Singapore: pre-qualifying
Ah, Singapore. Tight,
twisty and tedious as Monaco, although it does look nicer due to
being nocturnal.
The tyres are soft and
supersoft.
In P1 Alonso was
fastest, ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg (but don’t get excited,
Alonso has topped a session or two earlier this year and it didn’t
translate to marvellous pace in the race. The car’s simply not good
enough). Vettel and Ricciardo were next, followed by Vergne,
Raikkonen, Button, Kvyat and Perez.
In P2 Hamilton led
Alonso and Ricciardo, with Raikkonen, Vettel, Magnussen, Button
Perez, Hulkenberg and Kvyat rounding out the top 10. Rosberg was one
and a half seconds off the pace, as a Maldonado crash brought out a
red flag during his fast lap.
P3 had Alonso fastest
again, barely half a tenth ahead of Ricciardo. Rosberg was third,
then Vergne and Vettel, wuth Hamilton sixth, then Massa, Bottas,
Raikkonen and Gutierrez.
The mini-forecast on
the sport’s official site suggests that storms could hit on both
Saturday and Sunday, so I’ll check the forecast before before
qualifying and the race.
Suggestion from
commentary (featuring co-commentator Eric Silverman, who seems sound)
was that Mercedes' P3 times were sandbagging. I’m inclined to agree.
Weather forecasts
indicate a 40% or so chance of rain during qualifying, which makes a
bet less likely.
My initial thoughts
were:
Rosberg for pole
Vettel/Ricciardo pole
each way
Rosberg was only 2.5,
which was significantly meaner than I was expecting (perhaps 3.5 or
even longer). He has a good chance but with rain possible and a
mistake likely to lead to a curtailed session I am not inclined to
back this.
Vettel was 17,
Ricciardo 13 for fastest Q3 time (Ladbrokes). Hmm. Quite tempting.
But with Mercedes sandbagging and Alonso possibly getting in the way
I decided against it. I’m generally wary of betting when rain could
be on the way (and at Singapore/Monaco) anyway.
So no bet.
I expect Mercedes to
get pole, Williams to be some way off for once and Red Bull to have a
decent day.
Morris Dancer
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