© Getty ImagesSingapore DebriefBetter Pace And A Fastest Lap
TheSingaporeGrandPrixfirstappearedonthecalendarin2008,astheoriginal,andsomemightsay,thebestnightrace.
At the time, the world of Formula 1 was thrown into a spin at the very thought of it, with pages of advice produced on how to deal with a working day that went from early afternoon to dawn: a special diet, herbal sleeping remedies and taping hotel room curtains shut were just some of the solutions.
16 years later, the nightshift topic has been put to bed, but the sense of wonder when you first see the cars running under floodlights in Friday’s second free practice session remains the same as it did that first year, as the car liveries look more vibrant, set against the lights of the city and the harbourside location making it seem like a high-res video game, whether you’re trackside or watching on TV. For the drivers, it’s anything but a game, the toughest race of the year, when they spend 62 laps effectively getting bounced around in a high-speed sauna in the hot and humid tropical conditions.
The Big Moment© Getty Images
Our two cars looked very different this weekend, and we’re not just talking about the set up. Both VCARB-01’s donned a denim-themed design livery that paid homage to fashion brand, HUGO. Their iconic style was seen beyond just the cars on the track; the Team dressed the garage in an overarching denim theme, whilst both our drivers wore bespoke racing suits and HUGO outfits over the course of the weekend.
We got off to a cracking start in Friday practice, with Yuki and Daniel fourth and fifth fastest, but we kept our feet on the ground knowing that the front-running teams generally keep their powder dry until Saturday. Sure enough, qualifying proved to be more of a challenge, but Yuki put in two brilliant laps to make it to Q3. Once there, a slightly messy last run suggested he would line up tenth on the grid, but the Ferrari boys were in trouble and so our driver was actually eighth fastest. Like several other drivers, Daniel struggled to get the Soft tyres to work to his liking and ended up 16th, the fastest driver not to make the cut to Q2.
Are We Seeing Double?© Getty Images
Given Daniel’s grid position, we had to try something different and we put him on the Soft – Lewis Hamilton the only other driver to try this aggressive strategy. The extra grip might allow him to pass cars on the opening laps, but that’s never easy on a street track, so it was more a case of hoping for an early Safety Car, to give him what’s referred to as a “free pit-stop” losing much less time than in normal racing conditions. But…for the first time ever in the Singapore Grand Prix, there was no Safety Car.
Yuki went with the majority on Mediums, but had a poor start, dropping three places on the run to the first corner, which effectively meant any chance of points would depend on others running into trouble. In what was a surprising linear race, with none of the chaos usually associated with street racing, that never happened and he came home 12th.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed that our fans are wondering what Daniel’s future looks like within the Team. Our plans will be announced shortly. Due to the unknown circumstances this weekend, with a couple of laps to go on Sunday, we pitted Daniel and sent him out on a set of new Soft tyres. Daniel did the rest; putting his name in the record book as the driver who set the fastest race lap in the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. As team boss Laurent Mekies explained, “given this may have been Daniel’s last race, we wanted to give him the chance to savour it and go out with the fastest lap.”