Stats: The Singapore GP has had ‘this’ happen in every iteration of the race

Formula 1 returns to Singapore after three years at the end of the month. It’s considered to be one of the most difficult and challenging circuits on the calendar, and that’s unlikely to change this time around. The last time around, it was won by Sebastian Vettel, and the 1-2 for Ferrari was completed by Charles Leclerc.

Sebastian Vettel holds a record there: He has taken the record amount of wins at the circuit, with 5, while as for teams, Ferrari and Mercedes have taken 4 each. However, Vettel is unlikely to increase his record number of wins, but there is a possibility that another record at the track will.

Since its inception in 2008, the Singapore GP has featured a safety car in every iteration of the race. This is just proof of how challenging the circuit really is. Without further ado, let’s count out the most notable safety cars, and the incidents involved in them happening.

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‘Crashgate’ and more notable safety cars at the Singapore GP

Last time around in Singapore, the safety car came out three times. The first was on lap 34 when Romain Grosjean clipped the rear left tyre of George Russell while attempting to overtake him. Then on lap 43, Sergio Perez retired from the race with an oil leak, and that brought out the second. Two laps later, the last came out when Daniil Kyvat collided with Kimi Raikkonen, who subsequently retired from the race.

There was also 2017. Sebastian Vettel was on pole, but Max Verstappen had a brilliant start, and so did Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn tried to go down Verstappen’s left, while Vettel, unaware of Raikkonen, squeezed Verstappen to the left, which lead to a collision between the three drivers. Raikkonen was instantly done, but later sealed Verstappen’s fate when he went into him. A few corners later, Vettel retired as well.

Perhaps the most notable incident was in the first-ever Singapore GP. Fernando Alonso started the race on an alternate strategy at P15, and pit on lap 12. This came into effect after the safety car came out when his teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed on lap 14. The regulations at that time bunched the drivers up before the pit lane was opened, and this gave Alonso a decisive advantage.

While at the time, Piquet Jr. called it a simple mistake, after he was sacked from the team the following year, it came out that the team had asked him to crash on purpose so Alonso could take the win. This was one of Formula 1’s most controversial ever moments and is still infamous as ‘Crashgate’ to this very day. Seeing the trend here, another safety car incident is very likely this year.

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