Carlos Sainz wins the F1 Singapore GP after a painful finish!

“I feel, honestly, at the perfect moment in my career to be a Ferrari driver, because I love it. It’s an intense place to be, because you have many things to take care of, many responsibilities, you are racing for the Ferrari team, which I think says it all, and you have to have a lot of desire. You have to be 100% dedicated to F1 and the team and I’m at that time between maturity and at the same time young to take advantage of being at Ferrari”. This is how it is presented Carlos Sainz in an interview with MD before the summer break, at Hungary. What no one knew was that those same words would turn into actions upon returning from vacation. Carlos Sainz raised the bar. He took a giant step forward at a very complicated moment for Ferrari, and did not hesitate to pull the bandwagon of Maranello with ambition and the best form of his sports career. Carlos showed in three races that he made the definitive leap to be considered a top driver, overall captain of a Ferrari team that this weekend he guided in a formidable way to victory. Carlos Sainz achieved his second F1 victory, winning the F1 Singapore GP on Sunday after an excellent pole on Saturdaywhich he insisted in a brilliant race in which the Spaniard dominated from start to finish and won after a painful finish in which his best friend in F1 was the key, Lando Norris, 2ndby putting the big block on the two Mercedes, with Hamilton finishing 3rd with honey on his lips and Russell on the wall.

Good start for Ferrari in teamwork

The Madrid native has already achieved a large part of this success by taking pole position in a huge qualifying battle. It is key to defend the first position in the beginning. That was the first goal. Ferrari was worried about their greater tire wear and Mercedes’ better race pace, but at the same time, they knew that this time, unlike in Monza, they could defend themselves and Carlos sought to win because of how difficult it was to overtake on the Marina Bay street layout. Ferrari knew it was their only option to win.

With the Red Bulls starting so far away, out of contention for everyone, and with Carlos on pole, they all had to row as one. Charles Leclerc also understood this, and this time he took the main role of Charles’ squire. They introduced the Monegasque breed, which began in the 3rdsoft tire mounting begin attacking George Russell. Leclerc, who started 3rd, began to defend Carlos’ victory by overtaking George to take second place. Finally, Ferrari developed a textbook strategy to win, without looking at first names or surnames and with the sole aim that the best placed Ferrari would win the race. Furthermore, Hamilton, who skipped the first chicane and passed his teammate, gave some oxygen to Carlos who started to manage his tires from then on.

There, Sainz showed a key element as a driver: his intelligence and his ability to read races. He knew that with his further deterioration, he could not be pushed. I had to reserve tires. He began to manage with Charles behind him. After the first ‘Safety Car’, Leclerc lost his position by stopping close to Carlos and the Spaniard was left alone in front of the danger. But this time, with Russell, he continued to border on excellence.

Carlos didn’t make a mistake despite Russell constantly facing his rearview mirror. The Spaniard took his advantage and by recklessly slowing down the race he drove George Russell crazy who didn’t know what to do. The Englishman is faster, but it’s not worth it. And Carlos, brilliant, with horchata blood, not only benefited from his speed to save tires, but also to slow down the race and hit the cars harder to avoid tempting George to enter the pit early because doing so can waste time. in traffic. Sainz’s race was perfect, with sensational control, no mistakes, no overacting and knowing at all times what he had to do, the plan was perfectly executed.

Ending full of tension

On lap 43, Esteban Ocon parked his car on the track due to a problem and a crucial moment came. Carlos Sainz has no new medium tires with 19 laps remainingwhile heMercedes had the advantage of having a relatively new tire to push it hard in the final laps. In that situation, Ferrari was brave and decided to stay on the track, burning all its options prioritizing Sainz’s first position. Carlos stayed on the track without going in. Also Norris and Leclerc. And behind them, Norris and Hamilton will come like rockets.

Russell had to cut 16 seconds off Carlos, but in between he had to pass Charles and Norris. Leclerc tried to hold off Russell, but with 7 laps to go he passed him. George looks like a shot and is 7 behind Sainz with 7 laps to go. The key may lie in Lando Norris. Carlos’s best friend on the grid, a former teammate at McLaren, has to stop his compatriot George to help his inseparable friend from Madrid, with whom they often play golf. This time, Lando can help Carlos achieve a very important victory. But at the same time, he needs to be aware that if he doesn’t fight Russell, he may have a greater chance of securing the podium.

The last 6 laps will take forever. suffering A movie ending. Worrying. With enormous accumulated fatigue, on the most physically demanding track of the season, the drivers will play drenched in sweat, in the final laps, with 76% body humidity pushed to the limit. Sainz demanded distance from Lando Norris at every turn.

With 4 laps remaining, the front four cars were stuck together. Carlos, Norris, Russell and Hamilton. The two Mercedes are like rockets. The smallest mistake can end the GP. “I don’t have front tires,” Sainz said on the radio. But then came a big defense from Norris on Russell. The two friends Lando and Carlos joined forces at the front to maintain positions. Carlos had to give him his DRS to defend himself on the straights, and Lando had to put in the rest of the braking against Russell and Hamilton.

Lando stretched from one side to the other before a helpless Russell watched from curve to curve, Sainz escaped thanks to that block from his friend and victory was slipping away. Russell exhausted his options by going wide on the last lap and hitting the protections. He tried everything, but Carlos and Lando stopped him. Hamilton took advantage of his teammate’s mistake to get on the podium. Leclerc was 4th and Verstappen 5th after starting 11th. Alonso, on a day when everything went wrong for him, was 15th. This Sunday is the day of Carlos Sainz. His second F1 victory.

The church bells of Maranello rang again. You can now set a factory flag. Ferrari already had its first victory of the year, where it broke the dominance of Red Bull, who won all 14 races this campaign. Sainz did. Success number 1. Unquestionable. Whatever they say.