We're racing in Marina Bay this weekend for round 18 of the 2024 Formula One World Championship. Read Lance and Fernando's thoughts following Sunday's action at the street circuit.
Under the famous floodlights at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, the team picked up four points.
Sunday round-up and reaction
Our mechanics worked hard on a precautionary brake change for Lance ahead of the Grand Prix.
Due to the humid nature of the street circuit, it was pivotal to keep the cars as cool as possible. Starting from seventh, Fernando opted for the Medium compound. Meanwhile, Lance began from P17 on the Hard tyre.
Pitting at the end of Lap 25, Fernando switched to Hards. A lap later, Lance came in for Mediums.
Fernando crossed the line in eighth, securing four important points, and Lance concluded the street race in P14.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Race
"It's been a very difficult weekend here in Singapore. On my laps to the grid I felt some strange vibrations, so the team worked quickly to replace a set of brakes as a precaution. It was a huge effort from the mechanics out there, so a big thanks to them for getting that sorted so quickly in this heat.
"We knew it was going to be a tough race and we suffered from similar issues to yesterday: grip and balance. Austin is a very different circuit, so we'll hope that it is better suited to our car."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Race
"It was a very physical race today, but we executed everything well and scored some good points. We tried the undercut strategy by stopping a few laps before the others and it worked quite well for us. In truth it has been a difficult car to drive all weekend, and we have done very well to finish only a few seconds behind a Ferrari. We have a lot of work to do back at Silverstone in the next few weeks to try and improve our performance for Austin."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"Tonight we saw an impressive test of human performance with the drivers completing 62 laps of racing under the lights in Singapore with high humidity, temperatures of over 30C and no rest bite.
"Lance's crew worked swiftly on a precautionary brake issue that we saw on the laps to the grid. They showed incredible teamwork to change front brakes, and Lance was able to complete the race without any issues. Lance did well but unusually we didn't see a safety car in Singapore which may have opened some opportunities.
"Fernando's four points are another hard-won reward for an impressive Qualifying and race of endurance. Some decent points from the double-header here and in Baku. We now have a mini break to regroup and find more performance ahead of the last six Grands Prix starting in Austin.
"I would like to thank everyone in the garage who have worked in these extreme conditions this week."
Next up
We're back on the track on 18-20 October for the first of a triple header with the United States Grand Prix.
Saturday
Lance and Fernando were the first drivers out in Free Practice Three. A brief Red Flag due to a lizard on track put a pause to their running, but both drivers were back out on the Medium tyre compound once the session resumed.
After switching to Softs for their last stint of the weekend's final Free Practice, Fernando concluded P10 and Lance P18.
Later in the day, it was time for Qualifying for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. The track began to ramp up towards the end of Q1 and Lance was unable to get through to the second Qualifying segment.
Fernando progressed through to Q3 and will start Sunday's Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Qualifying
"It's been a tricky weekend in Singapore so far. We've been struggling with balance and grip but just haven't managed to get on top of it. The field is so tight, so you need a car that you have the confidence to push in. It's tough to pass around here, but we'll see what we can do in the race tomorrow and hope for some opportunities."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Qualifying
"I am very happy with seventh position and the performance tonight in Qualifying. We've struggled with the weaknesses of the car here and we've put in a lot of hard work to try and improve things. Heading into Qualifying we were a bit pessimistic as our pace didn't look too promising in FP3. We managed to put the laps together though and thanks to a few cars not completing their laps in Q3 we ended up a bit higher than what our true pace is. We'll take it but we know that the points are scored tomorrow, so we need to complete the job and score some good points."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"A spectacular Qualifying session under the lights in Singapore. Lance missed out on getting through to Q2 by just a tenth of a second. With the majority of the track resurfaced and overnight rain it has been tricky to get the car into the optimal operating window with the right balance.
"The margins are so fine and the risk of making a punishing mistake are high. As we saw in Baku, Fernando was able to outperform the pace of the race car with an impressive lap to get through to Q3 by just two hundredths. In Q3 we benefitted from the Ferraris not setting lap times and beat [Yuki] Tsunoda to P7. A promising place to start tomorrow on what will be a very physically demanding race for all the drivers in these hot and humid conditions."
Next up
The action continues on Sunday. Lights out for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix is at 13:00 BST.
Friday
Both drivers collected data on all three dry tyre compounds throughout Friday's sessions.
In a hot and humid Free Practice One, our drivers began on Hard tyres. Later in the session, attention turned to testing the Soft compound.
Fernando finished FP1 inside the top ten while Lance placed P15.
Later in the day, after running on Mediums and Softs, Fernando concluded FP2 in P12 and Lance finished P14.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice
"It's been great to get back out on track at Marina Bay; it's a circuit we all love driving at. Performance-wise, we're still not where we want to be so it's been a difficult day. We've used the practice sessions to run and compare a few different parts, so we'll take that data away with the aim of making some improvements ahead of tomorrow."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice
"Every lap in Singapore is a risky one and it was an intense FP1 and FP2. We are struggling a little bit around this circuit with the characteristics of our car. We did think the same in Baku though and we managed to maximise the points there, so let's see what we can do tomorrow."
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