Red Bull Racing was on the receiving end of their first-ever defeat in the recently concluded Singapore Grand Prix. However, Red Bull’s defeat at Marina Bay Circuit doesn’t mean that their dominance has come to an end, believes Lewis Hamilton while speaking during the post race press conference. On the contrary, he believes that the Milton-Keynes-based team is not weak, but way ahead of everyone else and onto bigger plans.
Despite the sheer advantage the defending champions have, they still have limited wind tunnel time compared to their rivals. This limits their development scope when they are put against the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin.
Team 🤜🤛 LH pic.twitter.com/xacmExaPBz
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 17, 2023
Using this minor weakness of Red Bull, the rivals are doing their best to close the gap and be closer to them. However, that is still not enough, not even after their recent defeat in Singapore, thinks Hamilton whose teammate had a disheartening crash.
Hamilton believes Red Bull hasn’t become weak after their latest defeat
During the post-race press conference with F1 TV, Hamilton, along with race winner Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris were asked if the Singapore loss was the beginning of the end of Red Bull and Verstappen’s dominance.
Answering this, the seven-time world champion said as per F1 TV, “I think it’s just one of the things [2024 Car development] . They’re so clear ahead that maybe they’re developing their car less [due to wind tunnel restrictions] and we are still pushing to develop our current one. But time will tell.”
Our record-breaking run comes to an end, but a great effort on Race Day 🏁
Result 🏁 SAI, NOR, HAM, LEC, Max P5, GAS, PIA, Checo P8, LAW, MAG. #F1 pic.twitter.com/XZDggf2Aqc
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 17, 2023
Admittedly, when the same question was asked to Sainz and Norris, they also shared a similar opinion where they said that Singapore in no way showed Red Bull’s vulnerability.
Norris and Sainz were in sync with Hamilton on Red Bull’s stand
Answering the question, Sainz stated that Red Bull will still be dominant in the upcoming races. So much so that he believes that the Milton-Keynes-based team can end up winning the rest of the races.
This is because the RB19 is still the best challenger on the grid for its superior straight-line speed and mammoth DRS advantage. However, the Ferrari driver is glad that the gap has come down.
On the other hand, Norris said that the Singapore race weekend had been one of a kind. The RB19 was very difficult to drive and therefore, Red Bull suffered the consequences. However, he also believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are sure to come back in the next races.
