Can Charles Leclerc take a hat-trick of 2019 victories at the Singapore Grand Prix?
He starts in pole position and he already has a hat-trick of those and, traditionally, it’s quite difficult to dislodge the pole position man in Singapore. In fact, just three of the 11 times the race has been held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit has a man who wasn’t on pole won. It’s possible and history will not dictate the outcome of the race but it’s a good sign for the Ferrari man, to be honest, especially with the form he’s in.
If Leclerc were to follow up his first and second victories with a third in a row, completing the hat-trick, he’d join an elite club that includes Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen. And nobody else. Leclerc already has the most pole positions of anyone this season, withLewis HamiltonandValtteri Bottasbehind him on four each,Sebastian VettelandMax Verstappenon one each.
Another couple of interesting stats: Hamilton has never had this few pole positions after 15 rounds since 2011. And Leclerc will start from pole for a fifth time, without ever having started second on the front row. I am not sure if that’s some kind of record, but it’s impressive anyway.
It was somewhat of a surprise that Ferrari were anywhere near competitive enough to challenge the front row, let alone pole position but their new aerodynamic package is working brilliantly in Singapore. So well done to Ferrari. It’s arguable that they should have locked out the front row but Hamilton found some time on his second run in Q3 whilst Vettel – who was at that time quickest by a few tenths – messed up his second hot lap and had to abort it. The German qualified third with Max Verstappen in fourth and Valtteri Bottas in fifth.
“I am extremely happy about today,” Leclerc said afterwards. “It was a very good lap but there were some moments where I thought I lost the car, but I got it back.
“We came here knowing that it would be a difficult track for us but the team has done an incredible job to bring the package we needed. I had a tough Friday, it was not my day, and I didn ‘t feel comfortable in the car, but the hard work has paid off. “
It’s a long, hot race and it’s going to be interesting strategically. It’s lights out at 1. 10 pm BST and I’ll be here with you from now until the checkered flag.
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