Every Formula 1 driver will tell you: it’s simply impossible to achieve a perfect lap.
Maybe there was oversteer here, the loss of traction cost you a tenth here, or maybe you braked too early to turn left to finish the lap, which means you spent more time at the turn and couldn’t do it. Power on as soon as you want.
Lewis Hamilton is a particular proponent of this idea that perfection is unattainable, although he succeeded 104 times on Saturday out of 324 attempts – a success rate of 32.10%. , or more than twice as high as the second most active rider. No prizes for guessing who the future triple world champion is.
But Hamilton never came closer to completing his perfect lap than at the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix, amid a heated title tussle with Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari – with the Marina Bay track serving as the Mercedes’ “hoodoo” racing. Until Hamilton achieved his best lap.
Background
Before the race, Hamilton had an impressive “away” victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Kimi Raikkonen took pole with Vettel riding shotgun at the front and Hamilton third, but with the Finn not in contention for the title, it was expected that Vettel would be overtaken and Raikkonen would act as rear gunner.
It might have worked out if Ferrari hadn’t informed him on the morning of the Italian race that he would have to retire from racing in 2019 and Charles Leclerc was available.
So from the start, Raikkonen switched defense against Vettel, who had a terrible run through the first lap and allowed Hamilton to pass the Curva Grande as he locked her on the inside in the coming race Della Roggia racetrack. As Hamilton rounded the outside of Turn 4, he and Vettel collided, and the Ferrari spun, leaving Räikkönen as the only threat to the Mercedes.
Hamilton hunted down Raikkonen and took the lead on lap 45 with his second of four wins on the trot, extending his lead over Vettel in fourth to 30 points.
But Singapore is a track that is not suited to Mercedes’ long wheelbase, with the team historically having struggled there, despite Hamilton being the defending champion after a carnage in the opening round in 2017.
Argumentative
After winning at Monza, the aerial flights are two weeks away as Hamilton increases his mileage.
He flew from Milan to London, then Shanghai, New York and finally Singapore to promote his clothing line with Tommy Hilfiger, much to the disgust and outrage of Fleet Street’s finest. Hamilton’s recklessness, especially when the title was in double figures. Toto Wolff denied this when asked about it in Singapore, insisting that a happy, relaxed and satisfied Hamilton would be a super fast and devastating Hamilton on the track.
Round
Throughout practice, Hamilton’s pace was nothing special and he narrowly escaped Q1 by a few tenths, with only Pierre Gasly behind him entering Q2.
Q2 was better and was only a tenth slower before Hamilton performed an unforgettable lap.
But if you listen and observe closely, when approaching turn 20, Hamilton shifts into third gear to help the car turn better towards the right-left turn.
In turn 21, he kept the car partially in 3rd gear for too long, causing the rev limiter to go crazy. Despite this minor error, it was enough for him to win pole after being interrupted on the second lap by making a mistake in turn 5 and getting stuck on the exit curb.
Max Verstappen handles the Red Devils
