PolyTromp changed teams between seasons. His D1 results have yet to change. Singapore gave him a fourth consecutive victory in his D1 appearances, following last season's Australia, Qatar and Baku wins, and the first of those four in a Cadillac.
He won from second on the grid by 2.057 seconds over Rizla, with Webbah completing a podium that qualifying had done little to predict. The two behind him gained 22 places between them, and Webbah was still feeling the effort long after the flag.
This was his fifth IMS victory, including the Season 4 E1 win in Brazil. Cadillac had signed a driver with a proven winning run alongside the reigning champion, and Singapore immediately demonstrated the value of having 2 solid drivers instead of just one. Ussh started third but finished 11th, leaving the team's opening score heavily dependent on Poly's win.
| Pos | +/− | Team | Driver | Grid | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 1 | Cadillac | PolyTrompCadillacGrid 21 | 2 | — | 30 |
| P2 | 12 | Aston Martin | RizlaAston MartinGrid 1412 | 14 | +2.057s | 23 |
| P3 | 10 | Williams | Webbah87WilliamsGrid 1310 | 13 | +2.931s | 19 |
| P4 | 7 | McLaren | John MarcoMcLarenGrid 117 | 11 | +3.122s | 15 |
| P5 | 3 | Audi | alexuk6420AudiGrid 83 | 8 | +3.309s | 13 |
| P6 | 3 | Ferrari | xAQxFrFerrariGrid 93 | 9 | +3.671s | 11 |
Webbah's podium comes with worn tyres and two warnings
The rain anticipated before the opener never arrived. For Webbah, one of the drivers picked out in the weather preview, the test became rather different: keeping a sliding car close enough to Marco to benefit from the McLaren's three-second penalty, without collecting one of his own.
He said he had the worst tyres in the train and two track-limits warnings. The final five laps required a full push, with Alex close enough to apologise afterwards for repeated rear taps. Webbah held third in the result by 0.191 seconds over Marco; Alex was another 0.187 behind.
“That's the hardest I've had to work for a podium,” was Webbah's verdict. Ussh, watching the Williams, said he “couldn't breathe watching you drift every single inch of the marina”. Webbah was doing it on a controller, and afterwards sounded as though somebody had made him run the race himself.
Rizla had come from one place further back to finish one place ahead. His explanation was less strenuous: “I duno 😂 every1 crashed or dc 😂”. The final classification gave him 12 places gained and second, but the remark captured how much opportunity Singapore had created for anybody still able to use it.
Marco's fourth kept McLaren near the front even without Erion in the race. The dark-horses preview had centred on Erion's repeated recoveries; this time it was Marco who brought a McLaren from outside the top ten into the leading group. Alex, meanwhile, followed his Brazil podium with fifth for Audi.
A thousandth wins pole; the race takes it all back
Gennaro beat Poly to pole by one thousandth of a second. The first six qualifiers were covered by 0.099 seconds. That was a proper contest; the race was much less kind to several of its quickest drivers.
Gennaro finished three laps down in 15th after retiring from the race. He complained of being used as a “ping pong ball”, but took satisfaction in the pole after only a few days with different (working) pedals. HPJones, sixth on the grid, retired after reporting that his force feedback cut out, his wheel jerked left and the car spun.
VCARB lost both cars. TheMDog said a disconnection handed control to the AI and changed his ERS setting mid-corner, leaving him unable to save the car. His 1:31.487 was the fastest lap of the race, but his retirement left him without points, alongside Walter. Six of the 21 starters were classified DNF; the race featured a steady stream of interruptions with 3 Safety Cars and a VSC.
Mercedes found a useful result amid all that. Connor gained eight places to seventh as an L2 driver in D1, finishing one spot ahead of team-mate mjon. Together they scored 16 points, a respectable opening for the late-entering team. Arti matched Connor's eight-place gain to finish ninth and helped Audi reach 18.
Ussh gives Cadillac something to fix
Ussh's account of his own race was blunt. He started on hards without knowing how they would feel at the start, ran an aggressive setup that had worked in practice, then made too many mistakes. Six seconds of penalties left him 11th.
“I had the pace to win today but I made too many mistakes,” he said. He also thought a warning could be removed; for now, the opening result leaves him on two points.
Cadillac still lead the constructors' standings with 32, six ahead of Aston Martin. Our pre-season D1 pick has its first victory and its first lead, but the pairing has more to deliver together. Poly has continued winning. Ussh has already identified why he didn't.
▶D1
