F1 Driver Form: Singapore Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has finished on the podium at the Singapore Grand Prix in each of the last two races at the circuit. He retired in 2017 after being sandwiched by the two Ferrari drivers on the run to the first corner. That’s the only time he’s failed to score on his five appearances.

Verstappen has never failed to reach Q3 at the Marina Bay Circuit, and started on the front row in both 2017 and 2018. 2016 is the only year that Verstappen has failed to out-qualify his team-mate here, while 2019 marked the first time that Verstappen finished the event in a better position than where he started.

Sergio Perez has failed to score at the Singapore Grand Prix in the last two races at the Marina Bay Circuit. He had scored on all seven appearances prior to 2018. Perez recorded his first retirement at the circuit in 2019. His best result here is fifth in 2017.

Perez has qualified in the top ten only twice in Singapore, in 2016 and in 2018, when he recorded his best qualifying result at the circuit with seventh place. It’s also the only time he has started the race in the top ten, having picked up penalties for ignoring yellow flags. The Mexican has out-qualified his team-mate here in all of the last three races.

In addition to having scored in every year between 2011 and 2017, he also gained positions from where he started in all seven appearances!

In 2019, Lewis Hamilton failed to finish on the Singapore Grand Prix podium for the first time since 2016. Hamilton has had four wins at the circuit, and also finished on the podium in 2008 and 2016. He has retired three times, most notably from the lead in 2012 with McLaren. Hamilton has finished in the top five in all of the nine races which he has completed at the Marina Bay Circuit.

Hamilton has taken pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix four times, most recently in 2018, and has started from the front row six times overall. He has a 100% Q3 appearance rate at the track and has never qualified outside of the top five. 2011, 2013 and 2016 are the only years that Hamilton has been out-qualified by a team-mate here, while 2017 is the only year that Hamilton has gained positions from where has started.

Carlos Sainz has a 100% finish rate at the Singapore Grand Prix and has scored on three of his five appearances. The Spaniard recorded his best result with Toro Rosso at the circuit in 2017 with fourth place, and also finished within the points in 2015 and 2018.

Sainz has reached Q3 at the Marina Bay Circuit on three occasions, with a best qualifying result of sixth in 2016. Sainz has always finished at least either four positions better or four positions worse than where he qualified here, gaining positions more often than not.

Daniel Ricciardo finished on the Singapore Grand Prix podium for four consecutive seasons between 2014 and 2017, finishing as runner-up three times. The closest he came to winning the race was in 2016, when he hunted Nico Rosberg down to the line. Ricciardo has retired only once at the circuit, in 2013, while 2019 marked the first time he has failed to score points at the circuit since then.

Ricciardo has started from the front row at the track twice, in 2014 and 2016, and has reached Q3 in every season since 2013. 2017 and 2018 are the only years that Ricciardo has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the Marina Bay Circuit. He has never lost a position from where he has started in all eight races that he has finished at the track.

Fernando Alonso recorded Formula 1’s most controversial win at the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, with his run to victory aided by his team-mate deliberately crashing. Alonso went on to win the event again in 2010, this time in less controversial circumstances. Alonso won the race by just 0.293 seconds – which remains one of the smallest win margins in recent F1 history. In addition to his two wins, Alonso has taken a further three podium finishes – the most recent a second place result with Ferrari in 2013.

From his eleven appearances, Alonso has failed to finish the Singapore Grand Prix twice – in 2015 and 2017.

2010 is the only time that Alonso has taken pole at Marina Bay Street Circuit, as well as the only time he has started in the top four at the track. 2013 is the only year in which Alonso has been out-qualified by a team-mate in Singapore.

In the nine races which he has started at the circuit, Alonso has never lost a position from where he has started, and gained positions in all but the 2010 race, when he started on pole.

Sebastian Vettel took his only win of the 2019 season at the Singapore Grand Prix. It was his fifth victory at the track, and he holds the record for most wins here. Aside from his wins, Vettel has a further three podium finishes at the Marina Bay Circuit. He finished in the top two on every appearance between 2010 and 2015, and has finished on the podium in each of the last two races at the circuit.

His first lap crash in 2017 resulted in his only retirement so far at the circuit. It’s the only time that Vettel has not finished in the top five here.

Vettel has qualified on pole four times in Singapore, most recently in 2017, and has started from the front row six times in total. There have been just three occasions that Vettel has not qualified in the top three at the track and 2016 is the only year that Vettel has not reached Q3. He was unable to set a lap time that year so started 22nd. That didn’t stop him from gaining seventeen positions to finish fifth. In fact, the 2009 race is the only one in which Vettel has finished in a worse position than where he started. 2019 marked only the third time that the German has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the track.

Lance Stroll has a 100% finish rate at the Singapore Grand Prix, but has not scored since 2017. He finished eighth that year. Stroll has been eliminated in Q1 on all three previous appearances at the Marina Bay Circuit and he has never out-qualified a team-mate. The Canadian has gained at least three positions from all three of his starts at the track.

Valtteri Bottas’ third place at the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix is his only podium finish at the event so far in his career. In the last five Marina Bay races, Bottas has finished in the top five four times, recording his only retirement here in 2016. He finished outside the points on both of his first appearances.

2013 and 2015, when he was eliminated in Q2, are the only occasions that Bottas has not qualified in the top eight at the Marina Bay Circuit. His best qualifying result here in fourth, scored in 2018. Bottas is yet to out-qualify Lewis Hamilton at the circuit during their time as team-mates.

Kevin Magnussen last scored at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2016, finishing in tenth place. He also finished tenth on his first appearance here in 2014. From five previous appearances, 2017 is the only time that Magnussen has failed to reach the chequered flag. Magnussen set the fastest lap of the race in each of his last two appearances at Marina Bay.

There have been only two occasions on which Magnussen has made it out of Q1 in Singapore. He did so in 2019 and in 2014, when he recorded his best qualifying result at the track with ninth place.