Singapore GP: Max Verstappen back in business as data reveals key setup change
Max Verstappen has famously never won in Singapore - could that change on Sunday?
McLaren driver Lando Norris took his fifth pole position of the F1 2024 season in Singapore GP qualifying.
Norris already proved in Friday practice that he was one of the big favourites for pole, but nobody expected his rival in the battle at the front to be Max Verstappen.
F1 data analysis: Singapore Grand Prix qualifying
The Red Bull driver once again worked his magic with a revived RB20, but it was not enough to beat the all-powerful MCL38.
Norris was the fastest man at the Marina Bay street circuit. That was no surprise. The big surprise was Ferrari’s collapse and the reappearance of Verstappen on the front row of the grid since the Netherlands GP.
And indeed, despite being +0.203s slower than Norris, Verstappen’s lap was brilliant. Minimising damage at every part of the circuit where the MCL38 was inevitably superior to the RB20.
Especially, as the telemetry reveals, at the exits of the low-speed corners before the longer straights.
Also, Norris’s greater comfort and confidence in his car compared to Verstappen allowed him to push harder at the exit of Turn 17, taking more risks.
Despite this, the gap in all three sectors was always less than a tenth of a second.
Despite McLaren’s superiority, Norris could not relax at all.
Norris was able to carry more acceleration initially giving a higher average speed advantage on the straights despite both drivers achieving the same top speed on their fastest laps today. As can be seen, his teammates opted for a lower downforce setup.
But compared to yesterday’s top speeds, we can see that Verstappen has indeed increased the downforce level of the RB20 for Saturday.
Three kilometres per hour less top speed allowed him to get the grip he was missing to be at ease with the car to a certain extent.
The choice of higher downforce is a logical one.
After struggling with the car on Friday, before FP3 Red Bull’s engineers and mechanics adjusted the car’s setup, which Verstappen confirmed over the radio felt much better in final practice.
This was particularly noticeable in the twisty and demanding Sector 2 of the Marina Bay street circuit.
And that extra comfort and grip allowed the reigning World Champion to perform in low-speed corners at the same level and even better than Norris in certain areas of the circuit.
In the difficult and technical hairpin at Turn 13, Verstappen was the driver with the best data among all the Q3 drivers.
All in all, Norris did a great lap and confirmed McLaren’s superiority, but the big surprise was the reappearance of Red Bull and Verstappen in the fight for pole.
The Dutch driver has once again pushed his car to the limit to start tomorrow in second place and to be in contention for everything at a circuit where it is difficult to overtake.
With Ferrari completely missing and being better than George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, tomorrow Verstappen has given himself the opportunity to close down any fight for the World Championship if he gets the victory.
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