Singapore GP: Williams Martini recovers to score points
By Andrew Hooper
September 17 2017
After the disappointment of qualifying for the 2017 Singapore GP it would be a positive turn around from the Williams team to see Lance Stroll finish in 8th. Felipe Massa was just outside the top ten in eleventh. The race would start under wet conditions with there been a crash at the start. This would allow both Williams to move up the order. There was an element of luck in terms of cars ahead retiring at the start but regardless of this to come away with a result was certainly something for the team to take away as a positive from the race.
Singapore Grand Prix Race Review
Qualifying for
the sixty one lap 2017 Singapore Grand Prix would see the Williams Martini
team drivers well down the grid. Felipe Massa was in seventeenth and Lance
Stroll eighteenth. As for their chances of securing a result from the race
it was going to come down to strategy and a fair amount of luck going their
way. There was uncertainty as to the possibility of rain with rain falling
off and on before the start. As for the grid Vettel was on pole from
Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Alonso,
Vandoorne, and Sainz in tenth. With the cars on the grid there was an
increase in the amount of rain falling. The choice of tyres for the start
would be crucial. For Williams Felipe Massa would start on the full wet and
Lance Stroll the intermediate. The top six cars were all on the intermediate
tyre while Hulkenberg, Alonso, Vandoorne were on the full wet tyre. In tenth
Sainz was on the intermediate while there was a mix of tyres in the rest of
the grid.
The grid would move away on their parade lap with Vettel leading while
behind him there was a huge amount of spray. Drivers were complaining about
the lack of visibility as they went around. The grid would form up and the
lights would go out and it would be chaos. Raikkonen would make contact with
Verstappen as the Ferrari went down the inside. As they went into the first
corner the damage Ferrari would again hit Verstappen. The McLaren of Alonso
would also get involved spinning. The Safety Car would come out seeing the
drivers having to take to the pit lane as the debris was cleared up. Further
down the track Vettel would also spin his damage car seeing his race end.
For Williams Lance was running in thirteenth and Felipe fourteenth as they
continued to run through the pit lane.
The order was Hamilton from
Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Perez, Bottas, Palmer, Vandoorne, Ocon, Sainz and
Magnussen in tenth. Alonso had dropped to twelfth as the Safety Car came in
on lap six with Hamilton leading. Palmer would pass Bottas for fifth while
lap six would see Hamilton leading by 3.6 seconds over Ricciardo. The
Williams cars were running close together with Lance close behind Alonso.
Both Lance and Felipe were able to pass Alonso with Alonso having an issue
with a damage car from the first corner incident. Lap eight and Hamilton was
leading by 4.6 seconds. Alonso would pit on lap ten to retire the McLaren
with there been too much damage on his car. Sainz would pass Ocon for eighth
while Lance was now right behind Kvyat looking to get eleventh.
Both Lance and Felipe were able to get past Kvyat as the Torro Rosso
crashed. The Safety Car would come out and Ricciardo and Perez would pit.
Ricciardo would take on a new set of intermediates. Lance and Felipe were
now in ninth and tenth. Hamilton was leading with Hulkenberg now second
followed by Ricciardo, Palmer, Bottas, Vandoorne, Sainz, Perez, Lance and
Felipe in tenth. The next lap with the Safety car would see Hulkenberg,
Palmer, and Vandoorne all pitting. Hulkenberg and Palmer would return in
fifth and seventh. This would see Lance now eighth and Felipe tenth.
Vandoorne was in ninth with neither of the Williams drivers pitting. The
Safety Car would come in on lap sixteen with Hamilton make a good restart.
Vandoorne was looking to get past Lance with Felipe dropping back from the
McLaren. Grosjean would get past Felipe for tenth with the second Hass of
Magnussen now behind Felipe and he would pass Felipe with Ocon also able to
get past. Felipe would drop to thirteenth while Lance was still in eighth.
Felipe would finally pit taking
on new intermediate tyres dropping to fifteenth. At the front Hamilton was
leading Ricciardo by 3.5 seconds with Bottas third followed by Sainz,
Hulkenberg, Perez, Palmer, Vandoorne, Lance and Grosjean. Lance had lost his
eighth to the McLaren after Lance had a major lockup going into Turn seven.
Lap twenty six and both Magnussen and Felipe would pit with both taking on
ultra soft tyres. Felipe would go down a lap as Hamilton passed him. Lance
would also pit on lap twenty eight dropping to twelfth also taking on the
ultra soft tyre. The next lap and Sainz and Vandoorne would pit joined by
Grosjean and Ocon. Sainz would take on the super soft tyre while the others
all took the ultra soft tyre. Lap thirty and Ricciardo, Bottas, Hulkenberg,
and Perez would all pit. Everyone would take the ultra soft tyre. At the
front it was now Hamilton leading from Palmer while for Williams Lance was
back up to ninth and Felipe thirteenth. Hamilton and Palmer would both pit
taking on the ultra soft tyre. Hamilton would come back out in the lead with
Ricciardo second.
Vandoorne was looking to pass seventh place Palmer while Perez was looking
to pass fifth place Sainz. Grosjean and Ocon would both get past Magnussen
with Grosjean now tenth. For Williams Lance was still in what was a fairly
lonely ninth place. But the Safety Car would come out again when Ericsson
crashed his car going across the bridge and in a very difficult spot.
Several drivers would pit to take on new tyres including Hulkenberg but he
would have an issue with his car that would see him have a very slow pit
stop. He would drop to tenth while for Williams Lance was now eighth. Felipe
had also pitted taking on new ultra soft tyres. He would continue to run in
thirteenth. As the marshals cleared the Sauber the cars would run behind the
Safety Car.
The Safety Car would come in on
lap forty three and Hamilton would open out a lead quite quickly. Ricciardo
was still second followed by Bottas, Sainz, Palmer, Vandoorne, Lance,
Grosjean, and Hulkenberg tenth. Felipe was now twelfth with it looking to be
a two hour race. Ricciardo was running around two seconds behind Hamilton
while further back Lance was coming under pressure from Grosjean. Hulkenberg
would drop down the order seeing him pit and retire. This would see Felipe
now eleventh but 1.3 seconds behind Ocon in tenth. Twelve minutes away from
the race finish and Magnussen would be told to slow and pit as there was an
issue with his engine. Hamilton continued to extend his lead as the race
drew to an end. The race would end with Hamilton winning from Ricciardo,
Bottas, Sainz, Perez, Palmer, Vandoorne, Lance, Grosjean and Ocon in tenth.
Felipe would finish in eleventh.
For the Williams team it was a
race that would see a points scoring finish from Lance but there were times
where the strategy calls with Felipe would see him drop down the order.
There was an element of luck in terms of cars ahead retiring at the start
but regardless to come away with a result after the massive disappointment
of qualifying was certainly something for the team to take away as a
positive from the race.
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