Ferrari just ahead of Williams as post-summer break F1 slump continues at Singapore GP

Ferrari’s disappointing run of F1 results since the summer break continued at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.

Brake issues compromised the performances of both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc was forced to ‘lift and coast’ for the majority of his race, meaning he was overtaken by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in the latter stages.

Hamilton switched to a two-stop strategy after a poor start.

The seven-time world champion was within DRS range of Antonelli for fifth place before suffering a brake-related issue.

The problem caused Hamilton to lose over 40 seconds of race time.

He came under pressure from Fernando Alonso in the closing stages, struggling to stop his Ferrari as a result of the issue and cutting several corners.

The stewards handed Hamilton a five-second time penalty, dropping him behind Alonso in the final classification.

Another poor weekend for Ferrari

Ferrari have once again lost ground to Mercedes in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship.

Since the summer break, Ferrari have scored just 38 points - only six more than Williams.

Leclerc now believes Ferrari firmly have the fourth-fastest car in F1.

“Unfortunately, we are now the fourth team,” Leclerc said.

“Solidly, the 4th team, quite far behind the top 3. Mercedes managed to do the step that Red Bull did five races ago in Monza or four races ago…

“Whatever, too many races now and now they’ve managed to do that step… We didn’t manage to do that.”

Ferrari remain the only team inside the top four of the constructors’ championship without a victory.