F1 Driver Form: Singapore Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has finished on the podium at the Singapore Grand Prix twice, with a second place finish in 2018 and third in 2019. 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 six 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 and 2022 are the only years in which 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. He qualified only eighth in 2022 after being told to abort his final fast lap due to a lack of fuel.

After failing to score in the previous two Marina Bay races in 2018 and 2019, Sergio Perez became a Singapore Grand Prix winner in 2022. His win marked the first time he finished in the top four at the track. He had scored on all seven appearances prior to 2018.

Perez has qualified in the top ten only three times in Singapore, in 2016, 2018 and 2022. He qualified on the front row in 2022, marking the first time he qualified in the top six at the venue. It was also only the second time he started from the top ten, after 2018. In 2016, he picked up a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags. The Mexican has out-qualified his team-mate here in all of the last four 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. Of the nine races he’s finished at the track, the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix is the only one in which he’s finished in a worse position than where he started.

Charles Leclerc has scored points on all three appearances at the Singapore Grand Prix. He recorded his first podium at the track in 2019 with a second place finish and finished as runner-up again in 2022.

Leclerc has finished on the podium in the last two races at the track having taken pole position each time. He is yet to be out-qualified by a team-mate at Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Carlos Sainz has a 100% finish rate at the Singapore Grand Prix and has scored on four of his six appearances. He recorded his first podium result at the Marina Bay track last year with third place. Prior to that, the Spaniard’s best result here came with Toro Rosso at the circuit in 2017 with fourth place. He also finished within the points in 2015 and 2018.

Sainz has reached Q3 at the Marina Bay Circuit on four occasions, with a best qualifying result of fourth in 2022. Sainz gained just one position in the 2022 race – prior to that he had always finished at least either four positions better or four positions worse than where he qualified at the venue, gaining positions more often than not.

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 ten 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.

Esteban Ocon has failed to finish on his last two visits to the Singpaore Grand Prix. He retired in 2018 after colliding with Force India team-mate Sergio Perez and retired in 2022 with engine issues. Ocon has scored just a single point in Singapore thanks to a tenth place finish in 2017.

2018 marked the first time Ocon reached Q3 at the track, qualifying in ninth place. He has never out-qualified a team-mate at this circuit. The Frenchman has gained at least three positions from where he has started in both of his finishes so far at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly scored at the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in 2019. He finished eighth – an improvement on his 13^th place finish in 2018. Gasly picked up another point at the track last year, finishing tenth.

Gasly reached Q3 at the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in 2022. He was eliminated in Q2 on both previous appearances at the track. Last year, he qualified seventh, out-qualifying his team-mate for the third time in his three appearances. 2022 was the first time Gasly failed to finish in a better position than where he started at Marina Bay Street Circuit.

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 six 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 and finished 11^th on his first appearance with Alfa Romeo at the venue last year.

2022 was the first time since 2016 that Bottas failed to reach Q3 at the Singapore Grand Prix. It was his first Q1 exit at the track, equalling his worst qualifying result here of 16^th, which he previously recorded in 2013. His best qualifying result here in fourth, scored in 2018.

Fernando Alonso recorded one of Formula 1’s most controversial wins 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 12 appearances, Alonso has failed to finish the Singapore Grand Prix three times – in 2015, 2017 and 2022.

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. He qualified fifth for the fourth time at the circuit last year. 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 finished 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.

Lance Stroll has a 100% finish rate at the Singapore Grand Prix. In 2022, he recorded his best result at Marina Bay Street Circuit to date with a sixth place finish. It was the first time he scored at the track since his maiden season in 2017, when he finished eighth.

Stroll finally progressed to Q2 at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2022, having never previously qualified above 17^th place. He qualified 12^th last year, out-qualifying a team-mate at the Marina Bay track for the first time. The Canadian has gained at least three positions from all three of his starts at the track.

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 six 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 both the 2018 and 2019 Marina Bay races but, as he did not finish in the top ten, he did not gain the extra point for doing so.

There have been only three occasions on which Magnussen has made it out of Q1 in Singapore. He did so in 2019 – when he reached Q2 – and in 2014 and 2022, when he reached Q3. Both times he has reached Q3 at the track, Magnussen has qualified ninth. 2016 is the only year Magnussen has finished the Singapore Grand Prix in a better position than where he has started.

Nico Hulkenberg has scored points on five of his nine Singapore Grand Prix appearances but has never finished above ninth place. He has finished ninth at Marina Bay Street Circuit on three occasions – in 2013, 2014 and 2019. He recorded three successive retirements here in 2015, 2016 and 2017. His 14^th place in 2012 is the only other time that he has failed to pick up points at the venue.

Hulkenberg did not qualify in the top ten at the Singapore Grand Prix until 2016, but since then has qualified in the top ten on all four appearances with a best result of seventh in 2017. Hulkenberg has never recorded a Q1 exit here, having reached Q2 on all five appearances prior to 2016. His last appearance here in 2019 was the first time he was out-qualified by his team-mate at the track since 2013.