The nervousness on the Ferrari wall was palpable. With five laps to go in Sunday’s thrilling Singapore Grand Prix, less than two seconds separated race leader Carlos Sainz in first from Lewis Hamilton in fourth. McLaren’s Lando Norris in second was closing in, within the critical DRS limit of one second. The warning from Sainz’s track engineer, Riccardo Adami, was quick: “Lando, 0.8 (seconds) behind with DRS”.
But the Spaniard was one step ahead, pulling off a meticulous balancing act that ultimately secured him his second Formula 1 win. “Yes, that’s on purpose,” he replied. At that point everything made sense.
For a team chasing its first victory in more than a year, often vilified for its mistakes in the strategy department, all it needed was a clear sense of thought and direction from the driver in the cockpit. Sainz wasn’t particularly concerned about Norris’ pace behind him. Instead, the dual threat posed by Mercedes’ George Russell and Hamilton, who turned a second a lap faster on new tires in third and fourth, was the main focus of his thinking.
What a great balance it was. Keep Norris close enough behind him – a second – to give him a crucial speed boost on the straights to defend against Russell, but not so close that Norris himself can reach first place. In the end it was a masterstroke that worked perfectly.
“I knew more or less my pace compared to Lando and how difficult it was to overtake here,” Sainz explained later. “I knew it was tough and if George and Lewis had to overtake, I would be dead meat too. So I needed him to hold on as long as possible.
“A couple of laps I was 1.2 or 1.3 seconds ahead of Lando, so I slowed down a bit to give him the DRS at turn seven, which was just enough for him to hold onto it and keep my race under control. . It’s not easy, because you put yourself at risk and you can’t make mistakes, but it was my strategy and it worked.”
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, beaming after taking his first victory at the helm of the Scuderia, confirmed that the ploy was Sainz’s idea. “He knew he was more at risk with Mercedes than with Norris,” said the Frenchman. “With Norris we had the same tires and almost the same pace from the first lap. We weren’t really at risk with Norris unless we lost the tyres, so it was a smart move by Carlos to keep Norris in the DRS.”
Carlos Sainz secured victory in Singapore by helping out second-placed Lando Norris
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Sainz meticulously found the right balance to achieve a deserved victory under the lights
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It was fitting that Norris was also the beneficiary. Sainz and the Englishman were teammates at McLaren for two years and are still close friends. Norris admitted that the DRS boost was “very generous” and, although he finished 0.812 seconds off first place, he was happy to secure his ninth career podium. However, that first victory continues to elude him.
As for Russell? The desire, bordering on desperation, to win was ultimately his undoing. A slight skid with the wall caused his Mercedes to derail on the final lap, hitting the wall. It was a tough and dramatic end to the 62-lap, high-humidity race for the Englishman, with Hamilton instead finishing on the final podium. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insisted post-race that it would be an “arm on the shoulder” approach rather than a thorough autopsy. Fittingly, as Russell’s courageous approach almost gave him a brilliant comeback victory.
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But more than Russell’s mistake and Sainz’s mastery, what Sunday really showed us – in some ways quite depressingly – is what this season could have been. With Red Bull surprisingly out of contention – affected by a lack of tire grip and car balance on a notoriously outlier circuit on the F1 calendar – the ensuing battle between Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes was enthralling to watch. The battle behind the No. 1 team has been close all year. Only this time it was for first place.
Red Bull’s winning streak came to an end in Singapore and they didn’t even make the podium
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The Marina Bay Street Circuit marked the end of Max Verstappen’s winning streak and sparked talk of an unprecedented perfect season for Red Bull. The Flying Dutchman, who finished fifth after starting 11ththhe can now not win his third world title in Japan this weekend, while his crowning moment is likely to come two weeks later in Qatar.
However, the return to the typical Suzuka circuit will likely see Christian Horner’s team return to the top. Ferrari’s increased pace in the last two races, having also taken pole at Monza two weeks ago, has undoubtedly created a sense of intrigue, a spark of something different in a season of Red Bull dominance.
Going forward, however, there is a lot for Ferrari to learn and maintain after Sainz’s extraordinary driving on Sunday. Chaos should no longer reign in the strategy department. No more shouting “AF plans” on the team radio, confusing drivers and spectators. No longer should Sainz and Charles Leclerc stand by and watch as choices on the pit wall dampen their aspirations.
Sometimes it’s best to keep things simple and leave the racing decisions to the men behind the wheel. The team’s hunt for chief strategists was easier than they thought.