Singapore (AFP)
Sweet for one, bitter for the other: after twenty-two Grand Prix without victory - 392 days, more than one season! -, Sebastian Vettel found the taste of success Sunday in Singapore, in front of his teammate at Ferrari Charles Leclerc.
On the grid, the Monegasque was in pole position, alongside the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). The German was only third, a rank he kept until a decisive pit stop on the nineteenth lap.
The first of the leaders to change tires - following a "last minute" instruction from the Scuderia, he explained - Vettel spared no effort on the track to steal the lead of the race at Leclerc on this shot strategic.
Back one lap later, the 21-year-old driver emerged from the pit lane behind his eldest and was unable to recover his property on a circuit, the Marina Bay circuit, which is very difficult to overtake. .
Another victim of this strategy, Hamilton remained on the track as long as possible to try to maintain his second position, but he finally lost two places by returning to the pit.
Fourth at the finish, the five-time world champion is still 63 to 65 points ahead of the drivers standings on his dolphin and Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, 5th and asked by radio not to jeopardize his leader.
- "Reasons to believe it" -
Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), fourth on the grid, completes the podium of the fifteenth inning on twenty-one this season.
For Ferrari - which had to wait for the two previous GPs in Belgium and Italy to win with Leclerc its first two wins in 2019 - it's the first double since the Hungarian Grand Prix 2017. The first time since 2008 that the Scuderia wins three rank races.
"The beginning of the season has been difficult, but for some races, we have come back to life," said the winner of the day.
"In recent weeks (during which he saw Leclerc open the team's winning counter, while he himself spun in front of the tifosi at Monza to finish only thirteenth, Ed) do not have been the best for me, "acknowledged Vettel.
"But it did me good to get so much support, messages from people telling me their own story, when things were not going so well for them," said the four-time world champion. given strength and reasons to believe. "
This unexpected lapse of fortune, on a slow and winding path that, on paper, did not favor the characteristics of Ferrari, will remain tarnished by the anger and disappointment of Leclerc.
- "Very dissatisfied" -
"I do not understand (this strategic choice) .It will discuss after the race," fumbled Monegasque on the radio during the GP, adding a little later: "I think it's unfair".
Its managers Nicolas Todt and Morgan Caron were also seen in conversation with Mattia Binotto, the boss of Ferrari, just the finish line crossed.
Once out of his car, Leclerc was more measured, explaining: "I just wanted to make it clear that I was very unhappy in the car and that this scenario, we had not discussed it at all during the race. + pre-race meeting. "
"But I'll try to understand why we did that, I'm sure it was for the sake of the + team + and not against me."
Note the eighth and eleventh place of the French Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) and Romain Grosjean (Haas).
The Championship resumes its rights next week in Russia, in Sochi, on a route that usually succeeds in Mercedes, especially Bottas. But while we were giving Hamilton a favorite in Singapore, can the Scuderia still mislead the statistics?
© 2019 AFP