As the sun set on Thursday at Marina Bay in Singapore, everyone walked away in anticipation of Red Bull's driving away victorious this Grand Prix weekend. In the drivers’ press conference, Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified in second place, spoke about drinking the "shoey" again, wherein he puts champagne in his sweaty racing boots in celebration on the podium.
"Only on the top step though,” said the Australian. Meanwhile his teammate Max Verstappen was expectant too, in terms of his performance with Toro Rosso here last year, when he drove through the pack and finished P8, making five out of the total 11 overtaking moves in the race.
Instead, it was Mercedes celebrating pole for Nico Rosberg after overcoming problems from a year ago, and responding precisely how champions do. This is a team committed to winning, especially in a cutthroat environment that is Formula One. To assume that they would be sitting idle for a year and not working out their peculiar problem in Singapore was simply foolish.
They have the resources to throw at this problem – any problem, in fact – and in Rosberg, they have a driver who is almost overzealous in his pursuit of a maiden world title win. Together they overcame the tyre troubles that had set them back and set the record straight with Red Bull and Ferrari. And then Rosberg went on to take pole by a margin of 0.531s, clearly underlining his intent for this weekend, pipping Lewis Hamilton to third place.
Hamilton's disappointment
“I am very happy with that pole lap for my 200th GP start. We have worked out our issues from last year and we have good pace here,” reflected Rosberg after the qualifying session. Perhaps it sent out a message to his teammate and championship rival Lewis Hamilton, who will only start third on the gird after he was unable to replicate the German’s stunning lap. The British driver stuttered throughout the qualifying sessions, and was obviously disappointed to not be on the front row.
“I have struggled with issues throughout the weekend, and have been on the back foot with technical issues throughout the season. So it is not a different position for me. I will just try and do the best I can,” said Hamilton. The defending champion was clearly low after qualifying. But he will be made aware that Rosberg was in a similar situation on Saturday of the last race, the Italian GP, before the tables were turned on Sunday.
Meanwhile, it was a mixed day in qualifying for Ferrari, perhaps reflecting their season in totality. Like Red Bull, they too came here anticipating a win, but they were just a little more desperate in the sense that they have not won an F1 race since Sebastian Vettel won here last year. There is no chance of a repeat this weekend, after he was laid low with a broken suspension early in qualifying and will start at the back of the grid.
Ferrari's cup of woes
Overtaking is tough on this circuit, and no one knows this better than Vettel who has won here four times. The Scuderia will be relying on Kimi Raikkonen to progress from P5 on the grid. In the background though, there ought to be cause for concern at Ferrari, for they are clearly number three in the pegging order now. Winless in 14 races thus far, this was their best chance of victory in 2016, and unless the unpredictability of motorsport kicks in, it is tough to envisage them celebrating on the top step for the remainder of the year either.
The crux of the matter is that these top three teams were expected to be quite close in qualifying, and even closer in the long-run race simulations. This has not turned out to be the case, with Mercedes showing brilliant pace once again. Maybe Red Bull can be a match on Sunday, given that Ricciardo and Verstappen (P4) have opted for different tyre strategies, and will be starting on the super-soft tyres, as opposed to ultra-softs for both Rosberg and Hamilton.
It will play a little bit on the championship battle as well, with the two Mercedes drivers jousting for the overall championship even as they battle to get a race win too. Red Bull and Ferrari are both quick-starting cars, while Rosberg and Hamilton have had dubious starting procedures throughout the season. Who will have a slower start this time around? Or, will both of them get away clean? Even their team does not know.
Six out of the eight pole-sitters have gone on to win the Singapore GP. Rosberg’s clutch, his teammate’s resolve (or its absence), and Ricciardo’s tyres will have a key bearing on whether that will become seven out of nine on Sunday night.
