“That’s how we do things the Mexican way!” Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez picked up his second win of the season after an anything but ordinary night race on Sunday in Singapore. Quebecer Lance Stroll achieved his best result of the season, a 6e square.
Posted at 11:18 a.m.
Updated at 11:56 a.m.
“It was your best race ever, my friend! It was sensational! launched one of the members of the British team at the microphone of Pérez, once the checkered flag was raised.
The 32-year-old Mexican, who started second on the grid, edged out Charles Leclerc from the start and managed to maintain his position throughout the race, driving flawlessly in difficult track conditions after heavy rain. He is, however, still under investigation for a breach during the exit of a safety car.
Pérez showed the biggest of smiles when he got out of his single-seater; let’s say that this victory, which comes more than three months after that of Monaco in May, will do him a world of good.
“It was my best performance [en carrière], he dropped at the microphone of the F1. The last three laps were so intense. I gave everything to get the win today. »
Leclerc, who tried by all means to overtake a Pérez in very good shape, had to settle for second place, followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz junior. It’s been four months since we’ve seen the two Ferraris on the podium.
“I pushed all the way, said the Monegasque in a particularly succinct post-race interview. I had a bad start, which set us back. I slipped a bit and lost. […] It was a tough race. »
Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo respectively concluded the 4e and 5e rows; results that will certainly be welcome at McLaren. The joy will not be less either at Aston Martin, which collected a total of 12 points. It was the first time since the Qatar Grand Prix in 2021 that Stroll finished 6e. His teammate, Sebastian Vettel, took the 7e rank.
Max Verstappen, who had very slim chances of securing his second championship this weekend, finally had one of his most difficult races of the season. Eighth on the starting grid, he lost six positions due to a slow start, before slowly climbing the slope. Trouble in the last third of the race, however, caused him to plummet in the standings; he finished where he started, at 8e rank.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) completed the top 10.
In summary
The departure, which was to have been given at 7:30 a.m., finally took place at 9:10 a.m. due to the pouring rain which fell on Singapore. On a track that was far from dry, several drivers experienced grip problems in the turns and were taken off the track. At 36e lap 61, six drivers were forced to retire.
The table at the front remained the same until halfway through the race: Pérez followed by Leclerc, then Sainz fils flanked by Hamilton.
From 7e lap, contact at the back of the peloton between Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfaromeo) forced the two drivers to retire and exit the safety car. The peloton has been regrouped, but the restart at 11e round didn’t create much action.
At 20e turn, only Verstappen had offered fans a few overtakings to put in their mouths. It was on the next lap that the riders started dropping like flies. The engine of Fernando Alonso (Alpine) – who on Sunday became the driver with the most races to his name, ie 350 – gave up the ghost. Alex Albon (Williams) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine) also retired later.
Then it was Lewis Hamilton’s turn to lose control in a corner. The Briton, however, returned to the race, sneaking into 5e row between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, before entering the pits for a fin change. It came out 9e.
At 36e lap, a collision by Yuki Tsunoda again forced the entry of the safety car. Norris and Ricciardo took the opportunity to move to the pits, which allowed them to maintain their respective positions. On the restart, Verstappen had managed to overtake Norris to take 4e row, but he went straight around the bend. He returned to the track, but ran into trouble and tumbled in the standings.
The next Grand Prix, that of Japan, will take place next weekend. Verstappen, who still holds a 104-point lead over Leclerc and 106 over Pérez, will have another chance to secure the drivers’ championship.