Hamilton and Sainz warn that Red Bull still has the advantage despite a dismal weekend in Singapore

The Singapore Grand Prix had a significant surface as 4 vehicles from 3 groups defended the podium. And there wasn’t a Red Bull in sight.

After winning every other race this season, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez weren’t in the podium battle in Singapore. They weren’t even in the leading 10 in certifying after having a hard time to discover the best set-up.

So does this declare a shift to closer racing and a much better program? Not right now, competitors state.

” I still believe their record is going to be up there in the staying of the season and they’re going to be extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely tough to beat,” stated Singapore winner Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari.

” I simply believe it’s excellent for F1 if Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Aston (Martin) would be that 2, three-tenths quicker every race to challenge them in race rate. And I believe the racing this year would be extraordinary and it would be 8 chauffeurs defending wins, a bit like we saw today with 4 or 5 men out there defending a win.”

Even if Red Bull’s benefit over the remainder of the pack has actually been cut, that isn’t always excellent news for other groups, cautioned Mercedes motorist and seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull might be getting a running start on establishing its vehicle for 2024 as other groups attempt to enhance their 2023 vehicles, he stated.

” Most likely, if you consider it, they have not been establishing. Clearly McLaren brought an upgrade here, others are bringing upgrades. They’re dealing with next year’s vehicle,” Hamilton stated.

Red Bull surrendered time in the wind tunnel, an important tool to establish aerodynamics, and a paid a $7 million fine after spending too much in the 2021 season.

” They have less wind tunnel time, so then they’re most likely utilizing a few of this year’s on to next year’s. They would have absolutely moved prior to us,” Hamilton included. “They’re so clear ahead that possibly they’re establishing their vehicle less and we are still pressing to establish our present one.”

While Verstappen won 10 F1 races in a row throughout a run of 15 successive Red Bull success, their success hid competitive racing somewhere else in the F1 pack, McLaren’s Lando Norris stated, recommending he would have “2 race wins currently” if not for Verstappen.

” The very best group constantly appears to sort of control and eliminate the program from the rest of it,” he included. “However typically if you eliminated, you understand, Mercedes a couple of years back, when you eliminate Red Bull now, the fights for the remainder of the positions constantly, I believe, would have been extraordinary.”