Following a two-year absence from the calendar owing to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Marina Bay Circuit will once again host the Formula 1 circus for the 13th running of the Singapore Grand Prix. Two years of wrong will be made right when the lights go out on Sunday (Oct. 2).
Sunday will mark the final appearance for the Lion of Singapore, Sebastian Vettel, in the city-state as the most successful driver in Singapore to date will step away from F1 at the end of this year.
Meanwhile, Alex Albon will return to the cockpit for Williams Racing after sitting out the Italian Grand Prix out of medical necessity; where Nick de Vries made a stellar Grand Prix debut in Albon’s place.
Further up the field, and further away from serious competition, is Max Verstappen who could claim his second driver’s title under the lights this weekend should fortune overlook Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez. With Verstappen currently on a streak of five consecutive wins, fortune better remember the Monegasque’s name sooner than later.
While the title is unlikely to change hands at this point, control of the streets of Singapore almost certainly will.
Only three previous winners of the Singapore Grand Prix will line up on the grid this weekend. Vettel with Aston Martin, Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes and Fernando Alonso with Alpine. We all know it’s never wise to dismiss Hamilton, however none of these drivers are in what could be considered winning machinery at the moment.
Verstappen, in his eighth season in F1, has two podiums to his name in Singapore: a second place in 2018 and third place in 2019.
Leclerc, the universe’s last hope of stopping Verstappen in 2022, has managed results of ninth (2018) and second (2019) in the tiny city-state.
Perez, after nine starts in Singapore, holds a best finish of fifth in the 2017 running of the event.
Carlos Sainz can claim a best finish of fourth in 2017; something close to an upset result as he drove for what was then Toro Rosso at the time. While we’re here, George Russell retired from his only Marina Bay outing in 2019, driving for Williams.
All this said, let’s not rely on the statistics too heavily here. Allow this next statistic to discredit the other statistics.
Every Singapore Grand Prix has featured at least one safety car, with a grand total of 21 safety car periods over the course of 12 races to date. In a soaked 2017 race, a string of accidents through the first three corners of the race…
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