Singapore (Commonwealth Union)_ Carlos Sainz won the Singapore GP 2023 after leading every lap of the race. It is the first win for Ferrari after a year and a half putting an end to Max Verstappen‘s wins in a row and to Red Bull’s chance to win every single race of the season.
Sainz led from the start, with team-mate Charles Leclerc passing George Russell’s Mercedes for an early Ferrari 1-2.
A safety car for Logan Sargeant nudging his Williams into the barrier sent the majority of the field into the pits, with Leclerc suffering a delay which dropped him behind Russell and Lando Norris (McLaren). He later lost a further spot to Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) when he ran wide after the restart.
A virtual safety car at two-thirds distance permitted the Mercedes drivers to use their fresh medium tyres and chase down the leaders. The top four ran nose-to-tail to the finish in a thrilling finale until Russell crashed out on the final lap. Norris held second, with Hamilton third.
Max Verstappen started his Red Bull from 11th on hard tyres but, after making early progress, the safety car ruined the team’s strategy, and he tumbled back from second place on old rubber. He recovered after running as low as 15th, to finish fifth.
Ferrari is finally back on the highest step of the podium with Carlos Sainz who delivers an incredible strategy on the track, in Singapore.
The Singapore GP has come and gone with Ferrari and Carlos Sainz dominating the Marina Bay track the entire weekend. The Cavallino Rampante put an end to Red Bull’s consecutive wins streak by featuring a risky-strategy. These are the highlights of Ferrari’s race weekend.
The Singapore race is a challenge with high temperatures and the layout of the track. Since the circuit has similar characteristics to Zandvoort, in aerodynamics, it was expected that Ferrari would have some problems here. However, on Friday they started to prove everyone wrong.
Starting from FP1, the Ferraris were the fastest on the track with both Leclerc and Sainz showing good race pace in all three sectors. The Monégasque closed free practice session with a time of 1’33”350 and purple all round the circuit. Sainz had only a 0.078 gap to his teammate while Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was third with a gap of 0.125 from car 16.
Sainz and Leclerc were 1st and 2nd at the end of the second free practice too with Sainz being the leader this time, followed by Leclerc and Russell. Once again, Ferrari proved that they had the pace for a good qualifying and for the race. Even Fred Vasseur, the Team Principal, stated that this was the best Friday under his lead so far for the Scuderia.
The Saturday session of free practice was not so different for the team of Maranello. The Sainz was the fastest once again and the Ferraris did good during both the short and the long run. Leclerc faced a little bit of traffic during the last part of the session and ended up fifth, at +0.316 behind the Spaniard.
After Friday, Carlos Sainz said that Ferrari could be in the fight for the pole for the Singapore Grand Prix. The candidates for the pole positions, along the red cars, were the Mercedes, Norris and Alonso. Leclerc and Sainz prevailed at every qualifying session. They commenced Q1 with a fourth position for Sainz and a first for Leclerc. The fight was very tight with Russel and Verstappen, with Sainz however coming out on top.
Ferrari was fighting During Q2, with Alonso, Norris and the Mercedes for the first position. Although Lando Norris closed his first lap in 1’31″951, Sainz took the lead 1’31″893; Leclerc is third right behind the McLaren. Alonso took pole provisionally, but Russell beat him. At the end was Carlos Sainz who marked the best time, closing with a 1’31″439. Sainz is 5th in the Driver Championship with 142 points; Charles Leclerc is 6th with 123. Ferrari is 3rd in the teams standing with 265 points.
