Ferrari's Carlos Sainz wins in Singapore to break Verstappen's lengthy win streak

Singapore 

Sunday, 17 September, 2023 

By McCreadie Andias 

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz led from start to finish winning the Singapore grand prix in a dramatic race that saw Reigning champion and 10 streak winner Max Verstappen finish 5.

A confident Sainz dominated from pole position holding on to charging pressure from McLaren's Lando Norris who came second and Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton coming third, also making a promising comeback to the podium. 

It wasn't quite a lucky day for ambitions George Russell who charged among the top three from pole only to crash his Mercedes on the final lap from the third position an advantage that took Hamilton to the podium . 

An emotional Sainz couldn't get enough joy to acknowledge his triumph.

“I felt under control. I felt like I could manage well and we brought it home. That was the best feeling,” Sainz said.

Sainz admitted after the race he had slowed down to ensure Norris stay within the one-second window that allowed the McLaren driver access to the DRS straight-line speed boost — a valuable aid in holding off the two Mercedes.

“We rolled the dice this weekend,” Hamilton said after a Mercedes strategy call saw both cars stop for fresh tires late on, meaning Russell dropped back from second in pursuit of the win.

Charles Leclerc was fourth after failing to hold off the Mercedes cars on older Tyres ahead of Verstappen in fifth.

Verstappen's fifth spot looked quite fair for him after starting on 11th but almost finished second on track behind Sainz as other drivers had briefly stopped to change Tyres. 

Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine, Oscar Piastri seventh for McLaren and Perez eighth. Rookie Liam Lawson scored his first points in ninth for AlphaTauri and Kevin Magnussen was 10th for Haas.

Red Bull had won 15 successive races until Sunday with Verstappen's bagging 10 straight in a row credits from last month's Dutch GP and wes eying for an unbeaten run for the season.