This is what the data says about Singapore!

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Lando Norris dominates the Singapore Grand Prix, but how good was the pace of the individual cars? What do the data from the 2024 season tell us? Who has the best top speed? Who has the best tire wear and how high is it? How fast are the teammates in relation to each other?

With the data that our technology partner PACETEQ provides, it is possible to gain insight into the otherwise hidden numbers of the Formula 1 teams and we can use it to answer all these questions!

Race pace: Ferrari faster than Norris in the end?

Judging by the data, Lando Norris was clearly the fastest driver in the field at the race in Singapore. The Briton won with a lead of 20 seconds over Max Verstappen, which equates to a lead of around 0.4 seconds per lap.

In the first stint on the mediums, the McLaren was almost a second faster per lap than Red Bull, whereas the pace on the hard tyres was fairly even. Without Norris’ mistakes at the front, he would probably have won the race by around 30 seconds.

Oscar Piastri’s podium drive saw him average a 0.65 second per lap deficit, while Ferrari and Mercedes were a full second per lap behind Norris. While that Mercedes seemed to be true pace, Ferrari’s figure is badly skewed by traffic in the first stint.

If you only compare the lap times on the hard tires in the second stint, Charles Leclerc was even slightly faster than Norris in the McLaren, but the Ferrari driver had better tires at that point thanks to the overcut strategy.

In the midfield, Alexander Albon would probably have had the best race pace, but the Thai driver had to park his Williams in the future, but like Sainz he could have driven a successful undercut against the entire midfield. Nevertheless, the Williams race pace was on a par with Aston Martin and Haas.

On a fast lap, McLaren was clearly superior. However, this was not really reflected in the lead of 0.16 seconds, but an aborted Q2 lap by Lando Norris was 0.45 seconds faster than his later pole time at turn nine.

Tire problems despite weak pace: Mercedes in misery

As in the previous year, tire wear in Singapore was relatively high for a street circuit. The high pit stop delta of 29 seconds nevertheless ensured a clear one-stop strategy. On average, the tires wore by 0.072 seconds per lap.

Looking at the tire wear data, it is clear that the two Mercedes and the Ferrari drivers in particular had major problems. Charles Leclerc’s pursuit towards the end of the race put a lot of strain on the Pirellis, while the high wear on the Mercedes probably caused the weak race pace.

Lando Norris had the best control of his tires, because in the first stint on the mediums in particular the 24-year-old used the first few laps to save the tires, which paid off later in the stint. The opposite was probably the case for Max Verstappen. The Dutchman may have pushed too hard at the start of the race to keep up with Norris, which caused the tires to wear out at the end of the stint.

On average, tire management over the season is almost the opposite of the previous season. In 2024, Ferrari is the team with the least tire wear. In the first 18 races of the season, the tires on the SF-24 wore out by just 0.073 seconds per lap.

Red Bull (0.09) is surprisingly in second to last place. While the tyres can be warmed up quickly in qualifying, the performance on a fast lap was helpful, in the races there have often been problems towards the end of the stints.

Haas, the problem child of the previous season, has also made good steps forward and is currently in the middle of the field with wear of 0.088 seconds per lap. At the beginning of the season, Aston Martin had great difficulties with tyre management, but for some time now they have got the rubber under control again.

This is what the balance of power looks like throughout the season!

If you look at the average values ​​of the first 18 races, Red Bull’s strengths are definitely on a fast lap. On average, McLaren is 0.14 seconds behind in qualifying, while Ferrari, the third force, is even 0.26 seconds behind. Things are closer in the race, however.

McLaren is the new leader there after the Singapore weekend. On average this season, the MCL38 is 0.01 seconds per lap ahead of Red Bull. Ferrari is also keeping up with the pace (0.18), while Mercedes is only making a small step forward (0.33).

The midfield loses more ground in race trim, which spreads the field out. Here, the soft tires and the empty tank in qualifying should help to conceal problems that only become apparent under full throttle in the race.

Team Duels: How much faster is Colapinto than Sargeant?

After 18 races, some teams have developed clear tendencies as to which driver has the upper hand. The most obvious team duel in qualifying is at Sauber with Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou, where the Chinese driver is given an average time of 0.7 seconds.

The clearest team duel in the race is at Red Bull, where Sergio Perez is falling behind Max Verstappen by an average of four and a half tenths per lap. There also seems to be a trend at McLaren that Oscar Piastri is further away from Norris in terms of race pace than in terms of performance on a fast lap.

Of course, a lot of attention is also being paid to the team duel at Williams after team boss James Vowles replaced Logan Sargeant with Franco Colapinto. According to initial findings, the Argentinian is also much closer to Alexander Albon: around five tenths in qualifying and three tenths in the race.

Which car has the best top speed?

The big question, of course, is where Red Bull’s advantage comes from? The car is of course perfectly balanced, but the RB20 can also show its strengths on the straights.

On the one hand, the RB20 is once again aerodynamically efficient and generates less air resistance than the competition, but even with the DRS open, Red Bull seems to find more time than the rest. But since this year, the Haas has also become a rocket on the straights and is slightly ahead of the RB20 in the speed measurement.

Alpine is at the bottom of the list with an average deficit of 3.1 km/h, which is probably due to the lack of horsepower in the Renault engine. Ferrari has become a little slower on the straights compared to last year, possibly in favor of cornering grip and tire wear.

Who makes the best pit stops?

Pit stops are of course an important criterion for a good racing strategy. On average, the Ferrari drivers spend the shortest time changing tires. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only spend an average of 2.61 seconds changing tires. Red Bull was ahead in this discipline for a long time, but in the last few races, poorer stops have become more frequent.

Sauber, however, has huge problems when changing tires. Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou have an average time of 5.42 seconds when changing tires! In Australia and Japan, this has cost them a good chance of scoring points. The Finn was the unluckiest in the pit lane. Bottas has an average time of 5.93 seconds when changing tires, but the problems now seem to have been brought under control.

A detailed analysis of the data from the Formula 1 weekend in Singapore is available on the YouTube channel of Formel1.dewhere data expert Kevin Hermann works with data from PACETEQ Projections have been made as to who will win the 2024 drivers’ world championship. The decision will definitely be made in the last race.