On tap this week:
- Is Ferrari back?
- An F1 career on the line — again
- Steckly makes it four
- Lazare's title hopes slim
- Quote of the Week: Button keeps his sense of humour
- Two marks missed
With two wins in the past four races, Ferrari looks like it might make things a bit less easy for the dominant Mercedes team as the 2015 Formula One season winds down.
Sebastian Vettel's dominant win Sunday on the Singapore Street Circuit was no fluke, with the four-time world champion topping qualifying by more than half-a-second before controlling the race from the front to take his third win of 2015.
"Things are definitely improving," said Vettel, who now has 42 career victories putting him third overall for all-time wins behind Alain Prost (51) and Michael Schumacher (91).
"I think the spirit is very high in the team ... I think the direction is the right one and obviously we are very happy with today's result, very happy with the car this year in general, but not yet where we want to be."
Although Ferrari has found pace of late, Singapore also marked the first time this season that the all-conquering Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg struggled to keep up. The duo could not make things happen in qualifying, with the two Mercedes cars starting fifth and sixth behind both Ferraris and two Red Bulls. The race was more of the same, with the Mercedes unable to match the front runners' lap times.
"I really hope that these were unique circumstances and our car didn't suit the track and conditions," Rosberg said after Singapore. "The problem is that we don't really understand why Red Bull and Ferrari were so much quicker here."
In the end Rosberg finished fourth, while Hamilton retired with an engine issue. Even with the setback, Hamilton still leads the points standings by 41 markers over Rosberg, with Vettel another eight adrift. And Vettel understands that one poor outing does not mean Mercedes won't return stronger than ever at Japan's Suzuka Circuit this weekend.
"We know that there's still a lot of work to do," Vettel said. "So, we have to keep our feet on the ground."
Random thoughts
Formula One driver Jenson Button says he should find out "in the next couple of weeks" whether or not he will return with McLaren in 2016. It marks the second consecutive season that the veteran of 278 grands prix must wait for the McLaren outfit to make a decision on his future. This time the stakes are his F1 career after Button made it clear last week that if he's not retained by McLaren his time in grand prix racing will end. "If I'm in F1, it will be with this team," he said.
By the numbers
All veteran Scott Steckly needed to take his fourth NASCAR Canadian Tire Series title was a Top-5 finish in the season finale Mobil 1-Pinty's 250. The 43-year-old did exactly that by taking a second place on Saturday at Kawartha Raceway to become the 33rd driver to win four or more titles in a NASCAR sanctioned series. "People don't realize how much work goes into it by the crews, and how much time it takes away from family and friends, and how much the whole team sacrifices, and to be able to do it four times is amazing," said the Milverton, Ont., native.
Technically speaking
While he's mathematically in the title hunt, Jesse Lazare's championship hopes faded in the first race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA's penultimate weekend at the Circuit of The Americas when he was spun out of second place under a yellow by points leader Elliott Skeer. Lazare recovered to take sixth, but his title chances took a hit because Skeer ended the day second after the series inexplicably did not penalize him for contact under a caution. "I still have to go and fight for the championship," Lazare said. "It's not over yet."
Quote of the week
"I should have known, really."
— Formula One McLaren driver Jenson Button after losing his front wing trying to overtake Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado in the Singapore Grand Prix. Maldonado has been penalized many times in his F1 career for causing accidents.
The last word
Two F1 records were on the line in the Singapore Grand Prix. On Saturday, Mercedes missed tying the record of consecutive poles at 24 held by the Williams team (1992-1993). On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton's bid to tie three-times world champion Ayrton Senna's 41 wins in 161 grand prix starts ended when he retired on Lap 33. Hamilton will now have to wait for at least his 162nd start to equal the late Senna's victories.
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Jeff Pappone