Red Bull Loses Their Unbreakable Winning Streak

On September 17, the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix took place at the Marina Bay circuit. This was the 15th race out of 23 from the entire season. The Singapore Grand Prix is a street circuit. One lap around the circuit measures 5.063 km and has 23 corners. There are 61 laps throughout the race. It is the most physically demanding race of the season for the drivers due to the high humidity. Drivers usually lose around 3 kg of weight during the race.

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It is no secret that Red Bull has dominated the entire season. They have won every race with 12 race wins for Max Verstappen and 2 Sergio Perez. Red Bull had an invincible streak throughout the season, with no other team being a threat to beating them or matching their speed because the Red Bull car appears to be consistent in all tracks and conditions.

Throughout the season, some midfield teams have had opportunities to be on the podium. At the beginning of the season, Aston Martin was the only team that seemed closer to challenging Red Bull. Later in the season, Mclaren made some upgrades that made them competitive in some races and recently Ferrari and Mercedes have shown a stronger pace. However, no one has reached Red Bull’s level.

The race weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix began on Friday with the first free practice session, where drivers had one hour to test their cars around the circuit and modify the last few details to optimize the car for Sunday. During this first practice, Ferrari showed to be the strongest car on track, with their two drivers setting the fastest laps. Charles Leclerc with a lap time of 1:33.350 and Carlos Sainz with a lap time of 1:33.428. Max Verstappen came in third with a slightly slower lap time of 1:33.476.

Later that day, during the second practice session, Ferrari once again showed to be the quickest car on track, with Carlos Sainz having the quickest lap time of 1:32.120, and Charles Leclerc coming in second with a lap time of 1:32.138. Red Bull surprised everyone by not being near the top, with their drivers only being capable of getting the 7th and 8th fastest times.

On Saturday, during qualifying, both Red Bull drivers were out during Q2. It was the first time Max Verstappen did not advance to Q1 in the entire season. This gave other teams the opportunity to start the race at the front. Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes had a close battle for the fastest lap time, but Sainz continued to show his potential by delivering a well executed lap that got him the pole position.

The top ten in the starting grid for the race consisted of Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), George Russell (Mercedes), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lando Norris (Mclaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Liam Lawson (Alpha Tauri), with Red Bull drivers starting in 11th and 13th positions.

The race was completely strategic. Most cars began with medium tires, while Charles Leclerc started with soft tires to be able to pass George Russell at the start to have the advantage of having both Ferraris leading the race. As the race progressed, Ferrari sacrificed Leclerc, slowing him down, so that Sainz could make his pit stop without losing too many positions. A crash by Logan Sargent caused a yellow flag and a safety car. During the safety car period, the first five cars pitted, leading to double pit stops for Mercedes and Ferrari. While exiting his pit stop Leclerc encountered traffic with Hamilton causing him to lose some time and valuable positions.

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With new tires, both the Ferrari cars, both the Mercedes cars, and the McLaren car were able to effortlessly pass Red Bull and gain back the positions they lost. Mercedes had an extra pair of medium tires for both of their cars that they didn’t use during the practice sessions and qualifying, giving them an advantage. Both Mercedes cars eventually made a second pit stop to switch to the new medium tires. With fresh tires, they became the fastest cars on track and worked their way to the front to challenge for the win once more. They easily overtook Charles Leclerc to position themselves in third and fourth. With each lap George Russell got closer to Lando Norris, threatening to take second place. Carlos Sainz made the strategic decision to slow down, even though he was trying to win, to help Norris keep his second place. Sainz knew that he would not be able to keep Russell behind by himself so he slowed down giving Norris the DRS advantage to help protect him from Russell.

On the final lap of the race, George Rusell crashed, losing his chance to win the race. The race concluded with Carlos Sainz in first place, Lando Norris in second place, and Lewis Hamilton. Both Red Bull drivers missed out on the podium, with Max Verstappen in fifth place and Sergio Perez in eighth place.

The Spanish driver Carlos Sainz broke Red Bull's winning streak, becoming the first driver from another team to win a race this season. He executed a perfect strategy and race to be able to take the win even when he did not have the fastest car on track.

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