The night race of Singapore is one of the ultimate highlights of the Formula 1 calendar. The atmosphere in Singapore is one of a kind; the tall skyscrapers lit with different colors and the bright artificial lights at the track make the venue magical. There´re two drivers, who have scored four wins at magical Marina Bay, and they are Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
In the dark night of Singapore the Mercedes drivers came out on the yellow-walled medium Pirellis, as Q1 was kicked off. Leclerc set the benchmark on his first flyer, the Monegasque being half a second faster than Verstappen at the wheel of his Red Bull. Bottas was third and Hamilton fourth in spite of their different tyre wear. Sebastian had a tame first attempt, being almost a second off his teammate's pace. Even McLaren's Sainz made it ahead of the German on his first run. However, Sebastian managed to improve his lap time, jumping second in the standings. This time there were only three tenths separating the Ferrari teammates. The Mercs came out on the soft compound at the end of the session. Bottas gave a strong impression on the Silver Arrows' pace, pipping his teammate by two tenths of a second. Charles in third was massive seven tenths off the Finn's pace. Alfa Romeo were struggling with their pace at the long and demanding Marina Bay circuit, and especially Kimi was at risk not to make it into Q2. In the end, Kimi managed to make it 13th on his final run. Teammate Giovinazzi out-qualified the Iceman for the fifth time this season, the Italian making it 11th in the time sheets. Out of Q2 were familiar names: Toro Rosso's Kvyat, Racing Point's Stroll, Haas' Grosjean and the Williams duo of Russell and Kubica.
In Q2 there were no differing tyre strategies, but everyone opted for the red-marked soft compound. Personally, I expected Mercedes to raise the bar in the second session. However, Charles went fastest on his first flyer. Hamilton was one and Bottas two tenths down on the "Monegasque with the momentum". Sebastian seemed unable to match his teammate's storming pace, as the gap to his teammate's benchmark was 0.375s. But Red Bull was strong as well, especially in the hands of the flying Dutchman. Verstappen jumped third, being only a tenth slower than Charles. Kimi was pushing hard to extract the maximum out of his Alfa Romeo, which caused the left-hand side of his car to touch the wall on his first run. Kimi was in P14, out of the final session. "The good old Sebastian" was back for a fleeting moment. Sebastian put together a magnificent lap time, making it on top of the charts. However, the fastest lap time was deprived of Sebastian by his teammate only a short moment later, and by seven hundredths of a second only! This time the pecking order of the teams was clear; Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull were "the three big names" and McLaren and Renault were the top two teams of the midfield.
Q3 gave me chills. What a battle for pole it turned out! It seemed, that Sebastian had found his lost self-confidence, as he set an astonishing lap time on his first run. He set the screens purple even in spite of kissing the wall. There was no one to match that lap time, so Sebastian had his hands on provisional pole! Teammate Charles was 0.354s off Sebastian's benchmark, Verstappen was third and the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas only fourth and fifth. What was extremely unexpected, was the fact, that the silver-suited drivers were a whole second off the pace! Where had Mercedes' pace suddenly disappeared? The Silver Arrows waited at their pit garage, as the Ferrari aces headed out for their final runs. Sebastian had a wobble on his final run, and the German decided to abort his lap. Charles improved his lap time on his second run and robbed the pole position of his teammate by two tenths of a second. Also Hamilton managed to make a perfect run in the end, jumping second. A provisional pole turned into P3 on the grid for Sebastian. Verstappen (P4) managed to out-qualify Bottas, whose qualifying was a disappointment. Albon qualified 6th for Red Bull, and the McLaren duo of Sainz and Norris was split by Renault's Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.
This was already the third consecutive pole position for superb Charles! Unbelievably, he has now most poles this season, as Hamilton and Bottas have four poles each. This was already the eighth consecutive time, that Charles managed to out-qualify Sebastian. Ferrari's pace surprised me truly. On paper the street circuit of Marina Bay wasn't supposed to suit the Red Team this well! Statistically, pole means a lot at this track, as following another car, not to mention overtaking, is extremely difficult. Marina Bay is a highly demanding track, as there are 23 corners and no time to rest. The walls are close, so there is absolutely no room for mistakes. The expectancy of a safety car is very high as well, so strategy plays a key role in the race. Let's see, who does the best job tomorrow! Forza Ferrari!
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