Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton would’ve won the race if they overtook Lando Norris, believes Carlos Sainz

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz believes that the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton would have won the Singapore GP had they gone past McLaren driver Lando Norris in the dying moments of the race.

The Spanish driver hung onto his lead to win his second race with the Italian team and of his career In dramatic fashion as he held off the advancing Mercedes and Lando Norris.

However, it was not as straightforward for Sainz as he was hanging onto the race win with some cheeky strategy which involved giving his former teammate Norris some DRS to contain the charge from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

As per Motorsport.com, Carlos Sainz claimed that the result of the race could have been different if the Mercedes duo could have cleared Norris in the final laps. He said:

"You know that then you cannot have a lock-up and you cannot have a single mistake or a snap, because it means that then Lando's going to have a chance to overtake you if he's in DRS. So, at that point you decide to give him the DRS, hoping that's going to be enough to keep the Mercs behind."

Sainz continued:

"There was, in particular, one lap that I think Lando defended into Turn 16-17, and then I had to slow down a lot into Turn 1-2-3 to give him DRS again."

"I think that move actually saved my race, saved also Lando's P2 because I feel like if not I would have been also dead meat. If the Mercs would have passed Lando, I think they could have got past me pretty easily."

Lewis Hamilton analyzes his another podium finish in Singapore

The Brit stated that the team rolled the dice with the two-stop strategy in their bid to get a first race win in the 2023 season.

As per F1.com, Lewis Hamilton said:

"We rolled the dice this weekend and went with an offset tyre strategy. I felt like the race was a two-stop today and the team did an amazing job to get us back up there."

"Today, it was in a better place though. If I had had that same feeling yesterday, I think I could have been fighting for the front row. That may have changed my race today but I’m still pleased to get on the podium.

It would have been really difficult for Carlos Sainz to better the Mercedes duo had they gone past Lando Norris as they were clearly the fastest cars in the final stages of the race.