Nico Rosberg baffled by ‘kindergarten error’ from Ferrari at Singapore Grand Prix

Follow us on Google Discover

Ferrari endured a miserable Saturday at the Singapore Grand Prix. In a disastrous Q3, Charles Leclerc could only manage ninth, while Carlos Sainz crashed out.

There had been signs of promise for the Scuderia in practice. Leclerc had set the pace in the opening session ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, the eventual polesitter.

Norris struck back in FP2 but Leclerc was within half a tenth of the Briton. It seems unlikely that Ferrari would have made major set-up changes overnight, but the Monza winner went sharply backwards in FP3 nonetheless.

Leclerc was fifth fastest, nearly a second adrift of Norris. Mercedes and Red Bull appeared to have leapfrogged Ferrari.

Sainz knew he wouldn’t be starting higher than 10th after he lost control of his car at the final corner early in the shoot-out and suffered terminal damage. The resulting red flag gave Leclerc and most of his rivals only one lap at the end of the session.

The 26-year-old was slow, outpaced by the customer Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. Leclerc then lost his time for a track limits violation at turn two, condemning him to ninth.

Nico Rosberg can’t believe Ferrari tyre pressure blunder at Singapore Grand Prix

Ferrari were also subject to an investigation by the stewards for an incident during FP3. As Leclerc complained about a lack of grip over the team radio, they took unusual action.

When he returned to his pit box, a mechanic ran out of the garage to change his tyre pressures. Under the regulations, this can only be carried out in the garage.

Ferrari avoided any major sanctions, with the FIA instead fining them €5,000 (or £4,200). Speaking on Sky Sports F1, 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg expressed his disbelief.

Rosberg struggled to hold back his laughter given the flagrant nature of the offence. He can’t remember the last time he saw it happen.

“Just to these images, it’s very amusing to see this,” Rosberg said. “It’s an operational kindergarten error. One knows that you don’t do that. We haven’t seen anybody take pressure out. It’s literally illegal.”

Ferrari’s upgrade fails to deliver for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

Ferrari were optimistic about how they would fare at Marina Bay. Sainz won the race last year, denying Red Bull a clean sweep.

What’s more, they had fared well on street tracks in 2024. Leclerc won in Monaco and then took pole position in Azerbaijan before losing out to Oscar Piastri in the race.

In an attempt to maximise the weekend, Ferrari rushed through an upgrade package for Singapore. But their new front wing is yet to deliver the anticipated results.

Karun Chandhok says Leclerc has been ‘brilliant’ lately, but Saturday’s woes interrupt his season-best run. He’d qualified in the top six at each of the last five races.