After an action-packed and eventful Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which saw McLaren’s Oscar Piastri pick up his second career win, the tables have officially turned in the 2024 Formula One season, with McLaren leading the Constructors’ championship and Max Verstappen’s Drivers’ championship lead getting chipped off every weekend as we head to the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.
As the F1 grid heads to Singapore, here’s our race predictions and preview.
Time to consolidate the lead
Following Piastri’s win in Azerbaijan and Lando Norris’ brilliant recovery drive to P4 from P15, McLaren took the lead of the Constructors’ championship for the first time since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.
Red Bull have been far from their usual best, making McLaren the team to beat this season. Despite Norris’ recent botched races, the British team are now in pole position to take the Constructors’ title.
With Piastri taking major strides to slowly become a force to be reckoned with, it will be advantage McLaren once again in Singapore.
Pole Position Prediction: Lando Norris
Race Winner Prediction: McLaren
Red-hot form
The pole position in Baku saw Charles Leclerc make it four back-to-back poles in Azerbaijan, but he failed to win and so Ferrari remain winless on the Baku City Circuit.
Yet, Leclerc’s second-place finish was not only his best finish in Baku, it also kept Ferrari in the Constructors’ fight, with the Scuderia now 31 points behind Red Bull and likely to take the second spot from them very soon. They have only three wins so far this season but have shown strong race pace across multiple weekends and have been regularly fighting for podiums.
Singapore has always been a strong track for Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel having taken two wins for them in 2015 and 2019, while Carlos Sainz was on the top of the podium last year and will be looking to have another strong weekend in Singapore after having a horror crash in Baku.
Ferrari showed their race pace in Azerbaijan and should do well at the Singapore track. Count on the Scuderia to do well and even take the win if things really go their way.
Williams on the up
It’s not been the best season for Williams, who are lying eighth in the Constructors’ Standings. Recently, they also dropped Logan Sargeant and brought in Franco Colapinto for the rest of the season due to poor performances.
That said, the Groove-based outfit have been showing good race pace on Sundays of late, and Alex Albon’s P7 finish in Baku was their best finish of the season. Colapinto also secured his maiden F1 points last week with a P8 finish in the second-ever race of his career.
The two Williams drivers did well in FP3 in Baku and qualified a brilliant ninth and tenth. Albon now has back-to-back points finishes to his name, and while expecting a top-five finish on a clean weekend from Williams is a stretch too far, expect them to continue their strong run and take home a couple of points from Singapore.
Also read: Formula One Sponsors 2024
Singapore Grand Prix 2024: Race Details
Circuit: Marina Bay Street Circuit
Venue: Singapore
Practice Session 1 time: 15:00, September 20
Practice Session 2 time: 18:30, September 20
Practice Session 3 time: 15:00, September 21
Qualifying time: 18:30, September 21
Main race time: 17:30, September 22
Where to watch: F1 TV Pro / FanCode
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