Vettel back on top, leads Ferrari 1-2 in Singapore

Sebastian Vettel ended a year-long victory drought on Sunday after leading a Ferrari one-two at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix under the lights at Marina Bay Street Circuit. 

Starting from third on the grid, Vettel was able to take over as leader after his pit stop on lap 19, and he did well to hold on to the advantage from there.

Teammate Charles Leclerc was the pole-sitter and led the early stages of the 61-lap race, but had to settle for the runner-up step on the podium to snap his two-race winning streak.

Nonetheless, Ferrari had all the reason to celebrate as they claimed their 84th one-two finish in the top flight and 238th triumph overall.

Vettel completed the race in one hour 58 minutes 33.667 seconds, while Leclerc followed 2.641 seconds behind. Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing claimed third 3.821s back, while the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton (+4.608s) and Valtteri Bottas (+6.119s) were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 were Alexander Albon in the other Red Bull, Lando Norris of McLaren, Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso, Nico Hulkenberg of Renault and Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo Racing.

Kevin Magnussen of Haas took the extra point after clocking a fastest lap of 1:42.301.

The win was Ferrari’s third straight of the season, the first time it has happened since 2008 when Ferrari won four in a row in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Turkey.

For Vettel, whose last victory was in Belgium in 2018, the result was the 53rd win of his Formula 1 career and fifth in Singapore, which is a record for any driver at Marina Bay. It was also his 14th triumph with the Scuderia, putting him third on the team’s list of winners all-time, behind Michael Schumacher who has 72 and the late Niki Lauda who had 15.

Following the race, Vettel commented: “It was about time! The last few weeks have been far from simple for
me, but in the end, I knew I could turn things around. I never stopped believing in myself and today, with the great help of the team here and in Maranello, we got the result we should always be aiming for.

“I was playing a waiting game until I got the call on the radio to pit for new tyres. I had not expected to stay out so long but the decision was key, because I was able to rejoin with a clear track ahead of me and I could run at my own pace making up ground on all the others, to the extent that I was in the lead by almost five seconds at the time the Safety Car came out. From then on, the race was continually interrupted, with a further two restarts, but I still managed to maintain concentration and avoid making any mistakes.

“It’s too early to say if this win means we can be competitive on all the coming tracks. Here, whoever is in front sets the pace, almost like in Monaco and on used tyres, Hamilton seemed stronger than us, which means we still have work to do when it comes to our race pace.

“Certainly the upgrades we brought here worked well and made us competitive, which means we are working in the right direction.”

Vettel improved to 194 points on the Drivers’ Championship standings. Hamilton continues to lead with 296pts, while Bottas is second with 231pts, while Leclerc and Verstappen are tied in third with 200pts apiece.

Ferrari are now on 394pts on the Constructors’ Championship, still well behind leaders Mercedes who have 527. Red Bull are third with 289.

The season goes straight into action the following weekend at the Sochi Autodrom for the Russian Grand Prix on September 29.