Street circuits have the advantage of bringing out the best in drivers, and Singapore is one of the most challenging tracks of the season, both physically and technically. This year, between the walls of Marina Bay, the value and difference in drivers’ confidence in their cars became clearly evident, as seen in the internal battles at McLaren and Red Bull, with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen shining.
However, looking down the standings, there are two other names who had an excellent weekend under Singapore’s lights: Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. The German managed to score more crucial points for Haas, still fully in the fight for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship against Racing Bulls, finishing ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in a battle that lasted until the final lap, just as had happened earlier this year in Austria when Nico Hulkenberg defended his sixth place like a lion.
In qualifying, the Haas driver was the best of the midfield group, securing an impressive sixth place on the grid, despite the car not excelling this year on tracks with slow corners or high downforce. In this respect, the front wing, introduced a few races ago, has allowed for increased downforce and a better balance between the front and rear. Realistically, however, it would have been difficult to keep the two Ferraris behind on Sunday, as they had a tough Q3 but were ideally fast enough to attempt a recovery among the top three teams.
After holding onto sixth place when the lights went out, Hulkenberg executed his race perfectly, keeping both Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc behind, while other pursuers, like Franco Colapinto and Sergio Perez, gradually fell behind, trailing by two and six seconds from Ferrari’s Monegasque after about 30 laps.
In fact, Hulkenberg drove the entire race under pressure, constantly checking his mirrors, with the only regret being losing position to Alonso, who took advantage of an early pit stop by the British team after 27 laps. However, this move had not been planned, as the initial strategy was to stay out longer to avoid rejoining behind Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen, the latter having started on hards. Nevertheless, Leclerc’s overtake prompted Aston to change their plans and call Alonso in, having nothing to lose.
By doing so, Aston exposed itself to a longer second stint but made the undercut work. Alonso quickly passed both Gasly and the Dane, finding himself in clean air, making it impossible for Haas to respond to the undercut.
The second part of the race was equally challenging: Red Bull was one of the first to start the pit stop sequence, calling Sergio Perez in. This move gave the Mexican both the chance to complete the undercut on Franco Colapinto and to close dangerously on Nico Hulkenberg, who emerged just two seconds ahead of the Red Bull driver.
From that point on, it was another defensive race: the German closed the gap to Fernando Alonso, but Sergio Perez kept applying pressure from behind, entering the DRS zone: “The entire race was actually about checking the mirrors, trying to resist the pressure. The second stint was particularly difficult with Checo,” Hulkenberg explained, as staying in dirty air makes the tires slide and overheat, though Alonso’s interest in keeping the group compact played a role too.
“When we were behind Fernando, the dirty air affected me a lot, but at the same time I had Checo behind me. So, it wasn’t easy.” The same applied to Perez, who struggled to find an opening for an overtake behind Nico Hulkenberg. In fact, as Hulkenberg’s race engineer pointed out on the radio, the only places where Perez could keep up were the straights, thanks to DRS.
Even though the straights weren’t very long, with such high-downforce wings and four DRS zones, Perez gained several tenths each lap, staying close to the Haas driver. However, he lost time in the middle sector and the final fast corner, where dirty air has a greater negative effect on both cornering and traction. To give an idea, the DRS advantage for Perez was about 16 km/h, though Haas’s relatively low aerodynamic load allowed the VF-24 to remain competitive in top speed, partially offsetting the difference made by the movable wing.
Interestingly, during the long second stint, Nico Hulkenberg repeatedly complained about the brakes, which can make a real difference on a track like Singapore. This triggered some back-and-forth with the American team: while the team wanted to protect the front brakes by avoiding micro-lockups, suggesting multiple times to shift the balance to the rear, Nico Hulkenberg followed his instincts based on what he felt during the first stint, where rear tire degradation was more problematic. The concern was that over a long run, tire degradation would further affect braking performance.
“Finally, we were able to reward ourselves with points. The weekend was positive, but that’s for others to judge. I’m satisfied. I laid the foundation in qualifying. In the race, I think I drove a clear and flawless race, as you have to. I don’t care if it’s a Red Bull or whoever, the important thing is to get those points,” Nico Hulkenberg said at the end of the race, expressing satisfaction with finishing in the points, his sixth time this season, in addition to the sprint in Miami.
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