Verstappen had his first ‘match-ball’ in Singapore

the dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), outstanding leader of the championship, will have the first opportunity to mathematically solve the revalidation of the Formula One world title this weekend in Singapore Grand Prix: the seventeenth of the year, which will take place at the Marina Bay street circuit, home of the traditional night race; recovered after a two-year absence due to the pandemic.

Verstappen, 24, who had already left the World Cup all but settled by scoring the last race before the holiday in Hungary, didn’t rest an iota after them. After winning three consecutive weekends at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), in front of his passionate fans at Zandvoort (Netherlands) and Monza (Italy), he raised he has eleven wins so far this season and now leads the World Cup with 335 points, 116 more than the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), in the absence of the last six tests of a tournament that closes on November 20, in Abu Dhabi.

In this way, ‘Mad Max’ has the first ‘World Cup ball’ in Marina Bay. If he wins and Leclerc does not improve to ninth place in Singapore, the Dutchman will be mathematically proclaimed two-time world champion next Sunday; as long as his partner, the Mexican Sergio Perez -with numerical odds, anyway-, don’t improve or finish fourth without setting the fastest lap. It is also that if he wins the fastest lap, the Monegasque does not improve on eighth place and ‘Checo’ does not enter the podium.

If either of these two places is fulfilled -and assuming that caution and team orders will avoid delaying the celebrations-, it will not matter if Leclerc does a full plenary session and then wins in the remaining five races with the fastest lap; and add, in addition, the eight ‘extra’ points awarded by victory in the third and final qualification through a sprint test, by Brazil. Verstappen will be champion again, despite going scoreless in the final five Grands Prix of the year.

Both ‘Checo’ -third in the World Cup, with 210 points, who this year, by winning in Monaco, raised his F1 win ratio to three-, as well as the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) -fifth in the competition, with 187 units; and that he celebrated his first victory in the premier class at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone (England) – they will be very attentive and will not miss the opportunity to score a new victory in Marina Bay if the circumstances allow their teams.

Another Spaniard, the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, will better Kimi Raikkonen’s all-time F1 race record, which started in 349 races, in Singapore. The double Asturian world champion, who equaled the Finn’s mark two weeks ago at the Lombard temple of speed, will extend it to 350 this Sunday -if nothing bad happens- at Marina Bay.

After scoring ten consecutive races, Alonso -ninth in the World Championship, with 59 points- retired at Monza due to an engine problem and hoped that his car would “regain its competitive level” in Singapore, where, after doing so in 2008 with Renault, he won again in 2010 in a Ferrari. Now he will try to tie for Alpine – who are 18 points ahead of McLaren – fourth place in the Constructors’ World Championship. That, barring misfortune, Red Bull will also score – leader, with 545 points, 139 more than Ferrari; and that refers to the fifth ‘double’ in its history, after four led by German Sebastian Vettel (between 2010-13).

Singapore, which debuted in 2008 -when Alonso achieved the first of his two victories at Marina Bay-, returns to the World Cup after a two-year absence, due to the covid-19 pandemic. And it will open a ‘double program’ that will be completed next weekend in Suzuka (Japan), which will recover from the calendar, as before, after two seasons without hosting its Grand Prix. For the same reason.

What is now a traditional night race Singapore (which in Europe and America can be followed at regular times) was held for the last time in 2019, when Vettel -who will retire at the end of the season and the position at Aston Martin Alonso will occupy from next year- extended the his winning record, ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen, who have never won at this circuit.

A track of 5,063 meters, turn -with 23 corners-, which requires a high aerodynamic load and where free practice starts this Friday. Where, in the dry, they roll with tires from the softest range of compounds: C3 (hard, recognizable by the white stripe), C4 (medium, yellow stripe) and C5 (soft, red).

The rehearsal will be completed on Saturday, a few hours before qualifying, which will dictate the starting grid for Sunday’s race: scheduled for 61 laps, to complete a total of 308.7 kilometers. In one of the most difficult weather tests, marked, despite the night, by high temperatures and extreme humidity -Singapore is located 150 kilometers north of the equator-; where Sainz, to give an example, acclimatized by including static bicycle sessions in a sauna in his preparation.

Also, Marina Bay is uncompromising: it’s quite narrow, the walls are close, and security vehicle entrances are uncommon. On a track, considered ‘slow’, which punishes the brakes -although less mechanically- and has three DRS zones: at the end of the straight and between turns 5 and 7; and between 12 and 13. Where rain should never be excluded and where, however, a maximum speed of 310 kilometers per hour is reached.

The winner of the 2022 World Cup has a first and last name. It remains only to find out where the championship will be resolved. And the first chance for a sporting super-predator like Verstappen, who has yet to win in Singapore, comes this weekend at Marina Bay.