Carlos Sainz is arguably in the form of his life since the Formula 1 summer break. However, he is driving a Ferrari in a season of Red Bull domination. But the Singapore GP finally gave him just rewards for his form as Red Bull fumbled with their setup. This left an open goal for the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren. And boy, did they score one!
An Excellent Qualifying
Qualifying is extremely important at the Singapore GP. Although it’s better than Monaco, you still need a pretty big delta to overtake another car. And Carlos Sainz is teamed up with arguably the best qualifier on the Formula 1 grid.
But like Monza, Carlos Sainz had the wood over Charles Leclerc throughout the weekend. Come Q3, it wouldn’t change. The Spaniard was 0.250s ahead of his teammate after their first runs. The second runs were much closer, and he ended up with pole position ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes. Charles Leclerc found himself third, just 0.079s behind his teammate.
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Big Brains during the Race
At the Singapore GP, we often see something counterintuitive to Formula 1 racing. The drivers in the lead drive slowly during the first few laps. This is because they want to prevent the field from spreading out, thereby preventing an undercut by drivers behind.
Carlos Sainz and Ferrari executed that to perfection. With a well-timed safety car, he managed to do a pitstop and still come out in the lead. However, a late Virtual Safety Car allowed both Mercedes to pit for a new set of mediums.
They started catching them at a rate of knots. They caught up and passed Charles Leclerc in a few laps. As they started to catch Lando Norris in P2, you would think Carlos Sainz would make a dash for it. However, he instead chose to slow down and provide DRS to Norris.
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This in turn helped Norris defend against both the Mercedes which in turn protected his lead. At the end of a grueling 62 laps of the Singapore GP, Carlos Sainz became the first Red Bull driver in 308 days to see the chequered flag first.
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