The first ever Sprint in Singapore ensured there was plenty of on-track action across the weekend

It was a quick turnaround to make the short hop from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore for last weekend’s event under the lights. With its intense heat and humidity, the Singapore Grand Prix is one of the toughest races of the year for drivers and pit crews alike, and it was an especially busy few days in the Lion City as it hosted its first ever Sprint.

It was straight to business on Thursday’s Media Day for our drivers. Franco took his turn in the FIA Drivers’ Press Conference, where he spoke about his season so far and the ongoing push to score points across the remaining races of the year.

The home of night racing

The first moments of track action took place in the afternoon, giving Pierre and Franco plenty of daylight to get acclimatised to the 4.9km layout.

Pierre was sporting a special helmet design for the weekend, featuring the dynamic Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay, the grove just across Marina Bay. As ever with the Sprint format, there was just a single hour of practice to prepare before heading straight into Qualifying.

During the Free Practice 1 session, Pierre was quickly up to speed, setting a time inside the top ten. It was a relatively trouble-free session, with just a brief Virtual Safety Car, although the city streets were notably dusty off the racing line, especially in the pit lane.

Setting the grid for the Sprint

F1 rules dictate that every driver must use the Mediums for the first two periods of Sprint Qualifying before switching to the Softs for SQ3. As in practice, Pierre was happy with the pace on the yellow-walled Pirellis, and both drivers managed to set a lap before the red flag appeared for a car that had hit the wall and left debris on the track.

Both drivers progressed to SQ2, where Franco was pleased with his pace on his final run. He crossed the line to reach the top ten, but was bumped down when George Russell’s Mercedes went quicker. That left the Argentine racer just short of the cut, with Pierre ahead by a mere 0.094s.

After a strong showing in the first two sessions, Pierre struggled for grip on the Softs in SQ3 and finished tenth overall.

Another stormy start

In scenes almost identical to a week earlier, an intense thunderstorm hit Singapore just as the cars were going through their pre-start procedures on the grid. Cue a flurry of awnings and umbrellas as the Sprint was delayed while we waited for the storm to pass.

The sharp shower left standing water in the first sector of the lap, while other areas of the circuit were dry. It was too wet for slicks, and half an hour after the scheduled start, two formation laps preceded a standing start, with the entire field on Intermediates.

Starting tenth and eleventh, both cars got a good launch in the wet and rounded the first corner side-by-side. But no sooner had they got going than the Safety Car was out at the end of the lap, after Russell spun out of the lead at the final corner.

While running behind the Safety Car, Franco’s car suddenly lost power and shut down. When the car was back in the garage, the team changed his Energy Store to make sure he was all set to return to the track for Qualifying later that evening.

Pierre also encountered a lack of power on the straights. He still made a bold final-lap move on Esteban Ocon’s Haas across the Anderson Bridge, braking late into Turn 13, but the earlier issues meant he ended the Sprint in P9, just one spot out of the points.

A stellar lap

With his love of all forms of motorsport, Pierre wasn’t going to miss a second of MotoGP action last weekend. He and Franco headed to the Fan Forum, where Pierre streamed the race on his phone en route, rooting for our friends at the Prima Pramac Yamaha team, and they were both delighted by the fantastic support from the fans, who always make us feel so welcome in this part of the world.

Whether inspired by the fans or by MotoGP, Pierre delivered a brilliant lap in Qualifying, describing it as one of his best Q3 performances of the year. He admitted he took a few risks on his final run, even touching a few walls as he extracted the maximum from the car, and thanks to Russell’s penalty he lined up P7 on the grid.

Franco also pushed hard on his final lap, but ran slightly wide at the exit of Turn 17 and a tap of the wall meant he missed out on Q3. He lined up P15 for Sunday.

A frustrating finish

This triple-header has now come to a close, producing some bittersweet moments, with strong performances, including four Q3 appearances for Pierre, alongside some bad luck and more challenging times. The Singapore Grand Prix itself followed a similar pattern. After Pierre’s excellent Qualifying lap, he lost out at the start and became stuck in the midfield, losing grip as the race wore on.

That left him outside the points in a relatively incident-free race with just one brief Virtual Safety Car. Pierre had already pitted before then, starting on Mediums and switching to Softs in his one stop, and he ultimately finished P11, one place off the points.

Franco made a strong start, passing a couple of cars on the opening lap. Sadly, he again failed to finish after a suspected driveline issue ended his race early. He had completed just 29 laps when he came to a halt at Turn 7. He is already looking forward to the next triple-header: Austin, Mexico City and São Paulo.

“It has been a tough few weekends and we have come away without any points,” said Franco. “We have lost ground in the championship, but with the pace we have in the car, we remain hopeful of being able to compete and fight for points in the remaining races. The next triple-header is a part of the year I look forward to the most where we race in the Americas, closer to home, and I can really feel the energy of the fans. We will keep pushing and won’t give up on our objective as a team.”