Vettel finally wins again
1.Vettel finally makes it back to the top to front a 1-2
After 392 days and 22 races, Sebastian Vettel finally took his
53th grand prix victory on the streets of Singapore last Sunday evening.
Following a troubled time for the four-time champion, this was a chance for him to respond to his critics. Although the nature of the win – a tactical call from the Ferrari pitwall – left his team-mate Charles Leclerc fuming.
On Saturday, Vettel had impressed on his first Q3 run in qualifying, but a brilliant final lap from
Leclerc beat his time and secured another pole position for the Ferrari youngster. Merc’s Lewis Hamilton also improved on his final lap and demoted Vettel to third.
At the start of the race on Sunday, Leclerc led away Hamilton, while Vettel kept third place ahead of
Max Verstappen in his Red Bull.
As all the frontrunners started on the soft tyre compound, Leclerc managed the pace of the leaders in the first phase of the race to preserve tyre life and extend the stint before the pitstop.
With the entire field bunched up, Ferrari could not afford to pit the leader and compromise his position in traffic, so pitted Vettel first (on lap 19) as fourth-placed Verstappen was stopping on the same lap.
This decided the outcome of the race as Vettel flew on his new rubber and undercut Leclerc when the lead Ferrari emerged from his pit just a lap later.
“Max was ready to stop, so we had to protect Seb’s position and it was also our best opportunity to try and pass Hamilton,” said Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto. “That was the right time to stop Sebastian – no discussion. He then drove very well and got ahead of Charles.
That’s racing.”
When Leclerc emerged from his pitstop behind Vettel he demanded answers from the Ferrari pitwall describing the situation as “unfair.” When told to ensure he brought the car home he added: “I won’t do anything stupid as we need to finish 1-2,” but wanted assurances he could race for the win.
“To be completely honest with you, I don’t understand the undercut, but we will discuss after the race,” said a downbeat Leclerc from the cockpit.
In the end, he couldn’t keep up with Vettel, particularly as the German timed his restart after the last safety car to perfection, to ensure victory was his.
“I know that Charles is frustrated, but that’s positive because it’s the right attitude to have,” continued Binotto. “By the time he sees the full picture, he will understand the reason for the choice.”
The end of Vettel’s long victory drought will have helped his confidence in the short term but, after he was beaten by Leclerc in qualifying and the nature of the win which meant the advantage would always go to the second-placed car, it still raises questions about his position in the team. Leclerc tried to hide his displeasure after the race but knew victory should have been his. Thankfully he won’t have long to dwell on it with the next race in Sochi this coming weekend.