F1: Lando Norris showed the right approach in Singapore
Lando Norris was aggressive in the Singapore Grand Prix, as he should be if he wants to be champion
Unexpected victory George Russell in Singaporehome of the eighteenth date of the season Formula 1. A victory created from pole position on Saturday and driven by a good start that left Russell and the mercedes with the benefit of clean air.
McLaren defends its constructors’ championship and achieved the tenth in the history of the organization. They had not achieved consecutive championships since that distant 90-91.
But this time we will focus on other moments that the Singapore Grand Prix: the Norris-Piastri moment; what he called F1 Management and the issue of crefrigerant halecos.
Norris with the right approach
McLaren He doesn’t seem like that dominant force on the gridiron. It’s not that they are no longer favorites, it’s just that it is now more difficult for them to compete for poles and victories. This was the third race won by a non-McLaren driver; and also the third pole no McLaren.
Will the trend continue? Well he Circuit of the Americas It seems like a kinder scenario for MCL39, we will know in a couple of weekends. But what I want to emphasize about Singapore is that Lando Norris He approached the race as he should approach the rest of the campaign: aggressive and winning; time spent caring.
The Briton started fifth and after the third corner he was third. With the front wing a little hurt, but third and with good race pace – the loose endplate did not affect aerodynamic performance.
The maneuver was not without controversy – a discussion somewhat forced by both the media narrative and the pilots, in this case. Oscar Piastrithe loser of the maneuver. Norris went on the inside in lane one, stretching the brakes; By then he had already left the Mercedes behind. Andrea Kimi Antonelli and he was wheel to wheel with Piastri. In lane two, to the right, he was side by side with Piastri and he let himself go when braking for lane three – left, and therefore Norris goes on the inside -, and that is when he finds himself to Red Bull of Max Verstappen. “I miscalculated a little how close I was to Max…” said the Englishman at the end of the competition.
That’s when the ‘touch’ comes with the back of Max’s RB that left the endplate on the left side injured and caused a swerve. That swerve to the right touches the front tires of Norris and Piastri and Oscar has to evade and loses track and position.
“Anyone on the grid would have done exactly the same thing as me…”, Norris defended himself in statements to the media. And there really was no other option, it was that or stick the nose of the car into the diffuser of the car. Red Bull and we will no longer know with what consequences. But this is a maneuver that is seen all the time in F1, especially in starts and on urban layouts. How many more options did Norris have?
But when I refer to focus, I mean that Norris did not lose focus throughout the race. And then when questioned about it, he defended what he did. Come on, it wasn’t the ‘cold chest’, the timid Norris who seems to prefer to make the fans like him (which he doesn’t even achieve) and his peers, than to go for victories and a championship regardless of what others say or what they think.
As for Piastri, it was obvious that he was going to complain and something else: Oscar did seem to be affected by the situation, because he was never able to follow in the footsteps of Norris and Verstappen. He was angry the whole time.
There are 22 points between these two with 6 grand prix ahead plus 3 sprints. If this aggressive, focused Norris is going to present himself in the remainder of the championship, he could give us an interesting close and put pressure on Piastri. Twenty-two points seems like a lot, but they are not. In 2016, Lewis Hamilton led the championship Nico Rosberg and in Malaysia Hamilton’s engine broke and Rosberg left with the title. Piastri is just one disaster away (DNF) and goes behind Lando, as long as the number 4 does the job he needs to.
F1 Management
If there is a desperate situation in F1, it is tire management. No matter the scenario, the compound, the drivers are dedicated to lengthening the stints as much as they can. The effect is enhanced on urban routes, where there is likely to be a Safety Car.
We are in the F1 of sustainability, the budget limit and they even wanted the drivers not to swear. And on the track this somewhat conservative spirit translates into races ‘permanently on the defensive’. I don’t want to say that anything about the current F1 is bad, the budget issue, for example, seems very good to me, but the tire issue exasperates me.
I will tell you what an F1 race is like today and at least for about 3 seasons ago: first stint to try to advance at the start and be attentive to the undercuts-overcuts that will come with the pit stops; second stint, hold the tire until pushing in the last 12-15 laps to see if something is achieved; Of course, since the one in front was also saving rubber, it was possible to defend and there was hardly any fight on the track. Risk? Some will, but most will play conservative and defensive.
In Singapore, for example, Lewis Hamilton did something different, when they put the soft tires on.
This was the situation: Hamilton stuck on Antonelli’s rear wing. Both cars with hard speeds, Hamilton with 21 turns and Antonelli with 20, that is, very even. Something disruptive is needed and the only thing at hand is fast rubber. On lap 47 of 62, Ferrari calls Hamilton and they put on new soft tires. Hamilton is 23.2 seconds behind Kimi. What follows is a driver and F1 as we like it (I like it), as it was in Schumacher’s time: go full force! The best drivers with the best cars at the limit, all the time!
Antonelli began to pick up his pace and was able to pass Charles Leclerc, It was going even slower! That was on lap 54. By then, Hamilton was already 6.7 seconds away from that battle; In lap 56 Hamilton passed Leclerc and in lap 60 of 62, when he already had Antonelli within reach and 5th position, the brakes abandoned him.
Some will say: ‘that happened to him because he didn’t manage’. And that may be true – although much of that sprint was done in clean air. But the point is this: taking these risks is rare these days, when there was a time when pilots were constantly going full throttle. And the counterargument would be: ‘but that attacking F1 did not guarantee overtaking’. Valid. But we saw drivers pushed to the limit the entire race, cars pushed the entire race. An F1 to the maximum and not the F1 management of today.
Vests yes or no?
This scenario is possibly the most demanding on the calendar, due to the heat and humidity. Russell, in the interviews at the end of the competition, had to take a moment to kneel, visibly exhausted.
I don’t want to stop recognizing these super athletes. Able to maintain concentration under these extreme circumstances. And so you can see how not everything that is current seems bad to me, I agree with the use of the cooling vest, yes, they should make it comfortable for everyone. Whether or not it should be mandatory… you should listen to the pilots.
“I appreciate that they made it available to us and we will continue to work to improve the system. I think it can potentially be beneficial in places with extreme heat, but if you want to use it because it is comfortable, you should never have to use it,” Hamilton said Saturday. And in the same tone, Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, who is the president of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, declared.
“I agree with those who don’t want to use it. If they don’t want to because they feel very uncomfortable, don’t use it,” Sainz concluded.
