Ferrari’s recent resurgence continued at the Singapore Grand Prix as they claimed their first one-two finish of the season. But despite that terrific result, things may not be so rosy within Scuderia.
After back-to-back wins in Belgium and Italy, Charles Leclerc looked well on his way to securing a hat-trick of victories in Singapore. The Ferrari driver once again claimed pole position and was comfortably in the lead a third into the race.
However, a crucial call in terms of pit strategy caused Leclerc to lose the lead to team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who went on to claim his first win of the season in rather controversial fashion.
Leclerc’s heated reaction to the move is just one of the standout Singapore Grand Prix 2019 news SBOBET fans need to know.
Sebastian Vettel claims first win of the season
Sebastian Vettel finally claimed his first chequered flag of the season — and his first in 13 months — at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The win is Vettel’s fifth in Singapore, which breaks his tie with Lewis Hamilton for the most all-time in the race’s history, and the 53rd of his career.
“First of all, big congratulations to the team – the start of the season has been difficult for us then we started to come alive and I’m really proud of everyone’s work back home,” Vettel said after the race.
“I really want to thank the fans over the last couple of weeks. We haven’t been the best and it’s happy to get so many letters and nice messages, and it gives me lots of strength and belief and I put it all into the car today.”
It has been a difficult start to the season for Vettel, who last tasted victory at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix. He had been overshadowed by team-mate Charles Leclerc in recent races, particularly last time out in Italy.
While Leclerc ended the Prancing Horse’s almost decade-long winning drought in their home race, Vettel finished all the way down in 13th after a costly error. That performance certainly didn’t help his Singapore Grand Prix 2019 betting odds, but he won anyway.
The win should be a nice confidence-booster for the four-time world champion heading into the home stretch of the season.
Charles Leclerc upset at “unfair” undercut
Charles Leclerc did not hide his disappointment at Ferrari’s decision to bring Vettel into the pits earlier, which proved to be the turning point in the entire race. Leclerc, who went in just a lap later, rejoined behind Vettel and was unable to reclaim the lead again.
“To be completely honest with you I don’t understand the undercut,” Leclerc said on the team radio. “We will discuss after the race.” He also said, “I won’t do anything stupid,” and “But I just think it is unfair.”
Leclerc’s post-race comments were more restrained, though, as he pointed out that it was more important for the team as a whole to win.
This isn’t the first time Leclerc has taken issue with Ferrari’s strategy. He infamously ignored team orders to stay behind Vettel in Bahrain earlier this season.
Although, the 21-year-old’s reaction in the heat of the moment was understandable. He was likely overcome with frustration after doing so well to be in the lead.
As Leclerc continues his rise to stardom, he will likely encounter this type of situation a few more times in the future. It will be interesting to see how he and Ferrari handle it moving forward.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes rue mistakes
Lost in all the Ferrari-centric drama was the fact that Lewis Hamilton only finished in fourth. It was only the third time the defending champion had failed to finish on the podium this season.
After the race, Hamilton claims that they “easily” could have won the race, but their pit strategy let them down.
“I knew that we should have undercut. I kind of knew it this morning in the brief,” Hamilton said. “I thought we should take the risk but they didn’t.
“We win and lose together as a team, so we’ll take this on our chin. It’s painful for us because we clearly, easily could have won today.”
Mercedes principal Toto Wolff echoed those sentiments and also lamented the team’s mistakes, which began back in qualifying.
“I think we had a car capable for pole and we had an opportunity to win, but we made too many mistakes,” Wolff said.
Hamilton and Mercedes will look to bounce back next week in the Russian Grand Prix. Hamilton is the defending champion and record three-time winner. Moreover, only Mercedes drivers have won the race since its return in 2014.
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