22/09/2019

Formula One: Singapore Grand Prix - Three in a row for Ferrari as Vettel takes first win of the season

Sebastian Vettel ended a 13-month wait for a win, by beating his furious team-mate Charles Leclerc who could have won three Grand Prixs in a row.
Photo from BBC Sport
Sebastian Vettel ended his drought in controversial style in Singapore, with Ferrari asking Charles Leclerc to let the German past and into the lead.
Leclerc told the team he thought it was "unfair" over the team radio, and the instructions and their consequences will only fuel the fire in the divisions within Ferrari.
Having had a difficult, error-strewn season, this was much-needed win for the four-time world champion, who will have allayed questions of his status and future for now.
In a run of a major error every three races dating back to June last year, Vettel has seen his team-mate win two Grand Prixs in his first season with Ferrari and challenge him for number one spot in the team.
Leclerc made his feelings clear, but the positives are clear to see - Ferrari got their first one-two since the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, and it was Vettel's first win since 2018 Belgian Grand Prix in August last year.
Lewis Hamilton started second for Mercedes, he was down in fourth behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Photo from BBC Sport
Starting third on the grid, Vettel's win was reliant on a team decision to pit him early, ensuring he didn't pit and come out behind Nico Hulkenberg, who had stopped for fresh tyres after an incident on the first lap, who was charging up the leaderboard.
The leaders were managing their pace so to make only one pit stop at the optimal time, with Vettel pitting on lap 19 and rejoining in front of Hulkenberg's Renault.
Leclerc was brought in on the next lap, and having led from the start on pole position, he trailed Vettel as he emerged from the pits.
Both Ferraris were working their way past slower cars that hadn't yet been pitted, with the German showing his experience and excelling more than his 21-year-old team-mate.
Vettel had a six-second lead just after the halfway stage, with Leclerc in second, but Hamilton could have been a threat.
The Brit had delayed his stop by six laps to try and benefit later from the fresher tyres and had a strong finish.
But three safety-car periods for incidents at the back of the pack gave Ferrari the slower laps they needed to guarantee the tyres would make it.
At the start of the last lap, Leclerc asked for everything from his car to launch an assault on Vettel, but was told to manage the engine and bring the car home - a coded message telling him to stay behind his team-mate.
Photo from BBC Sport
Hamilton was on Leclerc's tail in the opening stages, with the leaders lapping 13 seconds off their qualifying times to preserve tyres for longer.
The championship leader was undone by Ferrari's gamble, with Hamilton saying to his team that he should try to "undercut" Leclerc in the same way as when Vettel was in the pits.
But Leclerc's stop on the very next lap removed any opportunity to execute that strategy, meaning Hamilton had to run longer and delay the attack until later in the race on fresh tyres.
He also fell behind Verstappen's Red Bull, while his narrow tyre advantage was not enough to enable him to try to attempt overtakes on a track where a car is said to need a 2.4-second pace advantage to pass.
Hamilton needed help from team-mate Valtteri Bottas, the Finn had pitted earlier and was told to back off and slow Red Bull's Alexander Albon to make sure Hamilton came out of the pit ahead of the Anglo-Thai.
Hamilton extended his lead in the driver's championship to 65 points over team-mate Bottas who finished fifth, and it is surely a matter of time before he claims a sixth world title.
Albon drove a strong race, though he struggled to show his real pace due to poor tyre management.
Lando Norris drove well to take seventh, ahead of Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, Hulkenberg and the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi.
An incident between Haas' Romain Grosjean and Williams' George Russell on Turn Eight of lap 35 brought out the safety cars, while Sergio Perez's Racing Point was stranded on track on lap 39.
A collision between Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso and Kimi Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo when the Russian gambled an overtake at Turn One on lap 50 saw the last safety car period of the race.
Photo from BBC Sport
2019 Singapore Grand Prix Results
#
DRIVERteamLAPSTIME/RETIREDpts
C
S VettelFERRARI611:58:33.66725
2
C LeclercFERRARI61+2.641s18
3
M VerstappenRED BULL61+3.821s15
4
HamiltonMERCEDES61+4.608s12
5
V BottasMERCEDES61+6.119s10
6
A AlbonRED BULL61+11.663s8
7
L NorrisMCLAREN61+14.769s6
8
P GaslyTORO ROSSO61+15.547s4
9
N HulkenbergRENAULT61+16.718s2
10
A GiovinazziALFA ROMEO61+27.855s1
11
R GrosjeanHAAS61+35.436s0
12
C Sainz Jr.MCLAREN61+35.974s0
13
L StrollRACING POINT61+36.419s0
14
D RicciardoRENAULT61+37.660s0
15
D KvyatTORO ROSSO61+38.178s0
16
R KubicaWILLIAMS61+47.024s0
17
K MagnussenHAAS61+86.522s0
NC
K RäikkönenALFA ROMEO49DNF0
NC
S PerezRACING POINT42DNF0
NC
G RussellWILLIAMS34DNF0
Formula One Driver's Championship Standings
#/Driver/Team/Points/Wins/Podiums
1/L Hamilton/Mercedes/296/8/12
2/V Bottas/Mercedes/231/2/11
3/C Leclerc/Ferrari/200/2/8
4/M Verstappen/Red Bull/200/2/6
5/S Vettel/Ferrari/194/1/7
6/P Gasly/Toro Rosso/69/0/0
7/C Sainz Jr./McLaren/58/0/0
8/A Albon/Red Bull/42/0/0
9/D Ricciardo/Renault/34/0/0
10/D Kvyat/Toro Rosso/33/0/1
11/N Hülkenberg/Renault/33/0/0
12/L Norris/McLaren/31/0/0
13/K Räikkönen/Alfa Romeo/31/0/0
14/S Pérez/Racing Point/27/0/0
15/L Stroll/Racing Point/19/0/0
16/K Magnussen/Haas/18/0/0
17/R Grosjean/Haas/8/0/0
18/A Giovinazzi/Alfa Romeo/4/0/0
19/R Kubica/Williams/1/0/0
20/G Russell/Williams/0/0/0

2019 Races and Results
Australian Grand Prix
Melbourne, 15-17 March
1. Bottas, 2. Hamilton, 3. Verstappen

Bahrain Grand Prix
Sakhir, 29-31 March
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai, 12-14 April
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Vettel

Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Baku, 26-28 April
1. Bottas, 2. Hamilton, 3. Vettel

Spanish Grand Prix
Barcelona, 10-12 May
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Verstappen

Monaco Grand Prix
Monte Carlo, 23, 25-26 May
1. Hamilton, 2. Vettel, 3. Bottas

Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, 7-9 June
1. Hamilton, 2. Vettel, 3. Leclerc

French Grand Prix
Le Castellet, 21-23 June
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

Austrian Grand Prix
Spielberg, 28-30 June
1. Verstappen, 2. Leclerc, 3. Bottas

British Grand Prix
Silverstone, 12-14 July
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

German Grand Prix
Hockenheim, 26-28 July
1. Verstappen, 2. Vettel, 3. Kyvat

Hungarian Grand Prix
Budapest, 2-4 August
1. Hamilton, 2. Verstappen, 3. Vettel

Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, 30 August-1 September
1. Leclerc, 2. Hamilton, 3. Bottas

Italian Grand Prix
Monza, 6-8 September
1. Leclerc, 2. Bottas, 3. Hamilton


Singapore Grand Prix
Marina Bay, 20-22 September
1. Vettel, 2. Leclerc, 3. Verstappen

Russian Grand Prix
Sochi, 27-29 September

Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, 11-13 October

Mexican Grand Prix
Mexico City, 25-27 October

United States Grand Prix
Austin, 1-3 November

Brazilian Grand Prix
Sao Paulo, 15-17 November

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, 29 November-1 December


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