The night show, the pitfalls of the city streets and one of the longest races of the season, during which he always mixes up the safety car cards. There are many aspects to the Singapore Grand Prix that make it worth watching. This year, however, it was also spiced up with drama by the reigning champions from Red Bull, who have won all the races of the season so far. But from Friday, it seemed as if the ground collapsed after the winning form, so Sunday’s Grand Prix turned into a fight for at least some points. Others finally got the chance to win…
It was a very strange sight to see both Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez unhappy, fighting with their so far flawless machine and their times just enough for the top ten. When it all culminated in a botched qualifying and failure to advance to the final stage on Saturday, it was clear that Red Bull were not bluffing, but were really struggling in Singapore. The winner of ten races in a row, Verstappen started only in eleventh place, Pérez was still two places lower.
In this season, which has so far been dominated by the Austrian team, the opponents were clear. When Red Bull hesitates, we have to grab the chance by the scruff of the neck! While at the beginning of the year Fernando Alonso from the Aston Martin team was the closest to the red bulls, during the season the distribution of forces changed until Ferrari, Mercedes and to a certain extent McLaren became the biggest rivals in the fight for the top positions. All of them were in the game for the victory in the qualification.
Foto: Red Bull Racing
After ten winning races in a row, Verstappen had to swallow a very bitter pill. He says it doesn’t bother him…
It was already quite dramatic, as seven different teams advanced to the top ten! Carlos Sainz took the pole position in a Ferrari, George Russell finished second with a Mercedes and Charles Leclerc third also in a Ferrari. It was rumored behind the scenes that Ferrari had invested all its energy in the previous race at its home Monza, while in the rest of the year it was not going to be as strong. But where…
Italian fans could have been even more happy after the start, when Leclerc got ahead of Sainz and Ferrari occupied the first two positions. Behind them, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton watched everything closely. Verstappen did gain a few positions, but this time it didn’t look like a winning campaign from deep in the field. His colleague Pérez was even more worried, as he couldn’t make it at least into the top ten.
Photo: Alpha Tauri
The understated hero of Sunday’s race was the Australian driver Liam Lawson (right at the front). The replacement for the injured Daniel Ricciardo first beat Verstappen in qualifying before taking ninth in his third race to take the first two points. Incidentally, for a team that had only collected three so far this year.
In all years since the premiere in 2008, a safety car has appeared during the Singapore race. And yes, the tradition was repeated this year as well. However, even that did not play into the hands of the struggling Red Bull. Both riders were one of the few to start on a hard set, so the stop wouldn’t be worth it. So they stayed on the track and rose to the top five, but after the restart most of the rivals on fresh tires overtook them very quickly.
Another slowing down of the race pace came from race headquarters shortly after the stops of the red bulls, i.e. at the least opportune moment. As if Red Bull did absolutely nothing this race weekend. It was an unfortunate sight for all their fans, but we finally got to see some real drama at the top of the starting field!
Photo: F1
Spaniard Sainz thoroughly enjoyed the celebrations. He earned just the second win of his career.
Carlos Sainz showed a fantastic head drive and set the pace for the entire top of the starting field. Nevertheless, Mercedes decided to take a risk and sent Russell and Hamilton to the pits for softer tires. Their huge time gap began to disappear quickly as the duo closed in on Sainz in first and Norris in second with a few laps to go.
While in the first part of the race some people could take a nap, towards the end the real show started! Mercedes had the pace to get to the front, but overtaking rivals in Singapore is no easy task. Knowing that Norris on the same tires was much less of a threat to him, Sainz kept him within one second at all times, allowing him to use the DRS system. Norris, although Sainz’s direct rival, actually turned into a sidekick who covered his back from the oncoming Mercedes. Mercedes couldn’t find an answer to that. The excess of efforts of the then third Russell culminated in an accident on the last lap, when he accidentally hit the barrier with his right front wheel and crashed. So colleague Lewis Hamilton swung to the podium. Sainz won with his fantastically thought-out drive, with Norris and Hamilton finishing just behind him. Not even a second and a half separated the top three at the finish line. Leclerc lost almost twenty behind them. Max Verstappen finished fifth after a successful final stint on a fresh set.
Photo: F1
The chance of dethroning Verstappen from first place is now only mathematical. However, the fight for second place could be really nutritious at the end of the season.
It would be foolish to think that the championships in both championships are not decided with seven events to go. Nevertheless, the Singapore race showed us that F1 race weekends can still be quite dramatic. At the same time, one small thing was enough – to “turn off” the leader of the championship. How simple, right? But now seriously… it was incredible to watch the otherwise dominant Max struggle with his car. According to many, it was a one-off affair, as the Marina Bay circuit did not typologically suit Red Bull. So next time again Verstappen’s flawless dominance? We’ll see, we’ll get the answer in a week in Japan.
Did you watch the F1 Singapore Grand Prix?
Yes, but no glory…
No, I found better pastimes.
A total of 214 readers voted.
2023-09-18 10:01:59
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