F1 2019: Sebastian Vettel wins Singapore Grand Prix

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.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Singapore Grand Prix

For two races in a row, Lewis Hamilton has won Grand Prix that he arguably shouldn’t have. After stealing the Italian Grand Prix from under Ferrari noses, Hamilton produced another dominant display in Singapore, seeing off the challenge of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to increase his lead in the title race over arch rival Sebastian Vettel, who could only finish third.

With Ferrari calling him in for fresh rubber on lap 14, he was unable to make the undercut on Hamilton work, ending up behind Verstappen after the first round of pit stops. From then on, Vettel was in damage limitation mode, as he was forced to watch on as his 2018 championship hopes took a further hit. As the chequered flag fell on Hamilton’s 69th career win, the British driver earned himself 25 points to Vettel’s 15, the gap between them in the drivers’ standings now up to a full 40 points.

Behind the podium finishers, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas just managed to hold off his fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen for fourth place as Daniel Ricciardo, who’d come away from qualifying puzzled at his lack of pace, could only manage sixth. Further down the order, it was a great day for McLaren, as Fernando Alonso used his free choice of tyres resulting from qualifying 11th to end up seventh and ‘best of the rest’ in the race, ahead of the Renault of Carlos Sainz, while Charles Leclerc put in yet another impressive 2018 race performance, the newly-minted Ferrari driver ending up P9.

The second Renault of Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten, but ultimately, once again they day belonged to Mercedes and Hamilton who once again triumphed on a track that was not expected to suit the W09.

Lewis Hamilton wins Singapore Grand Prix

It was action from the off in Singapore Grand Prix – the first night race in F1 history to be run in wet conditions. With the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen eliminated in a coming together at the start. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton came through for victory, extending his championship lead over Vetter from three to 28 points.

In a race that ran to the full two-hour limit thanks to three safety-car periods, Daniel Ricciardo made the Marina Bay podium for the fourth year in a row, as he took second place for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Carlos Sainz scored his best-ever result with fourth for Toro Rosso; Jolyon Palmer did the same as he finished sixth for Renault; and likewise Stoffel Vandoorne with seventh for McLaren. The remaining point’s places went to Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in fifth and tenth respectively, Williams’ Lance Stroll in eighth and Haas’s Romain Grosjean in ninth.

Vettel, Raikkonen and Verstappen have all been called to the stewards regarding their Lap-1 clash, in which the Red Bull driver appeared to get squeezed between the two red cars. Fernando Alonso made an amazing start for McLaren, briefly vaulting as high as third, but was then an innocent victim of the Turn-1 carnage, sustaining car damage that forced him to retire a few laps later.

Daniil Kvyat put his Toro Rosso into the Turn 7 wall amid tricky conditions on Lap 11, and Marcus Ericsson crashed his Sauber on the Anderson Bridge on Lap 38. The two other retirements – both with technical problems – were Nico Hulkenberg, who had at one point looked set for fourth for Renault, and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen.

Nico Rosberg wins Singapore Grand Prix

A superb drive saw Nico Rosberg win 2016 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix after holding off a late charge from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo by just 0.4s. With Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton finishing third. Rosberg now heads his team mate in the standings by eight points.

Kimi Raikkonen narrowly missed out on a podium for Ferrari, while team mate Sebastian Vettel – voted Driver of the Day by Fans followed him home a strong fifth after starting from the back of the grid. Max Verstappen was sixth for Red Bull, ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, with Force India’s Sergio Perez, Toro Rosso Daniil Kvyat and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen completing the top ten. It was a race book-ended by drama.

As Rosberg headed Ricciardo, Hamilton and Raikkonen into the first corner, Max Verstappen made a slow start. And as Carlos Sainz took his Toro Rosso to the right of the Red Bull, he came into contract with Nico Hulkenberg Force India which was spun across the Dutchman bows and hard into the pit wall. Rosberg easily maintained an advantage over Ricciardo, to whom Hamilton could offer no challenge as he struggled throughout with brake temperatures.

Rosberg eighth victory of the season makes him the first non-champion to win in Singapore and puts him on 273 points, to Hamilton 265. The reigning champion was 7.5s second behind Ricciardo, but crucially 2.1s ahead of Raikkonen, whose ultrasofts were fading. Fernando Alonso brought his McLaren home seventh, having at one stage run as high as fifth, as Perez just held off Kvyat by four tenths for eighth.