Sebastian Vettel said “It was about time” he won a race in 2019 after securing victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The German, who had victory cruelly snatched away from him in Canada earlier this season when he received a five second time penalty, had been under increasing pressure following his team-mates successive wins in Belgium and Italy but responded in the best way possible.
Vettel had looked like he may start the race on pole but was pushed down to third in the closing moments of qualifying yesterday at the Marina Bay Street Circuit admits he was disappointed after qualifying but praised the help of his Scuderia Ferrari for their help over the last few weeks.
“After yesterday, when I wasn’t able to get everything out of the car, I am pleased with the way everything went today.
“It was about time!
“The last few weeks have been far from simple for me, but in the end, I knew I could turn things around.
“I never stopped believing in myself and today, with the great help of the team here and in Maranello, we got the result we should always be aiming for.”
Vettel was the first of the leaders
to pit and with the very powerful undercut, took the lead and despite the
safety car coming out a couple of times, the four time champion was able to keep
concentration and bring the car home for victory.
“I was playing a waiting game until I got the call on the
radio to pit for new tyres.
“I had not expected to stay out so long but the decision was key, because I was able to rejoin with a clear track ahead of me and I could run at my own pace making up ground on all the others, to the extent that I was in the lead by almost five seconds at the time the Safety Car came out.
“From then on, the race was continually interrupted, with a further two restarts, but I still managed to maintain concentration and avoid making any mistakes.”
Singapore was expected to be one of
Ferrari’s weakest circuits but a one-two contradicts all the predictions but
Vettel isn’t getting ahead of himself when thinking if they can be strong
everyone else.
“It’s too early to say if this win means we can be
competitive on all the coming tracks.
“Here, whoever is in front sets the pace, almost like in Monaco and on used tyres, Hamilton seemed stronger than us, which means we still have work to do when it comes to our race pace.
“Certainly the upgrades we brought here worked well and made us competitive, which means we are working in the right direction.”
