The Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix offered a spectacular outcome, as four cars from three different teams battled for the podium. And Red Bull wasn’t one of them.
After sharing the honors in each race so far this season, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have never been able to fight at the front of the pack. They were even excluded from the top-10 in qualifying, after being unable to find the right settings.
Can we expect more unpredictable races, and therefore a better spectacle on track between now and the end of the season? Don’t bet your mortgage on it, rivals warn.
“I still believe that they will dominate the field until the end of the season and that they will be very, very, very, very, very difficult to beat,” said the Singapore Grand Prix winner, the driver Ferrari Carlos Sainz Jr.
“I just think it would be better for F1 if Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston (Martin) were two or three tenths of a second faster per lap to make it harder for them. The spectacle would have been incredible this year, and eight drivers could have fought for victory, as was the case today with four or five guys fighting for victory. »
Although Red Bull’s gap at the top has narrowed, it is not encouraging for the other teams, warned Mercedes driver and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull could indeed have a head start in developing its car for next season, while other teams are simply trying to improve theirs for the current campaign, he explained.
“Come to think of it, they (Red Bull) haven’t developed their car. Obviously, McLaren has added new components to its car here, and other teams have as well. They (Red Bull) are already working on next season’s car,” said the Briton.
Red Bull was deprived of the wind tunnel, an essential piece of equipment for developing the aerodynamic components of the single-seaters, and paid a fine of US$7 million for exceeding the spending cap during the 2021 season.
“They spent less time in the wind tunnel, so they’ll probably use some of this year’s components on next year’s car. They’re probably a step ahead of all of us, Hamilton continued. They have such a lead over the rest of the field that they have probably abandoned the development of the current car, while we are still pushing to improve our car (from 2023). »
Verstappen’s 10 consecutive victories, part of Red Bull’s streak of 15 consecutive triumphs, have probably masked the progress of other teams, McLaren driver Lando Norris said. He said in the same breath that he would “probably have two victories” under his belt this season, had it not been for Verstappen.
“The best team always seems to dominate the others and relegate them to the shadows,” he said. Often, if you eliminate, for example, Mercedes, a few years ago, or even Red Bull, currently, then the fights for the other positions would have been, I think, just great. »