Max Verstappen (Red Bull) slipped to fifth place in the Singapore Grand Prix (GP), round 16 of the 2023 Formula One (F1) World Championship, failing to extend his winning streak to 11 races this season.
Verstappen finished fifth in the Singapore GP final on Sunday at Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit (4.940 kilometers – 62 laps), missing out on victory.
It was a disappointing end to a streak of 10 consecutive wins in the last 15 rounds, which set a new record for the longest winning streak in a single season.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), who qualified first, claimed his first victory of the season in a ‘pole-to-win’ fashion, starting from the front row of the grid and crossing the chequered flag first with a time of 1:46.37.418.
This makes Ferrari the first team to beat Red Bull (14 wins) to the top step of the podium in rounds 1-16 (round 6 was canceled) this season. It was also the first time this season that a Red Bull driver did not finish on the podium.
Lando Norris (McLaren) finished second by 0.812 seconds, with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) third by 1.269 seconds to join Sainz on the winning podium. It was Norris’ third second-place finish of the season.
At the Marina Bay Street circuit, where overtaking is not easy, Sainz defended his front row grid advantage all the way to victory.
Perstappen, meanwhile, started the race on the 11th row of the grid after qualifying 11th the day before, on hard tires that were more durable but less grippy. His strategy was to minimize pit stops to save time and improve his position.
Teammate Sergio Perez also started the race on hard tires from the 13th row of the grid.
However, Perstappen and Pérez (8th) had to settle for crossing the line faster than their starting positions.
Sainz, who started the race on the grippy but less durable soft tires, maintained his lead until he pitted on lap 21 to switch to the hard tires.
From lap 58, Sainz, Norris, George Russell (Mercedes) and Hamilton battled for the lead, with tension building on lap 59 when Sainz radioed that his front tire was “at the end of its life”.
The gap between Sainz and Norris shrank as the race entered the final 62 laps, with Russell, running third, retiring after colliding with the wall off Turn 10.
Sainz held on to the lead until the very end, crossing the finish line to take the win.
It will be more than a year since Sainz’s last podium finish at the British GP in July 2022. 파워볼게임