SINGAPORE, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Formula One arrives in Singapore this week with George Russell’s title challenge hanging by a thread after his retirement in Malaysia handed Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli firm control of the championship battle.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit has a history of delivering drama under the lights, and Russell desperately needs some luck to go his way after a power unit failure while running third at Sepang allowed Antonelli to stretch his advantage to 84 points.
Russell had arrived in Malaysia buoyed by a dominant victory in Azerbaijan and would have hoped to reinforce his title credentials before his car failed with five laps remaining.
With little time to rest as Formula One heads into the final leg of its triple-header on the streets of Singapore, Russell faces a very different challenge as he looks to keep his slim title hopes alive.
ENGINE SETBACK FOR RUSSELL
The Briton won last year’s race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit but is set to start from the back of the grid on Sunday after Mercedes confirmed he had no engines left in his season’s allocation of four.
Russell will need a new engine for the sprint weekend and had hoped to take the penalty at the US Grand Prix in Austin, where overtaking is easier than the tight and slow Singapore track where 11 of the 16 races have been won from pole.
The 4.927-km-long Singapore circuit features 19 corners with walls so close they punish even the smallest errors while heat and humidity make it one of the season’s most physically demanding races.
“George has the added challenge of a power unit penalty, which will mean starting from the back of the grid on Sunday, following the engine failure in Malaysia,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.
“That is particularly frustrating given the way he drove last weekend and the result he deserved to be fighting for.
“Unfortunately, these things are part of the sport and our focus now is on giving him the best possible car and opportunities to fight back through the field.”
Antonelli’s objective is far simpler. The Italian finished a distant fifth last year – more than half-a-minute behind Russell – but he does not need a victory.
As the season draws to a close, all he needs to do is keep Russell behind him and avoid handing momentum back to his team mate.
‘UNFINISHED BUSINESS’ FOR VERSTAPPEN
For Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Malaysia was more than just his first victory of the season.
Red Bull had spent much of the year looking like a team waiting for opportunities rather than creating them, but at Sepang the pieces came together as the car had the pace to compete with the Mercedes duo at the top of the standings.
Verstappen seized pole position and, when the rain came, was untouchable in the treacherous conditions as he delivered Red Bull’s first victory with their own power unit.
However, Singapore offers the first chance to discover whether Malaysia was an isolated return to form or the beginning of something more significant.
Marina Bay is not Sepang and the demands of the circuit are almost entirely different.
“I think the win was quite track-specific so we will need to see how we go heading into this week,” Verstappen said.
“I enjoy this track as a street circuit, it has a lot of corners and is quite bumpy. The heat is obviously a factor but at least we are racing at night this time around.
“Singapore is a race that I haven’t won before, so it does feel like unfinished business at this track.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in SingaporeEditing by Toby Davis)
