After going undefeated in the last 15 races, Red Bull finally faced defeat at the Singapore GP. The victory not only halted the juggernaut that Red Bull has been this season but also instilled confidence in other teams that the Austrian team is not invincible. As teams continue to ride high after seeing Red Bull fail, Sky Sports F1 Podcast’s panel advises them to not start celebrating too soon.
Red Bull has long been a team that chases perfection, no matter the cost. In the pursuit to achieve perfection this season, the Singapore GP was their biggest hurdle, and they could not clear it. Even in defeat, the championship leaders were gracious as they set their sights on next year, hoping to fare much better than they did last weekend.
Red Bull will make a much stronger comeback in the 2024 Singapore GP
The Marina Bay Street Circuit has forever been Verstappen‘s kryptonite. Competing in the sport since 2015, the 25-year-old has not fared well when driving in the streets of Singapore. Even in a season as dominant as the 2023 season, Verstappen failed to make even the top three as he finished in P5 after starting from P11. However, experts at Sky Sports F1 Podcast believe next year will be much different for the driver and his team, as their car has almost no weaknesses.
“Obviously, Red Bull, being Red Bull, will go away and work on that and clearly improve the car for next year.”
“They’ll get it right. That car has got very, very few weaknesses.”
In 2015, Mercedes faced a similar situation as they went into the Singapore GP having won almost all the races before that. Both their drivers, Hamilton and Rosberg had a dismal qualifying as they finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Hamilton did not finish the race, while Rosberg improved to a P4 finish. However, in the following race in Japan, Mercedes found their pace once again as the drivers raced to a 1-2 finish, with Hamilton winning the race. It seems history is repeating itself eight years later, as Red Bull is once again touted to obliterate the rest of the grid in Suzuka.
Horner already thinking about the 2024 Singapore GP
After failing to recover from a double Q2 exit, Christian Horner admitted to the Singapore GP exposing RB19’s weaknesses. However, rather than being disappointed with the result, the team principal says they are taking the loss as a “very useful lesson for next year because it gives us a very useful insight on certain things that hopefully we can address in RB20.” He added their simulations did not yield correct results, which meant the results from the practice sessions were not what the team was expecting.
Christian Horner says Singapore GP exposed Red Bull’s weakness but is ‘very useful lesson’ for 2024 carhttps://t.co/e1xR5tVhfE pic.twitter.com/8bLlCLYCu1
— Cherumbu News (@sanalnly) September 18, 2023
With the Japanese GP up next, Red Bull’s current focus will be to get back to winning ways. The confidence within the camp is high as the Suzuka track suits the RB19 well. However, it might not be a simple task, as McLaren is expected to take the fight to Red Bull for a race win. The Woking-based team will receive its latest upgrade pack in Suzuka, meaning their car will be faster than ever before.
