Johnnie’s Judgement: Singapore Grand Prix talking points

Jonathan Victoria • 25 Sep 2024 Features

Not the most interesting of races but still plenty to talk about…

Despite this season being one full of excitement, the Singapore Grand Prix decided this to be the year to put on its most boring spectacle to date.

Usually filled with crashes (safe ones, I’m not hoping for some serious damage or harm) and at least one safety car period to spice things up, this year’s race felt like a formality from Q3 to the chequered flag.

But in Formula 1, there’s always something to talk about, even if the race just passed was rather dull.

I’ve picked out three talking points from the Singapore Grand Prix, so enjoy my thoughts. Or don’t. I don't control you.

Norris’ dominant victory another sign?

Lando Norris made more headway in his chase of Max Verstappen’s lead of the Drivers’ Championship. If it weren’t for Daniel Ricciardo stealing the fastest lap from his former teammate to help his current overlord team and subsequent other former teammate, Norris would’ve had his first career race Grand Slam (pole position, led every lap and fastest lap).

Just like in Zandvoort, Norris dominated the race, beating Verstappen by nearly 21 seconds by the end. He even managed to hold his lead through the first lap which is a mega achievement for him.

It was a good win for the young Brit, I won’t deny that, but I’m still not entirely convinced he’ll be able to overcome that 52-point deficit over the last six races.

This win was great for him, and again like in Zandvoort, he showcased his ability to bring performance when it is there for him. But in my opinion - and I can’t believe I’m saying this - Verstappen deserves more credit for his second-place finish.

I’ve never been a Max fan, the complete opposite in fact. But this year, I can’t take anything away from him. That Red Bull car has been a problem - Sergio Perez had been showing that all year long, but it took Verstappen to feel the same issues before we all started to take it seriously.

That’s because Max has continuously outperformed the car's ability and put himself in this position to win his fourth championship, and this past weekend was the perfect example of that fact.

Sure, he hasn’t won a race since he started getting strong competition from McLaren, Mercedes and even at times Ferrari. But this weekend could’ve and probably should’ve seen Norris take a massive dent in his lead, and instead, he managed to qualify and finish second, minimising the impact of Norris’ win.

Norris clearly has the quicker car now, but Verstappen is still the better driver, so unless the Red Bull somehow falls behind even the Aston Martin and starts failing to deliver any points, I still believe Verstappen will be able to hold onto his lead to take his fourth championship.

Ricciardo’s last ride?

I’ll be honest, it wasn’t until I saw all the well-wishes on socials before the race had even been run that I realised Daniel Ricciardo was potentially back on the chopping block at RB.

I can’t say I had noticed some for a while, and at this point in the season it doesn’t seem all the necessary. You’d think a team would just wait till the end of the year. But that’s not really how Red Bull operates or has ever operated. They will ruthlessly demote or drop drivers whenever pleases them, even with their sister team.

This time, I will say I’m a bit surprised. This feels like a wrong move reputation-wise. As I say, Red Bull is known for doing this, but this feels too cutthroat, almost as if they’re saying “screw you for not doing enough so we could replace Perez with you”.

It was always a big ask to bring Ricciardo back to potentially replace Verstappen’s current teammate. Firstly, he hasn’t looked like the same Ricciardo that left Red Bull all those years ago, so to think he’d magically get that form back in a lesser car is quite ludicrous really.

And then you have the fact that he would have to not only beat Yuki Tsunoda in that same car but show him up - a feat which has proved rather hard to do. Yuki has grown into a solid driver and will no doubt have his own eyes set on a seat further up the grid, so being beaten by his teammate is not something he wants to have happen often.

I don’t think bringing Ricciardo back last season when they replaced Nyck de Vries with him was a bad decision at all. Red Bull had two solid options in the Aussie and Liam Lawson waiting in the wings, and they went with the one that they probably saw of less of a risk.

Unfortunately, their plan hasn’t worked out, although I believe that is partly Red Bull realising that maybe Perez isn’t that bad, he just can’t handle the car which, like I said earlier, has been a problem but has been masked by Verstappen’s excellence (barf).

As for Ricciardo and if Singapore was his last race, I hope it isn’t. He didn’t have a perfect weekend but he did still help in one way - stealing the fastest lap point from Norris, which I believe I read somewhere now means that even if Norris wins every race plus Sprints and Verstappen comes second in every race plus Sprints, the Dutchman will still be champion.

But at the same time, Lawson is a good driver who deserves a seat in F1. If they think he could benefit from an extra few races in the car this season before stepping in full-time next year, I won’t complain (too much).

FIA continuously ruining the sport 

I’m a big sports fan, I watch a lot of different sports from all over, and one of the things I hate the most in any sport is the governing body making changes that hinder or suppress the athletes.

It seemingly happens constantly in the NFL, with a defensive player barely able to even look the opposing quarterback's way or an offensive player being scolded for excessive celebrating after a big play.

In recent years, the FIA has seemingly jumped on this trend, now with their latest ruling seeing them try to stop the drivers from expressing themselves.

The no-swearing rule has already caught its first victim, and it seems as though the FIA are trying to make a statement with it by slapping their reigning champion with community service for his offence of swearing during last Thursday’s FIA press conference.

Nowadays, it seems like the FIA wants the drivers to be squeaky clean press robots with no personality, spewing the same drivel in every interview, with answers to the same questions with the usual buzzwords.

Who wants that? I certainly don’t. I love it when the drivers truly express themselves, especially those who are known for it. Max is very much one of those drivers, but do you remember the days of Kimi Raikkonen? The man did not care one bit. 

Verstappen’s response in his next FIA-sanctioned press conference was also brilliant. Essentially holding a silent protest, barely answering any of the media questions but then inviting them to an impromptu interview session afterwards away from the FIA’s grasp. Perfect.

As for Martin Brundle criticising Verstappen for allowing himself to get ‘distracted’ by fighting the FIA, I say when is he meant to? When the season is done and everyone has disappeared for a few months?

Sure, he has a championship battle to fight. But Verstappen is professional enough to know when to snap out of politics mode and into number-one-driver-on-the-grid mode. There is no harm in speaking out when you feel injustice because waiting to do so won’t achieve anything.