Ferrari suffered a dismal Singapore GP qualifying after finishing P9 and P10 on Saturday with Carlos Sainz slamming the barriers at the exit of the last corner at Marina Bay.
With both the drivers safely through to the last part of qualifying, it was looking pretty for the Prancing Horses but with 8 minutes left in the qualifying, Sainz oversteered as he was set to begin his flying lap, ramming his car into the barriers. Thankfully, the Spaniard escaped the incident without any injury.
Carlos Sainz goes crashing out of Q3
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With the session red-flagged, Sainz walked across the track to reach the pitlane. This did not go down well with the Stewards who imposed €25,000, with €12,500 of it suspended for the remainder of the season, contingent upon no further similar incidents occurring. The Stewards at the Singapore Grand Prix have been in the thick of action with Max Verstappen also fined for his foul language during Friday’s press conference.
It mirrored an incident at last year’s Qatar Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton was fined €50,000—half of which was suspended for the rest of the season—and received a reprimand. During that race, Hamilton collided with George Russell at Turn 1, damaging his right-rear wheel and forcing him to retire. During the safety car period, Hamilton crossed the live track from the outside of Turn 1 to the pit lane, just moments before Russell exited the pits.
“I had a bit of a strange exit in there. I had to let a lot of cars through opening my lap and my tyres were just a lot colder than I thought they would be. I misjudged the grip going on the bump on 17, and it completely snapped at me. Driver mistake.” Sainz said after his crash.
“I underestimated the grip I would get launching the lap – I was already under pressure with another car coming, and I knew that launching the lap was going to be slower because of the approaching the last corner so slowly. So it meant that I tried to do something that there was not enough grip to do,” he added.
Lando Norris beats Max Verstappen to Singapore GP pole
Lando Norris again set the benchmark, grabbing pole position for Sunday’s Singapore GP. McLaren driver set a scorching lap time of 1m 29.525s in what turned into a one-lap showdown after Sainz’s crash, finishing a few tenths ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull and a further tenth clear of the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Oscar Piastri completed the top 5 with a time of 1:29.953.
Norris will be looking to close the gap to Verstappen which currently stands at 59 points while McLaren overtook Red Bull in the Constructors Championship last weekend and is expected to increase their lead this weekend after Sergio Perez’s disappointing exit in Q2 will see him start all the way back in 13th on the grid.
Read More: Singapore Grand Prix History: Who Has the Most Wins at the Marina Bay
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
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