A race to be relived, from the first to the last lap. TO Singapore, surprisingly, it wasn't Red Bull who won, but Ferrari with Carlos Sainz. Incredible performance from the Ferrari driver which thus puts an end to the streak of victories Red Bull has had consistently since the beginning of the season. It's impossible not to also praise Lando's performance Norris, second, and Lewis Hamilton who closes the podium of the fifteenth round of the season. Two placings - those achieved by Norris and Hamilton - however developed differently, with choices that had a significant impact on the final result.
A victory sought but not achieved
In home Mercedes, although the victory did not come, they can certainly be more than satisfied. Since Friday the car has shown that it is fast and that it can worry Ferrari, the real protagonist of the Marina Bay weekend. However, if you look at the order of arrival, the absence of George Russell stands out. The English driver was Carlos Sainz's number one rival for a good part of the GP. What made the difference, however, was the strategy implemented by the Brackley team who, upon the arrival of the virtual safe car, preferred to return to the pits with both drivers - as he had a new yellow tire to use -. Russell restarts in fourth place, while Hamilton is in fifth. The possible victory seems to be far away but, starting to push, they overtake - without major problems given the different status of the tires - Charles Leclerc, setting off in pursuit of Norris.
The mistake you don't expect
Many attempts by Russell to attack the McLaren driver who, however, thanks to the DRS given to him (voluntarily) by Sainz, managed to defend himself to the end. To "ruin" the wonderful show we were witnessing, on the last lap, It's Russell's mistake who while chasing Norris hits his W-14 against the wall and is forced to retire, thus abandoning the chance of at least getting on the podium.
Hamilton: “We had a good pace. Overtaking there is really difficult"
A twist that allows Lewis Hamilton, who always remained behind his teammate, to take third position. A very important result, also considering the difficulties of overtaking on this track, as underlined by the world champion himself: “Overtaking here is difficult, you need to have an advantage of about a second and a half over the car in front of you. It wasn't easy at all and at the same time I say that we didn't need to take risks or try to overtake those in front of us. Ultimately I believe that we had a good pace, thanks also to the team who I think did an excellent job".
“If I had been in Russell I wouldn't have stopped”
Podium achieved thanks to the mistake of Russell at the end, who implemented his own strategy when he was in second place. A choice that Hamilton, if he had been his teammate, perhaps would not have made: “When he returned George was second and perhaps, If I had been in his place, I would have stayed out and at least that way I would have kept Norris behind. But in the end we tried and it was really fun chasing Norris and Sainz, but passing was just too difficult".
