Sebastian Vettel has been on a rotten run, his
last Grand Prix victory coming 392 days ago in Belgium. But the stars aligned
under the lights of Singapore’s Marina Bay with the Ferrari driver taking
advantage of a fortuitous strategy call to beat teammate and pole-sitter Charles
Leclerc.
Vettel looked out of contention in third in the
early stages as Leclerc led Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and managed the pace at
the head of the field, as all of the frontrunners looked after their tyres to
enable them to make a one-stop strategy work. But with Nico Hulkenberg entering
their pit window, courtesy of an early pit stop for a puncture after contact
with Carlos Sainz, Ferrari opted to box Vettel first to protect him, as he was
the most vulnerable. It worked, with the German re-joining just ahead of the
Renault.
With the aid of three Safety Cars, called for
crashes for George Russell and Kimi Raikkonen, and for a DNF for Sergio Perez,
Vettel was able to manage his tyres to cross the line to win his fifth
Singapore Grand Prix - the first time he has won five times at any venue.
Leclerc came home 2.6s back, with Max Verstappen completing the podium for Red
Bull, after he benefitted from an early pit stop to undercut Hamilton, forcing
the championship leader into fourth.
The other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was fifth,
having been told to back off the pace to allow Hamilton to pit and re-join
ahead, with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon sixth and Lando Norris seventh in the
McLaren. Pierre Gasly ended up eighth, with Hulkenberg and Alfa Romeo's Antonio
Giovinazzi, who led the race for six laps after running deep, completing the
top 10.
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