Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes peeled Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari apart again in the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, just as at Monza. In terms of the championship, it’s difficult to see how the Scuderia and Vettel come back from a psychological blow such as this.
Once Hamilton had capitalised on the collapsing Ferrari with a sensational pole in qualifying – and Max Verstappen had pulled off an equally stunning lap to qualify second – the race was his to lose, and he guarded against that with a drive of technical perfection and control.
Vettel remains convinced that Ferrari had the pace to have qualified on pole – and the form of the cars through the practice sessions and the early part of qualifying suggests that was the case. “I came into the weekend saying we could only beat ourselves,” said Vettel, “and…”