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On August 26, 2018, at Spa Francorchamps, Sebastian Vettel had climbed for the last time to the top of a podium to narrow the fence over Lewis Hamilton to 17 points, with whom he still had a hard fight for the pentacampeonato. Yesterday, almost 13 months later, the German pilot again added a victory with which to feed his weakened ego. Without any option to discuss the World Cup leader, who exceeds him by 102 points, the only consolation at his disposal is to continue to be enforced in these six remaining races.

«I don't think it means a turning point, but it is very important for him. It shows everyone that he can continue on the same level as always, ”revealed Mattia Binotto, perhaps the happiest man yesterday at Marina Bay. Even more than Vettel himself.

The Ferrari boss could celebrate, 784 days later, a double for the most legendary team in the history of this sport. Too much time since that Hungarian GP 2017, with Kimi Raikkonen escorting Vettel on the Budapest podium. So the euphoric chorus of voices that accompanied the Italian anthem, yesterday acquired full justification in Singapore. In addition to Binotto and its sports director, Laurent Mekies, the other great protagonist of the night instantly printed a Spanish accent.

Protect yourself from Verstappen

Iñaki Rueda, Ferrari's chief strategy officer, was also perching on the podium to uncork the champagne of the victors. The same picture of the 2018 Australian GP, ​​when in a master stroke a triumph started that seemed to be awarded in advance to Mercedes. Yesterday, however, his hook was going to bite someone with a palate still tender. A young and colossal talent named Charles Leclerc.

Rueda's move contravened, in principle, logic, given that he put the worst-ranked car first in the pits . Leclerc, leader since the traffic light had gone out, was marching like a shot towards his third consecutive win. Vettel, third at the time behind Hamilton, seemed relegated again to the role of squire. Two weeks ago he had shown his discomfort at not having enjoyed the option of rebuffs in Monza. However, at that critical moment, the engineers' calculations, with Rueda in front, went a couple of steps further. The real objective was to protect themselves from Max Verstappen, fourth at the time.

"In the right direction"

“It was the best opportunity to overtake Hamilton and achieve a double. End of story. We knew we were going to stop Leclerc in the next laps and we were ready. It was the right decision, ”Binotto concluded, with that firmness of who knows the work accomplished. Nothing seemed to matter at that moment the tantrum of Leclerc, the new spoiled child of the people of Maranello. "I understand that it is frustrating, but when you can perceive everything from a more complete point of view, you will realize that we make the right decision," said the Ferrari executive.

The effectiveness of the undercut , beyond any controversy, was evidenced in the last trial of Vettel. "It is still too early to say if this means that we can be competitive in the next races, but we are going in the right direction," said the German.

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  • Max Verstappen
  • Sebastian Vettel
  • Lewis Hamilton
  • Kimi raikkonen
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