F1: Ferrari's Carlos Sainz wins 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, ends Verstappen's historic streak
Formula One Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's record-breaking race win streak has come to an end. Red Bull's dream of running the table for a full season is over.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz ended the Red Bull star's 10-race streak with a win at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday. In addition to breaking Verstappen's impressive run, Sainz was the first driver outside of the Red Bull team to win a race during the 2023 season.
Formula One 2023: Winners from each race this season so far
McLaren's Lando Norris finished second, matching the best finish of his career to date and bringing him the ninth podium finish of his career. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top three at Singapore, marking his fifth podium of the season and extending his career record to 196 such finishes.
What happened to Max Verstappen
The weekend was never Red Bull's from the start, as both Verstappen and Pérez were eliminated during the second stage of qualifying to determine the starting position in Sunday's race. The reigning champion started in 11th on Sunday with Pérez beginning in 13th.
Verstappen ultimately wasn't able to overcome his starting position, finishing the race in fifth behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. His Red Bull teammate, Sergio Pérez, finished eighth, which meant the Singapore race was also the first time neither Red Bull driver finished on the podium in 2023.
Verstappen still holds a 151-point lead for the Drivers' Championship over the second-closest driver, his teammate, Pérez. Red Bull (597) also has more than double the points of the next team, Mercedes (289), in the Constructors' Championship.
Verstappen: Reigning champion breaks Formula 1 consecutive wins record with Italian Grand Prix victory
Max Verstappen win streak
Verstappen had just broken Sebastian Vettel's record for longest win streak in Formula 1 history when he won his 10th straight race in the Italian Grand Prix Sept. 3. Vettel, a four-time World Drivers' Champion who retired in 2022, initially set the record in 2013.
The Dutch driver's fifth place finish also meant an end to his streak of 15 straight podiums. That streak matched two-time champion (and current Aston Martin driver) Fernando Alonso's 2005-2006 run for the third-longest podium streak ever.
Formula One legend Michael Schumacher still holds the longest podium streak with 19 straight between 2001 and 2002. Hamilton has the edge over Alonso and Verstappen with his streak of 16 over 2014-2015.
Verstappen also set the record for race wins in a single season last year, winning 15 of them en route to his second straight Drivers' Championship.
Carlos Sainz career wins
🇸🇬Incredible weekend. We managed it to perfection, controlling the pace the entire race. The team deserves this win for the enormous work they have done both here and in Maranello. This one for them and for the Tifosi! On to Suzuka!
👉https://t.co/pKbsuWMf1o
-#CarlosSainz pic.twitter.com/lP8jWV5HP2— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) September 17, 2023
Singapore marks the second race win of the Spanish driver's career and his second straight podium finish.
His first Formula One win came at Silverstone in the 2022 British Grand Prix. Both of Sainz's wins have come since he joined Ferrari in 2021.
Formula 1: Ex-driver Felipe Massa claims he is ‘rightful’ 2008 champion not Lewis Hamilton
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Max Verstappen's win streak ends with Carlos Sainz's Singapore Grand Prix victory
