2023 Singapore Grand Prix | 7 talking points

1. Sainz plays it cool in Singapore…

For most of the way, 29-year-old Sainz was forced to run in conservative management mode to ensure he still had some life in his Pirelli tyres when it counted, on a one-stop strategy. A safety car intervention on lap 19 when Logan Sargeant lost the nose of his Williams forced the Spaniard and most of his rivals to pit earlier than he’d wished to give up his mediums – which left him to complete a marathon 42 laps on the white-walled hards.

When it did count towards the end Sainz reported his “front tyres were finished” as Lando Norris and the two black Mercedes loomed large in his mirrors. But still Sainz managed to pull the strings up front, lapping at a pace that allowed Norris to pick up a DRS tow – which in turn aided the McLaren’s defence against the hard-charging and better-tyred George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. What intelligent manipulation under intense pressure. That clever tactic earned Sainz a memorable second grand prix victory, in the wake of his British GP success last season, and also ended Ferrari’s lean spell which dates back to Charles Leclerc’s Austrian GP win in July last year. The bells will be chiming all week in Maranello.

2. Joy for Norris, heartbreak for Russell in Singapore

A third runner-up finish in six races was met with whoops of joy by Norris who was grateful to his old friend Sainz for the helping hand against the Mercs in those final laps – even if Carlos’s motivation was entirely selfish!

The trigger for the exciting finish was a sudden divergence on pit strategy. Like Ferrari’s race winner and also Leclerc, Norris chose not to stop under the Virtual Safety Car caused by Esteban Ocon’s lack of drive in his Alpine, the Frenchman finding himself forced to park on the exit of the pitlane at Turn 2. But both of the black cars came in, stacking for a set of mediums each – and leaving them with a massive offset tyre advantage for the closing 17 laps. Finally, the race for Singapore glory was set alight.

Starting beside Sainz on the front row, Russell had run second to Sainz for the duration – bar the opening lap when team-mate Hamilton passed him and also Norris by running off course at the first two turns, before handing the places back. It had been a long night for Russell, who was forced to bide his time in the chess-like stalemate at the front – until his team threw the dice on that opportunistic switch to mediums.

It was a great call, as both Russell and Hamilton – now running fourth and fifth – made the most of their huge grip advantage. Leclerc was quickly demoted and as the laps counted down the black cars honed in on the red and orange ones. As he said on the radio, Russell was here for the win – only for his night to unravel.

If anything, it was Hamilton who had the greater pace in those closing laps, but Marina Bay would have had to freeze over if he thought his team-mate was about to cede and allow him a run for the victory. As the laps counted down Russell piled on the pressure to Norris, but that bit of DRS help from Sainz just kept the McLaren out of reach. Then on the final lap both of them lightly clipped the kerb and wall on the way into Turn 13 left-hander. Norris got away with it, Russell didn’t, his Mercedes nosing straight on into the tyre wall. How painful – even if physically he was absolutely fine. Thus a muted Hamilton inherited the podium third, perhaps wondering what might have been had he only nailed the start and taken Russell and Norris fairly, and whether he might then have had greater fortune in taking on Sainz.

3. Verstappen’s F1 win streak comes to an end

The record will remain at 10 consecutive wins, then. And we can finally forget about Red Bull completing an ‘Invincibles’ season and winning every race. The blue and yellow cars were strangely off the pace in Singapore, Verstappen frustrated to only qualify 11^th two places ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez. Last year the Dutchman was also disappointed on the Saturday, a team mistake on that occasion leaving him eighth on the grid – and on the Sunday he only gained one position to finish seventh. No wonder this time he downplayed any talk of a soaring comeback, and it turned out he was right to.

Verstappen picked off Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen early on, the Haas duo having qualified brilliantly in ninth and sixth respectively. Then when the Sargeant safety car emerged, both Red Bulls chose not to pit having started on the hard tyres, elevating them to second and fifth respectively. But against rivals on fresh rubber, they were easy meat when racing resumed and needed a second safety car that never came if they were to make their stops and stay in contention. Without the rub of the green this time, they pitted within a lap of each other under green and were left to pick up what they could.

Verstappen, naturally, finished strongly, pulling neat moves on Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly in the closing stages and then riding on the tail of Leclerc out of the final corner to finish a respectable fifth. Better than last year, then, but in the context of everything we have seen from him this year it was a somewhat anticlimactic way for his victory run to end.

4. Leclerc left in the shadows

Outqualified by his team-mate and Russell on Saturday, Leclerc was always playing second fiddle in the Singapore GP. During the Sargeant safety car he followed his team-mate in for a double-stack stop, which was executed well by Ferrari – only for pitlane traffic to force the team to delay his release. That’s what allowed Norris to jump him. Later, he also knew the team should have pitted him for fresh tyres under the Ocon VSC and was left powerless to hold off the Mercedes. As Sainz celebrated victory, Leclerc’s fourth place – inherited by Russell’s last-gasp drama – was a footnote. Although as Merc boss Toto Wolff pointed out, it did allow Ferrari to make significant gains on the Brackley-based team in their fight for second in the constructors’ standings. There’s only 24 points between them now.

5. Gasly gains from Ocon’s misfortune

Alpine’s Ocon had a very unhappy birthday when his retirement lost him seventh place, a position team-mate Pierre Gasly picked up instead. The Frenchman finished ahead of Piastri who completed a decent day for McLaren, with Perez only eighth in the second Red Bull.

6. First points for Lawson

In only his third grand prix, as AlphaTauri substitute for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, Kiwi Liam Lawson put in a mature and accomplished display to pick up his first F1 points in ninth, well clear of Magnussen who at least delivered something for Haas after all the team’s heroics in qualifying. Alex Albon just missed out on another point for Williams in 11^th.

7. Misery for Aston Martin

Last word this week to the green team. What a disaster for Aston Martin. Lance Stroll was ruled out from even starting after his big shunt in qualifying, then Fernando Alonso found his car “undriveable” in the race. He picked up a five-second penalty for locking up and running over the pitlane entry kerbs and later struggled with another moment on the brakes that sent him up an escape road. He was the last classified finisher in 15^th on a night to forget.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images.