The F1 Singapore GP turned out to be an intense race with Ferrari securing a hat-trick as Sebastian Vettel finally broke the win jinx.
The F1 Singapore GP weekend at Marina Bay Sands was termed as a two-horse event with Mercedes up against Red Bull Racing. However, Ferrari sprung in the surprise with Charles Leclerc taking pole.
It turned out to be a master-stroke as track position was king when cars are quite close to each other. A powerful undercut helped Ferrari to take 1-2 but it was Vettel the beneficiary with Leclerc having to settle for second.
Mercedes, meanwhile, got it all wrong with none on the podium as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and his teammate Alexander Albon.
There was quite some battle in the midfield with McLaren’s Lando Norris emerging ahead in seventh from Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
Here’s some key statistics and information from the F1 Singapore GP weekend:
- Vettel scored his first win of the 2019 season and first after 22 races. He registered his career’s 53rd. It was also his fifth win in Singapore GP, the most by any driver.
- Ferrari had its 237th F1 win, third in Singapore. It is also its first three consecutive wins since 2008.
- It was Ferrari’s first 1-2 in Singapore, first in 2019 and first since 2017 Hungarian GP.
- Vettel had his 118th F1 podium, Verstappen 28th and Leclerc eighth.
- It was Leclerc’s third pole in a row and fifth of the season.
- Kevin Magnussen scored his second ever fastest lap, his first came in 2018 Singapore GP. Magnussen finished 17th, so he is the first driver in 2019 to get the fastest lap, but not the additional point.
- Romain Grosjean gained the most places in the race, starting 17th and finishing 11th, while Gasly gained the most of any driver that scored points, starting 11th and finishing eighth.
- It was only the second grand prix after German GP that neither Mercedes finished on the podium.
- Leclerc and Verstappen are tied on 200 points, but Leclerc is ahead due to more second places, while Vettel is close behind with 194.
- The Top 6 positions was occupied by the Top 3 teams drivers for the first time since Spanish GP. The remaining four places had four different teams with McLaren, Toro Rosso, Renault and Alfa Romeo.
- George Russell’s retirement was the first for Williams all season with now all teams having had at least one DNF to its name. Among drivers, Hamilton, Vettel and Robert Kubica only remain to have 100 percent finishing record after a DNF for Kimi Raikkonen even.
- Three drivers retired from the race with Russell, Raikkonen and Sergio Perez.
- Raikkonen has entered in 309 grand prix events which is same as Jenson Button to be third in the all-time list. He has started in 306 grand prix, which is same as Button and Michael Schumacher.
- Hamilton continued his consecutive points finish streak with 27 races now since the 2018 British GP. This record will stand as the FIA turned down the appeal made by Alfa Romeo regarding the 2019 German GP results.
- Giovinazzi became the first non-Top 3 teams driver to lead a full lap in 2019 and first since 2015 when Williams did. He led for four laps in all.
- Ricciardo was disqualified from qualifying due to an MGU-K issue briefly giving him more than the allowed power.
- No penalty points were given during the race, but Giovinazzi was given a time penalty for driving too closely to a recovery crane.
The stats were compiled by Jack Elleker and Darshan Chokhani