The strips need to be cut. The trivial and hackneyed phrase is ideally suited to Red Bull’s presence in Formula 1. The energy drink team has claimed 15 consecutive victories, including the event that closed the 2022 financial year and the 14 victories in the current tournament, with its star Max Verstappen was celebrated 13 times, the last ten in a row. The RB19, the model of the 2023 season, performed perfectly on every track that the category visited. Until the city race of Marina Bay came, where the Singapore GP has been held since 2008, this time as the 16th date (Emilia Romagna was banned, so it is the 15th competition). There, the Austrian team’s powerful car showed unprecedented deficiencies and the majority are happy about the chance to at least steal some success from it.
Singapore, a race experienced on Star+, appeared before the start of the event as the most complex link in Red Bull’s chain of success and its goal of winning all Grands Prix of the season. “If we win in Singapore, there is a chance we will win all the races. “I have to say that Ferrari and especially Leclerc are specialists there,” announced Helmut Marko, advisor to the world champion team, before arriving in the small Asian city-state. Yas Marina was the trouble that could complicate the chance of further success and the start of testing showed that, as Marko had warned, the Scuderia’s cars were very strong, with Carlos Sainz ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc. Checo Pérez, seventh, was the best for Red Bull, while the two-time champion was only eighth.
Singapore is not a good place for Red Bull and especially for Max. While the Red Bull team is, along with Mercedes, the team that has won the road the most times (four times each), three of the Austrian celebrations were during the periods of Sebastian Vettel’s dominance (2011, 2012 and 2013). ). Checo Pérez achieved his fourth success last year, while Verstappen still has Marina Bay on his side.
True, it was just the training sessions and the reality will only become apparent in the classification. But the signals the Dutchman gave were clear: “We are much worse than expected. We didn’t understand some things; we still have a lot to do. We suffered a lot from the balance of the car. We tried a few things.” In the second training session, some worked, others didn’t. We will try to improve, but the difference is quite big.”
The Red Bull’s performance was poor and the two-time champion was 732 thousandths behind Sainz. For the first time this season, the Milton Keynes team looks “earthly”. It’s not the unbeatable team that goes out on the pitch and gives their best when they want to. The RB19 seemed slow and nervous. “It will be difficult with the rear, especially in Free Practice 2. We expected Ferrari to be strong, we want to make compromises, but it will be difficult,” explained Pérez.
TRAINING RESULTS
Who could now take advantage of the opportunity that Red Bull offers in Singapore? The training shows that it could be Ferrari. Now it is nothing unusual for the Scuderia to show performance in one lap. The big problem for the Maranello cars is racing speed, because the SF-23 destroys the tires. And Singapore in particular is not a particularly rubber-consumption-friendly route, even if the renovation in the third sector, which eliminates hard braking curves, is a relief for the tires.
If Ferrari suffers again in the race, which is to be expected, Mercedes, Aston Martin and McLaren will be in the hunt. The Silver Arrows showed good pace in the racing simulation, Fernando Alonso is the ace of spades of the green cars and is known to get the best out of the competition. And Norris is the standard bearer for Woking. This group of four drivers (the German team has Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the fray) are the hounds who will pursue the prey called victory in Formula 1. For the rest of the season, including Las Vegas, which will be a new and new race. Therefore, as everyone knows, it seems difficult for Red Bull to show itself as fallible as in Singapore. The urban Asian appears to be the only strong chip for the rest, making full use of it.
