Red Bull has dominated Formula 1 all year, with 14 of 14 wins ahead of Sunday’s round in the city-state, while Verstappen is unbeaten in his last 10 appearances, setting a new record for consecutive wins along the way.
But the Dutch driver and Red Bull finally found their opponent at the exclusive Marina Bay circuit, at low speed and with a lot of downforce.
Verstappen qualified 11th before returning fifth, crossing the chequered flag 21 seconds behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, making the Spaniard the first non-Red Bull winner of the year.
About Suzuka ??? pic. twitter. com/G9gnHyZXAi
– Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) September 17, 2023
However, Verstappen, who has so far won 12 of the 15 races, hopes Suzkua’s fast track will allow him to get back to winning ways.
“Yes, that’s the goal,” he said. This song is very different from Suzuka and there is no connection.
“We learned a little bit and we have some concepts about what we didn’t understand yesterday. I can’t go into the main points, but I feel smart at Suzuka.
Verstappen finished three times ahead of teammate Sergio Perez to extend his championship lead from points to 151.
Verstappen will no longer be able to clinch his third world name in next weekend’s race in Japan, with the Qatar Grand Prix on October 8 an imaginable destination for his coronation.
Red Bull’s failure ended their attempt to turn the first team in history to go undefeated.
“We didn’t expect it,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “To have competed in 14 races, in good condition, is beyond our wildest imagination. It’s an incredible race. “
“We knew it had to end at some point. Max has won 10 in a row and it’s crazy.
“The only driver who has done nine is Sebastian (Vettel) in one of our cars, so to have the first and second most successful driver in F1 is wonderful, even if the statistics don’t matter. This type of domain proves it to everyone involved.
As a subscriber, you will see 80% less advertising when you read our articles.
The classified ads you see are usually from local businesses that sell local services.
These classified ads allow local businesses to introduce themselves to their target audience: the local community.