SINGAPORE RACE ZONE
APOLOGY FOR LEWIS
ONLY once did Hamilton look under pressure in Singapore and it came on lap 38 when he got caught up with backmarkers and was nearly passed by Verstappen. Afterwards, race director Charlie Whiting made a point to apologise to the Briton for not doing more to allow him an easier route through the lapped runners.
TWEET THEN DELETE
THERE was fury at Force India when Sergio Perez and Sergey Sirotkin collided, with the team on Twitter accusing the Russian of having ‘torpedoed’ their man. But they deleted the tweet and apologised after seeing it was Perez (right) to blame for the crash, with the Mexican getting a drive-through penalty.
PARC FERME LIGHTS UP
WHILE not the most entertaining race, Marina Bay’s parc ferme at least looked glitzy enough. Hamilton parked his Mercedes on an LED podium that showed highlights of the race underneath and behind the car. It is a typical Liberty Media addition but whether it is a regular feature or a one-off remains to be seen.
SAFETY FIRST AGAIN
THIS was the 11th Singapore Grand Prix and Esteban Ocon’s crash on the opening lap ensured that the circuit continued a trend of having a safety car deployed at every race. Since the event’s 2008 debut, the safety car has appeared 15 times and it has been needed on the opening lap for the past three grands prix.
ALONSO THE LONE STAR
IT IS not often Fernando Alonso (left) and McLaren have been able to run a perfect race in their four straight years together, but the stars aligned for the Woking outfit, who were a distant best of the rest outside the big three teams with a fine seventh. The Spaniard at one point had the fastest lap accolade, too, only for Kevin Magnussen to snatch it away.
THEY GOT HIM IN THE END
NO DRIVER could touch Hamilton on the track, and only the world champion’s team were able to catch him at Marina Bay. In the typical post-race Mercedes celebrations, Hamilton usually scampers away from the champagne spraying after a team photo. But here two team members caught up and treated the Brit, resigned to his fate, to a soaking.
SIMPLY RED BULL