Mercedes drivers missed yet another chance of winning their first race in 2023. After a remarkable streak of 15 races, Red Bull did not look like winning a race. The championship leaders had a tough time in Singapore last weekend. It was the best chance for the other teams to try and snatch a win. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was successful in doing that.
In the post-race interview, Carlos Sainz Jr. revealed his strategic masterclass to deny the German team from winning in Singapore. The latest Grand Prix winner let Lando Norris enjoy the DRS advantage to overtake the Mercedes drivers. According to Motorsport.com, Carlos Sainz Jr. stated the results of the race could have been different if the Mercs were able to overtake Lando Norris.
Carlos Sainz Revealed How He Let Norris Stop The Mercedes Duo From Getting A Win In Singapore
The Ferrari driver decided to give the DRS to Lando Norris to keep the Mercs behind. But Carlos Sainz could not afford a single mistake as it would then allow Norris to overtake him as well. Moreover, Carlos Sainz mentioned he had to slow down a lot to give DRS again to Lando Norris as the McLaren driver at one point defended to Turn 16-17. Hence, the Ferrari driver slowed down into Turn 1-2-3. Sainz believes if the Mercedes drivers had overtaken Norris, they would quite easily get past the Ferrari car. Hence, Carlos Sainz says the plan to give DRS to Norris saved his and Lando’s race on Sunday.
🇸🇬Incredible weekend. We managed it to perfection, controlling the pace the entire race. The team deserves this win for the enormous work they have done both here and in Maranello. This one for them and for the Tifosi! On to Suzuka!
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) September 17, 2023
👉https://t.co/pKbsuWMf1o
–#CarlosSainz pic.twitter.com/lP8jWV5HP2
Congrats to the team and Carlos for the amazing victory. Did my part in the first stint and then got unlucky with the safety car and lost too many positions. So proud of the steps forward done by the team in the last few weekends, let’s keep pushing ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EOhtljxQ6e
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) September 17, 2023
However, the Ferrari drivers, Sainz and Charles Leclerc, are not willing to get complacent. They know the car has limitations, but they also can see the high downforce circuits are suiting the car more than other tracks. Hence, they can see a way to move forward in the current season. But they are not sure if they will have such a great time on tracks more this season. It is still too early to comment on the consistency of the Ferrari car. Carlos Sainz mentioned the safety car arrived on the scene on Sunday a little too early than expected. But it worked in the end for his team to perfection.
Russell And Hamilton Didn’t Make It Easy For Ferrari In Singapore
But it was not an easy race for Ferrari as McLaren and Mercedes were not very far behind. Moreover, George Russell had an epic clash with McLaren’s Lando Norris for a second-place finish. Adding to that, Lewis Hamilton was right behind Norris and Russell at a good pace. But Lando Norris was stubborn as hell to deny Hamilton and Russell get past him. In the process, it allowed Carlos Sainz to end his team’s winning drought.
On the other hand, George Russell had a stroke of bad luck as he lost balance and went on to hit a wall at the fag end of the race. However, Lewis Hamilton got the chance to get a podium finish after Russell’s DNF end to a pretty good weekend. Since Red Bull had a terrible weekend in the Marina Bay circuit, there were three separate teams on the podium. McLaren’s Norris finished second behind Carlos Sainz Jr. The seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton had a P3 finish.