Three years have passed since the last Grand Prix on the Asian track. Here everything had stopped in 2019, the last year before the pandemic upset not only the racing world but the lives of each of us. A parallel world where Raikkonen was still in F1, Vettel had just won his last GP with Ferrari and Max Verstappen, who already from this weekend in Singapore could win his second world championship, was still a diamond to be cut. The 2022 championship is the most atypical since 2019. The Ferrari she regained confidence for the future thanks to a very valid project that kept her in the fight for the world championship. While the Red Bull he gained even more awareness after the busy season with Mercedes. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc may not have had the opportunity to fight "on equal terms" given the great development of the RB18 and the many mistakes made by Ferrari, but if there is a track where the horse can aspire to victory, this is it.
An opportunity for Ferrari
La Ferrari prepares to hit the track at night with some news at the bottom, great investigated together with the suspensions to solve the problem of the pouring and comply with the parameters of the TD39 directive. The Singapore Grand Prix is the most challenging for pilots and the 2022 cars. Marina Bay Circuit is a high downforce citizen and qualifying will be fundamental, a terrain in which the F1-75 performs very well.
“I'm not sure what the secret is to going fast here, but it's a great place to race – commented Sainz at the press conference – the weather does not seem to be that of 2017, but it can always play a role, given that rain is not excluded for this weekend. On a mental and physical level it is one of the toughest GPs. With the dips on the track with these heavy machines it can be even more of a challenge. On this circuit we think we have the opportunity to give our opponents a hard time, especially in qualifying. If you start up front here you also have a better chance of winning than at tracks like Monza. So we'll try to do our best in qualifying and then materialize in the race."
But it will be a challenge to the limit
However, on a physical level it is a real unknown factor, as also reiterated by Carlos Sainz. "This circuit is an oven for everyone, and it is difficult to maintain attention. It's one thing to drive for an hour at cruising speed, but doing it for two at a certain level of performance is very difficult. Also because at a certain point, with the vibrations, it's even difficult to keep your eyes still. The neck suffers from the dips and when I train I already think of Singapore, because if you survive here you're in shape for all the other circuits as well".
Although the fight with Red Bull is further away than the one with Mercedes, which is threatening at the door of second place in the constructors' standings, the ambitions of the Ferrari drivers remain those of collecting as many victories as possible in order to steal the place on the top step from Max Verstappen. "We're more concerned about returning to victory rather than defending ourselves from Mercedes, and that's what we'll try to do by the end of the world championship. We manage to qualify well, but we have to fix the race pace; in Monza we had it and we must try not to have it worse than Mercedes, as well as Red Bull. At that point, we will get the better of Mercedes in the championship as well."
Source statements: FormulaPassion
