Coming to magical Singapore, there were two multiple world champions, who had scored four wins under the shining floodlights of Marina Bay; they were Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. The bright red cars had proved extremely competitive in the free practice sessions, but everyone expected Mercedes to raise the bar in Q2 at least, unleashing the "party mode". But double race winner Charles still had the momentum, setting the pace in the second session. Sebastian was only seven hundredths of a second shy of his teammate, with Red Bull's Verstappen jumping third, ahead of the Mercedes duo.
Q3 gave me goosebumps. "Good old Sebastian" was back; the German had found his lost self-confidence, and he laid his hands on the provisional pole, in spite of kissing the wall on his first flyer! What really caught my eye, was the fact, that the white-suited Mercedes aces were a whole second off the pace! Sebastian was the first top driver to go out at the end of the last session; unfortunately the German had a wobble and had to abort his final run. Teammate Charles put together a lap, not perfect but good enough, to deprive his teammate of the pole position by two tenths. Hamilton made great improvement as well, jumping second in the standings. A provisional pole turned into P3 on the grid for Sebastian. Red Bull was strong, especially in the hands of the flying Dutchman, as Verstappen managed to out-qualify Mercedes' Bottas, claiming P4. Albon showed awaited consistency by qualifying sixth for Red Bull. This was already the third consecutive pole for Charles! Amazing but true, the Monegasque now has most poles this season, as the Mercedes aces are tied with four poles each.
Darkness had fallen, as the bright red lights went out at magically-lit Marina Bay. Pole setter Charles took a confident start, holding on to his lead. Hamilton was second to dive into Turn 1, although Sebastian tried to challenge him for the second place. The order of the top six remained the same, as Verstappen was fourth, Bottas fifth and Albon sixth. The start was surprisingly clean, as McLaren's Sainz and Williams' Kubica were the only drivers to have contact at Turn 1.
Race leader Charles set the pace, which could have been described as "crawling" on the track. The top six was very closely packed, so it was all about making the right call, when to pit. It was almost impossible to predict the perfect timing, as there was a 100 % chance of a safety car, like previous years had shown. Both Ferrari and Red Bull decided to go for the undercut, as Sebastian and Verstappen were called in on lap 19. Both re-joined the track on a fresh set of hard Pirellis, which were to last till the end of the race. Sebastian's pace on the out-lap was absolutely mesmerising. Charles made his pit stop on the sequential lap, but was flabbergasted to witness, how Sebastian moved ahead of him!
Hamilton pitted six laps after teammate Bottas, but thanks to the Finn's "team effort", the Briton managed to re-join the track ahead of Valtteri. Unbelievable but true, Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi, who had started to the race on the medium Pirellis and therefore hadn't pitted yet, was now leading the race! After making an adventurous move on Toro Rosso's Gasly (who had started to the race on the hard rubber) and a bit safer one on Giovinazzi, Sebastian took the race lead. What a happy moment it was! Charles was right at his teammate's tail, and Verstappen was third.
Lap 35 started a chain of safety car episodes. Haas' Grosjean and Williams' Russell hit each other, and the wreck of the Briton's Williams stopped on the track. So still no Singapore GP without a safety car! After the re-start the race was on for a few laps only, as Perez's Racing Point came to a sudden halt on lap 43 due to a technical failure. Safety car was brought out for the second time. The re-start always offers a chance for the rivals to attack, but Sebastian proved extremely skillful every time, when the race was resumed. This time Sebastian was determined not to make any mistakes.
However, after the second re-start there was more drama to come. Kimi in his Alfa Romeo was struggling badly with the grip, and the Iceman was overtaken by Toro Rosso's Gasly and Renault's Hulkenberg. And then also Kvyat, the Russian "Torpedo", decided to attack the Finn. Kvyat dived into the inside of Kimi, which caused the Russian to crash into Kimi's Alfa Romeo. Unfortunately Kimi's front suspension was severely damaged, and Kimi was out of the race. It was time for the third safety car!
The final re-start took place with nine laps to go. Charles was told to bring his SF90 safely to the chequered flag, which meant, that no overtaking moves were allowed. In the end, Hamilton put serious pressure on Max to get a podium finish, but Max didn't give the Briton any chance to try a move of any kind. "The good old Sebastian" with the finger was back! He won the Singapore GP for the historic fifth time, which ended the year-long dry season for Sebastian! Charles made it a stunning 1-2 for the Red Team, which was a phenomenal result. This was Ferrari's first 1-2 since Hungarian GP in 2017! Verstappen completed the podium, and unbelievable but true, both Mercedes drivers were left out of podium! Albon brought valuable points for Red Bull by finishing 6th, and McLaren's Norris was "the best of the rest" by crossing the finish line in P7.
Sebastian proved, that it is possible to turn difficulties into success! It is so fantastic to move to Russia on a high. Go Sebastian! Go Charles! Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
Comments
Authorize to comment