Carlos Sainz claims second win of his F1 career in Singapore to end Ferrari's win drought; Spaniard comes home less than a second ahead of Lando Norris; Lewis Hamilton completes podium after George Russell crashes out on final lap; Max Verstappen fifth as his and Red Bull's win streak ends
Wednesday 20 September 2023 02:26, UK
Carlos Sainz withstood a thrilling finish to the Singapore Grand Prix to claim Ferrari's first win since July 2022 and end Red Bull's victory run.
Sainz led from lights out to the chequered flag as he cleverly managed the race to secure the second F1 win of his career by just 0.812 seconds from Lando Norris.
Mercedes had set up a grandstand finish by pitting both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton for fresh tyres under a Virtual Safety Car with 18 laps to go.
But Sainz helped former McLaren team-mate Norris defend against the two Mercedes with DRS availability and Russell crashed out on the final lap in his last-ditch efforts to catch Norris, opening the door for Hamilton to complete the podium.
"An incredible feeling, incredible weekend. I want to thank everyone in Ferrari for making this huge effort to turn around and win this season after a tricky beginning," Sainz said.
"But now we nailed a weekend and nailed the race. We did everything we had to do. We did it perfect and we brought home a P1 that I'm sure all of Italy and Ferrari will be proud."
Meanwhile, Red Bull and Max Verstappen's record winning runs will stay at 15 and 10 consecutive victories respectively.
From 11th on the grid, Verstappen eventually came home fifth, behind Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari who had lost out in the pit stops during an early Safety Car period.
Pierre Gasly was sixth in the Alpine - whose team-mate Esteban Ocon had caused the late VSC after stopping on track - ahead of Oscar Piastri who drove a brilliant recovery from 17th on the grid.
Sergio Perez was eighth in the second Red Bull ahead of Liam Lawson, who picked up his first points in Formula 1.
Kevin Magnussen claimed the final point-scoring position in 10th for Haas.
Singapore GP result
1) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
6) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
7) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
8) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
9) Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri
10) Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Sainz got away well off the line to hold onto the lead while team-mate Leclerc, who opted to start on the soft tyre unlike those around him, got past Russell before Turn One.
Hamilton also started brilliantly from fifth and was alongside Russell into Turn One but had to take to the run-off zone to avoid contact, with the seven-time world champion then having to give up positions to Russell and Norris having gained an advantage off track.
Verstappen was able to get past Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg in the opening two laps and had made his way up to eighth by lap eight as he passed Magnussen.
Red Bull started Verstappen and Perez on hard tyres in a bid to make up positions when those ahead pitted earlier, and the Dutchman found himself being told over team radio to fall back from Ocon in seventh during the early stages to avoid wrecking his tyres.
And out front, Leclerc was frequently being told by Ferrari to let Sainz build a gap in the lead to make a pit stop possible.
However, debris left behind by Logan Sargeant hitting the wall at Turn Eight on lap 19 required a Safety Car and Leclerc was the big loser as Ferrari were forced to hold him in his box for traffic, losing four places.
Red Bull did not pit Verstappen and Perez which initially lifted them into second and fourth, but after the Safety Car came back in Russell swiftly passed Verstappen before Norris made his way past the two Red Bulls to move up to third.
The two Red Bulls continued to fall backwards and after eventually pitting on laps 39 and 40, Verstappen and Perez found themselves 15th and 18th.
The race at the front was blown wide open on lap 43 when Ocon ground to a halt in a smoking Alpine at the exit of the pit lane.
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed and Mercedes made the call to pit Russell from second and Hamilton from fourth for fresh medium tyres that the Silver Arrows had saved.
That gave them 18 laps in clear air to chase down Leclerc, Norris and Sainz, and both Mercedes drivers made swift work of getting past Leclerc with 10 laps remaining.
As the race entered its final five laps, just 2.5 seconds covered the top four and with three laps to go Russell made an attack on Norris.
The pair went wheel to wheel, but Norris was able to hold onto second, enabling leader Sainz to build a bit of a gap ahead.
But the Ferrari driver cleverly allowed Norris to close back to within DRS range again to help his defence, and as Russell attempted an attack on the final lap, he clipped the wall at Turn 10 to crash out.
In the end, just 1.2 seconds covered the top three, with Sainz's victory Ferrari's first since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix.
"Carlos was very generous trying to help me get DRS. It helped my race and it also helped his," said Norris.
"We knew it was going to be tough as soon as the Mercedes boxed, especially with only a couple of cars for them to overtake, but we are on the podium, P2, and we held them off.
"We did everything we needed to do and more. So super happy."
Red Bull had opted for the hard tyre for Verstappen and Perez in the hope of leapfrogging cars ahead when they pitted, but the Safety Car for Sargeant's crash left them unable to capitalise and they swiftly fell back once racing resumed.
But having been in the bottom three runners when they came out after their pit stops, Verstappen and Perez were able to climb back into the points to finish fifth and eighth on their fresher medium tyres.
Verstappen now leads Perez by 151 points in the Drivers' Championship while Red Bull will have a second opportunity to win the Constructors' Championship next weekend in Japan.
Hamilton is up to third in the Drivers' Championship after his third-place finish, moving above Fernando Alonso who ended up having a torrid evening in the Aston Martin.
The Spaniard received a five-second time penalty for a pit-entry infringement, then suffered a slow pit stop after serving his penalty before going wide at Turn 14 to be last of the cars to finish in 15th.
But in his third race for AlphaTauri, Lawson again pressed his claim for a full-time race seat in 2024 by recovering from losing places in the opening laps to come home ninth.
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