Carlos Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix with his Ferrari and ended Max Verstappen’s winning streak in Formula 1

Carlos Sainz he imposed himself with his Ferrari this Sunday at Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix and ended the winning streak of Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the current season. The Spaniard started ahead after achieving pole positions and was escorted on the podium by the English Lando Norris (McLaren) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

The night competition on the street circuit of Marina Bay did not offer alternatives until lap 20 when the American Logan Sargeant hit his Williams against the wall on a curve. This forced the entry of the safety car. There several – including Sainz – took the opportunity to make their first arrest and placed hard tires due to the abrasive nature of the asphalt of the urban layout.

With the different stops, Verstappen He placed second, but they had not entered the pits at that point in the race. The rubber on his tires was more worn than the rest of his competitors; he had made a stop and the Dutchman was losing positions. It is worth remembering that the two-time world champion and solid leader of the championship started eleventh after being eliminated for the first time in the Q3 seasonan instance that his teammate, the Mexican, did not reach either. Sergio “Checo” Pérezdue to a mistake while looking for his best time in the epilogue of Q2.

Midway through the race, Sainz stayed ahead without problems and the fight for the lead entered a plateau. While Verstappen, who had not yet made his pit stop, shot on the radio “it’s like driving on ice.” Both he and Checo Pérez were still on the same tires with which they started in a different strategy of Red Bull with respect to the rest of the teams.

It was on lap 41 that Verstappen entered the pits and they put medium tires on him. He returned to the track in 15th place. It is worth remembering that from this date the International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced that it was going to carry out stricter control against flexible ailerons (something prohibited by the technical regulations)and perhaps this is something that harmed the Austrian squad, which arrived in Singapore in the midst of the scandal of the controversial statements by Dr. Helmut Marko about Checo Pérez.

On lap 44, the stewards applied the virtual safety car to remove the Alpine of Esteban Ocon which stopped due to mechanical failures in the first corner. When passing through the main straight, the sound of the engine was poorly heard renault. This neutralization helped the Red Bull drivers who had the freshest rubber. In turn, Mercedes took the opportunity to change the tires of its two drivers, Russel and Lewis Hamilton.

While Verstappen He asked to advance in the classifier and was placed in the points since eighth. While after his stop, Russel He lost the last step of the podium, although with better tires he overtook rivals until he was behind Charles Leclerc, which was the third with the other Ferrari. With eight laps left, the Englishman accounted for the Monegasque.

The plan of Mercedes It was the right one and that second stop allowed its riders to have fresher tires at the end. Leclerc (with almost 40 laps on his tires) was at the mercy of hamilton who also left him behind.

In the end there was a dramatic definition as the two pilots of Mercedes They had better pace than Norris and Sainz. The first four were hit in the last four laps and three different marks. Russel wanted to surpass Norrisbut he couldn’t achieve it and on the last lap he got lost and ended up against the defenses.

After 63 laps, Sainz He received the checkered flag first and was the winner. The Madrid native achieved his second victory in the Máxima after the 2022 British Grand Prix. He was escorted on the podium Norris and hamilton.

“I want to thank Ferrari for the work they did to win,” said Sainz. The Maranello Scuderia made a leap in quality since the last home race in Monza, where the Spaniard also took pole positions.

“With George (Russell) we went the entire race together. I was kind of afraid in the end. On the last lap I had Hamilton very close,” said Norris.

“I congratulate Carlos. His strategy worked perfectly. I feel sorry for George (Russell) because we pushed hard,” Hamilton concluded.

Sainz and Ferrari managed to end the dominance of Red Bull that had won all the races of the year. Although beyond interrupting his path of ten consecutive victories (12 overall for the season), Verstappen finished fifth and continues to lead the championship.

The World Championship journey will have no respite and the Asian tour will continue since next weekend the Japanese Grand Prix at the legendary Suzuka Autodrome.