Super Singapore

Hoping to continue their momentum of last week, Manor arrived in Singapore with high expectations. As the weekend wore on, it became apparent that would be the case.

Daniel Ricciardo and Carmen Jordá dueled with the Ferraris of Nico Rosberg and Felipe Nasr for pole, but fell short as they qualified 2nd and 4th, respectively. The two didn’t let the spots deter them from having a good race as they began a charge up the field.

Ricciardo and Rosberg battled for the lead throughout the race. During the final round of pit stops, Ricciardo pitted on lap 33 and began his efforts to close in on the German. Rosberg pitted on lap 49, allowing Ricciardo enough time to catch up and take the lead, holding on to record yet another win for Manor. Jordá utilized the same pit strategy as her teammate, passing both Ferraris as they pitted later in the race to take the second spot on the podium.

After the race, Ricciardo continues to hold a firm grasp of the World Drivers Championship with 285 points, a 62-point advantage over Rosberg, while Jordá sits in third with 199. In the Constructors title battle, Manor maintains a dominant lead with 509 points, 134 more than second-placed Ferrari.

Next week, the Manor F1 World Championship concludes the Asian leg of the season with the Japanese Grand Prix.

Feeling Thankful

On Thursday, the MF1 garage hosted a Thanksgiving feast (at the insistence of Haas, who willingly loaned their garage for the occasion). Each team was invited to bring a dish; unfortunately for Manor, being the leader in the WDC and WCC, the team was ordered to bring the turkey. This was made more difficult at the inability of Ricciardo and Jordá to properly find a turkey on time.

The turkey finally arrived a few hours after the party began, although it did not seem to resemble a turkey.

“I’ve eaten turkey before when we went to COTA,” Haas driver Max Chilton quipped. “It tasted a lot different from this. Not that this isn’t that bad, though.” Ricciardo and Jordá declined to comment on what the dish really was.

While we may not know where – or how – the Manor duo found the “turkey,” at least it tasted pretty good.