“I dream a little about what F1 could be if we all caught up with them in this second half of the season and next year,” said Carlos Sainz at the end of the Singapore eventthat of his great victory that cut Verstappen’s streak of 10 in a row, Red Bull’s streak of 15.
The rivals and F1 want it, that they have lost their step a little, for whatever reason. “I don’t care what happened to fall a little”said Vasseur, head of Ferrari, in summary.
The doubt that floats is if Singapore was not going to Red Bull or, more conspiratorially, if the new technical directives released in Marina Bay that prohibit ultra-flexible spoilers and sliding floors, knocked down the champions You will even leave groggy as you can’t see in time: out of Q3, 7 tenths behind the best one lap away, and off the podium.
EFE
Red Bull denies all chargesthose of having forced the regulations until last Sunday (“we changed almost nothing about the car, the new FIA regulations did not affect us at all,” said Horner) and also that a new door is opened for them to lose more races this seasonal For them, one flower does not make spring.
Stumble or illegality?
“We think we know why we had problems in Singapore. But I am sure that the mystery of what happened in the classification will not be repeated in Suzuka,” assures Christian Horner, who wants more victories at the home of Honda, his motor company, where they were crowned last season.
“We look forward to Suzuki because we understand the problem that existed in Singapore. That’s why We are totally optimistic that we will be able to recover there. The track adapts to our car,” says Helmut Marko about the classic Japanese track, with very fast corners, far from the slow ones in Singapore, where Verstappen, for example, has never won.
AP
They talk about tire temperatures out of range, about the height of the car, Verstappen complained about the change… “I think it’s obvious that “On low speed tracks we are not the best in the classification.”added Red Bull technical director Pierre Wach. And if you don’t come out ahead in these circuits, then it is almost impossible.
Thus, Suzuka must confirm that Singapore was the energetics’ annual stumble, or that they have really lost steam after operating outside the law all season. For hamilton However, it is all because they have already stopped improving the car and are in 2024. “They have so much advantage that perhaps they are developing their car less and we are still developing the current one. But time will tell“says the seven-time British champion.
“I’m sure they’ll be back next week. I have never seen their car go as badly as it did in Singapore,” Norris joked. “If they win more races in the remainder of the season, I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” Sainz concludes.