Rate the race: 2016 Singapore Grand Prix

2016 Singapore Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Singapore Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (4%)
  • 9 (10%)
  • 8 (30%)
  • 7 (31%)
  • 6 (13%)
  • 5 (7%)
  • 4 (2%)
  • 3 (2%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 498

 Loading ...

1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

An F1 Fanatic account is required to vote. You can register an account here or read more about registering here. When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

View more Rate the Race results:

See the results for past seasons here:

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

123 comments on “Rate the race: 2016 Singapore Grand Prix”

  1. A bit boring, some excitement in the end: 6

  2. Threatened to be exciting at the end but Roadblock Guiterrez pit a stop to that. Incredibly frustrating to see RIC catch ROS during the final lap.

    VET driver of the day for me.

    1. Nico was never going to lose that race. But at least he helped his ‘cred’ by slowing down to make it look like a more deserved win. Merc had that race in the bag. Commentators probably didn’t mind not trying to find things to say for 15 or so laps :)

      1. @xsavior Yeah, we’ve seen countless occasions where the leader drops 25 seconds to make his win look more earned,…

        1. but he did slow down, and it did help his credibility (an earned win).

          Merc did have that race in the bag, whether or not you want to believe it or not.

          and the commentators were happy to not try and pull things from out their bottoms.

          And yes, I have seen him slow down before to let the guy (not his teammate) come closer, at least on two other occasions. I am sure it was his brakes though.

          That win was guaranteed. They had enough time to slow down for that many laps and bring it home with ultimate ease. You can pretend that he might have lost that race if you want. But barring a drive train failure, it was a sure thing from the beginning of the weekend. This is a story that is been told over the last 2+ years, and its getting terribly dull. So why do I keep watching, well, I am watching less, but to me, the real entertainment is the production itself.

          1. Yeah right. Some great tin-foil hattery here. Fair enough if that’s how you want to view the race. But at least recognise it as such.

          2. it’s called bread and circuses. And you are free to believe what ever you want, that is your right.

          3. …And quite a disaster for the Producers, as Mercedes got the scripts for Rosberg and Hamilton mixed up today?

          4. @xsavior Shouldn’t you be somewhere else, saying the earth is flat an all,…?

          5. I’m with you that one @xsavior. He slowed down, as so many have done before (Remember the Vettel years?), as he just needs to cross the line first. The gap is of no importance, sparing his drive train is – and he added a bit of exitement to those who believed RIC had a chance to get him. I had my fingers crossed for a battle for 1st too, but I knew it was just ROS controlling the pace.

          6. @xsavior I think he was managing his brakes and tyres.

            Still a deserved win, he was good all weekend (aside from the trip into the barriers in FP!)

  3. What a great finish.
    Nico looks like he’s found his groove.

    7/10

  4. 5/10. Pretty boring. Great effort from Ricciardo. 1 more lap and he would have won. Congrats to Nico though.

    1. More like Singabore ! I also doubt Ricciardo would have won with one more lap. It’s easy to catch a car but another to overtake it.

      1. If this race doesn’t break the stigma of Singapore being a boring track, I don’t know what will. Always had exciting races there since I’ve been watching. Incomparable to Monaco. Even the stats seem to agree, 2012 being the outlier but looking at the actual race review that was harshly under-rated.

    2. If Ricciardo won, it would be a 9/10 for you.

  5. 7. Good, we all wished for more action at the very top but I’ve seen much less appealing Singapore GP’s. All I didn’t like was that Hamilton yellow tyres joke from Croft.

    1. “All I didn’t like was that Hamilton yellow tyres joke from Croft”

      I must have missed that, what did he say? :/

    2. You keep teasing us about the rubbish that Sky F1’s commentators say, without telling us! Grrr! :-)

      C’mon, tell us what they said today (and during FP1) so we can also hate on Ted and Crofty!

  6. Im so done with the mercedes power. It makes formula 1 boring. Its not about the driver but the power of the car. This bothers me so much!

    1. This is a textbook example of the ignorance the younger generation have in F1. Domination from a team has always been apart of F1. If you don’t like it now, you never have or never will like F1.

      Honestly, I’m sick of people complaining about Mercedes dominance when this type of dominance has happened multiple times before. And how is it Mercedes’ fault exactly anyway? It’s not their fault other teams aren’t as good as them

      1. So true @smartez. We should always remember that this is still a sport.

      2. @smartez What makes it extra annoying is that the engine hardly made the difference today.

        1. Most people seem to miss that, @xtwl. Ferrari ’15 powered Kvyat in a genuine fight with Mercedes’16 powered Perez.

      3. Because it leaves nothing to imagination. It’s expected that they win every race. That’s not a formula to bring in new fans or retain casual fans. I love the sport regardless and good job from Mercedes to be so dominant. However, having a team win despite a race long brake problems versus other top teams with healthy cars says a lot.

      4. OP said engine. And I agree.

        The moment Mercedes are threatened all they do is just pull out their Manticore Card and roll the die. Be it 5 laps or twenty from the end, the result is always the same. So yeah, pretty boring. They are the kids with tarrasque AND the trick defense cards.

      5. No previous period had a team dominate this long to this extent.

      6. @Owen Smart – you are wrong — the difference in past years f1 dominations was that everything was open in terms of development…. so it was fair game when 1 team dominated…. but in this era of Mercedes engine domination it has been highly constricted with the ridiculous token engine system, it has not been as fair as every other year pre 2014.

        1. yup, and its rigged to keep Mercedes in the front. Via the rules. And this is not a claim that requires intent to be proven, rather it is just a simple matter of fact that the rules favor Mercedes advantage. And it’s an advantage that will not be taken back unless the guys running F1 really want to promote competition and diversity.

          1. @xsavior The rules are rigged so much in favor of Mercedes that one of there key competitors (Red Bull) were one of the biggest contributes to the 2017 set of regulations. Yep sounds rigged to me.

            Also lets not ignore that it was Renault rather than Mercedes that were the one’s pushing for the current regulations & it was also Renault & not Mercedes that were initially pushing for the token system which let us not forget Mercedes are also having to stick to.

            And let us also not ignore that the token system is been dropped for next year, No excuses for the other manufacturer’s. If Mercedes continue to dominate in 2017 with open engine development & a Red Bull designed set of rules then what will the excuse be?

      7. “This is a textbook example of the ignorance the younger generation have in F1. Domination from a team has always been apart of F1. If you don’t like it now, you never have or never will like F1.”

        Bit simplistic, no? And why can’t we argue for a more exciting, closer racing series?

        Perhaps anyone who thought today’s race was pretty mundane and boring should just change the channel and watch BTCC, or wait for the Indycar finale tonight… actually, that’s not a bad idea.

        5/10

        1. I watched the last half of the race even though I knew how it would end from before the weekend started. It was a boring race, but I liked the way Torger smiled to the camera at the end with the guys on the camera. Hes such a mensch, lolz.

          Its a bad TV production, and the props are obvious and the plot is just been rehashed over the last 2.5 years. Mercedes won’t lose unless people start to threaten to leave F1, and really Ferrari, Macca, and RBR really should consider leaving Mercedes and their defacto commercial alone and invest in something like WEC, where real opportunity, diversity and competition still exist, not control this, control that, forcing people to lose is fair ethic.

          1. *his guys on the podium, in view of the camera.

      8. “This is a textbook example of the ignorance the younger generation have in F1. Domination from a team has always been apart of F1. If you don’t like it now, you never have or never will like F1.”

        The level of domination Mercedes is currently displaying has never lasted for so long unchallenged. Three WDCs and WCCs in a row is certainly nothing new in Formula 1 and there have been longer winning streak, but not all titles are dominant. There are plenty of statistics one could quote to show how Mercedes’ continuous domination is different from those in the past, but there’s a simple one that I feel illustrate the point quite well: this is going to be the first time in Formula 1 history that a single team will do three 1-2 in the WDC in a row.

      9. I’m a fan of 25+ years and I find dominance boring, but I watch. Its still a problem for the sport if the audience doesn’t grow. For the season it was a 7 over the period of 25 years it was a 5.

  7. 8/10
    Quite enjoyed it throughout, 1st 15-20 laps were a little dull but it seemed like there was always something interesting going on somewhere through the field so overall as I say I enjoyed it.

  8. 9 – Great tension at the end and some awesome racing. One of the best of the season

  9. Boring race… checking my facebook timeline through the race.

    said enough…..

  10. Went out to a lunch date ruing that I would miss an exciting race in prospect. Came home and caught the last few laps and the top 3 were in the same order they started. Yawn.

    1. Lol, kind of like judging a movie based on the final scene, no? Guess you might as well just always watch the last 3 laps if you are one to assume nothing happens during a race.

  11. Average at best. 5. Thank God for Danny Ricciardo

    1. I thought Raikkonen and Hamilton plus Verstappen Kyvatt made the race. Good drive by Ricciardo but he did not do anything exceptional except luck in to a better strategy by reacting to Hamilton and Raikkonen pit stops, before that he was just driving around losing out to Rosberg.

      1. Luck into? Rb is slower the merc and as usual Ric punched above the weight of the car..DOW again for Riccy the best driver in F1 by a country mile!!!

      2. He did what he had to do splendidly. Unlike VES, he didn’t screw the race start, and kept the gap under 4.5 seconds consistently till the final pit stop, and the quick strategy call by RedBull was brilliant. Nobody “lucked” into it. That was how they were supposed to respond to HAM’s and RAI’s final strategy in the first place. They covered both RAI and HAM from catching up to RIC and gave RIC a chance to hunt down ROS.

        1. How did VES screw the race start when his clutch was faulty?
          Red Bull wanted to change it but weren’t allowed to do so by the FIA.

  12. 7 – the first half was very boring, the last laps very exciting.

  13. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    18th September 2016, 15:03

    I give it a 6.

  14. 6/10. I expect some people to give very high rates for a thrilling finish but the race as a whole had very little action for the most part. I got exciting towards the end of course though Mercedes still won yet again. Vettel’s comeback was rather predictable too. What disappoints me also is the fact that there were many chances to beat Mercedes this year by both Red Bull and Ferrari and they have failed to do so every time – Australia, Monaco, Canada, Singapore.

    1. Did Ferrari really thought that Rai could not kept 3rd with 28 sec advantage? They are absolute joke.

      1. I struggle to find one good strategy decision from Ferrari this season. Yes, absolute joke.

      2. @dex022 @michal2009b Actually, they would have been overtaken too had they kept Raikkonen out. As proven by the fact that Lewis finished around ten 10 seconds behind Nico aand that was Raikonnen’s gap to Nico before he pitted. It would not be far-fetched to assume that Raikonnen would have lost further time behind Nico had he not pitted.

        1. Maybe it is better to fight then bow like a chicken. Just saw Rai reaction in post race interview so…this way they GAVE P3 instead to try to fight for it.

          1. Fair enough. The undercut was too powerful though.

  15. Luckily my wife’s snoring woke me up. Otherwise I would’ve missed that great Ricciardo chase!

  16. Great race, but Ferrari’s strategists completely killed my enjoyment of the race.

  17. Loved the tension 9/10. Lewis was unusually poor this race. I hope Rosberg can continue competing with Lewis for the remaining races.

    1. What tension ? The win was never in doubt. Keeping an eye on the lap times it was easy to see Ricciardo would just catch Rosberg and even if he did manage it earlier it’s not like it’s an easy track to overtake at. I’ve read a few comments about it being a great end to the race but honestly it was just one driver driving flat out for 10 laps. If that contributes to a great race then F1 is in more trouble than I thought.

      1. That is of course, if you never considered that the brake disc situation would not further deteriorate?
        Now, I only gave the race 7.5 myself, because no real challenge was realized before the flag. But I had though hopes that both Rosberg and Hamilton cars would suffer more and more, giving us all some more radically different last 10 laps to watch.
        But it wasn’t to be…

      2. “What tension ? The win was never in doubt.” Jeez, good thing you don’t watch cricket. This was the equivalent of watching a decent sized run-chase. Doubtful, sure, but anything is possible.

  18. Matt (@hamiltonfan1705)
    18th September 2016, 15:07

    The race was pure bore until Ricciardo pitted.

    1. Actually it was the Mercedes that made the end exciting. Ham had nothing to lose when he pitted and Ferrari reacted to it. Then RB realised that they had a free pitstop and chance for 1st and so they pitted. Had Rosberg immediately reacted he may have come out first from the pits but he (they) didn’t and we got fascinating 15 laps.

  19. 8/10. Pretty good for Singapore. Well done Rosberg :)

  20. It was awesome. Had me on the edge of my seat for the last 15 laps.
    A wee bit dull around half distance, but other than that, there was always something going on somewhere. Great racing between Verstappen and Kvyat, Räikkönen/Hamilton was a thriller, Ricciardo’s charge almost gave me a heart attack, lots of different strategies proving the tyre rules right – somewhere around 9.5 in my book.

  21. 8/10 I would have loved a Ricciardo/Rosberg battle through the end, it proves that the Renault engine has mightily improved, still not as much as Ferrari but it is good enough now.
    Great drive from Magnussen while Palmer was once more nowhere.

  22. 7

    very interesting strategy wise, but at the end didn’t quite climaxed as I had hoped for. A bit boring troughtout as well.

  23. just needed one more lap for a potential 10.

  24. 10/10 for an awesome ending few laps with Danny Ric! (Just one more)

    -10/10 for another incredibly boring, lead from start to finish, no real
    challenge cause you always got the clean air Mercedes victory!

    +2/10 for a great drive from Vettel!

    +3/10 for an average race overall!

    Leaves the Singapore GP with a 5/10 from me!

  25. 7/10. A usual procession at the front for the bulk of the race. Hamilton and Ricciardo’s aggressive strategies brought the race back to life in the end but not many overtakes for position (as anticipated). Verstappen was the main provider of entertainment today, especially with his battle with Kvyat.

  26. 8/10. Constantly exciting battles through most of the field. Unfortunately some people here seems to be hell-bent on ruining the race for themselves by only looking at the first positions, instead of the race as a whole.

  27. LovelyLovelyLuffield
    18th September 2016, 15:15

    No vote because basic text field, but I’m giving this a scratched 8. OK, 7, because screw The Red Team. Not Seb, not Kimi (just…), not the tire changers, but those who call the shots. Have a noggin next time, aye?

    1. What “just?”

  28. Drama at the start, some absolutely phenomenal battles (Kvyat and Verstappen – WOW!), DRS not being ridiculous and a proper slow burner which went down to the absolute wire. Best F1 race in a very, very long time. 8.

  29. How is ANY body rating this a 5?

    Great race from start to finish. It got “boring” for about 5 laps after the half way mark. Then it was on again! Started with contact off the line, finished with .5s between first and second. Highlights were Kvyat’s defense on Verstappen early on the race, Raikkonen on Hamilton, Vettel’s climb through the order, the perfection from all the big pit-crews to pull off the absolutely staggering amount of varying tyre-strategies and the will-he wont-he last 15 laps.

    Again no track limits rubbish or silly penalties ruining the result. Just want to note compared to last week the camera direction was amazing, vastly improved, good footage of the important stops as they happened. Lots of footage throughout the field when the start of the race when the front of the field was dull. And then focusing on the gaps between the leaders towards the end when that mattered.

    9.5/10… If only there were a change of lead.

  30. If you rate this below a 7 F1 is nothing for you. This race had strategic tension dripping off it, fights for several positions including the final podium spot. If that was not enough Hamilton his alternative strategy triggered an entire wave of stops that created Ricciardo his charge. Meanwhile from P22 to P5 Vettel fought back. Behind him it was Verstappen who started badly but had to fight back to make sure he finished ahead of again impressive Alonso. To wrap it up we have Perez who did very well too and Magnussen in P10. Wow.

    I understand you don’t rate it a 10 or a 9 but this was F1 close to its best.

    1. +1 – COTD – exact thoughts, great race

    2. Agree with you completely. The evolving strategies were the best. I wasn’t bored a bit..First time that’s happened this year I might add. Gave the race a 9, just for being one of the better races this year and for RB and Ferrari keeping Mercedes on their toes the whole duration of the race.

    3. If you rate this below a 7 F1 is nothing for you.

      I completely agree. This race had all the best aspects of F1: On track action, great overtaking moves, strategy, and only half a second between 1st and second at the chequered flag.

      I gave the race a 10. Races like this are few and far between, and I think this one could well go down as a classic. It is certainly the best all-round race I have seen in a long time.

    4. What I’m trying to say is; If you vote like this: If RIC overtook ROS it would’ve been a 10, and now it’s a 5. Then, from my point of view, you can’t appreciate a good race. Good races begin with potential they have, and the tension it brings. It can’t always deliver, but a good racing fan enjoys the tension nonetheless.

    5. Well said, mate. If people rate this less than 7/10, then I think they are always going to be disappointed following F1.

      This is definitely the best race of the Singapore GP in its 9 editions.

      I rate it 9/10

    6. 2011’s race in Singapore was quite similar to this year’s. Button chasing Vettel hard to the end, Webber and Alonso fighting for third. There were some battles there as well just as today. I think simply the expectations have dropped and currently the races are overrated compared to four or five years ago.

  31. I gave it a 5-never a great race in the season. Definitely a contest among team strategists and resource management, not the drivers

  32. What’s wrong with these people. They complain about too much overtaking the last couple of races and now they’re complaining that there was too few actions.

  33. Had absolutely everything!
    – Strategy
    – Overtaking
    – Lap 1 Crash

    Driver of the Day: Vettel by Far (Notable mention to Rosberg – a Brilliant Weekend)

    a perfect 10!

    1. Vettel did nothing special today. NOTHING
      He overtook guys who were 2-4 seconds slower than him. He had new US tyres for the entire race. He overtook other racers only with DRS or when they had worn tyres.
      How does that make him better?

      1. He came from the back largely unassisted on a track which is difficult to pass on to finish 5th. It’s worth at least a little bit of praise isn’t it?

      2. Vettel was 27 seconds behind the winner of the race even though started last on the grid at a track which it’s notoriously difficult to pass. You are seriously lacking in analytics and understanding of motor racing, or blinded by an unhealthy dislike of Vettel.

        1. I have an unhealthy dislike of Vettel, but I still had to vote him for the DOTW :)

  34. An 8.5 or even 9 from me.

    It’s sad to see quite a few fans terming the race as ‘boring’ or ‘not very exciting’. I wonder they haven’t seen the ’80s, ’90s and ‘2000s of the sport or else they’d have forced to turn it into a Nascar! On one end they criticize the DRS and tires and some other toys but on the other hand they forget that without that we’ll have races with ratings of 5 or 7 most of the times.

    For me, it was an action packed race right from the start. Battle between VMax and D. Kyvat was great and additionally closer than ever in this hybrid era between Mercs, RBR and Ferrari. Climax was indeed a climax to a good race.

    Enjoyed the race.

  35. SC too early added less spice than expected.
    Nevertheless, there were some interesting skirmishes here and there
    Not a great race, but still a good race.
    7/10

  36. 5/10. Pretty boring except the battle between Ric and Nico in the last few laps…

  37. 7/10 A good race. And Vettel from last to 5 is astonishing!

  38. 8 for me. The start itself gave me the frights. Then you have Vettel cutting through the field and Kimi trying to take the third off Lewis. Vettel then takes two spots in a couple of corners.

    All this before I even mention Kvyat showing great defense against Max. Max ‘moaning’ was the sugar frosting.

    Finally Mercedes poke the hornet’s nest to trigger a few pitstops and the last 15 laps were just edge of the seat stuff.

    Great drives from the top 5. Lewis a lil bit less than the others. I was tired by just watching them go at it for 2 hours.

    Great race!

    1. Agreed on all fronts, especially Kvyat showing Max how to defend hard but fair.

      1. “especially Kvyat showing Max how to defend hard but fair”
        +1

  39. Started with some chaos before turning rather dull (bar Kvyat and Vestappen’s battle) until the final round of stops upped the tension and brought a bit of excitement, which sadly turned to naught as the race finished just as Riccardo got within striking range. I don’t buy that Rosberg had a brake issue as he pulled out a gap early on when they were apparently critical while Hamilton wrestled a clearly poorly set up car around.

    Vettel and Riccardo were the standouts of the race in the end.

  40. Quite interesting race with good variation in strategies. There were quieter moments regarding on-track battles as well, but overall a good race for Singapore standards, so not bad.

  41. FYI – brake management =/= brake problems,… You manage to avoid problems.

  42. There was action in the opening laps and action in the final laps, punctuated by few battles in between.

  43. 7.5: Pretty good race actually but not nail biting exciting.
    Great racing but most with predictable outcomes:
    To get into the 8-9 range for me, we should have had:
    – More overtakes in between Verstappen and Kvyat, today it was only a single pass and done…
    – Räikkönen catching Hamilton and trying a couple of passes.
    – One or more SC periods maybe to reshuffle the deck?
    And to get into the 10, we should have seen Ricciardo catch Rosberg before the end, and having a go for the win or be taken again by Rosberg. (so a 10 no matter the outcome)

  44. I really enjoyed that, 9. Great fighting up and down the field, Three teams in with a chance, We had lots of different strategies which played a roll, a great finish and Kyvat vs Max was just, fantastic.

    I think if you didn’t like this one, F1 doesn’t have much to give you.

    1. Oh, but the guy on the track, that’s really not good to see. I didn’t like that at all, really dangerous. Not ok.

      1. Yeah don’t know what happened there ey. Huge miscommunication obviously. Hope whoever did the camera directing didn’t get sacked for showing the replay. The focus on the near miss should ensure a good investigation into the stewarding practices before something worse happens.

      2. Clear miscommunication between the stewards and then Charlie’s central race control. They are not allowed to open up for free racing till all stewards are behind the guard rails.

  45. Loved it!
    1st: for the strategy battles wich were as tense as ever. If you don’t see 2 passes each lap it doesn’t mean there’s no action going on. It’s just on a different level and I find it as exciting as the physical battles on track.
    2nd: for the actual fights we had all over the place: KVY vs VES was a classic, RAI vs HAM was as exciting as hell (I lost my voice shouting at that), that 3 cars moment with VET as well was to be remembered.
    3rd: you got to see all the team mates from top 3 teams going on different ways into the race only to find themselves all close together in the end. This is a remainder that those people know very well what they’re doing.

    Gave it a 9. I reserve the 10s for the big classics like brazil 2008 and such.

  46. Just got back to our hotel from the race.

    Loved it. The strategy battle between the front runners and the build up of tension during the second half in particular had the entire crowd on the edge of our seats.

    The driving was amazing this year.. Other than the first lap, I don’t recall any of them driving wildly off the track or any yellow flags for that matter.

    Brilliant day, brilliant race. Pity Dan couldn’t run Nico down but way closer than we’ve seen for a while.

  47. Winner determined by the first corner, Mercedes winning again and the celebrity champion driver (Hamilton) spending most of the race complaining, if I was a young person and that was the first race I had watched, I wouldn’t be in a rush to watch another.

    1. “Winner determined by the first corner”

      Were you watching the last 14 laps?

  48. Sorry just a 5 from me…….great effort from Riciardo….a greater effort from Lewis…actually congratulating Nico on his drive….Vettel did really well from the back….and whoever let Kimi stay out an extra lap should be cleaning wheels from now on….
    Was never a fan of the Singapore track, and am still not..

  49. 7/10 for 2016 Singapore GP. First of all, three different cars ran close in the top four and there was fight for all three podium places. Kimi ‘Iceman’ Raikonnen pulled off a cool move on Lewis Hamilton. Although circumstances favoured Kimi at that point of the race, the veteran showed his skill…kudos to both for keeping it clean. The battle of strategy between Mercedes and Ferrari was exciting. Vettel and Perez had good recovery drives. Kyvat-Verstrappen scrap was interesting. If only there were three more laps….

  50. 7/10 I thought it was a fun race. Not sure about the negativity. Every race cant be a classic yet some expect 21 amazing races. It never has and never will be like that. Can people just stop with the bashing and enjoy the damn race!

  51. 8/10. A feisty Kyvat vs Max perked up the first half along with Alonso getting into 5th. Enjoyed Vettel moving through the field.

    Bolt for the flag was great fun to watch following Mercedes aggressive choice for Hamilton.

    Just a shame Hamilton lost the running on Friday and couldn’t get the car setup comfortably, leaving Rosberg who had a flawless weekend out on his own for most of the race.

  52. Promised much but delivered little. Good overtakes by MV but only on mid-field runners. DR’s charge at the end summed up all that is wrong with F1 currently, change tyres and suddenly your car is several seconds a lap quicker than the race leader. Both Mercedes had brake issues from the start but still managed to finish 1 and 3, Ferrari are a joke spending so much money for so little return. The mid-field teams are all also-rans with about as much chance of winning a race as I do winning an Olympic gold.
    Yet another season is drawing to a close with very little to put on a highlights reel.

  53. I quite liked the race. A bit of a procession after start, but in the end there were battles for almost every position in the top ten.

  54. This is 5, very boring…

  55. Singapore is never going to be remembered for it’s racing and the memorable incident happened on the start straight before the first corner. It didn’t thrill, but I wasn’t exactly falling asleep so a fair 5/10

  56. Boring street circuit. Yawn. Fans want to see wheel to wheel racing. Not a procession punctuated by pit strategy, drs aided passing and Merc dominance. The VES KVY battle was fjn for a few seconds.

  57. Ricciardos charge on the last stint was what woke me up, good overtaking by Vettel and Verstappen.

  58. 6/10
    Verstappen vs Kvyat battle was interesting and Ricciardo’s charge at the end but nothing special.

  59. 6/10, nothing too impressive.

  60. Rated it 7/10. Was a decent race, but it’s getting to a point where cars are too reliable and there are no wildcard drivers who can turn the race upside down and the strategies pretty much amount to little as it still delivers the same result. The last 14 laps were infinitely better than had Ricciardo not been catching up to Rosberg, but it felt inevitable Rosberg would remain 1st.

    F1 needs to decide whether or not it want to add more randomizing factors (2012 style tyres, more odd rules to spice things up) or to actually try to level the field because F1 is going nowhere slow on the whole, even if individual races are entertaining.

  61. 6/10 but i suspect that is mostly due to the TV footage. I have seen 3 overtakes or so by Vettel and he cannot have gotten from 22 to 5 with that few overtakes.
    Yes, we followed Max and his overtaking, but we had whole chunks where the Director with his fingers on the TV buttons was sleeping.

    Hopefully the new owners are going to try and find a TV director that will do all races and has a feeling for motorsports, because a better broadcasting of raw footage would improve the race without improving the race :)

  62. I gave the race a 5.5, I found the early parts of the race rather predictable and boring but Ricciardo’s late charge raised my rating and if he had managed to catch Rosberg before the end and make some attempts to take the lead my rating would defiantly have been higher.

    After Friday I thought that Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari were close and would not have been surprised at any order they would be in after Saturday. Sadly it seems that was not the case and although the gaps may not have been as large as recent races, qualifying was not as tight or unexpected as I hoped it would be.

    After the start I thought the only way the podium order would change would be if one of them made a mistake or had other problems. That almost happened when Raikkonen got by Hamilton into third place after Hamilton ran wide.

    I thought that all the lead cars would stick to a two stop strategy but Mercedes changed Hamilton to a three stop which spooked Ferrari into also pitting Raikkonen which lost him third and put Hamilton back on the podium.

    This also made Red Bull bring Ricciardo in for an extra stop and with fresh rubber he chased down Rosberg. Mercedes did not seem to be sure what the best call was with Rosberg initially but decided stick to plan A and keep him out.

    At first it looked like Ricciardo would at least catch Rosberg before the end to challenge for the win but as the chequered flag neared it became apparent that would not be the case.

Comments are closed.