Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport take home 22 points from a tough weekend in Singapore. Lewis finished the Singapore Grand Prix in P4 and Valtteri came home in P5.
Lewis (296 points) leads the Drivers' Championship by 65 points from Valtteri (231 points). Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (527 points) leads Ferrari (394 points) by 133 points in the Constructors' Championship.
Toto Wolff: It's been a disappointing weekend for us and a lot of the issues in the race today were created by our qualifying yesterday. But we also didn't do a good enough job today and we can't be satisfied with P4 and P5. The undercut was more powerful than everyone expected and it would have been the right strategy call for us. Once we had missed the chance for the undercut, we were hoping to create some opportunity later in the race by offsetting our tyres, but that plan didn't work. I think we had a car capable for pole yesterday and we had an opportunity to win today, but we made too many mistakes. We're aware that we didn't deliver to the standards that we set ourselves this weekend, so we will review it and see where we can improve for Russia. These tough days are the days that make us stronger. Sochi with its long straights will be a tricky race for us, so we need to make sure we get the best out of our package and get things right.
Andrew Shovlin: We missed an open goal today by not taking the undercut on lap 19. We had talked about it but didn't really react quickly enough to how fast Charles' tyres were dropping. We decided to call Valtteri to do the opposite to Verstappen on the lap that mattered but obviously we should have made that call with Lewis, and made it late enough that they would not be able to react. That was our opportunity to win and it's upsetting when you let something like that slip through your fingers. We ended up boxing Valtteri first to avoid losing a place to Albon, which was the reason we asked him to maintain a gap, otherwise it would have forced Lewis in. With Lewis we tried to stay out to maximise the tyre offset to the leading pack and see if we could get a Safety Car. We had lost the position to Vettel, but we consciously gave up the position to Verstappen to maximise this gamble. The sequence of Safety Cars at the end didn't help our cause but it probably didn't make much difference. It feels like a long time since we won a race and there's no single reason for it, there are lots of areas that we need to improve and we'll be working hard on these areas. We expect Sochi to be another tough fight, we're not taking anything for granted but we're happy that we only have to wait a few days before getting back out on track.
Scuderia Ferrari dominated the 12th edition of the Singapore Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finishing first and second. The result was down to a perfect strategy that led to the team's 84th one-two finish in Formula 1. The key moments were the pit stops, with Seb's on lap 19 and Charles' on 20. From a situation where the team was running first and third, after all the major players had pitted, the two SF90s headed the field, although now with Sebastian ahead of Charles, who had started from pole and had led the early stages of the race.
The start went well, with Charles maintaining his advantage over Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian. All the way to Turn 7, the German tried to get past the English Mercedes driver but had to give best in the end. Once the race settled down, Leclerc did not push too hard, so as to save the tyres as much as possible to fit the requirement for a one-stop strategy. On lap 19, the traffic situation looked good enough to go for the pit stops. The team therefore decided to bring in Sebastian first, as he was under threat of an undercut from Max Verstappen, who was less than a second behind. The stop was perfect and after it, Vettel had a clear track ahead of him, which meant he could push to the maximum, making ground on the rest of the field to the extent that, when Charles stopped one lap later, he found himself behind Sebastian.
On lap 35, the Safety Car came out following the incident between George Russell and Romain Grosjean, when Vettel had around a 5 second lead over Charles, who was followed by Verstappen, Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. There were two more Safety Car periods, one when Sergio Perez stopped on track and another when Kimi Raikkonen had to do the same. The slower laps allowed the Ferraris to save their tyres so that they were able to comfortably make it to the finish, with the chequered flag being waved almost on the regulation two hour mark.
This was Scuderia Ferrari's third consecutive win, the first time that's happened since 2008 when there were actually four in a row, in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Turkey. Sebastian returned to the top step of the podium after an absence of over a year, dating back to Belgium 2018. It was his fifth win in Singapore, which is a record for any driver at the Marina Bay track. His 14th win with the Scuderia also puts him third in the list of all-time Ferrari winners between Michael Schumacher on 72 and Niki Lauda on 15. It is his 53rd win and the Scuderia's 238th. The next round, the 16th of the season, is next weekend in Russia, at the Sochi Autodrom.
Mattia Binotto Team Principal: "The 1-2 today is very important to us because we achieved it in a different scenario, on a very different type of circuit to Spa-Francorchamps or Monza. The team managed the situation, the strategy and the pit stops very well. The aero update we brought here worked well and, combined with our drivers' confidence around here and the tyres, that we managed to get to work properly, we actually got more than we expected today.
"Well done to Seb, he deserved to win! We had to bring him in first, to protect his position because Max Verstappen was about to pit and that was Seb's best chance to overtake Hamilton. Also, we knew that on the following lap we would have pitted Charles, so it was important not to stop both the drivers on the same lap. The undercut was very effective. Seb drove very fast and very well on new tyres in that part of the race and gained the position to go ahead of Charles, which is part of racing.
"For his part, after the spectacular qualifying yesterday, Charles had a solid and consistent race.
"The car is good and is constantly improving and the team is working and reacting well. There's no doubt about it, we are all very happy with this victory."
Christian Horner: "It was a very interesting and strategic race. You could see early on that Leclerc in the Ferrari was managing the pace and eventually when everyone started racing from about Lap 15, the tyres quickly got out of shape for some of the front runners. So we decided to pit as early as we could with Max and we found him a gap on the same lap as Vettel which brought him out just behind Hulkenberg. That cost him a little bit of time and without that, maybe he would also have been able to get ahead of Leclerc after his pit stop, but with Mercedes opting to go longer, that gave him track position with P3. From there Max was able to manage the race extremely well despite the pressure from Lewis who was on a fresher set of tyres. He made no mistakes and did well to bring the car home for a podium. For Alex, it was again a very mature race from him. He was at the back of the front queue of cars and he just had to be patient. He probably didn't have a clear lap all afternoon but he managed the race and his tyres very well. P6 in your first Singapore Grand Prix with the big five finishing ahead is a very solid result."
Renault F1 Team's Nico Hulkenberg recovered from a lap one puncture to finish ninth in the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo falling short of the points.
Positions ebbed and flowed throughout an eventful Grand Prix where the Safety Car was deployed three times.
Nico made a strong start to the race but picked up a puncture to his left front after an incident at Turn 5 on lap one.
He pitted for Hard tyres and later, under the first Safety Car, changed for new Mediums, where he lingered on the edge of the top ten. From there, Nico pressed on to take ninth at the flag.
Daniel started the race from the back of the grid but moved up a number of positions in the early running. He ran as high as third with the frontrunners pitting, but later picked up a puncture to his rear right. It was a difficult recovery from there with the Australian battling to fourteenth place.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "There is obviously a sense of ‘what could have been' today. After showing decent pace all weekend, in qualifying and during the race, two points for Nico seems a poor reward for both him and the team even if he was last after the first-lap contact with Carlos. The race was marred by many incidents, which we didn't benefit from. Daniel's comeback after his disqualification was remarkable on a track like this. Contact sent him back to square one. Once again this shows how important the starting positions. It was encouraging, however, to be back at this competitiveness level on a track which is very different from Spa and Monza. A sign that the car is better and that we must not write off this season."
Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finished 11th and 17th, respectively, in the Singapore Grand Prix Sunday night on the Marina Bay Street Circuit. It was the 15th round of 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Both Haas F1 drivers, on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires, made headway at the start of today's 61-lap race around the 5.063-kilometer (3.146-mile), 23-turn temporary circuit. Magnussen gained four spots to ninth from his 13th grid position by shooting past the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, and by avoiding the aftermath of contact between McLaren driver Carlos Sainz and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg ahead of him. Grosjean picked up one position from 17th to 16th on the opening lap and held that position throughout the opening tire stint.
Magnussen pitted from ninth on lap 19 for a set of White hard tires and returned to the track in 14th. Grosjean stayed out another five laps and advanced as high as 12th before falling back to 14th to a pair of drivers on fresher tires, including Magnussen, who settled into the 13th position. Grosjean pitted for his set of hard tires on lap 24 and resumed in 18th.
Over the next 10 laps, Magnussen moved up to ninth after four drivers ahead of him who had yet to pit finally made their stops, including Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo and Daniel Ricciardo of Renault who made contact ahead of him.
Shortly thereafter, on lap 36, Grosjean and Williams driver George Russell made side-by-side contact, which sent Grosjean to the pits for a new front wing and a set of Red soft tires and dropped him back to 18th. The incident ended Russell's night and brought out the safety car. When the race went back to green on lap 41, Magnussen was in eighth and Grosjean moved up to 16th.
Incidents involving other drivers continued over the next segment of the race that brought out the safety car on two more occasions, the first for the car of Racing Point's Sergio Perez that stopped on track, and the second for a collision between Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso and Raikkonen. Magnussen slipped back to 10th on the lap 47 restart after Perez's incident and began to struggle to keep his hard tires under him while Grosjean, on faster soft tires, was able to make steady forward progress.
Magnussen made his second stop of the race on lap 57 for a set of soft tires that would take him to the end. He resumed in 17th while Grosjean was 11th, their positions at the checkered flag.
With tonight's results, Haas F1 Team remained ninth in the constructors' championship with 26 points, nine behind eighth-place Alfa Romeo and 25 ahead of 10th place Williams.
Guenther Steiner: "Obviously, it was an exciting race for us. In the end we didn't get any points, but all-in-all I think everybody did a good job. We got a little bit unlucky, but it was a lot better than the last two races. If somebody had said that to me before the race I wouldn't have believed them. We don't have any points, we finished 11th and 17th, sometimes we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think the team did a good job. We keep our heads up, we keep going, and I know it will come back to us."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "What a race! It's very good to come away from Singapore with more points than our competitors in the Constructors' Championship. Unfortunately, Carlos' race was pretty much over after a couple of corners but he battled back really well.
"Great drive from Lando to bring the car home in the best possible position we could achieve today. He coped well with immense pressure in the final laps, when the Safety Cars put guys with better tyres directly behind him.
"It's tough in this heat but the entire team in the garage and on the pit-wall did a great job. We also had good support from the factory with updates that gave us strong pace all weekend. It makes us very optimistic for the races ahead. Next stop, Sochi."
Otmar Szafnauer: "We were playing the long game this evening and as we approached the final third of the race it seemed as though both cars were on course to pick up points. Unfortunately things got messy during one of the Safety Car restarts when Lance clipped the wall and picked up a puncture, which ended his chances. Sergio was running in the top ten when we spotted an oil leak, which forced us to retire the car immediately to protect the power unit. So it just wasn't our day and it's a disappointing end to a challenging weekend. It's one from which to learn and we will work hard to bounce back in Russia."
When Antonio Giovinazzi leapt into the lead of the Singapore Grand Prix, we knew it was not going to last until the end. Our man was yet to pit, unlike the earlier front-runners, and with the race extending deeper into the night, it was a given that he'd end up relinquishing his position at the front of the field. And yet, for a little while we dreamt about circumstances that would produce a different outcome - and so very nearly saw our wishes come true.
In the end, George Russell's race-ending impact with the wall, which caused the first Safety Car period of the night, came a handful of laps too late to favour Antonio, who had by then already stopped and rejoined lower in the field. But that the balance of the race - for our perspective, at least - hung in so thin a balance shows how small details can still make a huge difference in Formula One. The same can be said for Kimi, who retired from the race after suffering damage in a clash with Daniil Kvyat - a wheel-banging affair that would have often resulted in little more than a scuffed wheelrim. Again, tiny details result in a hugely different outcome.
As the fireworks light up the Marina Bay sky, we leave the Singapore night with one more point to our tally - a reward for our big efforts which, however, feels a bit short of what we deserved. We leave the city-state, though, with the feeling we can still play a part in this end of season. We are told Antonio's stint in the lead was the first time a non-top-three teams driver was in P1 since 2015. It may or may not be the case, but we embrace that feeling nonetheless. When small details matter so much, a small motivational boost can also make a big difference.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "Finishing with one point in such a rollercoaster of a race is positive, but there is a bit of regret for how the night unfolded. Antonio ran an excellent race, hardly doing anything wrong, and had the Safety Car come out just a few laps earlier, we could have been talking about an incredible result for him. Antonio still managed to rescue a point despite a damaged car, but the feeling of "what if" remains. Kimi had also ran a very solid race, making up places from his starting position and looking set for points. Unfortunately he was caught in an accident with Kvyat when battling against degrading tyres and his race was over. In the end, a point is a point but we will be aiming for more in Sochi next week."
Jody Egginton (Technical Director): "It's been an eventful race for Toro Rosso tonight. Pierre pushed for a long opening stint and with the safety cars and good pace he showed, it played into our hands. We had a lot of tyre performance available towards the end of the race and we made good use of that but we couldn't quite get past Lando at the end as he made good progress on the restarts. Pierre ended the race P8 to bring the team some valuable points. Dany's first stint on the Prime tyre was a bit shorter than we wanted as the tyre wear dropped quicker than expected, so we tried to get him back into the game later on by switching his strategy. Unfortunately, he had some small issues with the car and struggled with the consistency, so we've not been able to get points with him. I think overall it's been a good race as we came away with points and we didn't lose ground in the Championship, which is satisfying."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Like every year, Singapore is a highlight of the season, it was a fantastic atmosphere with full grandstands, that show that the interest in Formula 1 is very high, which is pleasing. We also saw a really interesting race from the beginning onwards, with plenty of overtakes and three safety cars, which increased the drama of the race. From our side, Qualifying didn't go so well, but due to some penalties, Pierre started the race in 11th position and Daniil 14th. We decided to send them out on a different strategy, with Daniil starting on the Prime tyres and Pierre on the Base. Daniil wasn't so happy with the Prime, reporting he had very poor grip level, so we called him in earlier than planned to help him find more pace. When the first safety car was deployed, we decided to change the strategy and call him in again to send him out on the Option tyre. He was able to make some good overtakes with the extra grip but, unfortunately, towards the end he had a collision with Kimi Raikkonen which led him to lose some positions and ended the race P15. Pierre drove a fantastic race, he had everything under control and he was also happy with the car and strategy. He was closing the gap to Norris but couldn't manage to overtake him. Nevertheless, he finished the race in a fantastic eighth position, showing one of his best performances in a Toro Rosso car. Next week we head to Sochi and we are looking forward to having a similarly great spectacle like here in Singapore."
Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director): "Gasly produced some excellent overtakes, scoring a valuable four points. Kvyat's pace wasn't bad but he was unable to finish in the points. Overall, we got three of our four cars in the points, but we know we must continue to push hard to get on terms with those ahead of us."
Robert Kubica finished 16th whilst George Russell did not finish the Singapore Grand Prix. The Brit started 18th and Robert 19th on the grid, both on the medium Pirelli tyre. Robert ran a solid race, pitting on lap 21 for the hard Pirelli tyre, before stopping again under the Safety Car for another set of medium tyres. George had damage on the opening lap and had to pit for a new front-wing, also taking on the medium tyre. Unfortunately, his race was cut short after a collision with Grosjean.
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: It was a long and difficult race, with three safety car deployments taking us close to the two-hour time limit. George was unfortunate at the very start as he got squeezed and damaged his front wing. He then embarked on a long stint on the Prime compound and was showing good pace in free air before his race ended in the wall following a battle with Grosjean.
Robert struggled for pace in the opening stint but was happier during the second stint on the Prime compound. A series of safety cars allowed him to remain on the lead lap and with the main pack of cars. At the final restart Magnussen really struggled on his old tyres and Robert was able to overtake him to finish P16. Given his difficulties with a tyre balance problem on the final set of tyres, he did a very good job to manage the race to the end.
Although it has been a difficult weekend for the team, and we have suffered our first DNF of the season, we have nonetheless taken some useful positives from our time in Singapore, which will pay dividends in the future. It was a difficult race to manage but the team worked very well together and manged the situation well.
For the third race in a row, a Ferrari won - this time with Sebastian Vettel, from third on the grid. The German used pit stop strategy to get ahead of his pole-sitting team mate Charles Leclerc, who finished second. Red Bull's Max Verstappen completed the podium, with the top seven all using the same tyre strategy in a tactically complex and physically demanding race, slowed down by three safety car periods.
The top nine on the grid all started on the soft tyre, with everyone else on medium, apart from Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly who started from P11 on the hard and eventually finished eighth.
Vettel took advantage of an 'undercut', stopping before his team mate to move into the effective lead of the race. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton - who was jumped by Verstappen at the pit stops - adopted a different strategy, with a longer first stint and carefully-controlled pace to the finish, where he was classified fourth.
Pace management was seen in the first half of the race, which meant that the outcome was only finally decided in the closing stages of the grand prix.
Singapore kept up its 100% safety car record, with three safety car periods in the second half of the race influencing the action.
Both Renault drivers were forced into alternative strategies, with Daniel Ricciardo starting from last on the grid, and Nico Hulkenberg pitting for hards on the opening lap after some contact. McLaren's Carlos Sainz was in a similar situation, also switching to hards on lap one.
Although the frontrunners adopted the same strategy, there was a very big variety of tactics in the midfield, with a number of different one-stoppers and two-stoppers used.
Mario Isola: "It was a really interesting grand prix, with tyre strategy a key element. We saw plenty of pace management in the first half of the race, with drivers saving fuel and tyres for later in this very long grand prix: especially as the safety car wipes out any big advantage instantly. Managing the tyres in anticipation of the safety car proved to be a key element of the race, and the three safety car periods also had the effect of minimising tyre wear and degradation. With Singapore being a track that requires a lot of traction from the rear tyres, the set-up tends to place big demands on the front of the car, in order to protect the rear. In spite of that, we're happy with the levels of wear and degradation seen today. For the frontrunners, soft-hard turned out to be the optimal strategy, used by the top seven, but all three compounds played an important role in the race today and there were plenty of different strategies. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari for a spectacular double podium at a spectacular race."
