Oscar Piastri started the Singapore GP weekend on the back foot. While his teammate Lando Norris was straightaway on the pace, the Aussie struggled around Marina Bay. Things improved in the qualifying, but still wasn’t enough to warrant a front-row start. As Piastri starts the race P5, he isn’t too confident in replicating the result from Azerbaijan.
According to Formu1a.uno, Piastri detailed his expectations from the race as he said, “We’ll try our best. The race pace should be good. It’s just obviously not the easiest track in the world to overtake. So we’ll see what we can do. But there are not quite as many big braking zones as Baku here to work some magic. So I’ll see what I can do!”
Piastri: Difficult to “work some magic” in Singapore race https://t.co/kuoHVPc0Xb
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) September 22, 2024
Many drivers including Piastri suffered with tire temperature management during the qualifying session. The soft tires had a very small working window and even a bit of wheelspin pushed them over the edge, eventually ruining the lap. Carlos Sainz crashed in Q3 because his tires were too cold. On the other hand, the Aussie struggled in the final sector after getting wheelspin out of Turn 14.
Piastri’s subpar result has given Norris a great chance to take the lead into turn 1, dictate the race, and win it. It is notoriously difficult to pass around Singapore despite the four DRS zones, as pointed out by Piastri. However, the Briton will have to be wary of the threat right behind him.
Max Verstappen starts P2 with Lewis Hamilton in P3. Norris is known for fumbling his race starts and if either Hamilton or Verstappen gets past him, it’ll be incredibly difficult to repass them, unless there’s a safety car or a different strategy into play. Meanwhile, Piastri will be hoping for an eventful race to help his case.
