Carlos Sainz and Co. Must Prepare Themselves For Upcoming Max Verstappen Onslaught at Demanding Suzuka Circuit

Sabyasachi Biswas | 20/09/2023
Carlos Sainz and Co. Must Prepare Themselves For Upcoming Max Verstappen Onslaught at Demanding Suzuka Circuit

Carlos Sainz broke the hearts of Red Bull and Max Verstappen fans when he took the Chequered Flag at the Marina Bay Circuit last Sunday. In doing so, he broke the longest winning streak by the Austrian team and its star driver. However, it is unlikely that the Ferrari driver will be able to repeat his win as the upcoming race in Japan will require the Prancing Horse to work even harder, as stated deni on X, formerly Twitter.

The Milton-Keynes-based team surprisingly failed to perform at the recently concluded race in Singapore and that resulted in their rivals making the most of their failures. While Ferrari took the win, McLaren and Mercedes settled in with P2 and P3, respectively.

Compared to them, Red Bull not only failed to take a win but also finished outside the top four. Verstappen finished the race in P5, and his teammate Sergio Perez crossed the finish line in P8. Nevertheless, in the demanding Suzuka track, this is unlikely to be repeated for Ferrari, as per deni on X.

How can Max Verstappen come out on top against Ferrari?

Sainz with his streamlined SF-23 was on top at the Singapore GP. The Spanish driver made use of the extremely fast Ferrari challenger and took back-to-back pole positions. Furthermore, he also managed to convert his pole into a win, thanks to some smart driving.

However, things are expected to turn upside down for Ferrari as F1 moves to Japan this weekend. The track layouts of Singapore and Japan are not only different in terms of layout, but also in terms of tire degradation.

The Suzuka Circuit is very demanding when it comes to the drivers as well as the tires. It has ten right handers and eight left handers, which is perfectly poised to apply pressure in all four tires.

Therefore, Verstappen can have a supreme advantage since the RB-19 has less tire wear, compared to the SF-23. Thus, it is very likely that the two-time world champion will get back to winning ways.

Verstappen positive about getting back to winning ways in Japan

Max Verstappen has shown unprecedented dominance this season. The Red Bull driver took ten back-to-back wins in 2023, and in doing so, he helped his team claim 15 straight wins. The domination reached a certain point where everyone believed the Austrian team would be unbeatable this year.

However, the Singapore GP saw a hurdle in their way as Sainz picked his second ever F1 race win. Nevertheless, Verstappen is sure that he is ready to hunt them down at Suzuka. Apart from the sim racing data he found, he also showed incredible confidence about it in the post race interview.

Red Bull is unlikely to repeat the experiment they did in Singapore. Therefore, Verstappen can keep up with the fact that he can go on top to fetch the pole position and eventually his 13th win of this season.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
carlos sainz Max Verstappen

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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