Victory in Singapore: Vettel returns impressively

In his fifth success at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the 32-year-old benefited from a miscalculation by the Ferrari strategists, to the chagrin of Leclerc - and from a serious mistake by the Mercedes tactics. World Cup leader Lewis Hamilton only managed fourth place behind Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.

With a flawless performance himself, Vettel unexpectedly achieved his first win of the season - much to the annoyance of his teammate Leclerc. The Monegasse started from pole position and drove towards the next victory after Spa and Monza. After the only pit stop, Vettel was suddenly ahead of the 21-year-old, who spent the rest of the race bitterly accusing his team.

The cars snaked their way through the narrow street circuit. © APA/afp / MOHD RASFAN

Hamilton has been waiting for his next victory for three races and three Ferrari victories in a row. In the ranking, the 34-year-old five-time champion is still clearly ahead of the competition, Vettel is fifth with 102 points less than the Silver Arrows star. But his victory in the 235th race of his career was a relief. Vettel last won on August 26, 2018 in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Uneventful start At the beginning it didn't look like the four-time champion would win. 164 meters of tension until the first corner, everything went smoothly. Leclerc confidently defended his fifth pole position after the red lights went out. Vettel tried to attack Hamilton from third position. But the Brit fended off the attacks. Further back, Nico Hülkenberg wrecked his car on the narrow course and had to pit after the first five kilometers. He was immediately put on the hardest tire compound and set a good pace. The 32-year-old German, who is without a cockpit for the coming year, sometimes drove over a second and a half faster than the leaders.

“I can’t go any slower,” Hamilton radioed to the command post, annoyed. The problem: If you accelerate too much, the tires risk letting you down more quickly. But because everyone was relying on a one-stop strategy, they wanted to delay changing tires as long as possible. The slow pace at the front didn't create any excitement at first. Who would be the first to come to the pits to change tires among the top drivers? It was Vettel. Strategy punishes Leclerc Suddenly Hamilton also accelerated, shortening the gap to Leclerc, who now came in to change tires and came out again behind Vettel. Ferrari's intention? Open. “What the hell…” Leclerc cursed after being told by his race engineer to put pressure on him. The winner of the last two races was pissed off.

Both Mercedes still fell by the wayside. The stroll was over. A few laps after Bottas, Hamilton also came in and was tailor-made by the team to get back on the course, at least ahead of his Finnish assistant. At the halfway point of the race everything was going in favor of Vettel, who touched Pierre Gasly's Toro Rosso in an uncompromising maneuver. Antonio Giovinazzi from Ferrari's partner team Alfa Romeo allowed Vettel to pass without resistance. On lap 31, the 32-year-old was leading the field. Charles Leclerc finished the race in second place after two wins in a row. © APA/afp / MOHD RASFAN

And then it happened: The safety car had to come, like every year since the first race in Singapore in 2008. George Russell had driven his Williams into the track wall. Vettel's lead over Leclerc was gone, as was Hamilton's lead in fourth place. With 21 laps to go it was back to business, Vettel remained in front.

But he wasn't through yet. Sergio Perez caused the next safety car deployment. Vettel stayed cool again, Leclerc was still angry. “I don’t do anything stupid, but it wasn’t fair,” he radioed to the pits. This time he couldn't get close to Vettel, even after the third safety car phase. That's how it remained with Ferrari's first double success in Singapore.

The result: Pos Name Team 1. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari 3. Max Verstappen Red Bull 4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 5. Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6. Alexander albon Red Bull 7. Lando Norris McLaren 8. Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 9. Nico Hulkenberg Renault 10. Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo

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Victory in Singapore: Vettel returns impressively

In the heat of the night in Singapore, luck returned to Sebastian Vettel. The German, who has recently been heavily criticized, prevented his stable rival Charles Leclerc's hat-trick of wins on Sunday and claimed his first Formula 1 triumph in 392 days.

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