Singapore Sting - Vettel wins as Ferrari score Singapore's first 1-2 finish

22 September 2019, Singapore - Sebastian Vettel won the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019 for Ferrari: this is how the 61-lap race unfolded.


Lap 1: Scare for Leclerc before the start with an apparent technical issue, but he is in the car for the lights – and makes a superb start as Ferrari teammate Vettel fights desperately to get past Hamilton’s Mercedes but can’t; front-wing damage on Russell’s Williams way back in the pack after a tap from Ricciardo’s relegated Renault in the first corner.

Lap 2: Hülkenberg pits the other Renault after picking up a puncture in contact with Sainz’s McLaren on the first lap at Turn 5; Leclerc a full second ahead after the opening lap; Sainz also in as the ‘best of the rest‘ battle between McLaren and Renault sees early drama. Can Nico make it to the end on this set of hard tyres? Meanwhile Carlos lost more than a minute as the crew struggled with the right rear tyre…

Lap 3-4: Leclerc’s lead hovering around the one-second mark as Hamilton has apparently seen off Vettel’s challenge for now; Verstappen’s Red Bull still in the fourth place from which it started; top six – the top three teams – pulling clear of the field Sainz now complaining there is something wrong with his car.


Lap 5-6: Leclerc inching away to a 1.3-second lead; Vettel almost two seconds down on Hamilton; Norris best of the rest now in seventh place, 8.8 seconds behind the leader. ‘Like a lot of boxers dancing around a ring’ says Red Bull boss Christian Horner as the running order shakes out and his second driver Alex Albon is sixth on his first Marina Bay start.

Lap 7-8: the entertainment is, as so often, coming from Ricciardo, now up to 13th after his latest pass on Stroll’s Racing Point – ‘Let’s go boys,’ says the Honey Badger to his pit crew; Bottas is now the Mercedes meat in a fairly compressed Red Bull sandwich, while Russell’s Williams is currently the outright fastest car on track – in 19th place.

Lap 9-10: Hamilton complaining about the race pace, telling his crew ‘I can’t really go much slower’ – will this change when the first round of pit stops and the change to Medium – or Hard – tyres comes around? Ricciardo – on Mediums after his demotion – is up to 12th now past Kvyat’s Toro Rosso and Perez in the Racing Point.

Lap 11-12: Perez has been watching Ricciardo and puts his own brilliant move on Kvyat to slot in behind teammate Stroll; Leclerc is now 1.4 ahead, and Bottas is being asked to cool down his front left brake caliper; Kvyat in for tyres.

Lap 13-14: Hülkenberg’s fightback now has the Renault behind Grosjean’s Haas in 15th and 16th – the seat Nico was hoping to take for 2020 after being told he is no longer required by Renault; Perez next to pit and stays ahead of Kvyat; Hamilton is slowly pegging Leclerc back, the lead briefly down to 0.7 – until Ferrari tell their man to return to ‘Mode Race’.


Lap 16-17: Räikkönen pits in the Alfa but is frustrated by Kubica’s Williams when he comes back out; the newly reshod Perez is now fastest man on track; Leclerc has taken orders to heart and the gap to Hamilton is now almost two seconds; Lewis is feeling the drop-off in his tyres. And Hülkenberg is still bottled up behind Grosjean…

Lap 18-20: Hamilton is hanging in there behind Leclerc as they edge away from Vettel and Verstappen; Vettel is first of the big boys to pit as Verstappen also goes in for tyres – both take the hard compound – and the Ferrari comes out ahead; Hamilton asks for the undercut but it’s Ferrari who bring Leclerc in – and Hamilton stays out.

Lap 21: Vettel comes round and goes ahead as Leclerc emerges, also on hard tyres; Hamilton stays out again; ‘What the hell?’ asks Leclerc as his engineer tells him to push – why did Ferrari give Vettel first stop and how did he end up in front of the Monegasque?

Lap 23: Bottas is first Mercedes man to pit, while Hamilton’s potential advantage is evaporating; Vettel has set fastest lap in sixth, with Leclerc behind him; now the potential front-runners are about to run into mid-race traffic in the shape of cars that have yet to pit; Bottas is now fastest man on track. Can Vettel and Leclerc get clear of traffic and get away from Mercedes? Or have Mercedes gambled wisely, hoping fresher tyres at the end will help their main man?

Lap 26: Leclerc, stuck behind his teammate, is struggling with his tyres already; Hamilton pits – so Giovinazzi leads! – and rejoins ahead of Bottas in eighth place; Giovinazzi’s Alfa, Gasly’s Toro Rosso and Ricciardo’s Renault are the top three yet to pit; Leclerc now spends valuable time bottled up behind Stroll’s Racing Point.

Lap 29-30: Vettel takes Ricciardo, Leclerc takes Stroll as the Ferraris try to attack, but Verstappen’s Red Bull is still behind Stroll; Vettel aggressively overtakes Gasly and is now second – but being told to take care of his rear tyres. Next to be picked off is Giovinazzi so Vettel leads.

Lap 33-34: Leclerc now passes Giovinazzi so we have a Ferrari 1-2 – but will they hold station? The #16 Ferrari is six seconds behind the #5… but we have 27 laps to run; coming-together between Ricciardo and Giovinazzi, damage to the Renault and all Daniel’s hard work goes to waste; meanwhile Leclerc has set fastest lap of 1:45.054 and taken a second off Vettel.

Lap 35: Ricciardo pits, takes hard tyres; the ‘real’ top six – the top three teams – are now back in place – just as Russell’s Williams hits the wall after being tagged by Grosjean’s Haas at Turn 8 and the SAFETY CAR is deployed on lap 36, maintaining Singapore’s 100% record; ‘I shouldn’t be surprised,’ says the Englishman. It’s the first retirement for Williams this year.

Lap 37: Leclerc is told to keep his head down, says he will do so but ‘You know my feeling’ as he still doesn’t understand what Ferrari have done by undercutting him; the two men are told they will be racing each other on the restart but not to take any risks.


Lap 41: Safety Car in, racing resumes; Stroll and Gasly bang wheels as they fight over P11, the Toro Rosso winning that battle; the Ferraris have opened a gap on Verstappen and the two Mercedes cars; Stroll now has a puncture and front-wing damage and comes in after clouting the wall at Turn 17.

Lap 43-44: Great fight between Hülkenberg and Gasly while Perez is bringing the second Racing Point to a stop between Turns 13 and 14 – SECOND SAFETY CAR deployed; Leclerc says ‘I want everything’ as Ferrari tell him what to use on the restart but insists he will do nothing to jeopardise a 1-2 finish.

Lap 48: Safety Car in, racing resumes; Magnussen’s Haas loses two places in one corner as Gasly and Hülkenberg breeze past to eighth and ninth respectively; Ricciardo loses out in a fight with Grosjean; Vettel gets the jump on Leclerc to the tune of just over a second at the end of the lap and the two Ferraris have a gap on Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Lap 49: Kvyat and Räikkönen collide through the opening corners, Kimi comes off worse and retires with damaged suspension; THIRD SAFETY CAR deployed and the two-hour limit becomes a strong possibility.

Lap 52: Safety Car in, racing resumes – and the experienced Vettel catches everyone napping down the main straight; behind the leaders Sainz’s McLaren is the car on the move as the Spaniard tries to rescue a point, currently in 12th, while midfield rival Hülkenberg is reporting ‘something weird’ in his Renault in P9; Vettel is again a second clear of Leclerc at the end of the first racing lap.

Lap 54-56: Vettel seems to have it all under control, maintaining a one-second gap to Leclerc; the German sets a new fastest lap on lap 56 and goes 1.418 clear, then extends that to more than two seconds as Leclerc has a lock-up over Anderson Bridge.

Lap 59: Hamilton has not given up on a podium place and is hunting down Verstappen, now just 0.7 behind the Dutchman who yells ‘I need more power’ over his radio; Gasly is also in hot pursuit of Norris’s McLaren for P7; neither succeeds so the top 10 is Vettel-Leclerc-Verstappen-Hamilton-Bottas-Albon-Norris-Gasly-Hülkenberg-Giovinazzi.

  • Ferrari are the first team to claim a 1-2 finish in Singapore
  • Vettel’s 53rd win, his fifth in Singapore and his first since Belgium 2018
  • Ferrari’s third win of 2019 and first 1-2 this season