The Formula 1 lessons from Singapore
Completely transformed Sainz kisses Ferrari awake
September 18, 2023, 7:19 a.m
After 15 successful races in a row, Max Verstappen is not allowed to attend the award ceremony. At the Formula 1 race in Singapore, the Red Bull Racing dominator only finished fifth. The shining winner is Carlos Sainz, who brings Ferrari back on the road to success. The Spaniard has made an impressive development.
Sainz as a realistic dreamer
A loser got a lot of attention in Singapore, the end of Max Verstappen’s series was the big topic – and perhaps something about what the winner was doing was lost. Carlos Sainz kissed Ferrari awake, that’s quite remarkable. Because in his first two years with the team he was clearly in the shadow of Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari pupil who would one day lead the Scuderia to the world championship title again. But Sainz has now overtaken the Monegasque, or at least that’s what it looks like from the outside. While Leclerc repeatedly makes mistakes, Sainz took pole position twice in Monza and Singapore, a third place and a victory – he has appeared transformed since the summer break.
“I sat down with my mechanics and thought about how we could get a whole weekend together. We had the approaches all along,” says Sainz. And there were probably a few good ideas that came out of it. But he also knows that he can only win if Verstappen and Red Bull weaken: “On a day like this I dream a little about what Formula 1 could be like if we got closer to Red Bull. But the truth is: They simply built the best car.”
A very sad loser
George Russell is certainly the Singapore winner of hearts for some, but that may be little consolation. “It breaks my heart to be left without points,” said the 25-year-old Brit. He was half a car length away from victory, but a few centimeters too close to the wall destroyed all hopes in the last lap of the Formula 1 night race. Russell was eliminated.
“It was a very small mistake after a strong weekend, but that’s racing – he did 99.99 percent of everything right today,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff: “He’s completely finished.” Russell was in third place behind eventual winner Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Lando Norris in second in the McLaren. After an aggressive but almost famous tire strategy, he wanted to grab both of them with another change. But he came too close to the wall and could no longer keep his Mercedes on the track. While teammate and record world champion Lewis Hamilton benefited from Russell’s retirement and came third, Russell fought back tears.
Verstappen as a fair loser
The world champion must have almost forgotten what a real defeat feels like, but he did quite well. He answered questions with pronounced indifference as the others in Singapore cheered. “I knew this day would come, so it’s okay,” said Verstappen. It wasn’t just the series of ten victories that ended: the Red Bull driver had been on the podium in 15 races in a row. Fifth place was now a crash that even ended lightly; it could have been even less successful – the competition’s bad luck pushed Verstappen forward in the end. He then took the opportunity to point out the work behind the success. “People think that this is all easy for us, but it’s not,” he said, “everything has to be perfect.” Nothing was perfect in Singapore, the otherwise powerful RB19 made life difficult for the drivers. And everyone was wondering what this meant for the coming races.
What Formula 1 could look like without Dominator
Ferrari, Mercedes and the others had a pretty clear answer to this. “Not much,” said Sainz. They all expect Red Bull to be at the front again at the next race in Suzuka. The performance of the pursuers in Singapore was still impressive. “We probably have one chance to win this year and the team took it,” said Sainz. Mercedes was also on top, and Lando Norris in the McLaren also took part in the all-around battle for victory. It was a reminder of what Formula 1 could look like without an all-consuming team.
But this team does exist, and so Singapore had to help again. “It’s always been a strange track,” said Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff: “We also had problems here in our dominant years.” Because Singapore is different, the tight curves and long straights, the start-stop characteristics, the many bumps on the road. Usually the best all-rounder car wins the World Cup – and very often this car works almost everywhere, just not in Singapore.