Vettel ends long win-less drought to claim Singapore GP victory

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ended his 392-day win-less drought after taking an opportunistic strategy to beat team-mate Charles Leclerc as the Scuderia claimed a one-two at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Polesitter Leclerc lead from the opening stage of the race but dropped behind Vettel when Ferrari brought in the latter – who was running in third place for a pit-stop first.

Vettel converted the advantage into his maiden victory of the season to end the drought, which stretched back to last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

After being told to conserve his engine with 15 laps remaining Leclerc said to the team: “I just don’t think it is fair, but I won’t do anything stupid.”

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen rounded out the top three, after second-placed Lewis Hamilton was demoted to fourth due to running a longer first stint than any of the frontrunners.

Hamilton lead the hunt down of Leclerc in the early stages, but the latter managed his pace and backed up the pack at the front.

This prevented any of the big three team’s drivers to attempt an undercut until the nineteenth lap as the midfield pack remained close to the front group.

Once the midfield runners started to make their stops, a gap formed – as Verstappen looked set to be the first of the big three outfits to pit after reporting fading rear tyres.

At the same time, Ferrari opted to pit third-placed Vettel, which gave the German the opportunity to use fresher rubber to get in-front of Hamilton.

Leclerc followed suit a lap later, but Vettel’s pace advantage was more than enough to jump his team-mate – frustrating Leclerc but moving the Scuderia from running first and third, into a net provisional Ferrari one-two.

Mercedes decided to extend Hamilton’s initial stint for six laps longer compared to Leclerc and his pace dropped considerably on older softs.

Hamilton’s pace was so well off that Mercedes asked Valtteri Bottas, who had already pitted from fifth, to slow down the lap before Hamilton’s pit-stop to create a gap for the championship leader.

This was to ensure that Hamilton would not lose track position to team-mate Bottas and Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon, thus keeping fourth and fifth for the Silver Arrows.

Once behind, Leclerc started to mount pressure on team-mate Vettel but lost ground as they worked through getting by the midfield runners who remained out longer.

Vettel’s charge towards the front saw the German use an aggressive move on Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, and when the Ferrari driver got into the lead, he had to manage three-safety car deployments.

The first of the three came on lap 36 when Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean and ROKiT Williams Racing’s George Russell collided, with the latter being turned into the wall exiting turn eight.

Vettel encountered no threat on the lap 41 restart, but the safety car was deployed three laps later when Racing Point’s Sergio Perez stopped on the straight in-between turns 10 and 11 due to an unknown issue.

Perez’ RP19 racer took three laps to remove during, which Leclerc called for “everything” for the restart but was told by the Scuderia to manage the engine and “bring the car home”.

“Yeah, I won’t do anything stupid – it’s not my goal,” Leclerc continued. “I want us to finish one-two, I just think it’s not fair. This won’t change, I won’t be stupid.”

A final safety car deployment stood between Vettel and his first victory of the season, thanks to Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat lunging Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen at turn one on the 50^th lap, breaking the latter’s front-left wheel and putting Raikkonen out immediately.

The safety car appeared for one lap only, after which the race continued on without another disruption as Vettel crossed the line by 2.641 seconds ahead of team-mate Leclerc as Ferrari scored a one-two finish.

Verstappen held off Hamilton to round out the podium at a race, which Red Bull and power-unit supplier Honda hoped to challenge for victory, but a return to a podium finish became the ultimate reward for the Anglo-Austrian-Japanese alliance’s decision to pit the Dutchman at the same time as Vettel while running fourth in the early stages.

Bottas ended the Grand Prix in fifth place, with the Finn missing out on the bonus fastest lap point after falling away from team-mate Hamilton to get fresher air, with Albon finishing sixth.

McLaren’s Lando Norris came home in a brilliant seventh for the Woking-based outfit. He took the best-of-the-rest honours after team-mate Carlos Sainz and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg clipped each other on lap one.

Hulkenberg dived on the inside of Sainz at the quick right-hand turn four, clumping the right rear of the latter’s MCL34 racer and forced the Spaniard to limp back to the pits.

Norris jumped ahead of Hulkenberg when the German had no choice but to pit at the end of the lap due to damage, and calmly controlled the battle for best-of-the-rest then onwards.

Toro Rosso’s Gasly fought to eighth with a solid drive after a longer initial stint and the Frenchman putting on a brave move on Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen after the safety car restart.

Hulkenberg’s recovery mode brought the Renault driver a ninth-placed finish and in-front of Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi who completed the top ten.

Giovinazzi lead the Grand Prix briefly as Alfa committed the Italian to running a long first stint but fell right back at one stage after being hit by Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Haas F1 Team’s Grosjean finished outside the top ten in 11^th place and in-front of McLaren’s Sainz who wound up 12^th and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll who took 13^th.

Renault’s Ricciardo settled for 14^th and ahead of Toro Rosso’s Kvyat who was 15^th, ROKiT Williams Racing’s Robert Kubica who finished 16^th and Haas F1 Team’s Magnussen who brought up the rear.

The Top Three

Winner – Sebastian Vettel, #5, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “I’m very happy, great race. Big congratulations to the team, the start of the season was difficult for us but in the last weeks we’ve come alive. [The strategy] was a very late call and it was very early, but I gave it everything in the outlap and was very surprised to come out ahead.”

2^nd – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “Obviously it’s always difficult to lose a win but at the end it’s a 1-2 for the team, so I’m happy for that. It’s our first this season, so I’m happy for the team. Disappointed on my side, as anyone would be, but sometimes it goes that way and I’ll come back stronger. The strategy was fixed at the beginning and I stuck to the plan.”

3^rd – Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “I think the whole race went well. At the beginning it was going slow, and then began to struggle with the tyres and it was a good call as I undercut Lewis. It’s always difficult to overtake here so to do it by strategy is good, and a good haul of points here.”

Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019 Race Results Classification (61 Laps)

Missed the race? You can watch the race highlights right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhPw8gtfgv4

You can also catch up on what happened over the weekend at the following links:

@Charles_Leclerc claims stunning #SingaporeGP pole. #F1

@LewisHamilton edges @Max33Verstappen in #SingaporeGP FP2. #F1

@Max33Verstappen pips #Vettel in opening practice. #SingaporeGP #F1

Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship Standings – Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton – 296 Points.
2. Valtteri Bottas – 231 Points.
3. Charles Leclerc – 200 Points.
4. Max Verstappen – 200 Points.
5. Sebastian Vettel – 194 Points.
6. Pierre Gasly – 69 Points.
7. Carlos Sainz – 58 Points.
8. Alexander Albon – 42 Points.
9. Daniel Ricciardo – 34 Points.
10. Daniil Kvyat – 33 Points.

Formula 1 2019 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 527 Points.
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 394 Points.
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda – 289 Points.
4. McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 89 Points.
5. Renault F1 Team – 67 Points.
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 55 Points.
7. SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team – 46 Points.
8. Alfa Romeo Racing – 35 Points.
9. Rich Energy Haas F1 Team – 26 Points.
10. ROKiT Williams Racing – 1 Point.

Round 16 of the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship heads straight to the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia this weekend for the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019 from Friday September 27-Sunday September 2019.