2022 Formula 1: Sergio Perez wins Singapore Grand Prix despite penalty

Ferrari were hopeful about a safety car violation on Perez, but in the end it was not enough to elevate Charles Leclerc to the top step

Is it better to be lucky or good. Or both? After a good race at the Singapore Grand Prix, Ferrari were hoping things would turn out lucky for them -- a safety car issue late in the race put Sergio Perez's win in some doubt, and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari would be the benefactor should the issue be enforced.

Like many things under the lights at the Marina Bay Circuit, it didn't go Ferrari's way. Red Bull Racing's Perez was indeed penalized, but the penalty handed out added only five seconds to his time. Perez won by 7.5 seconds over Leclerc, who after chasing down the Mexican driver and trying to pass him several times in the final stages of the race, backed off as told by his team that Perez was facing a timing penalty for the safety car infraction.

Early on, the Singapore Grand Prix looked to be swinging in their direction on Saturday when Leclerc took the pole. Combined with the poor qualifying of championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull, that gave them some hope. That was dashed right at the start as Verstappen's teammate, Perez, made a bold move a soon as the track went green and snatched the lead from Leclerc on a circuit that was damp from rain that delayed the start.

Leclerc never seemed to find the grip levels on his intermediate wet tires, at least not to the same level that Perez had, who started gapping the lead by dropping fastest lap after fastest lap. 

As the laps counted down, along with the time, the event switched to being a timed one as it approached the two-hour limit for events. By now the track had dried enough for drivers to slip on the slicks, and Leclerc's car seemed to come alive. He drew Perez in closer until race control decided that the track had sufficient amounts of grip to allow DRS to be activated. Hopes dashed again as it was advantage Red Bull with Perez rolling off fastest laps once more.

But Leclerc wasn't finished just yet. He managed to get the gap down to less than half-a-second on Perez, and kept pressing Perez into making a mistake. Time and again he drew closer but, even with DRS of their own, Ferrari just didn't seem to be able to get quite close enough to make the pass. As both teams and drivers were informed of the safety car investigation, Leclerc backed off a bit, perhaps thinking there was no need to push. As it turns out he backed off too much, as Perez built up a lead of seven-plus seconds, meaning a five-second penalty would not change the outcome.

Another example of Ferrari making a poor strategy call, telling Leclerc to back off but not informing him to stay within five seconds of Perez?

"We believe there will be two, 10-second penalties," Ferrari radioed Leclerc at the finish.

There wasn't. 

Asked about the possible penalty, Perez said he had "no idea. They told me there was an investigation."

At the back of the field, Verstappen will say he left points on the table at Singapore. After a bad start that dropped him to 12th, the Dutchman winded his way through the field and was up to sixth before he got a little too anxious on cold tires in an attempt to pass Lando Norris for fifth. Verstappen had to lock up the brakes and dive down an over-run zone. He avoided contact but a sure points finish was pretty much over as he needed to pit to take on new tires after flat-spotting the other set. He would fight back to finish eighth, but could it have been more?

Lewis Hamilton (crash) and Fernando Alonso (DNF) were two other drivers who will be wondering what could have been, while Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., will be wondering exactly what was wrong from start to finish with his car as he never seemed to be in the mix at the front despite finishing third. 

More shoulda-coulda-woulda.

In the end, the championship battle is extended to Japan on Oct. 9 at the Suzuka track. It is anyone's guess what the weather may deliver at Suzuka. The race has seen torrential monsoon conditions and beautiful sunny days, but Ferrari will likely need something to help their cause at this point.

Final results

1. Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3. Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
6. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
8. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
9. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
10. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
11. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
12. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
13. Mick Schumacher, Haas
14. George Russell, Mercedes
15. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
16. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
17. Alexander Albon, Williams
18. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
19. Nicholas Latifi, Williams
20. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo