2023-09-17 14:57:56
(Motorsport-Total.com) – Red Bull’s winning streak in the 2023 Formula 1 season is over as Max Verstappen only achieved fifth place at the Singapore Grand Prix. After P11 in qualifying, the improvement in the race is no consolation for Verstappen. He means at Hello TV: “It went better, but was still bad.”
Max Verstappen in the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix: In the end he finished fifth
Because Red Bull never had a chance of winning in Singapore, even though it had used the alternative strategy of using hard tires in the first stint compared to the front runners. However, an early safety car phase following Williams driver Logan Sargeant’s accident did not allow this tactic to work.
Or as Verstappen puts it: “We were a bit unlucky with the safety car. Of course it came out at the wrong moment. That was a shame. And also with the virtual safety car [einige Runden später] We were unlucky.”
The Red Bull pace only works towards the end of the race
Only “the last stint” was “alright,” says Verstappen. He had previously changed from hard to medium under green and rolled up the field from behind in the last third of the race on fresh tires. From P15 following the pit stop to P5 at the finish. And in the end, only 0.264 seconds were missing from Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who finished fourth.
For Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, the final phase was the only bright spot in the Singapore Grand Prix: “You might see the pace there. We were very strong,” he explains Hello TV and adds: “Without the safety car phase, we would have been in the four or five cars fighting for victory at the end.”
Horner also emphasizes: The race developed in exactly the wrong way for Red Bull. “The safety car might hardly have come onto the track at a worse time. Because it practically gave the people in front of us a free stop. We, on the other hand, had a problem with the used tires following the safety car phase and On top of that, we had to pit under green,” said Horner.
What Horner says at the end of the winning streak
Does it make him sad that the winning streak came to an end this weekend? Horner waves it off and says: “At some point the series would have been broken anyway. The fact that we won 15 Grands Prix in a row is an outstanding achievement.” Now it’s regarding being able to “fight” in Japan once more for Red Bull.
But will Red Bull be back to its usual form from the previous season? Verstappen sees the Suzuka Circuit as “usually a better track for us” and Horner also speaks of a “more traditional layout” at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s weak phase in Singapore is “hopefully not a problem that will last until next weekend,” said the team boss. “Suzuka is a different kind of challenge. And hopefully we can perform strongly there once more.”
At least last year, the Japanese track was a good place for Red Bull: Verstappen won from pole position ahead of Sergio Perez in the sister car. In Singapore 2023, Perez finished the race from 13th on the grid to eighth at the finish.
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