Who's hot and who's not heading into the Singapore GP
Just seven rounds remain in the 2016 Formula One World Championship as the field heads to the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the Singapore GP.
A lot of the teams are already turning their attention to their 2017 cars, so there may not be many more changes in the pecking order this year. However, F1's only night race has been known to produce some surprises in the past. Here's who's hot and who's not heading into Sunday's Singapore GP.
Nico Rosberg - HOT
You could make a case for Lewis Hamilton being hot, Hamilton being not, Rosberg being hot or Rosberg being not here. Hamilton has won here twice, while Rosberg has never won here. However, Rosberg has won the last two races, while Hamilton has had solid performances but hasn't won since the German GP. However, both of Rosberg's last two wins have came at tracks that he had never won at before. Perhaps he can keep the streak going here, although he'll have to hope that the car performs better than it did here last year.
Sebastian Vettel - HOT
Ferrari's back. The Italian fans were rightfully overjoyed to see their cars finish third and fourth at Monza just two weeks ago. It seems to indicate that Red Bull may not have second in the constructors' standings sealed just yet. And this is a good time for Ferrari to be on form - Sebastian Vettel has won four of the last five races in Singapore. The exception came in 2014... when he finished second.
Daniel Ricciardo - HOT
Ricciardo has upstaged his younger Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen since the series returned from the summer break and, while his podium streak of three races came to an end in Monza, that's no reason why he shouldn't be back up there in Singapore. It was expected for Red Bull to suffer on the long straights of Monza, and Ricciardo did the best job possible of salvaging a fifth out of it. Now he heads back to Singapore, where he has finished on the podium in the past two years.
Max Verstappen - NOT
As mentioned above, Verstappen has not been on top form since Formula One returned from its summer break in Belgium. He had a scrappy race in Spa that saw him finish outside of the points and then he never really made much of an impression in Monza either. Yet the 18-year-old Dutch racing driver says he's feeling good about this weekend's race, with the twisty city streets of Singapore expected to play into the team's hands. Verstappen placed eighth here last year, racing for Scuderia Toro Rosso.
