Introduction
Carlos Sainz transformed pole place right into a second profession victory because the Spaniard held off the cost of Lando Norris and the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell – who crashed on the ultimate lap – to take a well-earned win on the 2023 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – the primary non-Red Bull win of the season.
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Sainz saved a maintain of the lead initially however with Charles Leclerc having opted to begin on the softs, versus these round him on the mediums, the Monegasque was in a position to leap forward of Russell for second place.
He then navigated a Safety Car – attributable to Logan Sargeant crashing into the barrier – to maintain a maintain of the lead, as he later held off the problem of Russell, Norris, and Hamilton.
But after Esteban Ocon – operating in sixth on the time – stopped on observe with a suspected gearbox subject, Mercedes used the Virtual Safety Car to cease their drivers for some new medium tyres, establishing a grandstand end.
But regardless of Russell and Hamilton getting previous Leclerc, they might not overtake Sainz and Norris, with the Spaniard gifting his former McLaren teammate some DRS within the closing phases to carry off the Silver Arrows pair and seal a second profession win.
Russell’s hopes of a podium ended within the barrier at Turn 10 on the ultimate lap as he appeared to get previous Norris for second, permitting the McLaren driver to take his third podium end of the season, whereas Hamilton took third place.
Leclerc was in a position to maintain off the fast-charging Max Verstappen for fourth on the finish, with the Red Bull driver recovering from a troublesome outing that at one stage noticed him being overtaken by the main drivers for the primary time this season to take fifth.
Pierre Gasly was a powerful sixth for Alpine, whereas Oscar Piastri took seventh for McLaren. Sergio Perez ended up eighth – though he’s being investigated for his half in a collision with Alex Albon.
Liam Lawson scored the primary factors of his brief F1 profession for AlphaTauri as he took ninth, forward of the lead Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Alex Albon wound up eleventh for Williams, forward of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and the opposite Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
Both Sargeant and Fernando Alonso had their justifiable share of incidents within the race because the latter had a five-second penalty, a sluggish pit cease, and went off observe to complete final of the remaining runners behind the American rookie in 14th.
Russell’s crash on the finish meant he, alongside Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda – who sustained a puncture within the opening lap of the race – and Ocon didn’t end the race.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
The 2023 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix was an excellent advert for Formula 1. I believe that each one the spectators, these on the observe and people in entrance of their screens, should have been holding their breath proper to the very finish, seeing 4 drivers combating for the honour of being the primary to place an finish to Red Bull’s dominance this season. Really nicely completed to all 4, but additionally to others on this race, not simply the drivers, however these on the pit wall too, as a result of all of them helped to placed on an excellent present with on-track duels and really intense tactical battles.
On the tyre facet, I believe the phrase that finest describes the day is administration. For virtually your entire race, we noticed drivers and groups managing their tempo with a purpose to be in the very best form, not simply to realize the targets they’d set themselves but additionally to be prepared to use any alternative that may come alongside later. One instance of this Is Leclerc’s choice to begin on the Soft to try to instantly cross Russell with a purpose to construct a niche between the Mercedes and Sainz, out within the lead. Or with Mercedes, who had a further set of latest Medium tyres accessible for each drivers and made the a lot of the VSC to alter technique and subsequently go on the assault proper to the very finish, difficult Sainz for the win.
(*1*)
From a technical standpoint, the three compounds carried out as anticipated when it comes to degradation. The one-stop proved to be the quickest technique, with the two-stop solely working when the race was neutralised. The Hard and the Medium noticed probably the most use, which was additionally what was anticipated, however the Soft, which is usually thought of primarily as a qualifying compound, additionally confirmed it had an element to play within the first stint.
How the race was gained from the tyre standpoint:
Most drivers (13 of the 19) selected to begin on the Medium compound, with the remaining six divided equally between the Soft and Hard. However, the Soft proved to be a tactically sound alternative for Zhou within the Alfa Romeo, because the Chinese driver, ranging from the pit lane, pitted instantly to try to run your entire race on the Hard. The Safety Car got here out on lap 20, triggering a rush for the pit lane, with all of the drivers who had began on the Medium coming in to modify to the Hard, whereas those that had began on the latter stayed out on observe earlier than making their solely pit cease at round two-thirds race distance. Shortly after, on lap 44, one other VSC produced one other alternative to combine issues up. That is what the Mercedes pair did together with the Williams, coming in for Medium tyres, whereas Alonso and Magnussen pitted for Softs. In the closing phases of the race, the C4 proved to be very fast for each Hamilton and Russell, who quickly closed on the leaders (Sainz and Norris) and for Verstappen and Perez, who used the additional tempo to return from the again to complete within the factors.
Of the three drivers who began on the Hard, Hamilton and Bottas completed greater than their grid place, two higher for the English Mercedes driver and 4 for Alfa Romeo’s Finn. Magnussen, nevertheless, solely made up one place as a result of the 2 drivers forward of him didn’t make it to the chequered flag.
What’s subsequent?
No relaxation on the Formula 1 calendar, as subsequent weekend it’s time for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka from 22 to 24 September. Tyres would be the C1 compound because the P Zero White exhausting, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red comfortable to take care of the lateral and vertical masses the tyres are subjected to at this twisty observe with a extremely abrasive floor over its size of virtually six kilometres.
2023 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix Race Results
| 1. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:46:37.418 | 25 | 142 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +0.812s | 18 | 97 |
| 3. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +1.269s | 16 | 180 |
| 4. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | +21.177s | 12 | 123 |
| 5. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +21.441s | 10 | 374 |
| 6. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +38.441s | 8 | 45 |
| 7. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +41.479s | 6 | 42 |
| 8. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +59.534s | 4 | 223 |
| 9. | 40 | Liam Lawson | New Zealand | Scuderia AlphaTauri | +65.918s | 2 | 2 |
| 10. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +72.116s | 1 | 3 |
| 11. | 45 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | +73.417s | 0 | 21 |
| 12. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Alfa Romeo F1 Team | +83.649s | 0 | 4 |
| 13. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +86.201s | 0 | 9 |
| 14. | 2 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Racing | +86.889s | 0 | 0 |
| 15. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +87.603s | 0 | 170 |
| 16. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | DNF | 0 | 109 |
| 17. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Alfa Romeo F1 Team | DNF | 0 | 6 |
| 18. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | DNF | 0 | 36 |
| 19. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Scuderia AlphaTauri | DNS | 0 | 3 |
| 20. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | DNS | 0 | 47 |
2023 Constructor Standings
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
