F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Has Answer To Red Bull's Loss Of Performance - "Haven't Been Developing"

Lewis Hamilton speculates Red Bull's surprising drop in performance is due to them shifting developmental focus to their 2024 car, despite the current dominant streak in 2023.

Lewis Hamilton has shed light on Red Bull's surprising performance drop at the Singapore Grand Prix, hinting that the team might have shifted its focus. The Mercedes driver believes Red Bull has already turned its attention to 2024, resulting in a competitive downturn in 2023.

Key Takeaways:

• Despite a dominant season, Red Bull's invincible streak was halted in Singapore, with Verstappen and Perez finishing fifth and eighth, respectively.
• Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, perceives Red Bull's dip in performance as a sign they've already moved their developmental resources to their 2024 car.
• Carlos Sainz, the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix, along with McLaren’s Lando Norris, still view Red Bull as a major threat for the remaining races.

Hamilton, while reflecting on the surprising twist at the Singapore Grand Prix, gave insight into what he believes might be Red Bull's current strategy, as quoted by Crash.net:

“I don’t really know why they’re off, pace-wise,” stated Hamilton. “But I think it’s great to see that others, like [McLaren and Ferrari] have picked up a huge amount of pace.

"It’s great to see that Ferrari have really stepped it up, and I think it’s a positive. Probably, if you think about it, they haven’t been developing. Obviously, McLaren brought an upgrade here, others are bringing up upgrades.

"They’re [Red Bull] 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. So no, I think it’s just one of the things.

"They’re so clear ahead that maybe they’re developing their car less and we are still pushing to develop our current one. But time will tell.”

Race winner Carlos Sainz, despite snatching victory from Red Bull's clutches, is adamant about their potential rebound in the forthcoming races.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re still winning the last few races of the season.

“Singapore gave us the chance and we just did well. But the Red Bull is going to be up there in the remainder of the season and they’re going to be very, very, very, very difficult to beat. It’s great for F1 if Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Aston would be that two, three-tenths quicker every race, to challenge them in race pace.

"The racing this year would be incredible and it would be eight drivers fighting for wins, a bit like we saw in Singapore with four or five guys out there fighting for a win around a street track. It just shows the potential F1 has to create an incredible show.”

Meanwhile, McLaren's Lando Norris expressed his bewilderment at the Red Bull performance, but also forecasted a return to form for the dominant team.

“I don’t know what they struggled with this weekend but when I watched Max’s onboard from qualifying, I kind of laughed because I’ve never seen a car that bad before,” Norris revealed. “But Max also laughed about it. So, we’ll see next weekend. I think they’ll probably be back at the top.”