Motorsport journalist and podcaster
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz is the first non-Red Bull Racing driver to win a race in 2023 after defusing a Mercedes chase in a Singapore GP classic. But what went wrong on a tough weekend for Max Verstappen? Plus: the antipodeans shine, with strong races from both Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson at F1’s toughest track.
Red Bull Racing finally meets its match in 2023, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez qualifying 11th and 13th in what could be the beginning of the end of its perfect season.
Carlos Sainz is on pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix after both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were eliminated in the bottom 10 on a disastrous day for Red Bull Racing.
The conclusion of the shocking qualifying session was delayed by more than half an hour to repair barriers following a high-speed Lance Stroll crash in Q1.
Championship leader Max Verstappen didn’t have the pace to progress to the pole shootout after a scrappy final lap in Q2 left him 11th on the grid and just 0.007s short of the cut-off time. Sergio Perez will start 13th after spinning out over the Turn 2 curb on his final lap.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz rocketed to top spot in final practice at the Singapore Grand Prix at the end of another difficult session for Red Bull.
Sainz’s session-topping lap of 1m 32.065s was enough to pip Mercedes’s George Russell by just 0.069s. Lando Norris made McLaren the third different team represented inside the top three with a lap 0.169s further back.
Max Verstappen improved in the final minute of the session to take fourth place, but the reigning champion was 0.313s slower than Sainz and looking no more likely to take pole than he was one night earlier.
Continue reading on RACERFerrari tops both practice sessions in one-two formation on an unpredictable day around Marina Bay while Red Bull Racing, complete with some new parts, struggles for pace.