Summing up
So, we had something of a turn-up here. Few fancied Sebastian Vettel, given the season he has had, to control this race the way he did in the second half of this one. But he did, and broke his lean run to win a grand prix that intrigued without ever sparking into life. The safety car interruptions rather broke its flow and stymied some of the potential for drama, certainly at the front of the race, though there was a fair bit of argy-bargy in midfield. But the upshot is this that Ferrari won this particular game of tactical chess to put themselves clear in second in the constructors’ standings, though I suspect we’ll be hearing more about Charles Leclerc’s view of his team’s race strategy. It certainly wasn’t what he wanted. Stay on the site for more reaction, and thanks for following. Bye.
We have an on-the-flag report, from Giles Richards:
And here are the championship standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 284 points.
2. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes, 221.
3. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing Honda, 185.
4. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 182.
5. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Ferrari, 169.
6. Pierre Gasly, France, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 65.
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, McLaren Renault, 58.
8. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Renault, 34.
9. Alexander Albon, Thailand, Red Bull Racing Honda, 34.
10. Daniil Kvyat, Russia, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 33.
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Germany, Renault, 31.
12. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 31.
13. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 27.
14. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren Renault, 25.
15. Lance Stroll, Canada, Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 19.
16. Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, Haas Ferrari, 18.
17. Romain Grosjean, France, Haas Ferrari, 8.
18. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 3.
19. Robert Kubica, Poland, Williams Mercedes, 1.
Manufacturers Standings
1. Mercedes, 505.
2. Ferrari, 351.
3. Red Bull Racing Honda, 266.
4. McLaren Renault, 83.
5. Renault, 65.
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 51.
7. Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 46.
8. Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 34.
9. Haas Ferrari, 26.
10. Williams Mercedes, 1.
Race results in full
1 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 2 CharlesLeclerc, Ferrari 3 MaxVerstappen, Red Bull 4 LewisHamilton, 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 11 Romain Grosjean, Haas 12 Carlos Sainz, McLaren 13 LanceStroll, Racing Point, 14 Daniel Ricciardo, Renault 15 Danii Kvyat, Toro Rosso 16 Robert Kubica, Williams 17 KevinMagnussen, Haas
Did not finish KimiRäikkönen, Alfa Romeo; SergioPerez, Racing Point BWT; George Russell, Williams
Booming fireworks light up the night sky on the equator, as high-fives are slapped about the place among the Ferrari team. Whatever Leclerc may feel, he’s part of a team suddenly in chipper mood as their fine late-season form continues.
Vettel speaks: “It feels sweet. Great race, big congratulations to the team. The start of the season was difficult for us but in recent weeks we’ve started to come alive. I’d like to thank the fans, the last couple of weeks have been not the best for me but it’s been incredible to get so many nice messages. It’s given me a lot of strength and belief.”
Quizzed about Ferrari’s strategy call? “It was a very late call [for the undercut] but then I just gave it everything in the outlap, as I saw the two cars in front of me not pitting, then I was surprised a lap later to come out ahead. We controlled it to the end, the car was getting better and better. I received a call the last turn before the pit entry, but for me obviously it worked today.
Leclerc swallows his palpable unhappiness to say: “Obviously it’s always difficult to lose a win like that but at the end it’s a one-two for the team, all the guys deserved it, we arrived hoping for a podium, and got a one-two. For myself, I’m disappointed for my side, as it sometimes happens, but I’ll come back stronger.” He praises the new car “It looks positive, more than we expected, they’ve done an amazing job. The strategy was fixed at the beginning of the race, so I stick to the plan,” he adds, possibly pointedly.
Verstappen, in third place, says: “The whole race went well, I’ve got to be happy. I started to struggle a bit with the tyres so we boxed but that was a good call because we undercut Lewis in the end. In general happy to be on the podium, it’s always difficiult to overtake here, so to do it by strategy is good. You’re working harder in a race like this than when you’re going flat out.”
And now they’re on the podium for anthem time.
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“Awesome job, well done!” Vettel is told over the radio. It was a smart drive by the German, who became his team’s main man after the mid-race congestion and stops and starts. Leclerc may be aggrieved.
Hamilton may only have come fourth, but his lead has been extended by one point, to 64. He’s still in a very healthy position, even if this really wasn’t Mercedes’ race.
Sebastian Vettel wins the Singapore Grand Prix!
Lap 61/61 It’s a one-two for Ferrari. And a third straight win for the team, though Leclerc will be disappointed he couldn’t make it a personal hat-trick. For Vettel, it brings to an end a grim winless run. Hamilton can’t quite get close enough in the key moments to Verstappen, who takes third. Bottas is fifth.
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Lap 60/61 Verstappen is struggling with power but he does well to hold off Hamilton’s superior engine power. He’s showing all his champion’s competitive aggression here, but he’s still outside the top three. Vettel leads going into the final lap!
Lap 59/61 Hamilton closes on Verstappen – he’s no more than a car length and a half or so behind him now, but Vettel looks unassailable out front. His lead is now over two seconds.
Lap 58/61 Kvyatt sets a new fastest lap for the race of 1:44:47 for what it’s worth, though he remains back in 15th. Only for Hamilton to surpass it a few seconds later. Vettel still leads from Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton with three laps to go.
Lap 57/61 Given what an error-strewn season Vettel has endured, he’s driven with incident-free composure today, for all that Leclerc may gripe. The German leads by 1.9sec now. Hamilton still can’t quite get within range of Verstappen. Magnussen goes in for a tyre change to keep himself in the race.
Lap 56/61 Hamilton gets within DRS range of Verstappen but isn’t able to take him on yet, so the podium’s in view for the Red Bull man.
Lap 55/61 Time is running out for Leclerc to make his move on Vettel, whose 392-day winless run could be coming to an end. The lead is now 1.2sec as Vettel sets a new fastest lap for the race
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Lap 54/61 In the mid-market points battle, Gasly is challenging seventh-placed Norris strongly at the moment, with Hulkenburg in ninth and Giovinazzi up into 10th.
Lap 53/61 Leclerc keeps Vettel within striking distance – it’s around a second at the moment – with Verstappen 2.4sec behind the leader in third, and Hamilton more than a second further back in fourth. His championship lead looks strong still, though it’s not really been his race today.
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Lap 52/61 Racing resumes as the safety car comes in. Hulkenburg is reporting some car trouble, but is told to keep at it. The stewards will look at the Raikkonen-Kvyatt brouhaha after the race. Ricciardo goes past Magnussen into 13th. As you were at the front for now.
Yer punters aren’t happy:
you should simply do without the city courses. safety car, safety car, safety car .... boring
— Mücke (@Mure77) September 22, 2019
Lap 51/61 This is supremely frustrating, and makes it increasingly likely that this race will time out now, with around 17 minutes to go to the two-hour mark. What had seemed tactically intriguing and hard to call might be petering out into a less than thrilling finish. It’s Vettel 1, Leclerc 2, Verstappen 3, Hamilton 4 Bottas 5.
Lap 50/61 Kvyatt takes on Raikkonen, breaks and arrives late and forces the Finn right off the track. This means the safety car – again! Kvyatt survived the kerfuffle, and carried on racing, but having forced himself and Raikkonen off has lost some ground. Raikkonen’s quit.
Lap 49/61 A word for mid-race front runner Giovinazzi, who’s recovered some ground after dropping back. He’s 11th, and well placed to challenge for points. Vettel keeps his lead to between 0.9sec and 1.1sec on Leclerc, while Verstappen slightly extends his lead on Hamilton.
Lap 48/61 No constructor’s ever had a one-two finish in Singapore. Will we get one here? The safety car comes in and they get ready to fire up again. Vettel builds his lead, taking it to around 0.9sec. Mercedes restarted well, Verstappen trying to gain on Leclerc, whose chances are fading. Ricciardo’s pass on Kvyatt is the first movement as competition is renewed, but then he’s overhauled by three – Kvyatt, Grosjean and Sainz.
Lap 47/61 Charles Leclerc is told over the radio by his team that he needs to bring his car in for new tyres. “I won’t be stupid, I want to finish one-two but I just think this is not fair,” he says. We’re gonna have some talking points after this race. Hamilton almost runs into the back of Verstappen as they prepare for the safety car to come in, which it is due to, after this lap.
Updated
Lap 46/61 There are, in theory, 15 laps to go but such has been the pace – or lack of – in this race that we might hit the two-hour time limit a lap or two short.
Lap 45/61 Some cars drive around. A safety car in front of them. The less things change, the better this is likely to be for the Ferraris.
Lap 44/61 Back comes the safety car as Sergio Perez walks disconsolately away from his static car, to round off a miserable week. He’s been a touch poorly too. This isn’t going to help Mercedes, mitigating their tyre advantage.
Lap 43/61 Leclerc pushes hard on Vettel, within DRS range, but stays second for now, as Perez moves into the top 10 before hitting mechanical bother and grinding to a halt. There’s a fierce scrap for championship points going on in the middle, and some casualties.
Lap 42/61 So where do we stand with fewer than 20 laps left? It’s 1 Vettel by 0.7sec from 2 Leclerc 3 Verstappen 4 Hamilton 5 Bottas
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Lap 41/61 No DRS for the first two laps after the safety car, but plenty of jostling as the Ferraris forge ahead in ominous style. Gasly and Stroll, I think, have had a coming-together further back. Ricciardo, who had to treat a puncture during the safety car period, moves up to 16th, while Hulkenburg moves in front of Stroll in 12th. Stroll now has a puncture having had clashes with first Gasly and now Raikkonen.
Lap 40/61 Freedom! The safety car period ends. All to play for in the last 20 laps.
Lap 39/61 The safety car is still out, which incidentally maintains its 100% appearance record in grands prix at this circuit. This is probably good news for the Ferrari front runners in terms of tyre preservation.
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Lap 38/61 Russell’s had to quit the race after that clash. “My head is down and it will be down until the race is ended” says Leclerc after being told to keep his bonce down and plough on. He doesn’t sound happy, and is displeased with the undercut from his teammate. He’s got a point, having been their man in pole.
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Lap 37/61 Hulkenburg goes into the pits as the safety car stays out. As they ease round, a reminder of how they stand: 1 Vettel 2 Leclerc 3 Verstappen 4 Hamilton 5 Bottas 6 Albon
Lap 36/61 George Russell goes into the wall after a clash with Grossjean as Ferrari try to build a safety car lead. We could now have a safety car, and we do. It’s duly deployed. This means Hamilton will stay out if the Ferraris pit. Game on?
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Lap 35/61 Giovinazzi pits at last, and he’ll have needed a tyre change anyway after that clash. As does Ricciardo, who also copped some damage in the incident. Vettel leads by just under five seconds from Leclerc. Hamilton reckons Ferrari are running a two-stop race, which gives the safety car some importance.
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Lap 34/61 Bottas goes wide to pass Giovinazzi, who then clashes with Ricciardo as the latter overhauls him and forces him wide. He could have some damage here, and the Italian is dropping back alarmingly. That’s a real shame.
Lap 33/61 Ferrari looking promising now, as Leclerc squeezes past Giovinazzi to give them a one-two at the front. Which driver will the team prioritise from now? Hamilton passes Giovinazzi to move into fourth. He’s not out of this yet, but he is 3.9sec behind Vettel in first.
Lap 32/61 Leclerc overhauls Gasly on the corner with consummate skill and no real fuss or resistance. He’s now taking on Giovinazzi on second. Verstappen passes Gasly too. So it’s now 1 Vettel 2 Giovinazzi (yet to pit) 3 Leclerc 4 Verstappen 5 Gasly 6 Hamilton 7 Bottas 8 Albon
Lap 31/61 Vettel now leads! He makes quite an easy pass on Giovinazzi. Gasly is third, Leclerc fourth and Verstappen fifth, having just passed Ricciardo, who’s had a pretty decent race considering. Stroll goes into the pits.
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Lap 30/61 Tyres are wearing easily in these conditions, which adds to the uncertainty as Vettel attacks Gasly and passes him – did he force him off the track there? – and now the Ferrari lead man is in second. But will he cop a warning?
Lap 29/61 Top fact, and possibly a damning one. Giovinazzi is the first person outside a Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari driver to lead a grand prix since Williams at Silverstone in 2015. Meanwhile, Vettel passes Stroll and Ricciardo to seize third place. Leclerc passes Stroll to move into fifth too. Hamilton is still eighth, behind Verstappen in seventh.
Lap 28/61 Leclerc tries to go past Stroll in fifth but can’t quite force the opening, and that’s good work from Stroll. Verstappen is looking to exploit such a battle a place further back. Giovinazzi still leads by 1.1sec from Gasly. It’s all about reading and managing the considerable traffic here.
Lap 27/61 So Giovinazzi now leads! Verstappen and Vettel try to close, having struggled to make ground, while Hamilton emerges from the pit lane in front of Bottas. He’s eighth, and net-fourth in the race. It’s not a big gap but a lot depends on how Giovanazzi, Gasly and Ricciardo set the pace out front, none of whom have pitted. This is properly intriguing. Hamilton is told “the race will all happen at the end”. It probably will.
Lap 26/61 Leclerc’s easy control of the early stages of the race has certainly gone though he’s still firmly in contention. Hamilton still leads from Giovinazzi. They’re standing by at Mercedes to pit Hamilton …
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Lap 25/61 Bottas has just set a fastest lap, and he has a chance of having a net lead over Hamilton post-pitting. He’s currently ninth. In front of him Verstappen (8th), Leclerc (7th) and Vettel (6th), who could be the Ferrari driver most likely to at the moment.
Lap 24/61 Hamilton says his tyres “are not great but I don’t want you to stop me” at this point. He leads from Giovinazzi, Gasly and Ricciardo, none of whom have pitted.
Lap 23/61 Bottas goes into the pits but Hamilton stays out. Of the leaders who’ve pitted, Vettel is sixth, Leclerc seventh, Verstappen eighth and Bottas ninth.
Lap 22/61 The data boffins reckon Vettel has a 50/50 chance of being in front of Hamilton after the latter pits. Hamilton says he’s happy with his tyres and is staying out for now. He’s 5.7sec ahead of Bottas (who is also yet to pit) in second, but Vettel is a real threat now. It’s all up in the air at the moment.
Lap 21/61 Hamilton is told “Opposite to Leclerc!”, as Leclerc pits at the end of lap 20 and Hamilton powers on out front. The Ferrari driver comes out behind Vettel – this could be costly for Leclerc and he’s struggling for grip. Leclerc is eighth, Vettel seventh.
Lap 20/61 No sooner do I type that than both Vettel and Verstappen pit. Vettel comes out ahead of Hulkenburg but Verstappen doesn’t. That’s a big blow. Vettel is 10th and Verstappen 12th. Which puts Bottas third and Albon fourth.
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Lap 19/61 The condensed field means pitting remains a risk for the front runners. You’d think Verstappen and Bottas would have pitted by now
Lap 18/61 So here’s how they stand: 1 Leclerc by just a second from 2 Hamilton, then 3 Vettel 4 Verstappen 5 Bottas and 6 Albon. Hamilton’s looking well placed to pounce at some point
Lap 17/61 Leclerc pushes on, Hamilton hints at pitting soon amid a need to change tyres,but he’s reduced the lead back down to around 1.5sec. Vettel and Verstappen haven’t responded to the upping of the pace though. Raikkonen emerges from the pits but is thwarted skilfully by Kubica before passing him at the second attempt a couple of turns later. He’s 15th.
Lap 16/61 Leclerc has upped the pace slightly, while a struggling Raikkonen makes his first pit stop, as Perez sets a new fastest lap. Leclerc leads 1.7sec and has just been given the message to push from his team, and it already shows in an extended lead. How will Hamilton respond?
Lap 15/61 Leclerc has been given a message: “Back to mode race”, for whatever that’s worth. His last lap was 1:49.03, and only eight seconds covers the top seven.
Lap 14/61 Leclerc faces a test of his race management here, as he seeks to rein in the race’s pace. But he’s still ahead by around 0.9sec from Hamilton, who’s in DRS range. Lando Norris might be one to watch here too as he closes on the top six from seventh place.
Lap 13/61 Kvyatt pits, he probably needs to. In midfield, Ricciardo’s energy is forcing the pace, which in turn could exert some pressure on the leading group, who are still very much cruising at present. It’s still Leclerc 1 Hamilton 2, Vettel 5, Verstappen 4 and Bottas 5.
Lap 12/61 Hulkenburg is told over the radio that “the people at the front on soft are struggling”, Hulkenburg having pitted early and changed his tyres up.
Lap 11/61 Leclerc’s lead is ambulating between a second and a second and a half. With Vettel a further 1.3sec behind. The most dynamic battle up top remains that between Verstappen in fourth and Bottas in fifth. And further back Kvyatt is passed again, by Perez, who touched the wall in doing so. Skilful driving. Pit window’s a-comin’
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Lap 10/61 Bottas is challenging Verstappen strongly for fourth place at the moment, to pep things up for Mercedes. One driver going for it is a pumped-up and slightly embittered Daniel Ricciardo, who goes down the inside of Kvyatt at turn 13 to move into 12th. Stroll passes Kvyatt in the same sequence too. That was deftly done.
Lap 9/61 Raikkonen thinks he might have some damage, back in 11th place. Leclerc leads by 1.1sec. Hamilton is second, Vettel third, Verstappen fourth, Bottas fifth.
Lap 7/61 Hamilton has been complaining over the radio that his pace is really slow, particularly in the middle sector, and they are certainly trundling around a tad at the moment, but you have to play the long game in these circumstances. Ricciardo pops up another place to 13th. The stewards will take no further action over the Sainz-Hulkenburg clash.
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Lap 6/61 Christian Horner speaks from the Red Bull team: “We’ve kept our positions and now it’s like boxers dancing round each other in the ring.” They’re not planning to pit Albon at the moment because he’ll have too much traffic to go through. Leclerc leads Hamilton by 0.95sec, Vettel is 2.3sec behind the leader in third.
Lap 5/61 They’re in tyre-preservation mode at the moment, with slightly slower laps, in the stifling heat and humidity of Singapore, so there’s relatively little movement. They’re racing the conditions as well as each other here.
Lap 4/61 Hamilton closes to 0.8sec on Leclerc, Ricciardo’s going well after his hampered start – he’s up to 14th, while the top six are as they were on the grid
Lap 3/61 Hamilton begins to make a bit of ground on Leclerc, who is 1.4sec in front, which is pretty impressive for the third lap. Vetell is 2.294sec behind, with Verstappen fourth, Bottas fifth and Albon sixth. It appears there was contact between Sainz and Hulkenburg as the latter sought to close into a gap on turn five
Lap 2/61 Hulkenburg is pitting already - possibly after clashing with Sainz - and the Renault driver’s taking hard tyres. The front runners are setting a fierce pace. George Russell is already having a wing change. Sainz is in trouble too, and has pitted.
Lap 1/61 Ricciardo’s already passed three drivers at the back, Gasly passes Raikkonen, Sainz is struggling, somethingh might have happened there. Leclerc leads from Hamilton and Vettel
Lights out!
And away we go. Leclerc away well and Vettel and Hamilton are tussling furiously, Hamilton defending tenaciously, and Leclerc is flying at the front.
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They’re off on the formation lap …
Ferrari engineers are giving Charles Leclerc’s car a late once-over, they’ve issued a thumbs-up sign but it’s very hard up against the start of the race to be making adjustments.
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Max Verstappen, fourth on the grid and third in the championship, speaks, briefly; “Start is always important but there are a lot of things that can get into play, tyre management, safety cars, let’s see.”
A disgruntled Daniel Ricciardo, punished for a technical breach for exceeding the power limit on his MGU-K unit during Q1 and starting from the pit lane as a result, is asked about his chances: “Not really the track for it but I’ll try. I don’t want to come across as negative but they’ve definitely taken a big opportunity off me. I’, not impressed, at all, but I’ll see how I go.”
Martin Brundle’s doing his pit walk. pointing out the new Ferrari, which doesn’t look much different but it’s done the business for them so far. He’s struggling to find drivers - even the Lighthouse Family have given him the slip. But he does find Adrian Newey of Red Bull who says Ferrari’s changes are “slightly annoying but that’s progress, the new device under the nose has given them more downforce.” Can Red Bull and Verstappen advance from fourth? “It’s going to be difficult, safety cars come out here often but we’ll see what we can do.
He finds Leclerc who describes his qualifying display as “quite a crazy lap but I’m happy with how I finished it and happy to start on pole. The start will be very important, on these first three corners, and Hamilton will be a challenge. Seb [Vettel] will be quick too and it’s not going to be easy to keep them behind
It’s a hot, dark atmospheric grid, and they’re now lining up for the anthems.
Circuit guide:
Marina Bay is 5.063km long, which they’ll be lapping 61 times and with its bumpy street surface coupled and notorious humidity there is plenty for drivers to reckon with. The track features 23 corners, and some unique and quirky features such as Turn 18, which sees the drivers pass beneath a grandstand.
Some pre-race reading – Giles Richards on Sebastian Vettel’s travails:
And on yesterday’s qualifying, plus F1’s mooted reverse-grid idea. Any thoughts?
How they line up
1 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1min 36.217secs,
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:36.408,
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:36.437,
4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:36.813,
5 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:37.146,
6 Alexander Albon (Tha) Red Bull 1:37.411,
7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:37.818,
8 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:38.264,
9 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:38.329,
10 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:38.620,
11 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:38.697,
12 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.699,
13 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:38.858,
14 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:39.650,
15 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.957,
16 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:39.979,
17 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:40.277,
18 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:40.867,
19 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:41.186
Disqualified: Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault, disqualified due to breach of technical regulations, but has been given permission to start the race by the stewards.
Preamble
Afternoon/evening everyone. So we move from one type of F1 glamour to another today, from the venerable Monza last time out to the more futuristic allure of night-time racing at Singapore. There are a couple of constants though: Lewis Hamilton being on course for another world title, and Charles Leclerc’s prodigious form. Fresh from winning in Belgium and Italy, the Monagesque Ferrari driver has only gone and taken pole for a third consecutive race, adding spice to the later stages of this season.
It all constitutes a massive boost for Ferrari, who’ve had another chequered season, what with Sebastian Vettel’s indifferent form, and they’d not been fancied to do well at a circuit such as Marina Bay given their problems on the slow corners this season. But a new front wing and floor on the car seems to have given them extra grip.
A third straight win for Leclerc would be a stunning achievement, but he has Hamilton, second in qualifying, right at his wheel. The Briton has won in Singapore four times, including the previous two races here, so you’d possibly still make him favourite here. Vettel, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas complete the top five on the grid and an engrossing spectacle under the Marina Bay lights beckons. Bring it!
Lights out 1.10pm BST.
