La RedazioneCarlos Sainz Jr. has delivered a masterpiece for Ferrari! The Prancing Horse has put an end to Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s record-breaking streak of 10 consecutive wins under the lights of Singapore. Sainz painted a perfect victory on the illuminated streets of Marina Bay, managing every phase of the race flawlessly. While Red Bull was absent, McLaren and Mercedes attempted to take advantage of the reigning world champion’s off weekend. Sainz replicated his performance from Monza, where his podium finish behind Verstappen and Perez, but ahead of Charles Leclerc, felt like a victory. And now in Singapore, he has achieved a well-deserved win, his second as a Ferrari driver. He secured pole position on Saturday and executed a brilliant race strategy, including allowing Norris to use DRS to defend against George Russell’s attacks. Russell, with fresher tires, attempted a comeback but ultimately crashed on the final lap. Checkmate!
At the start, Leclerc made an excellent move using the soft tires to overtake Russell, who then found himself in a battle with Hamilton. Hamilton cut the first chicane and failed to immediately give back the position to his teammate, which he eventually did on the second lap. Meanwhile, Sainz held onto the lead, and the two Ferraris attempted to pull away while keeping an eye on Russell. Hamilton also gave back the position to Lando Norris, starting his race from fifth. Verstappen, on the other hand, began his comeback from 11th place, overtaking Hulkenberg and Magnussen’s Haas cars to reach eighth by the seventh lap.
Sainz managed the first part of the race without extending his lead too much. The gap between him and Verstappen remained at 11 seconds in the first 15 laps. By the 20th lap, the gap had increased to 16 seconds, but that’s when the Safety Car was deployed due to debris on the track from Sargeant’s Williams. This triggered pit stops for Ferrari and Mercedes, with Leclerc losing valuable time to avoid an unsafe release. Verstappen, however, did not pit, and as the leaders returned to the track, he found himself in second place behind Sainz, with Perez, also without a pit stop, in fourth ahead of Norris and Leclerc. Hamilton overtook Leclerc on the restart of the 23rd lap due to a braking mistake while trying to attack Norris. Fresh tires made a difference for those who had them, and Verstappen was unable to defend against Russell and Norris, who overtook the Dutchman in just two laps, closing in on Sainz. Hamilton and Leclerc also caught up and passed Verstappen on the 27th and 28th laps, respectively. Red Bull’s strategy of not pitting did not pay off, as Max and Checo found themselves in sixth and seventh positions, struggling with worn-out tires from the start of the race.
After the pit stops, another race began, with Sainz managing his pace and tire wear, while Russell eagerly awaited an opportunity to attack, while also needing to preserve his hard tires until the end of the 62-lap race. George remained within striking distance, but the same cannot be said for the two Red Bulls, who pitted on the 40th and 41st laps, dropping to 15th and 17th positions with no hope of a comeback. However, the race heated up once again. Excitement ensued on the 43rd lap when Ocon’s Alpine stopped at the exit of the pit lane, prompting the Virtual Safety Car. Russell and Hamilton pitted to switch to medium tires and challenge the Ferraris and Norris’ McLaren, who chose not to pit. Russell began his comeback 15 seconds behind the leaders.
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