Singapore – Race: Sebastian Vettel wins, Ferrari one-two!

At lights out, Charles Leclerc manages to hold the lead of the Grand Prix while Lewis Hamilton is put under pressure by a very in-form Sebastian Vettel.

Max Verstappen also manages to keep his 4th position ahead of Bottas and Albon.

On the other hand, it’s a nightmare start to the Grand Prix for Renault. Carlos Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg make contact, with the Renault driver seeking space to overtake Sainz, resulting in a puncture that costs the Spaniard 13 places. This incident is considered a “racing incident” and does not lead to any further action.

Daniel Ricciardo and George Russell also made contact, resulting in the Williams driver being hit and breaking his front wing, forcing him to go through the pits.

Despite this, there are very few incidents to report for these early laps, which is quite rare on this Marina Bay circuit. The early race pace is very slow, with the leading group driving slowly to make just one pit stop. “I really can’t go any slower,” even says Lewis Hamilton to his engineer.

The pit stop window opens on the 12th lap, which livens up the race a bit.

Meanwhile, Ricciardo is making an impressive comeback and finds himself in 12th place ahead of Lance Stroll and Romain Grosjean. The gap between the drivers is very tight: in seventh position, Norris is only three seconds behind Albon’s Red Bull, which is about 10 seconds from the race leader.

After 15 laps, here is the ranking: Leclerc, Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen, Bottas, Albon, Norris, Giovinazzi, Magnussen, Gasly, Räikkönen, Ricciardo, Stroll, Grosjean, Hülkenberg, Kubica, Pérez, Kvyat, Russell, and Sainz.

On lap 17, Charles Leclerc pushes his car and extends his lead over Hamilton to 2 seconds. The British driver says he feels the drop in performance of his soft tires, which explains his delay behind the Ferrari.

The race finally becomes lively, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen stop on the 20th lap. 3.0 seconds stop for Vettel compared to 2.3 for Verstappen. Bad news, however, for Verstappen, as Hülkenberg has inserted himself between the two drivers.

Vettel takes the lead

Magnificent undercut strategy by Sebastian Vettel, who pits a lap before his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver comes out behind and thus puts pressure on the German.

Lewis Hamilton stays on the track while Ferrari orders Leclerc to “push as hard as possible” to prevent the Brit from overtaking him.

Valtteri Bottas enters the pits on lap 23 to come out far behind Verstappen and just ahead of Hülkenberg.

It’s Lewis Hamilton’s turn to enter the pits on lap 26 with a 28-second lead over Bottas, leaving the lead position to Giovinazzi.

Vettel forces his way past Gasly to take 2nd place and then goes on to overtake Giovinazzi to lead the Grand Prix!

Another contact for Ricciardo, this time with Giovinazzi. The Australian, optimistic, tried to pass the Italian and the Renault driver suffered a flat tire, which benefitted Hülkenberg and Norris.

The Safety Car parade

It’s George Russell’s turn to have an accident, the first for Williams since the start of the season. The Williams is immobilized on the track after contact with Romain Grosjean, which forces the safety car to come out.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” sighs Russell on the radio in reference to the French driver. This crash will be investigated by the stewards.

On the Ferrari side, Charles Leclerc is not happy with the strategy and makes it clear over the radio: “Watch your tires and keep a cool head,” says his engineer to Leclerc.

“Yes, yes, my head is cool until the finish but I just wanted to tell you what my feelings are,” he replies. “To be totally honest with you, I don’t understand the undercut at all, but we’ll discuss it after the race…”

Lap 38 and the Safety Car is still on track to finally exit on lap 41. Vettel restarts and maintains the lead as DRS is not yet allowed.

New Safety Car deployed after Sergio Pérez’s retirement due to a mechanical problem. On the 46th lap, the Safety Car is still on track, leading Vettel, Leclerc, Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Albon, Norris, Magnussen, Räikkönen, and Gasly. The two Renaults of Hülkenberg, 11th, and Ricciardo, 14th, are outside the points.

“I want everything,” Leclerc says, referring to the engine power. “I won’t do anything stupid, that’s not my goal. Don’t worry. I want a 1-2 finish, but not in that order.” The Monegasque driver is truly determined to regain the lead and secure a third consecutive victory.

There are 13 laps remaining when the Safety Car comes in and Vettel maintains the lead while Leclerc closes in. The Mercedes cars remain close to Max Verstappen. There’s also a lot of action at the back with Ricciardo, Gasly, Grosjean, Magnussen, and Kvyat putting on a show by overtaking each other.

As soon as they returned, the Safety Car had to intervene again. Indeed, Daniil Kvyat made contact with Kimi Räikkönen.

During a braking maneuver, the Torro Rosso forces the Alfa Romeo off the track, and the Finn is forced to retire.

The race is restarted on lap 52 and Sebastian Vettel, once again, maintains the lead of the race.

In the meantime, Renault’s problems continue. Hülkenberg, who is in 9th place, announces “Something strange with the gearbox.” Despite this issue, the German driver manages to hold his position to finish 9th and secure Renault’s only points.

In the final laps, Lewis Hamilton put pressure on Verstappen in order to secure the third spot on the podium. However, the Dutch driver did not give in and retained his position. Hamilton therefore finished 4th ahead of Valtteri Bottas.

Vettel makes no mistakes on his last lap and clinches the victory, his fifth in Singapore and his first of the season. Ferrari secures a one-two finish with Charles Leclerc in 2nd position. It’s the first time Ferrari has won 3 times in a row since 2008!

Romain Grosjean, meanwhile, finishes his race in 11th place, just outside the points, while Pierre Gasly gains valuable points by finishing in 8th place.