The Singapore Grand Prix provided us with one of the most entertaining races this season. Carlos Sainz took the race win with Lando Norris 2nd and Lewis Hamilton with the final podium position. For the first time this season, a Red Bull driver was not on the podium. Max Verstappen feels that this is a one-time scenario as he expects to be back in the front next week.
After completing the race, Max Verstappen said: “Yeah they can take this one, We’ll go again next weekend”. The Championship leader finished 5th place behind Charles Leclerc. Verstappen would have finished outside the top 5 if Russell had not crashed in the last lap of the race.
Based on the performance from the Singapore Grand Prix, it looks like McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari have made some serious progress in their development. Ferrari and Carlos Sainz have now taken pole position for 2 races in a row. All eyes will be on him while heading to the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.
— Sem¹ (@Semmieeef1) September 17, 2023
Sainz is now proving to be a much better and more consistent driver than Charles Leclerc. The Monagasque driver joined Ferrari back in 2019. At the time, he was considered to be the Tifosi’s next champion. However, since Carlos Sainz joined the team in 2021, he has had some competition.
Getting back to Red Bull, Sergio Perez had an even more disappointing race in Singapore. He only managed to score 3 points with an 8th-place finish. Liam Lawson, who had only driven in 2 races before the Singapore Grand Prix managed to finish in 9th place. This is the best finish for the team this season. But why were the Red Bull lacking pace at the Marina Bay Street Circuit?
Why did Red Bull and Max Verstappen lack pace in the Singapore GP?
Although Red Bull and Max Verstappen have been dominating this season, they seemed to have lacked pace in the Marina Bay Circuit. There are a couple of possibilities as to why the pace was missing for Red Bull in Singapore.
Before the Singapore Grand Prix, the FIA announced 2 new technical directives that forced teams to make changes in the front wing and the floor of the car. While Red Bull was not concerned about the changes to the front wing, they were more bothered with the changes to the floor. This could be the reason for Red Bull’s lack of pace. However, Christian Horner claims that this is not the reason.
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“There isn’t much to gain on the front due to the restrictive regulations.
Teams like Aston Martin and Mercedes play with the deviation [flexion] of the elements, but we are talking about a… pic.twitter.com/o5LouNp9uk
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) September 12, 2023
The other possibility is that the layout of the Singapore Grand Prix simply did not suit the car. Throughout the weekend, Verstappen was complaining about the car’s upshifts. We also saw very poor rear grip in the Red Bulls. A lot of wheel spin was experienced by both drivers. If this is the case, Red Bull will not have to worry about it as they should be back on pace for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Either way, Red Bull’s difficulties gave an entertaining race for the fans. They will be hoping to see similar races in the future. The teams will be heading to the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. The layout there is significantly different from that of the Singapore Grand Prix. We still have one more street circuit left on the calendar which will take place in Las Vegas.
Why do you think Red Bull was struggling for pace in Singapore? Post your answers in the comment section below.
