The Formula 1 maturity certificate: Singapore

SEBASTIAN VETTEL: On Saturday it was still reasonable to assume that Sebastian Vettel had already lost the race in qualifying. Third place on the grid is “very far back” in Singapore, as the Heppenheimer admitted. The overtaking maneuver against Max Verstappen on the first lap brought a new dynamic - which fizzled out just minutes later due to the tactical error in the Ferrari pits. After the race, Vettel avoided blame, saying he would always defend his team, said the 31-year-old. But his increasingly annoyed comments on the pit radio suggest that he is despairing of some of the command post's decisions in the final spurt of the season.

FERRARI: After all, it wasn't the first time that Ferrari carelessly awarded points for spearhead Vettel or at least put them at risk. There was a strange two-stop strategy in Barcelona, a serious radio miscommunication in qualifying in Spielberg and a battery that wasn't fully charged while chasing pole position in Spa. On race Sunday in Germany and also during qualifying in Monza, the Scuderia also failed to give Vettel an important advantage over teammate Kimi Räikkönen. At this late stage of the season, that no longer seems honorable but rather naive. Mishaps and the abandonment of team strategy - these are completely different types of wrong decisions, but together they lead to one result: Vettel no longer has much of a chance of winning the title six races before the end of the season.

LEWIS HAMILTON: This season looks to be an important one in the Englishman's career. Of course, the titles in the superior Mercedes were also impressive, with the exception of the 2016 season he ultimately defeated stable rival Nico Rosberg. But in 2018, Hamilton faces an opponent with a more powerful car - and this situation seems to make the 33-year-old even better. Finally the Lewis factor comes into play, finally Hamilton can prove that he really is the best driver out there, that he makes the difference. And that's exactly what he achieved in Monza and now in Singapore.

MERCEDES: The silver team had to endure a lot of criticism for the mixed first half of the season, when the car did not consistently develop its potential and the tactics were not always right. The giant of the past few years has faltered - but has now shown quite impressively that the star is still rightly at the top. Because the successes are not just Hamilton's achievement. Against all odds and against a strong opponent, the factory team has once again turned its car into a weapon with which the Englishman can go into battle, even on the supposed Ferrari track in Singapore. And the strategists at the command post also delivered on point. The overall picture: world-class.

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The Formula 1 maturity certificate: Singapore

The Singapore Grand Prix could have made a preliminary decision in the Formula 1 title fight. That's why our school leaving certificate is all about the two opponents Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

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