F1: Ferrari will only be ‘back’ with a championship win

2019 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix top five

• 1st. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 25pts
• 2nd. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 18
• 3rd. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 15
• 4th. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 12
• 5th. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 10

Vettel: Ferrari are not back yet

Ferrari may have secured a third victory on the trot but Singapore Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel does not believe the Italian team will be fully “back” until they get their hands on the Formula 1 world championship again.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Following Charles Leclerc’s victories in Belgium and Italy Vettel won his first race of the 2019 season under the lights at Marina Bay on Sunday. Leclerc finished second as Ferrari scored a one-two.

It’s been an impressive run of form for the Scuderia but they still trail Mercedes by 133 points in the constructors’ championship. And in the drivers’ standings Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas continue to the lead the way ahead of Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Ferrari are without a drivers’ title since 2007 and have not won the constructors’ championship since 2008. Amid the celebrations in Singapore Vettel gave a frank reply when asked about Ferrari challenging at the front of the grid.

German Vettel, who won four titles with Red Bull, said: “I’ve been around for a while now with Ferrari and I think there’s only one way for Ferrari to be back, which is when we win the championship.

“That’s a very harsh judgement but that’s what it is, that’s the reality. The last races have been good for us so that’s great for our self-confidence inside the team for everyone, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of us.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues free–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Seb thanks fans

After ending his 392-day run without a race victory Sebastian Vettel paid tribute to his loyal supporters.

“The last couple of weeks have been not the best,” Vettel said after his 53rd career win. “But it’s been incredible, to be honest, to get so much support, so many letters, so many nice messages, people telling their own stories when things might not go well and so on.

“It gave me a lot of strength, belief, and I tried to put it all into the track, into the car and it’s nice when it pays off.”

Wolff: Hamilton won’t lose sleep

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton won eight of the opening 12 races in 2019 but the Mercedes ace is without a victory since Hungary on 4 August.

Although the Briton finished outside of the podium places in Singapore, he did extend his lead at the top of the 2019 drivers’ standings to 65 points from team-mate Bottas.

With six grands prix remaining Hamilton is also 96 points ahead of Ferrari’s Leclerc and Red Bull’s Verstappen, who are joint-third in the standings.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff does not believe the five-time champion has too much to worry about just yet.

He said: “Lewis is strong and when you are a five-time world champion with a 96-point lead, a lead which equates to four victories, you are not losing any sleep.”

Russell slams Grosjean

Williams driver George Russell saw his race come to an early end after a collision with Haas’s Romain Grosjean forced the youngster to retire in Singapore.

The did-not-finish (DNF) was Williams’s first of the season and the incident left Russell fuming with Frenchman Grosjean.

The 21-year-old Briton said: “After seeing the video it doesn’t even look like he’s trying to hold it - he’s sort of giving the corner up, but not fully giving the corner up. The next thing I know I’m in the wall, so frustrating.

“From my side in that situation it’s not like a normal circuit that if I squeeze him off he’s going to just run wide and carry on. I fully had the corner at the apex and just after the apex I was half a car width ahead of him, so by that point you need to concede the corner and give up.

“I don’t know what he was thinking, but it’s not the first time Romain has done something like that…”

Next GP: Russia

Following the race in Singapore there is a quick turnaround this week to the Russian Grand Prix, which will be held on Sunday 29 September at the Sochi Autodrom (12.10pm start BST).

The Russian GP, the 16th race of the season, will be live on Sky Sports F1. Channel 4 will show highlights.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues free–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––