Singapore GP: Vettel ends win-less streak, leads Ferrari 1-2

  • Published on 22 Sep 2019 16:13
  • 19
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Sebastian Vettel has taken his first race win of the 2019 season, as he crossed the line ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in Singapore. 

Vettel, who started the race from third on the grid, retained his position during the opening laps behind Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc, who held on to the lead from pole position. 

The pace at the front of the field was slow during the opening laps as drivers kept their tyres in check, meaning the gaps throughout the field remained relatively short. 

However, a gap opened for Vettel to pit to cover Hamilton and following the pit stop of Leclerc, who was serviced on the next lap, Vettel found himself in front of his teammate.

Hamilton then lost his spot on the podium as he stayed out another handful of laps, rejoining the circuit behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

In the final laps of the race, Hamilton closed in on Verstappen for third place, however he couldn't pass the Dutchman, and had to settle for 12 points. 

Bottas was fifth for Mercedes and was asked to back off prior to Hamilton's pit stop to allow Hamilton to come out in front of him.

Alexander Albon picked up a sixth-place finish at his first race at Singapore, while Lando Norris, who also raced in Singapore for the first time on Sunday, was seventh for McLaren.

Pierre Gasly was eighth for the Toro Rosso outfit, and closed in on Norris in the final laps. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth, ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, who picked up the final point.

Three safety cars were called during the race, the first deployed after Romain Grosjean and George Russell made contact, which put Russell out of the race.

The retirement was Williams' first of the season. Sergio Perez had a mechanical problem and had to stop on the circuit, with the safety car being thrown onto the circuit by race control.

The final safety car was needed after Daniil Kvyat came together with Kimi Raikkonen at Turn 1, putting the Finn out of the race.

Vettel led the way after each of the restarts and wasn't challenged by Leclerc, to take his first race victory since the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.

Marina Bay Street Circuit - 22 September 2019

Replies (19)

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  • Well well well, colour this Cassandra of motor racing surprised. Of all teams I expected to get a 1-2, it wasn't Ferrari. Max getting P3 felt reasonable, this is a typical RB track, but for Ferrari to win could (emphasis on "could") indicate that they've learned some lessons and is not only getting better cornering, but also improving their late season upgrade programme (which hasn't been great in a long while). I do however think Ferrari promoting Vettel this time was unintentional, it just felt like they wanted to cover Merc' and it just happened to turn out this way. Leclerc won't be happy, and I undestand him since he did all things right. I'd prefer Lec winning, but I don't think Vettel is undeserving, to put it briefly.

    That aside, I'm impressed with the rookies again. Lec, Norris and Albon all doing pretty well. Grosjean, again, was a shitshow. Ric did mostly well but his luck ended in that unnecessary move. All in all, a pretty decent Singapore GP, but we've had better. But even an average Singapore is a good race to enjoy IMO.

    • + 2
    • Sep 22 2019 - 16:33
    • Manto02

      Posts: 93

      I think the rookies this year (albon, Norris and, given what he did in gp2 I believe Russel) are on a whole other category compared to the rookies of past seasons

      • + 1
      • Sep 22 2019 - 20:14
    • Fully agree. They've assimilated into the mix very well, and seem far more prepared for the step up compared to the other more recent batches. There are such gens entering every 8th year or so, and it seems like we hit another such batch during 2018-19.

      • + 1
      • Sep 22 2019 - 20:40
    • I was underwhelmed by the race at the front. The circuit seems to be mainly responsible, but the fact we didn't even have a single attempt to an overtake at the front was very dissapointing. Furthermore, Charles getting screwed over was bitter. Especially after yesterday. I supposed Vettel won the race the only way he seems to be able to win these days, controlling at the front. In my book Leclerc still did better this weekend.

      I fully agree about the rookies except for Albon. I thought he was adequate, but he never even troubled Bottas.

      Norris was brilliant, Giovinazzi impressed me as well, he has been doing very well lately. Gotta give credit to Gasly, he drove a solid race, overtook some people, and withstood a lot of heat from other midfield drivers. Pretty much did as well as he would in Red Bull but now did it in a severely inferior car.

      Shame for Sainz once again. You could see his pace in the latter stages of the race climbing from last to 12th I think. Pretty amazing if you consider he was a lap down after the first lap.

      • + 1
      • Sep 22 2019 - 21:34
    • It is very similar to Monaco in many regards, except you can actually overtake around Singapore. More spice up front woulda been nice, but the same apply to the majority of races for this season. The mid is where it's at, and I'm glad the camera team has taken notice. As for Lec getting screwed: it was a bummer, but I don't think it was on purpose. IMO, they attempted to set up a safe pitstop for Leclerc, a slot he could slot into, it just happened to work better than expected. Lec was no doubt better than Vettel all weekend, but Vettel did nevertheless do well.

      You and I have pretty different stances on Albon. You see a Gasly+1, where I see a Gasly+3 with a debuff due to inexperience with this car. Gasly's clocked in over 200 laps with the car even before the season started, and only recently Albon got it. Give him time. And yes, Gio did well, he is getting up to speed. A bit late, but better late than never, I guess. Norris we don't even really need to mention, he is doing a stellar job.

      I really hate the poor luck McLaren's been having all season. IMO, the gap between Renault and McLaren are a lot bigger than what the points are showing, and it ain't even McLaren's fault.

      • + 2
      • Sep 22 2019 - 22:19
  • emprisedll

    Posts: 22

    Leclerc won't be pleased with this but it is a Ferrari 1-2 in Singapore CRAZY. He's a wolf there's no second place in his mind just clearing things up for people who don't understand this and say he's complaining too much.

    The remaining races will be a lot more interesting than expected because of the new aero upgrade on the Ferrari.

    • + 1
    • Sep 22 2019 - 16:58
  • abhidbgt

    Posts: 283

    All the action was at the back, not midfield but even further and it was entertaining. The strategy call would be a point of discussion for long time to come and would be called conspiratorial. When no one was budging someone had to and it was just that one lap by Sebastian that made the difference. Ferrari could have started the flurry of pitstops a bit earlier with Leclerc but commenting when the situation is so pressure cookery is easy. Norris, what a job! Even Gasly did a good job.
    This result would push Mercedes into an even greater development frenzy they just would not want to have such an outcome again. All in all, a result totally unexpected. Bring more of these results. Let's put Mercedes under pressure. :D.

    • + 1
    • Sep 22 2019 - 17:06
  • Vettel outdrove his way to this position and the strategy played to it. Ferrari saw the chance for a 1-2, and probably figured he would slot in right behind Lecrec but Seb went one better. Lecrec is just being a sour pillock, he realizes he was not quick in the crucial moment. This sort of was apparent from the start of the first win, that nature is now coming out.

    • + 2
    • Sep 22 2019 - 17:08
    • Solid race for Seb, but Ferrari giving him preferential strategy was the difference.

      • + 2
      • Sep 22 2019 - 18:46
    • Nope, that's what the idiots among the anti vettel club like to tell themselves all the time. Vettel brought himself into play by being faster and consistent. It's not his job to be slower so that pole man teammate gets to have the strategy preference. That's what it's all about isn't it? What Lecrec is whining about is that "why did Ferrari give vettel a strategy call to match his faster pace? ". It's hilarious how that moron thinks it's unfair.

      Of course no talk of how that fucktard screwed over Vettel by not giving him a tow in qualifying at Monza. Lecrec knew full well if he gave that tow he won't have pole. These kind of insecurities and backstabbing comes from those who know they are not unable to beat a man on even grounds.

      Don't even try to pretend that didn't happen, that's why Binnitto told Lecrec "you are forgiven" because he was indeed an asshole who didn't play the team play rules previously agreed to by the team and drivers. Vettel needs to drop the gentleman attitude and give that little shit a dozen of his own medicine now. In a way he did, because with all that crying yesterday from Lecrec Vettel was overjoyed at his win despite what the anti vettel brigade was trying to pull everywhere on the media and social media.

      Way too many deluded youngesters to F1 and the fashionable crowd who like to jump on the flavor of the month think Vettel is done, nope. Montoya gets it perfectly, Vettel just isn't liking the balance of this year's car while it just happens to suit whiner boy Lecrec. The recent wins have just gone to the guy's head and he thinks the world revolves around him. Happens to all those inexperienced upstarts who haven't gotten a taste of reality yet. No driver needs to chnage the way they drive to a car that doesn't suit them, that's not adapting. What makes them fast is the very nature of how they like their cars setup and that upto the team to meet it with the driver's inputs. Adapting is when you lose a gear or you have to manage tyres to go longer etc.

      Vettel is far from done and those fools who wrote him off are just misinformed or plain old haters. There is also a crowd of haters who don't like to see former champions win anything anymore, for them it has to be someone entirely new to keep things interesting. This isn't WWE to keep things interesting artificially, the sport can without such parasites who are recent to the sport. Thank you very much.

      • + 2
      • Sep 23 2019 - 04:46
  • f1ski

    Posts: 726

    Seb deserves win today . Haven’t seen that aggression confidence in a long time

    • + 3
    • Sep 22 2019 - 23:51
  • Ferrari really pulled it together this time. Tough one for LeClerc but as a team boss it was a brilliant call to ensure the 1 - 2 and also it helps SEB to get the confidence boost. LeClerc handled himself very well post race considering he had the win in the bag if he would have pitted first, but it was a cat and mouse game of dynamic strategy at that point in the race and anybody could have pulled the trigger at any time. As he said, He'll just have to do better next time. VER looked strong again with a clean race. He got helped by the Ferrari strategy and defended cleanly. My satellite cut out a couple of times this morning during the race because of thunderstorms, so going to watch that one again this afternoon.

    • + 3
    • Sep 22 2019 - 23:56
    • kroketje76

      Posts: 20

      VER looked strong again with a clean race. He got helped by the Ferrari strategy and defended cleanly.

      As far as I understood it was RB who made the first pitstop call and Ferrari (who saw action in the RB paddock) reacted very quickly.

      • + 1
      • Sep 23 2019 - 12:10
  • f1ski

    Posts: 726

    Am I have written Vettel off. I think he is one of the best but had lost something. After qualifying where he just couldn’t muster his miracle laps of past I thought he might crash out. Look at the length of these comments the passion is back and so seems seb. He easily out performed Leclerc in getting thru traffic and that’s why I think they didn’t swap places. They gave Charles the engine mode to go after seb. He couldn’t do it. I hope the rest of the season is just as spicy.

    • + 1
    • Sep 22 2019 - 23:59
  • I have never been this wrong in predicting thr outcome, and i loved it. Of all the racers, Vettel winning it, and a Ferrari 1-2 in Singapore!!!

    • + 1
    • Sep 23 2019 - 01:38
    • abhidbgt

      Posts: 283

      Never could I have predicted this, in fact I predicted a total annihilation of Ferrari but this is a pleasant surprise. :D

      • + 1
      • Sep 23 2019 - 04:52
    • Same here, ironically Merc' ended up where I thought Ferrari would end up. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

      • + 1
      • Sep 23 2019 - 06:23
  • Kean

    Posts: 692

    I thought that was a very boring first stint, like Norris said; driving 3-4 sec off the pace is not racing. It became interesting with the pitstops and strategies. Good for Vettel, whom I don't think was favored by Ferrari rather his side of the garage saw an opportunity to undercut Leclerc and they took it. Vettel is there to race, to try to win, the same as Leclerc. I must say, being a huge fan of Leclerc, that I'm a bit irked by his comments regarding the strategy being "unfair". If he did a role reversal, if he had been behind and his side of the garage had seen an opportunity to undercut and come out ahead, had that been "unfair". If somebody should be complaining it should be Bottas who ultimately got the short end of the stick because of Hamilton's botched up strategy. Impressed by Norris and Gasly (good for Gasly, whos race and quali stat against Kvyat is now 2-1). Giovinazzi seems to have grown, being constantly faster than Raikkonen the entire weekend (or is it Rai that is underperforming?) Shame about the Hul/Sai incident, both drivers showed good pace in the race, leaves one wondering what could have been if cooler heads had prevailed.

    • + 2
    • Sep 23 2019 - 08:55
    • abhidbgt

      Posts: 283

      Some credit to Ricciardo too as he provided ample entertainment. Drove quite well till that incident.

      • + 1
      • Sep 23 2019 - 10:40

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