Sergio Perez drove a superb lights-to-flag race to claim his second win of the season in front of Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Max Verstappen, who could have potentially clinched the driver’s title, had to settle for seventh place, in a messy weekend.
Sergio Perez – 9
A flawless performance from the Mexican driver, who delivered for Red Bull on a weekend that went horribly wrong for Verstappen.
Perez qualified second on Saturday, missing out on pole by two-hundredths of a second, and made a great start to lead the race and resist the pressure without making mistakes in the wet.
As it looked like things could unravel, when he experienced a problem just after the second safety car restart, he defended on Leclerc, resisting enormous pressure.
Whilst he did not necessarily beat Verstappen on performance, he was there for his team when they needed him the most.
Embed from Getty ImagesCharles Leclerc – 8.5
With Verstappen out, the win was there for its take, but the Monegasque had a poor start from pole position and lost out to Perez at the first corner, trailing for the entire race.
He always followed from behind and looked set for a move late on, but always ended up making a few slips when he closed up and was never able to put his wheels in front of Perez.
Considering a penalty for a safety car infringement awarded to the Mexican, he was just two seconds behind at the flag. The race could have been won, but for a few errors, and the score of nine pole positions converted to just three race wins in 2022 is a reflection of a still incomplete race conduct for Leclerc.
Embed from Getty ImagesCarlos Sainz – 7
An anonymous third place for the Ferrari driver, from whom more could have been expected on Sunday, given how close he was on Saturday, but the race pace went missing.
Sainz struggled all throughout and never managed to run close with the two front cars, always dropping back and being under threat from Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
He still settled for a podium, but it’s a worrying performance, gap-wise, for the Spaniard.
Lando Norris – 9
A well-executed and error-free race for Norris, who finished fourth despite McLaren not showing exceptional raw speed around the streets of Singapore throughout the weekend.
The Brit made good use of his favourite mixed conditions on Saturday to qualify sixth, jumping Fernando Alonso at the start and settling in a good rhythm.
As he was promoted to fourth after Hamilton’s mistake, it looked like he could challenge Sainz for a podium, with another best of the rest performance.
Embed from Getty ImagesDaniel Ricciardo – 8
An incredible and unexpected come-back from the Australian on Sunday, who gained eleven places on his way to P5 and who scored his first points since France, with his best result of the year.
He got a fast start and was up to 13th after lap one, keeping free of errors and entering the top 10. The timing of the safety car allowed him to overtake three cars, by stopping for dry tyres at the right moment, but it was a great strategy by McLaren, which would have seen him climb up a few positions, regardless.
A nice reawakening, as only five races separate his departure with McLaren, but his 10 points allowed the Woking team to return to fourth in the standings, with Alpine’s double retirement.
Lance Stroll – 8
After five P10 finishes this season, Lance Stroll finished a great P6 in Singapore, for his best result of the year and a strong double points finish for Aston Martin, which promoted them from ninth to seventh.
The Canadian had a cautious start to stay in 11th place, moving up as Tsunoda and Alonso retired, but it was extending the stint to delay his move on slick tyres, which promoted him to sixth.
He held the tyres to the end to match his best result in 19 races.
Embed from Getty ImagesMax Verstappen – 5
The Dutchman encountered difficulty and made his first real mistake of the season, on a weekend that just seemed destined to go wrong. In qualifying, when set for a bolting pole position lap, Verstappen was asked to abort due to a lack of fuel in the car.
This meant he was only eighth on the grid and wasn’t helped by a poor start and the absence of drs, which saw him stuck behind Alonso and Norris until the second safety car.
As the lights went green, the 2021 world champion tried a move on Norris but locked up whilst braking on the wet and ruined his tyres, having to pit and returning to a disappointing seventh place.
Embed from Getty ImagesSebastian Vettel – 7
A great getaway from Sebastian Vettel saw him move up from 13th to eighth in the space of one lap and this allowed him to set a good pace near the front of the midfield pack.
He trailed Pierre gasly, whom he was able to overtake with an overcut when switching to dry tyres, but was pipped by teammate Stroll in the same way.
He kept behind the Canadian after the restart, losing out to Verstappen on the penultimate lap, but climbing up to 12th in the world championship.
Lewis Hamilton – 5
Mercedes’ hopes to not having a disastrous weekend were shattered when the seven-time world champion crashed on lap 33, locking up and going straight to the barriers, but managing to continue on.
Pitting for damage meant he dropped from fourth to eighth and he stayed in that position, proving unable to overtake the Aston Martin cars, who were running in pair. A late error allowed Verstappen by, dropping him to ninth.
It was a crucial error, as Mercedes had proven quick at Marina Bay, but Hamilton lost out on pole by a tiny margin and spent the race stuck behind a slow Ferrari, before crashing.
Embed from Getty ImagesPierre Gasly – 6.5
All things considered, Gasly might be disappointed with P10, in a race of high attrition which saw him start from seventh and run in the same place for half-race distance.
An early switch to dry tyres cost him the place to the Aston Martins and to Ricciardo, as he dropped to 10th and brought home a single point, dropping from 11th to 13th in the championship.
The Alpha Tauri was close to the McLaren and Alpine in terms of pure performance, but once again failed to capitalise, in what is proving to be a very difficult season that currently sees them penultimate in the championship.
Valtteri Bottas – 5.5
The Finn was again the protagonist of an anonymous performance, as he hasn’t scored since round nine in Canada and was out qualified by teammate Zhou Guanyu.
He has never been particularly fast in the wet and dropped a place at the start, to run in 16th and remain outside of the top 10 for the whole race, finishing almost 20 seconds behind the points-paying positions.
Kevin Magnussen – 5
History repeated itself for Kevin Magnussen, who again had a crash whilst starting from a promising position (P9) and was forced to pit to repair the damage, by the FIA.
He made contact with Verstappen in a tough, though questionably needed, attempt to fend him off at the start, which meant he was last for most of the race and was the last car on the lead lap in P12.
Embed from Getty ImagesMick Schumacher – 5
The German couldn’t extract the same pace from the car as Magnussen in qualifying, lining up 12th on the grid, following George Russell’s penalty.
He ran P11 for most of the race, always trailing for the points and could have picked up a few opportunities, but for a clash with Russell which left him with damage and lapped, for a disappointing P13 finish.
George Russell – 4.5
Russell’s weekend was compromised by a poor qualifying, in 11th place, which triggered a negative escalation of events, leading him to finish the race in last place.
The team opted to change his power unit components and have him start from the pit lane. It was set to be a long race, due to the lack of overtaking opportunities at Singapore and Russell climbed up to 15th, before risking it all with a very early stop to slick tyres.
The gamble didn’t work, but the safety car had put him back into contention, only for a clash with Mick Schumacher leaving him with a puncture after an overtaking attempt for P11.
He finished 14th, in what is his first negative performance of the year, which sees Mercedes slip 66 points behind Ferrari.
Embed from Getty ImagesYuki Tsunoda – 4.5
Yuki Tsunoda failed to score for the 11th consecutive race, as a few errors, and a crash, cost him a top 10 finish.
He qualified in 10th and ran in the same position until coming close to hitting the wall and dropping to 12th. The team then decided to pit for dry tyres, but the Japanese driver crashed shortly after and failed to finish for the fifth time this season.
Esteban Ocon – 5
Alpine’s disappointing weekend turned pointless when Esteban Ocon, who was running 13th, suffered a mechanical failure and had to retire.
It was a race to forget, as the Frenchman was eliminated in Q1, with a shocking 18th fastest time in Q1, and never seemed able to make any progress in the race.
After a long streak of points finishes, this is the first time he fails to score in back-to-back races.
Embed from Getty ImagesAlex Albon – 4
After missing the race in Italy following an emergency operation for appendicitis, Alex Albon made his return at Singapore, but the Williams was just a distant relative of the one who raced three weeks earlier.
The Grove cars occupied the final two places in qualifying and Albon didn’t help his cause by spinning in lap one.
He later crashed on lap 26, retiring shortly after, as his team suffered a double retirement for the first time this season.
Fernando Alonso – 8
Another cruel strike of bad luck denied Alonso a top six finish, as the Alpine driver pulled to the side of the track on lap 21 when running one place lower than he qualified.
Once more, he was running close with Norris, at the top of the midfield and appeared able to fend off Verstappen, but for a problem which caused his fourth retirement of the season.
Embed from Getty ImagesNicholas Latifi – 4
The Canadian retired following a collision with Zhou, in which he was judged responsible and which will lead to a grid penalty in Japan.
It wasn’t a promising weekend, as Nicholas Latifi qualified last, and made the error of hitting the Alfa Romeo driver on lap seven when fighting for P18.
Zhou Guanyu – 5
A poor start compromised Zhou’s race, who was starting from P14, ahead of Bottas. However, he dropped back four places on the opening lap and later was also overtaken by Russell.
An attempt to overtake Latifi ended in retirement, as the Canadian driver closed the door when Zhou was passing by, causing an inevitable collision.
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