Lewis Hamilton shares contradictory theory for Red Bull's poor performance in Singapore

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen's RB19 (L), and Lewis Hamilton (R) (Collage via Sportskeeda)

Lewis Hamilton recently gave his views as to why Red Bull were not dominant at the 2023 F1 Singapore GP last Sunday. The Austrian-British team had a surprisingly bad race around the Marina Bay Circuit, as none of its drivers even stood on the podium. Max Verstappen's 10 consecutive race wins finally came to an end.

While many speculated that the new technical directive about stricter rules on flexible parts or the raised ride height could have played a part in their sudden decline, the Mercedes star thinks otherwise.

Speaking to the media, Lewis Hamilton initially stated that he himself was confused as to why Red Bull was suddenly slower than other cars in Singapore. Later on, he guessed that it could be because they have stopped developing the RB19 and are focused more on the next season, while other teams are still working on their 2023 machines.

This could have been the reason why Red Bull's dominance took a hit at Marina Bay, as per the Brit.

Hamilton said (via PlanetF1):

“I don’t really know why they’re [Red Bull] off, pace-wise.
“Probably, if you think about it, they haven’t been developing. Obviously, McLaren brought an upgrade here; others are bringing up upgrades. They’re working on next year’s car so… they have less wind tunnel time, so they’re probably using some of this year’s for next year’s, they would have definitely migrated before us.”

Lewis Hamilton feels that the gap between the reigning world champions and the rest of the field could close a bit as they shift their focus to next year. He said:

“So no, I think it’s just one of the things. They’re so far ahead that maybe they’re developing their car less, and we are still pushing to develop our current one. But time will tell.”

Lewis Hamilton empathizes with George Russell after the last-minute crash at the 2023 F1 Singapore GP

Lewis Hamilton recently spoke about George Russell's unfortunate end to the 2023 F1 Singapore GP as he clipped the wall and crashed on the last lap. The seven-time world champion empathized with his teammate and stated that any driver can make these mistakes. Hamilton praised Russell for having such a great race weekend in Singapore, but it was unfortunate at the very last minute.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, he said:

"Well, we're all trying to be millimetre-perfect out there and it's very, very easy to make mistakes, it's very easy too for any us to have been in the position that George was in. He's been driving phenomenally all weekend, so it was really unfortunate for him – last lap – to finish that way."

Since George Russell was running third before his crash while Lewis Hamilton was fourth, the latter bagged the last podium spot after the former crashed.

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