Formula 1: Ferrari’s 3-race winning streak their first since 2008

By Asher Fair | Sep 23, 2019

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 22: Second placed Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari celebrates on the podium as race winner Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari applauds during the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 22, 2019 in Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /

Ferrari are as hot as they’ve been in the last decade-plus, as they have now secured three consecutive Formula 1 victories.

Scuderia Ferrari entered the 13th race on the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 schedule still without a victory since ex-Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen held off Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton to win the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas late last October.

But this race, the Belgian Grand Prix, was poised to play into Ferrari’s hands, as Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is a track at which there is a huge emphasis on straight-line speed, the one major area in which Ferrari had the advantage despite their poor start to the season.

Additionally, with the following race being the Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Ferrari looked poised to perhaps bounce back from their poor start with two victories.

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They did just that.

First-year Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc secured the first two victories of his Formula 1 career in these races while four-time champion teammate Sebastian Vettel finished in a disappointing fourth and 13th place, respectively.

In the Singapore Grand Prix, however, Ferrari’s run looked poised to end, as Marina Bay Street Circuit is a track at which they hadn’t won since the 2015 season when Vettel took the checkered flag.

Mercedes had won the last three races at the 23-turn, 3.146-mile (5.063-kilometer) Marina Bay Street Circuit temporary street circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore, and their drivers had combined to lead 166 of the 180 laps that had been contested there.

Given how dominant Mercedes had been this season outside of Belgium and Italy (and Austria and Germany), they appeared to be the runaway favorites to get back on the right track in Singapore.

But things didn’t go according to plan.

Leclerc took the pole position for this 61-lap race ahead of Hamilton in second place and Vettel in third, and Ferrari’s pit strategy allowed Vettel to undercut Leclerc and come out of the pits ahead of him. Once everybody else came into the pits, Vettel was the race leader with Leclerc in second, and the top two never changed, nor was there ever much threat of a change.

As a result, capped off by a dominant victory at the unlikeliest of tracks, Ferrari have now won three consecutive races.

They had not pulled this off since the 2008 season when they won four consecutive races.

Raikkonen, who was in his first of two stints with the Prancing Horse at the time, won the Malaysian Grand Prix while teammate Felipe Massa was forced to retire.

The pair then went on to reel off three consecutive double podium finishes, including two 1-2 finishes, as Massa won the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of Raikkonen in second place, Raikkonen won the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Massa in second and Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix ahead of Raikkonen in third.

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Will Ferrari be able to continue their longest winning streak in over 11 years in the next race on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule, the Russian Grand Prix? This race is set to be broadcast live from the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia beginning at 7:05 a.m. ET this Sunday, September 29.

If they win this race, they will be in position to potentially extend their streak to five victories in the Japanese Grand Prix in a few weeks. They haven’t won five consecutive races since the 2004 season.

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