Sainz ends Red Bull’s and Verstappen’s F1 winning streak with victory in Singapore GP

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ended Red Bull’s and Max Verstappen’s consecutive winning streak after the Spanaird secured a tough victory in Singapore. 

Sainz secured his second career victory at the Singapore Grand Prix after he led the race from lights to flag, racing with a masterful ability to keep the fast-charging Mercedes behind him. 

Although both the Mercedes drivers were on brand new medium tyres while McLaren’s Lando Norris and Sainz were on used hard tyres, the Ferrari driver managed his pace perfectly to give his former teammate DRS to help his defence.  

In his victory, Sainz said:

“We executed the weekend perfectly on my side and I think we managed the final thrilling part to perfection, giving Lando (Norris) DRS and controlling the pace all race long. 

“Of course, pitting earlier meant we had to make our tyres last for a longer stint and the final laps were on the limit, but I’m extremely happy we made it work.

“Tonight we celebrate, but from tomorrow we’ll start preparing Suzuka. Let’s keep it up.”

Sainz’s first win of 2023 also marked the first time this season that a non-Red Bull driver secured victory in a race. In turn, this has now ended Red Bull’s and Max Verstappen’s winning streak of 15 and 10 consecutive race wins respectively. 

How it happened…

When the lights went out, Sainz was clear of any real danger from both his teammate Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell as the two fought over second and third. 

This allowed the Spaniard to get a clear run through the opening corners as Leclerc settled into second and Russell filtered into fourth after being briefly overtaken by his teammate Lewis Hamilton at the run-off area. 

Ferrari quickly ordered Leclerc to manage a gap to Sainz of three seconds before they upgraded it to five seconds. At the same time, Sainz held station out in front with a steady speed as the Scuderia attempted to hold up the field to avoid anyone from pitting and gaining an advantage.

Despite a safety car intervention for debris out on the track, after Williams’ Logan Sargeant collided nose-first into the barrier at turn eight, allowed Sainz to pit and return out in the lead ahead of the Red Bull duo and Russell. 

After Verstappen and Perez pitted under green flag conditions and fell down the order, it left Sainz to contend with Russell, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Hamilton. 

However, the virtual safety car was deployed later on as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon peeled off the circuit in between turns two and three. While Sainz and Norris opted to stay out, both Mercedes decided to come in. 

As a result of the late pit stop under VSC, Russell and Hamilton were charging through the field as they quickly dispatched Leclerc who dropped down to fifth place. However, when the two Silver Arrows approached the gearbox of Norris’ McLaren neither driver could find a way past. 

Whenever Norris was under threat from both Russell and Hamilton, Sainz controlled his pace enough to make sure the McLaren driver was not going to overtake him yet remained close enough to provide his former teammate with DRS. 

The DRS for Norris, in turn, made it all that much harder for Russell and Hamilton to overtake the McLaren – preserving Sainz’s lead.  

On the final lap, both Mercedes were not able to find a way past Norris to get within touching distance of Sainz. However, it was a heartbreaking end for Russell who clipped the barrier at the corner entry of turn 10, on lap 62 of 62, and quickly found himself deep inside the barrier and out of the race.

When the chequered flag fell, Sainz took victory ahead of Norris and Hamilton who finished second and third respectively. The top three were all separated by 1.2 seconds as they completed the podium.

That’s all for the article: Sainz ends Red Bull’s and Verstappen’s F1 winning streak with victory in Singapore GP

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Sainz on pole for Singapore GP as both Red Bull’s exit after Q2
• Sainz completes practice clean sweep for Ferrari in Singapore GP FP3
• Ferrari clean sweep Friday with Sainz quickest in FP2
• Leclerc leads in Singapore as Lizards litter FP1
• FIA issue ‘certificates of compliance’ to all 10 teams
• Carlos Sainz victim of robbery outside hotel after Italian GP podium

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.