The Red Bull driver knew that Sunday would be a struggle after he qualified only 11th on the grid, insisting afterwards that he could “forget” challenging for victory.
In the race he could only climb to fifth after a strategy gamble that saw him start on the hard tyres failed to pay off, and a safety car emerged at just the wrong time.
“I knew that this day would come so for me it is absolutely fine,” he said after the flag.
He added: “Everything needs to be perfect. Everyone is always saying, ‘Ah look how dominant they are and look how easy it is’.
“But it is never easy, and a lot of details that we need to get right and this weekend clearly we didn’t get a few things right and then you are on the back foot.”
Red Bull had won 14 races in a row prior to Singapore, plus the final event of the 2022 season, breaking the record for most consecutive wins by a team that had been held by McLaren since 1988.
However, team principal Christian Horner insisted that he had no regrets about the streak ending, and with it the possibility of winning every race in the 2023 season.
“We never expected it,” he said when asked about missing a clean sweep of the season.
Source: Autosport