SINGAPORE — Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel had gone 392 days without a win until he stormed to victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday and the Ferrari driver admitted he drew inspiration from messages of support and knew his wait for a triumph would soon end.

The German's last victory came in Belgium in August of 2018. He had claimed six podium finishes this season before ending a long wait to take the checkered flag in Singapore.

"I got a lot of little notes and handwritten messages, so it's always nice if people make an effort to do that so we took our time to go through them. It was really encouraging," Vettel told reporters after registering a record fifth victory in Singapore and third in a row for a revitalized Ferrari.

"When you start out, it's difficult to imagine that people follow you like this but in recent years, especially in Asia, I have a lot of fans that come over and over again," he added.

"I seemed to get a lot of energy from these messages over the last few weeks.

"From people in the racing world, from people I know, especially fans. People sharing their own stories of when things are up or down. When you read through these notes, some of them very intimate and private, it gets to you."

Vettel added after team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished second in Singapore, won the last two races in Belgium and Italy, he knew the team was in a good position to challenge for more race wins.

"The messages just give you confidence to keep trying," he said.

"In the last couple of weeks I knew we were close to a breakthrough and I knew sooner or later things would fall into place."

Vettel started Sunday's race third on the grid but said getting ahead of teammate Leclerc and championship leader Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes at the pit stop was imperative if he wanted to win.

"I know the races here start slow and Charles would take it easy to control things, which he did, so I just tried to stay within a certain distance of the car in front," Vettel said.

"Then as soon as I got the call to box (pit), that was the time for me to make something of the race," Vettel added.

"I pushed as hard as I could on the out-lap and was surprised Lewis didn't react the lap after but I was also surprised Mercedes had such strong pace on those laps."

The victory lifted Vettel up to 194 points in the standings with six races remaining, 102 behind Hamilton and six behind third-placed team-mate Leclerc ahead of next week's Russian Grand Prix. — AFP