George Russell (Fastest Lap, P14): 6.5/10
George Russell's remarkable run of consistency finally stuttered and failed this week. He's not finished a race outside the top five all season, but in Singapore he seemed to be up against right from the start. Straight away, he was reporting a strange brake-related issue on the Mercedes that felt like someone was pushing him into the corners, and he twice went off at turn 11 during Friday's practice sessions. His team mate Lewis Hamilton was quickest in FP1 and qualified in third place, but Russell was never able to match that and in qualifying he missed the cut by a mere six thousandths of a second at the end of Q2. The team decided to switch his engine overnight leaving him starting the race from pit road, and he couldn't find a way forward as his mysterious brake issue got progressively worse. Risking an early switch to slicks was good data for everyone else but left Russell himself five seconds a lap off the pace- and by the time the conditions came to him, he needed a new set of mediums anyway. He was lucky not to get a penalty for a clumsy collision with Mick Schumacher that left him with a puncture and the need for another stop. One final switch to softs allowed him to set the fastest lap (but no bonus point), but really this was a horrible weekend for him.
Mick Schumacher (P13): 6/10
Mick Schumacher still doesn't know his fate for 2023 and whether Haas will hold on to him for a third season. What he really needs is a bit of conspicuous success right about now to argue his case for him, but Singapore wasn't it. Nor was it a particularly bad weekend, just sort of ... Well, 'meh' if you're honest. He was mooching around the bottom of the times on Friday but he perked up in the wet conditions on Saturday and managed to squeeze into the second round of qualifying only to fade as the track dried up, leaving him in 13th. He made a respectable start but lost out to Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap, but then managed to hold off Esteban Ocon for an extended stint before benefitting from a mistake by Yuki Tsunoda to put him up o 11th by lap 33. He briefly popped into the top ten but was then passed by Pierre Gasly just before the final safety car was scrambled. He made a second pit stop on lap 41 that dropped him to the back, where there was contact with George Russell. A puncture for the Mercedes from that incident meant Schumacher dodge the wooden spoon.
