F1: Vettel will come out fighting in Russian GP

The F1 season takes a short breather before the Russian GP, but the only question circling around Singapore last weekend was - Has Hamilton crushed Ferrari spirits. In the Hybrid era, this is effectively the first season where Mercedes have had a work for their victories. But, boy have they come alive since Spa Francorchamps.

With a victory at the temple of speed, Monza, the formation lap at the end, it really was the peak of this season's championship battle. The Tifosi were not pleased with Vettel for mistake into turn 3, adding more anger to an already angry fan-base for portraying Kimi as number 2 driver. The Italian media had a field day, Ferrari was criticized for strategy calls, leadership and evading responsibility, the responsibility to win at Monza.

Along comes Singapore, the "Ferrari track". Seb and Ferrari came into the weekend in a bullish mode, almost too confident of a victory. Trailing by 30 points in the championship, Ferrari and Seb could not afford any more mistakes. The nights of Singapore did not spare Ferrari the blushes.

Hamilton took pole on Saturday and Eddie Jordan described it as a "championship winning lap". So it shall seem for now. With a win, Hamilton extends his championship lead to 40 points. The most its been all season. With six races to go, the prancing horse team has no more lives and have to probably win all the races to clinch the drivers and constructors titles.

But here's where it gets intriguing. Seb in his post-race comments in Singapore mentioned that the title is still within grasp and he looked relaxed. Undoubtedly he has matured and grown as a racing driver since Baku Grand Prix in 2017, where he had the infamous collision with Hamilton behind the safety car.

He seems composed in defeat and has never looked like he has accepted defeat in this title race. To add to this, Ferrari as a team have the dominant hybrid engine, they have found something really unique with the ERS battery pack, which has given them the advantage over straights and on conventional downforce tracks.

Mattia Binotto has been the wildcard Ferrari have been waiting for since Ross Brawn. It is painful to say, horrendous strategy calls have ruined Seb's races. The best Ferrari can do for the remainder 6 races is to win them all and win it with Vettel, to win the championship. Daunting, but doable.

With Russian GP fast approaching, Seb must be just waiting to get back in the Scuderia and go racing again. As a 4-time world champion, Vettel will do everything in his power to deny Lewis a 5th championship. As I write this in the hope that Ferrari will have a strong end to the season, my mind goes back to the German Grand Prix. Had the Ferrari not clattered into the barriers in a rainy Hockenheim, he probably would have trailed Hamilton by 15 points, a much easier points tally to overhaul.

Yet, Ferrari has come back from worse positions, Seb has done it too in the past. Make no mistake, this fight is personal. The formation lap by Mercedes in Monza has hurt Ferrari, they are seething. Clearly demonstrated by team actions in Singapore. Arrivabene rarely speaks to the media, but on Friday in Singapore, he came out all guns blazing.

Calling out the critics, who questioned why Kimi was not given team orders to let Seb go by. His actions were of passion for Ferrari, but more so it was a reaction to the humiliating defeat at the Italian Grand Prix. But Ferrari will need to be composed now to focus and extract every ounce of performance out of their car and team.It is now over to the last part of the season to deliver the grandstand finishing everyone is expecting.

Come Russia though, elbows will be out, and once those 5 red lights go out on Sunday afternoon, if Sebastian Vettel takes the chequered flag first, the season will go down to the wire. Well, did we expect anything less from two outstanding drivers of their generation?