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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Michael Butler

F1: Singapore Grand Prix – as it happened

Sebastian Vettel powers his car.
Sebastian Vettel powers to the line. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

Sebastian Vettel wins in Singapore for the fourth time to help secure Ferrari’s first double-podium of the season. It wasn’t the most exciting race at the front, with Vettel leading from start to finish, but he showed expert professionalism with dealing with the safety cars as the field bunched. It is so hot, so humid out there, and to maintain that level of concentration makes him a deserving winner.

What happened behind him was much more interesting. We had a fan walking on the track whilst Lewis Hamilton was one of six casualties, which also numbered Button, Alonso, Hulkenburg, Grosjean and Massa.

Hamilton’s peddle problems mean that Rosberg, finishing in fourth, closes the gap at the top of the drivers’ championship to 41 points. But with today’s win, Vettel is just eight points behind Rosberg in third! It’s hotting up a bit. “Maybe we can make the impossible possible,” says Vettel on the podium.

Honourable mention must go to the Toro Rosso boys, particularly Max Verstappen, who stalled on the grid but came back from a full lap behind the pack to zoom through the field and finish in eighth. Fantastic from the teenager, who defied team orders to pip Sainz to the line.

Thanks for reading. See you next time! Bye!

Updated

SEBASTIAN VETTEL WINS THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX!

The German moves ahead of Senna’s total of 41 F1 victories. In nine races less than the late Brazilian, too!

Vettel wins.
Vettel wins. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

Updated

Lap 61: Verstappen is being told to swap places with his team-mate Sainz, who had previously let the teenager through. “No!” screams Verstappen down the radio. He doesn’t want give up the place, with Grosjean just ahead of him! Defying team orders!

Lap 60: Grosjean runs wide and Nasr zooms past into 10th. A championship point for Sauber there.

Updated

Lap 59: Vettel continuing to lead this race, by about three seconds. Ricciardo is offering no resistance, although he himself is not under threat from Raikkonen.

Lap 58: Four minutes left here, which means we might actually get to a full 61 laps.

Lap 57: Maldonado has moved down to supersoft tyres, after falling to 13th. He’ll be pushing for a fastest lap now that he has a brand new pair of shoes on.

Lap 56: Bottas is experiencing some problems with his gearbox – the radio waves are urging the Finnish driver to exercise some caution. He won’t be catching Rosberg in fourth then, although he has to be wary of Kvyat behind him in sixth.

“A glitch in the box on downshifts,” is the issue.

Updated

Lap 55: Check out those Toro Rosso boys in blue.

Lap 54: We’re into the final stages of this race, and we’ll see how well these prime tyres hold out. Rosberg in currently running in fourth, 6.4seconds ahead of Bottas, so on course for a +12 points this race, which would reduce Hamilton’s lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to 41 points.

Updated

Lap 53: Button is forced to retire! An over-heating gearbox is the reason, and McLaren have another double-retirement (after Alonso’s earlier exit). That’s the fourth time that has happened this season, and is hugely disappointing – Button was going so well before his collision with Maldonado.

Button retires.
Button retires. Photograph: Dunbar/LAT/Rex Shutterstock

Updated

Lap 52: Verstappen is fast approaching Perez in seventh, just 0.4 seconds behind the Force India driver. This is quite remarkable from the teenager.

Lap 51: “You’re doing a very good job, mate. Keep it going, keep it clean,” says Horner to Ricciardo over the radio. Second-placed Ricciardo has just set a new fastest lap but it still 2.9 seconds behind Vettel. I can’t see him closing the gap.

Ricciardo, currently in second place.
Ricciardo, currently in second place. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

Updated

Lap 50: After the safety car delays, this race will now be a timed one. Which basically means that we will see the chequered flag at around about the 59-lap mark.

Updated

Lap 49: Race control confirm that there will be no further action taken over the collision between Maldonado and Button.

Lap 48: The Toro Rosso boys are on fire! Sainz moves into ninth after taking Grosjean, who is forced off over the track.

Lap 47: Race control say they are investigating that collision between Maldonado and Button. We’ll have some news on what they say shortly.

Lap 46: Verstappen is now up to eight, masterfully overtaking Grosjean on the inside. Surely this man in a world champion in the making.

Lap 45: Verstappen is up to ninth and has just set the fastest lap of his race! Remember he was an entire lap down at the start of this race, stalling on the grid. The safety cars have helped his cause but this is electric driving from the 17-year-old.

Updated

Lap 44: Vettel has re-established his lead at the front of this race.

The crash doesn’t seem to have affected Maldonado

Lap 43: Button sounds very despondent. He’s back in 14th now.

Lap 42: Button and Maldonado collide at turn 15, with the McLaren man’s front wing is damaged. Debris flies all over the track and flies backward into the path of the drivers behind. Very dangerous, that, although all seem to have come through unharmed, apart from Button, of course. The Brit pits, terrible news, he was going so well!

Lap 41: The officials have decided that Rossi is taking too long to rejoin and so the race restarts! That means Rossi will be in the way of the top three.

Updated

Lap 40: There is no debris on the track, but we’re waiting for Alex Rossi to unlap himself. He’s being very, very slow coming round.

“It’s a real shame. I think I had the pace today to win,” says Hamilton.

Updated

Lap 39: The safety car is still out, and so whilst we wait for the re-start, have a look at the crash earlier between Massa and Hulkenburg.

Lap 38: And so, this race changes again. Once again, Vettel will have to build his lead up again. Button uses this safety car opportunity to put, and he re-emerges in 10th.

THERE IS A FAN ON THE TRACK!

Lap 37: How bizarre, a man is just walking down the side of the track. He casually hops back over the barriers, and the safety car has been deployed!

Updated

Lap 36: Button is up to eighth. With Alonso out, it’s been a miserable night for McLaren thus far, but Button is still in this.

Behind him, Perez sweeps inside Grosjean to grab ninth.

Updated

Lap 35: Let’s return to the sharp end of this race, where it is all going nicely for Vettel, he’s just under five seconds clear of Ricciardo. Clean air and the Australian just a speck in his rear mirror. Happy days.

Lap 34: Kyvat has a shocker of a pit – the Red Bull guys struggled with re-attaching the rear right tyre and he drops five places into ninth!

Meanwhile, Alonso is also out of the race, he is retiring as well! Suspected gearbox failure.

HAMILTON RETIRES!

Lap 33: And that’s that, Hamilton is out of the Singapore GP! It was a problem with the pedal apparently. Can Rosberg take advantage and close the 53-point gap in the drivers’ championship?

Hamilton outside the garage as he retires.
Hamilton outside the garage as he retires. Photograph: Diego Azubel/EPA

Updated

Lap 32: Hamilton is discussing with his team whether to retire in order to save the engine. The brakes are also getting cold. Mercedes have to make a decision, he’s now in 18th. Surely that is his race over?

Lap 31: Massa will retire the car! Hamilton meanwhile has slipped to 14th, he is fast disappearing out of this race!

Massa retires.
Massa retires. Photograph: Sutton Images/Corbis

Updated

Lap 30: Massa is having serious issues. “I don’t know what’s happened - I’ve just gone to neutral,” he says over the radio. He can’t get it in gear, and then drives into the pit lane, but doesn’t stop, drives straight through. Very strange!

Lap 29: With Hamilton struggling, Vettel pulls away.

Hulkenburg has been asked about the crash now that he is off the track.

“I was in the racing line going into turn three, and he was coming out of the pits. It’s a bit strange, I’m very frustrated. I knew I was in front then I got hit in the back. Can’t understand why penalty was given.”

That’s not actually true, he was behind but going faster than Massa coming out of the pits, and would have passed him, had he not careered into the Brazilian.

Lap 28: Hamilton is now 40mph slower out on the track! He’s slipped now to ninth! Mercedes think it is a problem with the throttle, but Hamilton has no idea how to reset it. The team are audibly scrambling to figure out what is wrong. It’s not electrical, apparently.

Lap 27: Disaster for Hamilton! It is as though the rug has been pulled from under him. Rosberg, then Kvyat, then Bottas all cruise past him on the straight. From fourth, Hamilton is now in seventh!

Updated

Lap 26: Hamilton says he is “losing some power. Quick guys, quick!”

Lap 25: Vettel’s lull in pace is down the fact that he is trying to save his tyres and make sure he completes a two-stop race. It’s a dangerous strategy, and a very different one to his blistering start.

Vettel on a two stop race.
Vettel on a two stop race. Photograph: Joseph Nair/AP

Meanwhile, Kyvat says he is “losing some brake efficiency.”

Updated

Lap 24: “Vettel’s backing up Ricciardo, I think,” Hamilton says over the radio. The field is certainly more bunched than before. He’s about 3.6 seconds behind the leader but has built a nice little lead over team-mate Rosberg behind him in fifth.

Lap 23: The stewards have ruled that the crash was Hulkenburg’s fault and as a result, he will suffer a three-place penalty at the next grand prix in Japan!

Lap 22: Turns out that the stewards are going to investigate that crash between Massa and Hulkenburg, but I wouldn’t expect anything to come of it, it was a silly move from the German. DRS is back in play now, but Raikkonen is just too far from Ricciardo coming round turn five to activate it along that big second straight.

Updated

Lap 21: Mercedes confirm over the radio that they will try and run a two-stop race, with Hamilton at least. Those tyres will be freezing cold after that safety car business.

Hamilton steers his car,
Hamilton steers his car, Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

Updated

Lap 20: As we mentioned before, Vettel holds just a narrow lead over Ricciardo now, just 8/10ths of a second. At the back of the field, Verstappen continues to close the gap to the field, he’s about a half-lap behind the pack.

Lap 19: No DRS allowed for the next two laps, for those within a second of each other. Sainz has had a shocker on the restart, he was driving in neutral! He’s down to 18th now.

Lap 18: The field has bunched, which is great news for Ricciardo who has closed the gap on Vettel in first. The crash has caused a significant delay, and the race will now reduce from a 61-lap race to 59/60. Safety car will come in at the end of this lap.

Lap 17: Debris remains on the track. It is worth noting in all that madness that Button had a shocking pit-stop, as McLaren struggled to get his tyres on. He’s slipped to 16th.

Lap 16: The virtual safety car is now the actual safety car as workers frantically use huge brooms to sweep Hulkenburg’s carbon fibre off the track. “I don’t understand why he did [that],” Massa says on radio. “I was inside.”

Lap 15: Virtual safety car as Hulkenburg’s car (and the debris) is cleared and everyone uses that opportunity to pit. Both Hamilton and Rosberg are the first cars to go onto the prime tyres, and because they pitted under the virtual safety car (and Kyvat pitted just before Hulkenburg’s crash), Hamilton rises up into fourth, with Rosberg in fifth and Kvyat now in sixth!

Lap 14: Crash! Hulkenburg’s race is over, after colliding with Massa. The Brazilian held his line on the inside, but Hulkenburg got way too close, driving almost over Massa’s front right tyre before popping into the air and crashing into the barriers! Force India have a slightly different take on the incident… I can assure you Massa did nothing wrong there.

Hulkenberg crashes Massa.
Hulkenberg crashes Massa. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

Updated

Lap 13: Everyone seems to be pitting now. Things about to heat up.

Lap 12: Grosjean uses the DRS well to make his move!

Lap 11: Carlos Sainz has a terrible time in the pit-lane – he is forced to wait for traffic to pass – and his delay also means Alonso is held back.

Updated

Lap 10: Grosjean is the first to pit, it seems he had a problem with his front left tyre. Expect a wave of action.

Lap 9: Raikkonen is running about 1.6 secs behind Ricciardo in second. Mercedes boys yet to make their move.

Lap 8: Bit of a lull in action here, as the teams wait for the first pit-stops. Expect those around Lap 15/16 although the pit lane does open on Lap 10.

Lap 7: Massa just about holds off Hulkenburg for eighth. These corners are so narrow, it really is difficult to work room for the overtake.

Lap 6: At the back, Verstappen has unlapped himself, but is about three-quarters of a lap behind Will Stevens of Marussia. After that shocking start, Verstappen is doing lap times that would put him about sixth or seventh in the race.

Lap 5: It seems Vettel posts a slowish lap time, although he is still well out in front. Around about a five second lead over Ricciardo. Gulp.

Vettelahead of Ricciardo.
Vettelahead of Ricciardo. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

Updated

Lap 4: After a frenetic start, the drivers have settled into their position. Carlos Sainz is giving Alonso a real battle for 11th, who is followed by Grosjean in 13th. Grosjean started the race is 10th remember, but got stuck behind Verstappen on the race grid and lost valuable time.

Updated

Lap 3: Vettel is building a commanding lead here already, he’s got clean air in front of him. You already get the feeling that he will run away with this, although there is plenty to play for behind him.

Lap 2: Verstappen is back out on the track after stalling at the start. He’s a lap behind and will have to come from the back of the grid.

Lap 1: Vettel hangs on to his pole coming round and by the end of the first lap, has a three-second lead (!!!) over Ricciardo. The top six are unchanged but …

Perez runs in the back of Hulkenburg – although both survive the scrape – and Alonso capitalises, he’s into 11th. Verstappen is out, I’m not quite sure how, but he’s being pushed back to the pits.

Vettel leads the pack at the start.
Vettel leads the pack at the start. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

LIGHTS OUT!

Here we go!

Everyone is on the supersoft tyres. Most teams will be aiming for a two-stop race, around lap 16 and lap 36 of this 61-lap race, although don’t be surprised to see a few teams settling for three stops as the tyres degrade.

Many teams will be banking on the safety car coming out today – it has featured at every Singapore GP since 2008 – and so many won’t be carrying their full compliment of fuel as they aim to keep their weight down.

Updated

Niki Lauda says Rosberg’s car is all fixed after suffering “a glitch.”

“It is impossible to overtake here in Singapore. I hope they can get on the podium,” he says.

Rosberg’s start engineer and race engineer are in deep discussions, nattering away as the team congregate around the grid. Will they suffer any problems on the start line as they did 10 minutes ago?

Meanwhile …

The drivers are out on their formation lap and Rosberg has broken down! His engine has died, and the Mercedes team have rushed out into the pit lane to help him restart. He’s finally underway but not what Mercedes will want after a troublesome qualifying.

Today’s race is, of course, a night race on a street circuit. 80,000 people are expected to be hovering on the edges of the track, soaking up the noise and fumes Formula 1 has to offer. It’s a public road, and all the man-hole covers have to be welded shut before the race.

Singapore's track

Updated

Today’s grid in full:

1) Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
2) Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
3) Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
4) Daniil Kvyat Red Bull
5) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
6) Nico Rosberg Mercedes
7) Valtteri Bottas Williams
8) Max Verstappen Toro Rosso
9) Felipe Massa Williams
10) Romain Grosjean Lotus
11) Nico Hulkenberg Force India
12) Fernando Alonso McLaren
13) Sergio Perez Force India
14) Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso
15) Jenson Button McLaren
16) Felipe Nasr Sauber
17) Marcus Ericsson Sauber
18) Pastor Maldonado Lotus
19) Will Stevens Marussia
20) Alexander Rossi Marussia

Preamble

Today was meant to be a day of records. Lewis Hamilton was all set to equal Ayrton Senna’s run of eight consecutive poles. Hamilton was all set to equal the great Brazilian’s record of 41 victories.

Instead Sebastian Vettel put himself on pole for the first time in two years and if he wins today, he will be the one writing himself into the history books: a win would take him past Senna, having himself equalled the 41 victories with his win in Hungary earlier this season, one of just two times the four-time world champion has denied a Mercedes grand prix win.

Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is No1 on the grid today. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

Vettel didn’t just edge qualifying, he romped to that pole: 1.5secs ahead of his nearest rival, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Mercedes, remarkably are on the third row – Hamilton in fifth, Rosberg in sixth – behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in third and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat in fourth.

It must be frustrating for Rosberg – whenever Hamilton falters, the German also stumbles. In July, when Hamilton endured a horrible race in Hungary – finishing in sixth – Rosberg was all set to capitalise, but a late puncture forced him to slip from second to eighth. Here, he starts at sixth on the grid, one behind Hamilton. Always one step behind. Or 53 points.

Mercedes also failed to equal the record of 23 straight poles set by Williams in 1992 and 1993 and Hamilton’s front row run ended at 20. But why?

Hamilton put it down to his tyres.

It was actually really challenging and these tyres for some reason aren’t working on our car. It’s so weird: you heat them up the same as everyone else, you do your warm-up lap the same as everyone else. Then you finish your lap, which you think will be okay grip and then you see someone else a second up the road. So it’s very strange.

But is it possible that on a track that give Mercedes’ superior power a minimal advantage, with it’s tight twists and turns, both Hamilton and Rosberg just didn’t come to the party? Singapore is hot, humid, and one of the most physically demanding tracks in the calendar – Vettel definitely handled it better. With those tight turns, overtaking will be tough. We’ll see if Mercedes have learnt any lessons.

Lights out: 1pm BST

Updated

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