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The clever use McLaren’s Lando Norris in the closing laps of the Singapore Grand Prix proved vital to Carlos Sainz claiming victory in the epic encounter.
It proved a slow burn for much of the race before the charging Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton made for a four-way scrap for the lead in the final laps.
Russell and Hamilton both had new medium tyres on their cars, handing them a strong pace advantage for the run to the flag.
They quickly rose through the field following their second stops, but met their match once they reached Norris.
Having trailed Sainz through the final third of the race – after Mercedes gave up track position for a shot at victory with a different tyre strategy – Norris ran outside of DRS range of the leading Ferrari.
However, as the Mercedes threat increased, the McLaren driver soon found himself within range, improving his pace and helping create a DRS train.
It was a deliberate ploy by the canny Sainz, who’d slowed his own pace in an attempt to use the McLaren as a buffer as he chased his second grand prix victory.
It was a similar strategy to what the Spaniard employed in the opening stanza, where he managed his pace to ensure the chasing pack remained within the Mercedes pit stop window.
“Given our limitations with tyre wear and degradation, it was all about managing the beginning of each stint to make sure I made it to the target lap that we wanted to do in each compound,” Sainz explained.
“Obviously, the Safety Car forced us to pit even earlier than we wanted and I knew it was going to be a long speed on the hards.”
A Virtual Safety Car later in the race was ideally timed for Mercedes to box for a set of medium tyres.
From there, Russell and Hamilton were the fastest cars on track, and quickly closed the gap to Sainz in the lead.
“I had to get George slowing down, not to give him a Safety Car or medium tyre opportunity and it worked to perfection,” Sainz said.
“It was just quite tight at the end, but we gave Lando a bit of the DRS to help him and, in the end, we made it P1.
“I felt under control, to be honest,” he added of the high-pressure finale.
“I always felt like I had the headspace and the pace in hand to do whatever I wanted to do.
“I’m not gonna lie, you’re under pressure, and you obviously are very close to making any kind of mistake but I felt under control.
“I felt like I could manage well and we brought it home – that was the best feeling, I’m over the moon right now.”
Russell ended the race in the barrier at Turn 10 – the old Singapore Sling – handing third to Hamilton as he failed to see the chequered flag.
