By Linus O'Howell
Carlos Sainz drove what might have been one of the greatest drives I’ve ever seen to take victory in Singapore and become the first man not in a Red Bull to win in 2023. McLaren’s Lando Norris finished in a brilliant second place whilst Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium for Mercedes.
The most notable moments
Charles Leclerc was able to clear the Mercedes of George Russell into Turn 1 to make it a Ferrari 1-2 whilst Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez collided, resulting in Yuki having to retire on the opening lap.
The race was pretty calm for the first 15 or so laps before a Safety Car was called out after Williams' Logan Sargeant crashed into the wall at Turn 8. This meant that nearly every car came into the pits which cost Charles Leclerc a lot as he was jumped by both George Russell and Lando Norris.
📸 Chaos ensued when Logan Sargeant's Williams hit the wall.
It’s worth mentioning that both of the Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez stayed out, meaning they were right at the front of the field when the race got back underway. However, Max and Checo’s old hard tyres were no match for the fresher tyres of the cars around them as they were past with relative ease by the Ferrari’s, Mercedes, and McLaren of Lando Norris.
The race then again became a strategic one as Carlos Sainz was trying to manage both his tyres and the pace of the cars behind. Verstappen and Perez eventually both pitted and dropped right down to around the back of the order before Esteban Ocon, who was running a super race in his Alpine, pulled over to the side of the track for what looks to have been a hydraulics issue.
📸 Ocon was in a strong points paying position when he was forced to pull over.
This meant that a Virtual Safety Car was called out and Mercedes decided to gamble by pitting both Russell and Hamilton onto a fresh set of Medium Tyres. Fernando Alonso also pitted which turned out horribly for the veteran, and the last 15 laps of the race saw the Mercedes duo trying to hunt down the Top 3 in their attempt to win the race. Both Russell and Hamilton were able to get past Leclerc with relative ease, but it became a lot trickier when they caught up to the back of Lando as Sainz backed off enough to give Norris the DRS, a tool that was allowing the Brit to stay ahead of his fellow Brits.
Whatever they tried, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton just couldn’t get past Lando Norris before on the last lap, Russell hit the wall at Turn 10 and went crashing straight into the barriers from a Podium position! It’s also worth mentioning that Max Verstappen just missed out on getting Charles Leclerc for P4.
📸 Russell's race ended in the worst way as he pressured Norris for second.
Drivers who impressed
There were 3 drivers that Impressed me the most today and the first one is obviously Carlos Sainz. Despite their being a lot of action around him, Carlos managed this race to perfection for what is probably his greatest ever drive in Formula 1! VAMOS!
📸 Sainz took his second career win at Marina Bay.
The second driver that impressed me the most was Lando Norris as I think he had a super day, especially when you consider that his McLaren wasn’t necessarily quicker than either the Ferrari or the Mercedes.
The third and final driver that I have the most praise for is Liam Lawson as he managed to score his first ever points of his Formula 1 Career! To drive this well at a track as difficult as Singapore tells me that Liam deserves a spot on the F1 grid in 2024.
📸 Is Liam Lawson a shoo-in for an F1 seat next year?
I was also impressed by Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Oscar Piastri, and Esteban Ocon who all drove really great races whilst I also feel like Kevin Magnussen deserves a mention for scoring a point for Haas.
Drivers who struggled
There were two drivers that really didn’t impress me today and the first person is Logan Sargeant. I’m starting to get a little bit fed up with Sargeant now as he doesn’t have much pace and he’s now starting to crash the car which really isn’t a good look.
The other driver I wasn’t at all impressed with was Fernando Alonso as he had an absolute shocker! Alonso got a 5-second penalty for crossing the Safety Car line before he later went on to have a 25-second Pit Stop (I’m aware that’s not necessarily his fault). He then locked up and went down the escape road at Turn 14 before he eventually finished last of the running cars.
📸 Alonso was Aston Martin's only driver in the race after Lance Stroll was forced to withdraw on medical grounds after his qualifying crash.
I also thought Valtteri Bottas was poor today whilst Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, and George Russell (who made a silly error) all struggled in their own ways.
Overall Race Results
1) Carlos Sainz: Winner 2)Lando Norris: +0.812, 3) Lewis Hamilton: +1.269, 4) Charles Leclerc: +21.177, 5) Max Verstappen: +21.441, 6) Pierre Gasly: +38.441, 7) Oscar Piastri: +41.479, 8) Sergio Perez: +54.534(+5sec penalty), 9) Liam Lawson: +65.918, 10) Kevin Magnussen: +72.116, 11) Alex Albon: +73.417, 12) Zhou Guanyu: +83.649, 13) Nico Hulkenberg: +86.201, 14) Logan Sargeant: +86.889, 15) Fernando Alonso: +87.603.
DNF: Yuki Tsunoda(damage), George Russell(accident), Valtteri Bottas(mechanical), Esteban Ocon(mechanical).
Withdrew from race: Lance Stroll, qualifying accident.
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Scuderia Ferrari, Scuderia Alpha Tauri, Aston Martin F1.
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