Construction work around the final sector of the Marina Bay city circuit means four of the characteristic 90-degree turns have been ditched. The replacement, a longer back straight, will ease the strain on the rear tyres. That could leave the door open for Ferrari in qualifying.
The anticipated limited effectiveness of DRS will then slow a Red Bull recovery should one of Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez miss out on pole position. And the RB19 has never properly excelled over the lumps, bumps and kerbs that pepper a street track.
PLUS: Why Singapore's 2023 F1 track changes should hurt Red Bull
But Red Bull’s competitors might not have needed to wait until round 15 of 22 to end a sprint race and GP winning streak that began in Abu Dhabi last year. The competition would be much more closely contested if Balance of Performance was a feature of the topflight.
Given that Red Bull is busy maintaining a 100% record - and the prospect that the rulebook will remain largely unchanged until 2026 to seemingly point to another two seasons of a Milton Keynes monopoly - the subject of BoP in F1 has reared its head again more recently.
Most prolific in sportscar and GT racing, performance-equalising measures work to offset disparities across the field. A turbo boost tweak would help recover the 30bhp deficit Alpine claims is blunting its campaign. Mercedes could go some way to resolving driver complaints over an unstable rear end by having freer rein to position ballast. Williams might hope others were pegged back with their aerodynamics to diminish a downforce deficit.
Across the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar classes and in touring car series, BoP works to allow front-, mid- and rear-engine cars, front- and rear-wheel drive machines, hatchbacks and saloons, V8s and V6s to go toe-to-toe. That encourages manufacturer participation since a BMW M4 can battle with a Lamborghini Huracan.
But for F1, adopting BoP would concern itself purely with creating closer racing to boost the spectacle. The early 2022 dogfight between Red Bull and Ferrari seems like a long-lost luxury. A three or even four-team F1 title fight would feel like an embarrassment of riches.
Source: Autosport