Ferrari have stated that they believe a key to their 2019 Formula 1 season was handing Sebastian Vettel a victory over Charles Leclerc in Singapore.
The 2019 Formula 1 season was a huge letdown for Ferrari in what was Sebastian Vettel’s fifth season and Charles Leclerc’s first with the team, leaving them still searching for their first driver championship since 2007 and their first constructor title since 2008.
After looking like the team to beat in preseason testing, Ferrari ultimately ended up with just three wins — all consecutive — while now six-time reigning champions Mercedes claimed 15 victories. Red Bull Racing matched Ferrari with three wins of their own.
One of the reasons Ferrari struggled was Vettel, who has made a boatload of unforced errors over the last few years, particularly during the last three. In fact, in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, he cost himself the world championships if you factor in all the points he threw away and all the points that champion Lewis Hamilton gained as a result of his mistakes.
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But the 2019 season was a new low for Vettel, who has put himself on the hot seat for 2021 heading into the 2020 season, and even the high point of his season, his victory in the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit, did not come without the team interfering and effectively handing him the win over Leclerc.
Leclerc took the pole position for this 61-lap race around the 23-turn, 3.146-mile (5.063-kilometer) Marina Bay Street Circuit temporary street circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore, and he dominated the early stages of it before Ferrari utilized the undercut to promote Vettel to the lead, relegating Leclerc to second place.
However, even with that victory having now taken place three and a half months ago and with a lot having happened in Formula 1 since them, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has stated that he believes that this win was “key” to the team’s 2019 season.
Here is what Binotto had to say about the matter, according to Motorsport.
"“He has been uncomfortable with the car at the start of the season, certainly with the braking instability. I think the challenge [of Leclerc] for him has been a good benchmark as well, because having such a fast teammate gave him some headaches.“In order to improve himself, he’s always very analytic. He approaches the exercise, he’s not emotional in that respect, he’s looking at the data, to compare the sectors, looking where he’s eventually slower or faster.“In the first part of the season he has been put under a lot of pressure. I think he reacted very well in the second half. The victory in Singapore has been key for him, not only for the victory itself, but the trust in the team. He knew that he could count on the team for help, if necessary. But I think it was right, it was the right choice and time to let him win.”"
On multiple levels, this logic simply doesn’t check out.
First of all, the obvious one. If letting a driver win a race by literally taking his clearly faster teammate out of the lead is the only way by which said driver can win a race throughout an entire 21-race season in which his team clearly have good enough speed, as demonstrated by the fact that they took nine pole positions, shouldn’t that only lessen his confidence?
In other words, “We know you can’t win on your own, so we’re going to screw over your superior teammate so you can win since we are the only real contenders here this weekend.”
Wow, some confidence.
Secondly, the fact that this admission is being made now is alarming on multiple levels. Had it been made right after Vettel won, it may make some sense.
But it wasn’t, and it doesn’t.
Leclerc established himself as Ferrari’s number one driver in the 2019 season. Jacques Villeneuve can argue about it until he’s blue in the face (and he continues to show that he is going to do just that), but it changes absolutely nothing.
Leclerc, like Vettel, lost dozens of potential points throughout the season. However, many of the points he lost were lost through situations that were out of his control — including at least two victories to go along with the two that he earned.
Vettel, meanwhile, lost an overwhelming majority of his potential points due to his own mistakes, even coming close to receiving a one-race suspension at one point.
Why take a win away from the 22-year-old Monegasque around whom you are clearly aiming to build your future and give it away to the 32-year-old German who could very well be replaced within a year anyway?
And why outline this part of the 2019 season as a “key” to the season literally just days after effectively confirming Leclerc as the base of your long-term future by signing him through the 2024 season?
The Singapore Grand Prix was the 15th race on the schedule, so there were six races remaining in the season after it conclude.
What did Vettel do from that point forward to even remotely suggest that this move worked as intended to give him confidence?
In Russia, he defied team orders after Ferrari let him take the lead using Leclerc’s slipstream on the opening lap. He ended up retiring from the race, and that retirement cost Leclerc the win because of when it happened, relative to the team’s pit stops.
In Japan, he blew the race with a near-false start after taking his second and final pole position of the season. He failed to lead a lap.
He was solid in Mexico, starting and finishing in second place, a rare smooth weekend for him. In the United States, where he spun out last season, he didn’t have much time to do anything, as suspension failure knocked him out of the race early.
In Brazil, he made arguably his worst mistake over the last few years, literally driving into Leclerc after Leclerc passed him and knocking both drivers out of the race.
Finally, in Abu Dhabi, he simply kept in clean en route to a fifth place finish, as Ferrari were non-factors.
“But I think it was right, it was the right choice and time to let him win.”
Interesting thought considering the fact that literally nothing backs it up.
Will the 2020 Formula 1 season be the final season for Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc as teammates at Ferrari? How will the team handle these two drivers with Leclerc being on the rise and Vettel having not been at his best for several years? The season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 15 with the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Albert Park, Australia.