“In my opinion, the Singapore Grand Prix was the standout race of the season. While Red Bull’s struggles in practice and qualifying provided a refreshing change from the usual dominant teams, it was Ferrari’s victory that truly made it special. Carlos Sainz’s performance was exceptional, and he deservedly took home the title of the man of the race.
Sainz’s previous win at the British Grand Prix last year was overshadowed by a controversial decision regarding tire choices, but this time, luck was not entirely on his side. However, his flawless weekend can be attributed to his exceptional skills and a stroke of luck. Ferrari’s improved performance since their weak results in previous races was also noteworthy, reducing their points deficit to Mercedes.
Another highlight of the race was Charles Leclerc’s impressive performance, which exemplified his growth as a driver. Previously, Leclerc struggled with consistency and the handling of his cars, but in SF-23, he seems to have found his true calling.
The tactical nature of the race made it even more interesting, with the top drivers vying for positioning on a demanding urban track. Ferrari’s strategy to keep the pack together and avoid any rivals gaining an advantage through pit stops was crucial.
Ultimately, Sainz’s victory was a result of his intelligence and calculated decision-making. Despite the pressure from Mercedes and McLaren, he remained composed and cleverly used his former teammate’s presence to his advantage. It was a risky but brilliant strategy that paid off.
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As far as I’m concerned, the Singapore Grand Prix was easily the best race of the season, and not just because Red Bull’s spectacular fall from grace in practice and qualifying gave us a break from the all-too-familiar final result.
No disrespect to the Milton Keynes team, who will clearly crown Max Verstappen champion for the third time soon and claim another constructors’ title, but Ferrari’s streak-breaking victory, and the way it was achieved, was a great achievement. He needed a breath of fresh air for F1.
And Carlos Sainz was the man of the race.
When he won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last year, he struggled to get it after the final Safety Car, but it clearly would have been team-mate Charles Leclerc’s race if it hadn’t been for the absolutely unfathomable decision to leave him out with Pirellis. mediums used while everyone else was calling for soft which gave the victory to the Spanish.
But this time he didn’t have fortune on his side, unless we consider that his perfect weekend was a gift from the racing gods.
This was a very interesting development, and not because Ferrari’s soft approach to SF-23 development has been working so well lately that they have upped their game since weak results in Canada, Britain and Hungary.
There have been signs of improvement from Belgium, and they arrived at Marina Bay after that spectacular intra-team duel at Monza after the Red Bulls. After that, they were 45 points behind second-placed Mercedes, but left Singapore with the deficit practically halved to 24.
Italian Grand Prix 2023: Sainz and Leclerc in an exciting wheel-to-wheel battle for the last place on the podium
It was also notable for the rise of ‘King Charles’.
I tend to forget that he has been in F1 since joining Toro Rosso in 2015, where his best result in three years was a fourth in Singapore before switching to Renault at the end of the season, where his best result was a fifth in Azerbaijan in 2018.
His two years at McLaren gave him a second place at Monza and a third at Interlagos, and that was enough to attract Ferrari. He joined the Reds in 2021, but he never really seemed comfortable there to me.
Before that win at Silverstone, his best results were two seconds in Monaco and one in Canada, and five of his nine thirds, but he seemed inconsistent as he struggled at times with the balance and handling of his cars.
While he has always been fast, I had never considered him a team leader until this year. But in SF-23 he seems to have finally found his true calling. Like Didier Pironi against Gilles Villeneuve in 1982, he has begun to gain momentum.
His performances in qualifying have been solid against a teammate as competitive as Charles, whom I value a lot, and he has outperformed the Monegasque in the last three races and has achieved him Look at the inconsistent. At both Monza and Singapore, he seemed completely calm in taking pole positions ahead of a man believed to be as fast in his day as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
What impressed me most in practice and qualifying in Singapore was his consistent speed; He looked as polished as Max usually looks. But it was the race that really made the biggest statement.
READ MORE: Sainz chosen Driver of the Day after a brilliant victory in Singapore
This was never going to be easy, as Charles, Lando Norris’ McLaren and the two Mercedes were also very fast. And only the reckless would have completely written off Red Bull on race day. All this meant that on a difficult and demanding urban track, with very high temperatures and humidity, it was going to be a tactical race.
So it was far from a case of Charles trying to walk away and let Charles deal with the dogs when they initially walked away.
With a high probability of a Safety Car intervention, Ferrari’s plan from the beginning was to keep the peloton grouped together, so that none of the rivals, having fallen far enough behind, could take a break with a cleverly timed pit stop every time Bernd Maylander was called from the pits.
Singapore Grand Prix 2023: Safety car deployed after Logan Sargeant crashes into wall
As Ayrton Senna discovered to his cost in Monaco in 1988, you can be more vulnerable as a driver when you don’t race at 10 tenths, but rather relax and lose concentration. Carlos was forced to lap at a set delta lap time.
But he handled the first stage admirably and was still leading after Safety Car intervention came on lap 20 to deal with the fallout from Logan Sargeant’s collision with a wall.
READ MORE: Singapore’s 5 winners and 5 losers: Who impressed under the Marina Bay lights?
Then came the virtual safety car on lap 43 when Esteban Ocon’s Alpine lost momentum and stalled at Turn 2. This was the key moment, as Ferrari and McLaren elected to sit out on the hard tires they had changed when Logan made a detour.
Red Bull had finally stopped Perez on lap 39 and Verstappen on lap 40 for the media after being forced to run hard with the tough guys they had chosen to start with, but the much bigger threat was Mercedes double-stacking the second-place finisher. , George Russell, and the fifth. Lewis Hamilton on lap 44 as they switched to the new mids they had cleverly retained in practice.
This was a very aggressive strategy that both drivers adopted completely because they are racers, and which from then on would depend on how quickly they could catch up and pass third placed Charles and second placed Lando before attacking Carlos when his tires hard ones were approaching. the limit of him.
Therefore, having followed his prescribed delta during the follow-my-leader phase, Carlos now had to pick up the pace, and his forwards didn’t like it. By lap 58, the victorious blacks had dispensed with Charles, so the battle for victory became a four-horse race. Wow! When did we last see that?
READ MORE – THE STRATEGIST: Did a split-second decision cost Ferrari a 1-2 in Singapore?
And this is where Carlos was incomparable. Again, the instinct must have been to push very hard and try to open up a gap, which it was widely felt he could have done with Lando, leaving the McLaren driver without the benefit of DRS and therefore super vulnerable to the two. fastest cars in the race. career.
But Carlos was not only leading a career without errors but a supremely intellectual one. Knowing that once the Mercedes ate the McLaren, they would no doubt pounce on it with their softer, fresher tires, he actually relaxed. By lap 60, just 1.4 seconds covered the dueling quartet.
Singapore Grand Prix 2023: The frenetic final laps as Sainz battles to keep Norris, Russell and Hamilton at bay
But since George and Lewis had caught Lando using DRS, he was close enough, within that one-second range, to catch Carlos’ DRS himself. Thus, Carlos, his former teammate from the McLaren days, provided him with the tools to stay inches away from the two Mercedes.
It was a risky but brilliant strategy, executed magnificently by the Spaniard, who knew that since Lando’s tires had to be in the same shape as his own, he had enough in the tank to keep him at bay and thwart any aspirations the McLaren driver had to do. his own attempt to win. And by giving him DRS, he leaves the Mercs on a debilitating DRS train.
And the strategy paid off. When George’s unfortunate two-centimeter error on the final lap dropped him to an eventual 16th place and elevated Lewis to the podium, Carlos took the checkered flag and his second victory by eight tenths as McLaren led Mercedes by four.
In addition to Carlos, team principal Fred Vasseur deserves credit as the Scuderia achieved its first victory under his management. Red Bull will most likely return to form at Suzuka this weekend, but the battle for second place overall is now between Mercedes and Ferrari. His speed, and that of McLaren, bodes well for the remaining 2023 races.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.tremayne-after-his-superb-singapore-win-carlos-sainz-is-finally-looking-like.5KFi90xXAKLqZx9untfV9i.html
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