: 13.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Big news for next year, but Kimi and Seb look forward to giving their best in 2018

Singapore, September 13 – Ten years have gone by since the Singapore Grand Prix became part of the Formula One season, but the charm of the nighttime street race remains unchanged. Scuderia Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen landed in Singapore on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, off the back of the announcement that Kimi will leave the Team at the end of this year. The Iceman kept his usual composure in commenting on the events of the last few days and made it clear that his objective now is to ensure the best possible result for the Team in the remainder of the season:

“At Monza, I knew about the decision,” explained Kimi. “From now to the end of the season, we’ll try to finish at the top, and of course this doesn’t mean that the others won’t try to do the same.  Many things are out of our hands, we can only do our best and score as many points we can; in the end we’ll see if that’s enough. Obviously, I can only drive one car to help the team in the fight for the championship. There’s always a lot of talk, a lot of things which can be helpful. It’s always easy to say “this and this will happen” but this is just easy in theory, while in practice it’s always difficult to get it right in many ways. So we will see what happens in the next races but we work for the same team and of course we know the rules: it’s pretty simple in the end”.

Sebastian took a moment to describe the particular challenge of the Singapore race: “It’s different from any other race in Asia, also because we stay on European time and rhythms and it’s one of the toughest races of the year, both mentally and physically. The climate is hot and humid, and it’s important that you get here well rested and healthy. It’s one of those Grands Prix where you feel you are never prepared enough, but then you can’t wait for the weekend to start as you relish the challenge”.
And as for the news concerning his team-mate, he added: “It’s a big change obviously, but I am more focused on the next race than I am on next year. I see there’s a big opportunity for Charles and I am happy about that, but on the other hand, it’s a bit sad to see Kimi go, because we get along together well, although we’re different. Having said that, I don’t think that will change our perspective till the end of the year; we have a great deal of respect for each other and we’ll keep the focus on the championship”.

 

Singapore Grand Prix – Unexpected similarities

Posted: 11.09.2018
Source: Ferrari

Marina Bay and Montreal? Two very different tracks. And yet…

What have the Singapore and Canadian Grands Prix got in common? Not much, you’d think, given that one is a street circuit and the other a super-quick track and one is run at night, the other in daylight. And yet the race that precedes the bulk of the European part of the season and the one that follows its conclusion have one common element: the chairs. Yes, in amongst the complexities of Scuderia Ferrari’s logistics programme, one element of the kit used in the team’s hospitality area in Montreal is making a “return” for this race in the tiny Asian republic. It’s just one example of just how tricky is the job of working out what goes where in terms of equipment over the course of the year.

Strange as it seems, another similarity concerns the brakes. Of course, at the Marina Bay circuit, the drivers don’t have to deal with the really heavy braking they encounter at the Ile Notre Dame. But the frequency of braking, fifteen times or so per lap, and the difficulty of cooling discs and pads in the equatorially humid conditions make Singapore one of the most demanding for the braking system, even though the average speed – Vettel’s pole lap last year was set at 183.272 km/h – is one of the lowest of the season.

The GP at Marina Bay has been on the calendar since 2008, making its name as the first ever Formula 1 night race. The job of turning normal streets into a track, designing and constructing the lighting rigs, ensuring safety and planning the logistics was a massive task. Ten years on, one can say that this race “won” the inevitable competition with the event in neighbouring Malaysia, which is no longer on the calendar. Apart from braking and fuel consumption, which is high because of the endless accelerations and braking, traction out of the corners is important as is concentration behind the wheel. As for the tyres, they skip a compound, with the Soft, Ultrasoft and Hypersoft being the chosen trio.

 

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