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The 2022 F1 Singapore GP race weekend was not the best race for the FIA in general. It all started with a supposed leak from the motorsport governing body that led to 'paddock rumors' of Red Bull breaching the budget cap. What followed was an almost delayed act of damage control where the FIA sent out a statement saying that the assessment was still in process.
Making matters worse on Sunday was the FIA's rather shambolic handling of the race – one that was already disrupted by rain even before it began. So much so that questions were raised even by F1 broadcaster Will Buxton post-race. He tweeted:
"FIA desperately need to get their house in order. Some bizarre decisions in todays race and some important moments not even investigated. A brilliant race but a result still not determined for an initial alleged infringement that occurred so early. Infuriating. What do you think?"
"Governance requires faith in the decision makers. Indecision, weakness, ensures constant questions. The FIA’s role within this sport, its relevance, its ability to do its job, is under massive scrutiny. It HAS to do better."
The F1 Singapore GP was not one of FIA's best-managed races. In this piece, we take a look at three particular instances where the FIA's questionable handling of the race came to the forefront.
#1 The 2022 F1 Singapore GP start delay
There was an inexplicable one-hour delay between the time the rain stopped and the race began. In the extra hour, the track was left to dry itself out to such an extent that despite a torrential rain shower, everyone started the race on intermediates.
Many F1 pundits questioned the point of bringing wet tires to a race if they're not even going to be used. For the FIA, safety is paramount and should rightly be so. There is, however, a feeling that the FIA has been erring on the side of safety a bit too much recently. The same happened at Monaco earlier in the season as the start was delayed due to pre-race showers.
Understandably, these new ground-effect cars tend to generate more spray than their predecessors. Additionally, racing under lights with the spray can be very tricky as well. Should that, however, be a reason to delay racing by an hour after a shower? If the best and fastest machines on four wheels in the world cannot handle a wet street track, then there is something seriously wrong with F1 at the moment.
#2 Handling of Sergio Perez's safety car infringement
It's prudent to consider a driver's perspective before handing out penalties. We're not even arguing whether Sergio Perez's penalty was right, or less, or more. Rather, the bone of contention here is the fact that the 5-second penalty was delivered post-race.
In doing so, the stewards left themselves vulnerable to a situation where one of the sides would be irate post-race. Had Sergio Perez received a 10-second penalty, he would have been stripped of the race win, which no one would have liked to see after all was said and done. It was an undesirable outcome put whichever way.
The stewards' chosen path of handing Perez a 5-second penalty was equally infuriating. If Charles Leclerc had known that the Red Bull driver would receive such a penalty post-race, he would have driven differently in the stint following the safety car period.
The Ferrari driver attacked Perez with all his might as he tried to overtake him after the safety car period. As a result, he wore out his tires and had nothing against the Red Bull driver in the closing stages of the race.
If Leclerc knew a 5-second penalty was coming, he would not have pushed his tires to that extent. He would have just managed the gap, stayed out of the turbulent air and brought the car home. Unsurprisingly, this infuriated both Mattia Binotto and Christian Horner as it left a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the race's end.
#3 George Russell getting away with two collisions
George Russell had a terrible 2022 F1 Singapore GP weekend. It started with a rather poor showing in qualifying where he was eliminated in Q2. To make matters worse, he was relegated to a pitlane start for the race following an engine change. The misery did not end here as his gamble to pit for slicks during the race backfired, leaving him far down the order.
What was, however, a huge question mark in all of this was the two particular incidents that he had. His first incident was with Valtteri Bottas at Turn 7, where a late lunge from the Mercedes driver meant he went straight on and damaged Bottas' front wing. The incident was investigated and no action was deemed necessary.
The second incident, however, was more egregious. While trying to overtake Mick Schumacher down the pit straight, Russell inadvertently moved right and collided with the Haas F1 driver. By doing so, he ruined not only his own race, but Schumacher's race as well, as both suffered punctures.
What was preposterous, however, was the fact that even this incident was deemed a racing incident by the stewards. Earlier in the same F1 race, the stewards had penalized Nicholas Latifi for causing a collision, while George Russell with not one but two incidents left the 2022 F1 Singapore GP receiving no penalty points.
These cumulative decisions eventually left a lot to be desired from the governing body for F1.
