Crouching. So all Formula 1 teams were waiting for a setback from Red Bull, the team that completely dominated the 2023 World Cup year broadcast on Star+ (without Mexico). The Austrian team’s victories did not stop and the 74th season of this category featured a complete parade of blue cars. But in Singapore came the Waterloo of the energy drinks team and there was a raffle for a Grand Prix. And the ball went to Ferrari, with a great weekend from Carlos Sainz, who won brilliantly, adding his second success in Formula 1 after the one at Silverstone in 2022.
The dominance of Spanish in the small Asian city-state was total. He was the fastest in testing on Friday, took pole on Saturday and dominated the race from start to finish on Sunday. The great celebration in the Ferrari pits went far beyond the actual success. The thing is that the season in the Maranello house was very bad. The SF-23 was designed on the wrong development path and a good example of this is that Frédéric Vasseur, the Frenchman who arrived in January this year to take over the position of general director of the team and replace Mattia Binotto, has already warned about this The 2024 model will be completely new. Unless regulations change, clean passes and updates to the previous year’s car are generally carried out. But in Italy they have already decided to keep the SF-23 in a far corner of the museum to avoid memories.
However, Ferrari didn’t throw in the towel. They fought to make up for a lost year, because for the only team with a perfect presence in all Formula 1 seasons, that has won the most titles, that has celebrated the most victories and that has the most fans in the world, the only one what counts is victory. The 2023 chassis gave insights into the year, especially in qualifying. The powerful engine that powers it hides the car’s biggest weakness on Saturdays: racing speed. The biggest problem was the enormous wear on the tires. During the holiday break, La Rossa gambled away its last chips in order to achieve at least one success. In Monza, where Sainz took pole, they put in a lot of effort but couldn’t beat the Red Bull’s pace. And they arrived at the same pace as the last European date of the year in Singapore, where they showed the best racing pace of the year.
The biggest help Ferrari had in the Singaporean urban area was of course the disappearance of Red Bull. The Austrian cars were uncompetitive and then the Rossa appeared. But it wasn’t easy for him. Because Mercedes and McLaren were also waiting for Christian Horner’s team to slip up. And there was the event in Singapore. The end of the race was electrifying as the difference between four cars was so small that from second to fourth place they all had DRS activated. Carry on, Sainz, hold on. Back Lando Norris, who is threatening some success. And then the Arrows tandem with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
The German team had more peace. In a strategic move, they took advantage of the virtual safety car period that caused Esteban Ocon to retire, and the two Englishmen pitted to put on new medium tires. And they started turning at an unstoppable pace in the last 20 laps. But they met Norris (both had previously overtaken Charles Leclerc without any problems), and the McLaren driver held them back as best he could. Hamilton finally completed the podium after a mistake by Russell, who ended up crashing into the barriers. A mistake that could cost the designers dearly at the end of the year in the tight battle for second place.
“It’s an incredible feeling, an incredible weekend, thanks to the entire team. They did a great job turning around a difficult start. We did everything we had to do, we did it perfectly and we are.” “Leaving with a victory that all of Ferrari and all of Italy will certainly be very proud of,” said Sainz after his victory, his 243rd. in the history of the Scuderia. “I gave Lando DRS at the end to help him and we got the win. I felt like I had the calm and the distance to do what I could do, but I’m not going to lie, you’re under pressure and if you make a mistake things can go wrong. “I was in control at all times,” added the Madrid native.
Ferrari was the one who made the most of Red Bull’s distraction. Will there be more? It seems difficult. The same priests of the Austrian team had expected the poor performance in Singapore, but are looking forward to the rest of the season with very good eyes. Maybe that’s why Norris and Hamilton wanted more, although the Mercedes driver left with the extra point of the lap record and with the 16 points he scored, he overtook Fernando Alonso (he was 15th) and secured third place in the world championship. The six-time champion is the best of the rest and of course beats the two Red Bulls.
