The 2017 Singapore GP was a race to forget for Ferrari, as its drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, crashed out on the first lap. Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso were also involved in the incident, with the Maranello-based team quickly placing the blame on the Red Bull driver.
Heavy rain had hit the Marina Bay Street Circuit before the race, but the FIA opted for a standing start. Vettel, starting from the pole position, failed to get off the line quickly, while Verstappen and Raikkonen, starting from P2 and P4 respectively, made strong starts.
Raikkonen got close to Verstappen, who swerved towards him. Vettel, who was in danger of losing his lead, also moved left to defend. This created a domino effect, where Verstappen hit Raikkonen, who in turn made contact with Vettel.
Ferrari took to Twitter (now X) to write, “VER took #Kimi7 out and then he went to #Seb5 #SingaporeGP. What we tweeted was a factual description of events. No need to speculate on this”
Seven years ago today, Ferrari posted a tweet providing a factual description of events.
byu/DubiousLLM informula1
Ferrari did not shy away from blaming Verstappen directly for their early exit from the race. It was particularly disastrous for Vettel, as his championship rival, Lewis Hamilton, greatly benefited from the incident.
Hamilton had taken the lead in the 2017 standings at the previous race in Monza, and Vettel arrived in Singapore hoping to reclaim it. He had a strong chance, given Hamilton’s poor qualifying performance, which saw him start from P5.
However, with three of the four cars involved in the incident crashing out, Hamilton easily took the lead and went on to win the race. Meanwhile, Vettel faced significant criticism for his aggressive move on Verstappen, which triggered the incident.
The likelihood of a safety car due to crashes in Singapore is generally high, as seen in 2017. The circuit’s tight layout leaves little room for error. It has also been the backdrop for some of the most controversial moments in F1 history, including the Crashgate scandal in 2008.
As F1 returns to Singapore this weekend (20-22 September), Ferrari will be looking to avoid mistakes and secure a victory, free from incidents.
