Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz wins 2023 Singapore Grand Prix

Wong Pei Ting

Published Sun, Sep 17, 2023 · 10:05 PM

Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr celebrating on the podium after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix. PHOTO: AFP
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr celebrating after winning the Singapore Grand Prix. PHOTO: REUTERS
Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr (centre) drives in front of the field during the start of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP
Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr (bottom centre) drives in front of the field during the start of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sep 17, 2023. PHOTO: AFP
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in the pits during the race. PHOTO: REUTERS
Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr (left) drives during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sep 17, 2023. PHOTO: AFP
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen drives during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sep 17, 2023. PHOTO: AFP
Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton drives during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sep 17, 2023. PHOTO: AFP

FERRARI’S Carlos Sainz has won the 2023 Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix (GP), a night race event that attracted a higher-than-anticipated turnout of 264,108 people over the past three days.

The Spaniard started on pole position on Sunday (Sep 17), after coming ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell and Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc during Saturday’s qualifying session, and held on the lead, with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton chasing closely from behind.

His win ended Formula One leader Max Verstappen’s record run of 10 wins in a row, and shattered Red Bull’s dream of going through the season unbeaten.

Organisers were expecting a turnout of 250,000 – fewer than last year’s record of 302,000, since The Float @ Marina Bay, which hosted a grandstand that could accommodate 27,000 spectators, was under redevelopment. The debut race here in 2008 held the last record prior to 2022, with a turnout of 300,000.

As a show of some “very strong demand” this year, Singapore GP said that the six new grandstands, as well as additional walkabout tickets – which were introduced to make up for the loss of capacity – were fully taken up.

The promoter, meanwhile, signalled “continuing strong demand” into 2024, pointing out that the Super Early Bird tickets that it has made available to fans for next year’s race have sold out, despite having gone on sale just 72 hours earlier.

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Verstappen has won the last six races in a row, most recently at Silverstone’s British Grand Prix on Sunday, and has had five different teams and drivers finish second in that same period.

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Singapore GP did not state how many of these were up for grabs, but said selected tickets for its next ticketing phase will be available on its website from Sep 26 at early bird prices.

The Singapore GP will be held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit for five more years till 2028, as part of a seven-year extension of the race’s contract in 2022.

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