The Singapore Grand Prix 2019 was the 15th round of the 2019 F1 season, and took place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore, on September 22nd.
Sebastian Vettel won the race after starting in the 3rd position, followed by Charles Leclerc, who originally had the pole position, and Max Verstappen completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 28 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 18-23: 9 stops
- Laps 34-36: 7 stops
The fastest pit stop was Alexander Albon's, stopping the clock at 28.606 seconds during his pit stop on lap 20, while the slowest one was was Romain Grosjean's, who stopped the clock at 43.576 seconds, 14.970 seconds slower than Albon, during his pit stop on lap 35.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only 6 drivers tried a 2 stops, and 1 driver tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Sebastian Vettel, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
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2George Russell
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4Sergio Pérez
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6Kimi Räikkönen
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2Sebastian Vettel
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1Max Verstappen
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1Charles Leclerc
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2Lando Norris
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-Alexander Albon
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-Valtteri Bottas
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2Lewis Hamilton
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3Pierre Gasly
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6Daniel Ricciardo
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5Carlos Sainz
2 stops
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1Nico Hülkenberg
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1Daniil Kvyat
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4Kevin Magnussen
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3Robert Kubica
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6Romain Grosjean
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-Antonio Giovinazzi
3 stops
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3Lance Stroll
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy lost an average of 0.6 positions, the ones on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.5 positions, while those on a 3 stops strategy gained 3 positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 3 stops strategy was the best option, even if Sebastian Vettel managed to win the race making 1 stop.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Kimi Räikkönen, and George Russell, both retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars, and Sergio Pérez, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 42.
Collision
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Kimi RäikkönenLap 49
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George RussellLap 34
Engine
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Sergio PérezLap 42
Qualifying
Charles Leclerc managed to get the pole position by 0.191 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:36.217. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Lewis Hamilton.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and all of the drivers that took place in Q2 improved their times in this second session.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 7 out of the 9 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.