Flashback: Vettel’s disastrous Singapore 2017 start shunt
Sebastian Vettel returns to the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend much in the same shape as he left the 2017 edition – under fire.
Two years ago, his title attack with Ferrari disintegrated after a startline collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and his own teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Now he arrives in Singapore after back-to-back wins for his current teammate, Charles Leclerc, and has faced vocal criticism again after his spin at Monza and clumsy rejoin, during which he collected the Racing Point of Lance Stroll.
But let’s take a look back at the 2017 edition, and remind ourselves of how it unfolded…
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H, immediately prior to contact
Photo by: Andrew Hone / LAT Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H hits Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13
Photo by: Andrew Hone / LAT Images
The scenario:
Vettel qualified on pole position, with title rival Lewis Hamilton – who was on a streak of back-to-back race wins – struggling down in fifth. Vettel had lost his championship lead in the preceding race at Monza, and was keen to redress an advantage.
Red Bull’s Verstappen qualified second, ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and Vettel’s Ferrari colleague Raikkonen.
A rain shower before the start only added to the drama, but the race began from a standing-start grid, rather than behind a safety car. As the lights went out, Raikkonen got by far the best getaway of the top four. He powered off the line and rocketed to the left-hand side of Verstappen.
However, just as he was about to move ahead, his right-rear wheel hit Verstappen’s left-front. This was because Vettel had swerved to his left, pincering the Red Bull between the Ferraris. Verstappen had made the second-best start, so he too was alongside Vettel, and the three cars all made contact – with Raikkonen’s car (by now on three wheels) being flicked into a half-spin and cannoning into the left-side of Vettel’s car.
Although he actually led through the opening sequence of corners, Vettel would spin due to the damage further around the first lap.
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, crashes out on the opening lap as Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08, passes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, crashes out on the opening lap
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images
All three were elminated from the event, opening the door for Hamilton to win again and extend his points lead, an advantage he would retain to the end of the season.
In a poll of almost 2000 readers of James Allen on F1, 76% blamed Vettel for sparking the crash, with 17% calling it as a racing incident. Raikkonen was held least accountable at 2%, with 5% believing Verstappen was at fault.
What they said:
Vettel: “We did our start, everyone was trying to do his start, and then it ended up pretty bad for all three of us. It is part of racing. These things, they happen, not much you can do - so therefore not much point to try and look at them again and again.
"Every start is different and the way [it] happened you can look at it again and again, it is done. It was pretty unfortunate for all three of us, so we have to move on.”
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
Photo by: Sutton Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sutton Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, after the crash
Photo by: Steve Etherington / LAT Images
Verstappen was clear with who he blamed: “Mainly Sebastian. He started squeezing me, maybe he didn’t see Kimi on the left. That’s not an excuse – if you’re fighting for the world championship, you shouldn’t take those risks to squeeze someone that much.
“What does he expect? When you’re fighting for a world championship, you shouldn’t do that. It was not very clever. I tried to back out of it because I could see it coming, but the rear tyres are wider than the front so I couldn’t back out of it anymore.
“I was in the middle without doing anything wrong, I was just trying to have a clean start.”
Raikkonen, in true Kimi style, was merely phlegmatic about the whole episode: “I don’t think I could have done anything to change the end result apart from doing a bad start and not being there. And that’s not really my fault.”
F1's stewards took no action after a post-race investigation. But in terms of the world championship, it was a hammer blow to Vettel and Ferrari.
What would Vettel give for another pole here in 2019, and to get his season back on track…
2017 Singapore GP startline crash in pictures:
Grid
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race and the cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash after colliding
Photo by: Sutton Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H collides, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and into Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H
Photo by: Andrew Hone / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H crash at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race and the cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash after colliding
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H crash at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race and the cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash after colliding
Photo by: Sutton Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H crashes into Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing after the checkered flag
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race and the cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash after colliding
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race and the cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash after colliding
Photo by: Sutton Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H after colliding, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 on the first lap
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race, a damaged radiator ahead of the damaged car of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 after crashing and colliding, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H
Photo by: Sutton Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crashes and collides, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads as Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H crash at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13, Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32 Honda crash
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H, takes out Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
The cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash and collide
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race as Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash in the background
Photo by: Sutton Images
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32 involved in the collision, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 anDrivers Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race as Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash in the background
Photo by: Sutton Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H leads at the start of the race and the cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash after colliding
Photo by: Sutton Images
The cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 crash and collide
Photo by: Sutton Images
The crashed cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 after colliding at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
The crashed cars of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Medical car
Photo by: Sutton Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H leaves his car after his collision, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H crashed at the race start
Photo by: Sutton Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H crashed at the race start
Photo by: Sutton Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing walk back to the pits after their collision
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H goes into the wall
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08, as Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13, crash out behind them
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H in reverse after hitting the wall
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB13, passes Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H, as the latter crashes out
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren MCL32 passes Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H after he hits the wall
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Daniil Kvyat, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR12, Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32 and Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team VF-17 run wide to avoid Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
The crashed cars of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H are recovered
Photo by: Sutton Images
The damaged cars of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H after crashing out at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
The damaged cars of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13 after colliding at the start of the race
Photo by: Sutton Images
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Event | Singapore GP |
| Drivers | Sebastian Vettel |
| Teams | Ferrari |
| Author | Charles Bradley |
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