Vettel rejoices, Leclerc struggles: the voices for Ferrari's triumph

Released from his suffering, Sebastian Vettel soaked up every moment on the winner's podium on his lucky night in Singapore. The Ferrari star had to wait 392 days before he could finally feel like the winner of a Formula 1 race again on Sunday. “I didn’t doubt myself,” insisted the 32-year-old as he silenced all critics with a flawless drive around the sparkling Marina Bay Street Circuit. The fact that Vettel also spoiled his rebellious stable rival Charles Leclerc's hat-trick of victory may have secretly given the German even more satisfaction.

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Vettel's fifth success in Singapore was helped by a miscalculation by the Ferrari strategists. During the only tire change, Vettel was allowed to pit first - and then unexpectedly stayed ahead of Leclerc when he stopped a lap later. During the race, the Monegasque complained that this was “unfair,” and at the finish he initially passed Vettel without saying a word. “It is difficult to lose a victory in this way,” emphasized Leclerc, who started from pole position. After his recent victories at Spa and Monza, second place in the floodlit spectacle felt like a slap in the face for him.

“That wasn’t Mercedes-worthy” Lewis Hamilton World Cup leader Lewis Hamilton was also seriously upset. The Mercedes tactics delayed his pit stop for far too long, so the Brit only finished fourth behind the Dutchman Max Verstappen. "It hurts. We could have easily won today. That wasn’t Mercedes-worthy,” said the defending champion. However, the 34-year-old continued to extend his championship lead as teammate Valtteri Bottas only finished fifth and is now 65 points behind in second overall with six races to go. Sebastian Vettel crossing the finish line. © AP / Lim Yong Teck

For Vettel, the longed-for title with Ferrari has long since been ticked off, now 102 points behind Hamilton, but that evening that was just a minor matter. Standing on the cockpit of his Ferrari, he finally raised his victorious finger to the sky again, the crashing fireworks accompanied the red cheers. “I'm very happy, it was a great race,” said Vettel.

After his embarrassing spin and time penalty in Monza two weeks ago, the four-time world champion was repeatedly criticized for his mistakes during the turbulent Ferrari years. With the rapid rise of his young teammate Leclerc, Vettel was treated like a discontinued model whose time seemed to be up. “It wasn’t the first time I had to go through it, and it won’t be the last time either,” said Vettel. Letters from fans helped Vettel Letters and messages from fans who felt for him during the difficult time gave him energy, he said. “When you read these lines, it touches me. That gave me strength and faith. “Today I packed it all in the car,” added Vettel.

The veteran showed his full class in his triumph in Singapore. He pounced when the opportunity arose after 20 laps and kept his nerve during the three safety car phases at the end of the race. “I knew that things would get better for me too. I'm glad it was sooner rather than later," said Vettel after his first victory since August 26, 2018, the 53rd of his career. There was a lot to talk about between Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. © AP / Yong Teck Lim

It was the first time that a team at Marina Bay celebrated a double success. The Scuderia had had to wait for such a result since August 2017. The result was all the more surprising since everyone had previously expected a duel between Mercedes and Red Bull because Ferrari had previously shown major weaknesses on winding and rather slow tracks like in Singapore. Ferrari team boss tries to appease And yet the joy in the red camp was not unclouded. The seriously offended Leclerc announced a need to speak about his strategy during the race and was visibly struggling to keep his composure for a long time afterwards. Team boss Mattia Binotto, however, wasn't worried about a crash in the team meeting. “It will be very easy, he will understand what was behind it,” said the Italian. Next week in Sochi it will become clear how resentful Leclerc really is.

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Vettel rejoices, Leclerc struggles: the voices for Ferrari's triumph

The long-awaited victory for Sebastian Vettel and then Charles Leclerc in second place. Anyone who thinks that everything is perfect at Ferrari is far from the truth. After the double victory in Singapore there is real fire under the roof. The votes for the race.

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