Vettel ends win drought with victory in Singapore
Leclerc unhappy with strategy call
Team Europe’s Alexander Zverev returns a ball to Team World’s Milos Raonic during their singles match at the
Laver Cup tennis event in Geneva, Switzerland on Sept 22. (AP) SINGAPORE, Sept 22, (RTRS): Sebastian Vettel ended a 13-month win drought by leading a Ferrari one-two victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, while Lewis Hamilton finished fourth but stretched his championship lead to 65 points.
The German, whose last victory was in Belgium in August 2018, took the chequered flag 2.641 seconds ahead of unhappy Monegasque team mate Charles Leclerc. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany looks at the trophy after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay City Circuit in Singapore on Sept
22. (AP)
third in a row this season for Ferrari.
It was also the first time a team had finished one-two in Singapore.
“Obviously it is always difficult to lose a win like that but at the end it’s a one-two for the team so I’m happy for that, our first of the season,” said Leclerc, winner of the previous two races. Red Bull’s Dutch 21-year-old Max Verstappen took third place in a floodlit night race that saw the safety car deployed three times.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team mate and closest rival Valtteri Bottas finished fifth and now has 231 points to Hamilton’s 296. Mercedes now have 527 points with six races remaining to Ferrari’s 394.
Thai racer Alexander Albon was sixth for Red Bull with British rookie
Márquez had no problem protecting his pole position start from the grid and sped away from the pack on his Honda for his fourth consecutive win at the Motorland Aragon circuit.
It was Marquez’s 52 career MotoGP win and his 200th race in all categories since his debut in Moto3 in 2008.
“I was really convinced about my strategy straight out of the box: maintain a gap of around 4 seconds,” Marquez said. “I’m really happy about this victory, especially as it’s a home race in front of my fans.”
Dovizioso finished almost five
Lando Norris seventh for McLaren and Pierre Gasly eighth for Toro Rosso. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was ninth and Italian Antonio Govinazzi, who had a stint leading the race after staying out while others Spain’s rider Marc Marquez of the Repsol Honda Team celebrates his win on the podium of the MotoGP race during the Aragon Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Aragon Motorland racetrack in Alcaniz, Spain on Sept
22. (AP) second after Marquez. Jack Miller crossed the line third to complete the podium.
Jorge Lorenzo’s struggles continued after he finished the race second-to-last. The former world champion is having major difficulties this season after becoming Marquez’s teammate at Honda.
pitted, was 10th for Alfa Romeo.
Danish driver Kevin Magnussen took the fastest lap for Haas for the second year in a row but without scoring an extra point because he finished 17th. 70.
South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout (68) was a shot further back.
Rory McIlroy followed up his thirdround 65 with a 67 to finish tied for ninth, his 16th top 10 in 21 events this season. After missing the cut at Wentworth last May, Willett was ranked 462nd as he struggled with a loss of form precipitated by a number of injuries. He will be just outside the top 30 when the rankings are updated on Monday.
“It doesn’t get much better than this, does it?” Willett told Sky Sports. “It was a battle out there, with myself more than anyone else, and it’s nice to come through the other side.”
Willett struck the first blows with birdies on the second and third before Rahm made a gain on the fourth to halve his deficit.
A birdie on the eighth restored Willett’s two-shot lead but he looked set to surrender it after hitting a tree with his recovery shot following a wild drive on the 11th and then gouging his third shot out of the heather into a bunker.
The former Masters champion appeared to have hurt his right wrist in the process but, after finding the green with his fourth, he holed from 40 feet to drop just one shot. England’s Danny Willett poses with the trophy after winning the PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club, Wentworth, England on Sept
22. (AP)