Hamilton wins under the night lights of Singapore

Lewis Hamilton has won the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix and in doing so has replaced teammate Nico Rosberg at the top of the Drivers’ World Championship standings.

Nico Rosberg, who qualified second yesterday, endured a nightmare race from the start before retiring from the race a few laps in. Scoring zero points, Hamilton’s seemingly easy win from pole position puts the Brit back at the top of the Championship fight with five races remaining, including one race with double points available. He leads the standings by just three points.

Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo finished second and third after a closely fought race which saw the paid close on Hamilton in the dying laps of the race. The result is much needed for the outfit who are looking to make up ground for a slow and unreliable start to the season.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished in fourth place after being unable to compete with the raw pace of those in front with Williams’ Felipe Massa crossing the line fifth. Vergne, Perez, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg and Magnussen completed the top 10 in Singapore.

The drama started for Nico Rosberg before the Grand Prix even started this evening when the World Championship leader failed to get off the grid to start the parade lap. Mechanics were working on the car right to the start of the lap, advising Rosberg he may have to start from the pit lane.

Frantically playing with the steering wheel trying to find a gear, Rosberg failed to move before being pushed into the pit lane by the Mercedes team to see if the car could be fixed. Meanwhile more parade lap drama continued when Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi pulled the car off the track citing brake issues. That brought an end to his race before it even started.

The rest of the pack arrived back on the grid without issue, leaving the race to get started with a gap where Rosberg should have been. Hamilton got away cleanly with Alonso flying down the pit straight, moving into second place before running wide and cutting the corner. He would have to surrender second to Sebastian Vettel to avoid penalty before starting to fight again from third with Daniel Ricciardo just behind. Kimi Raikkonen was up into fifth for Ferrari after another quick start.

Mercedes got Rosberg’s car running allowing him to rejoin the race by lap 3 but putting him dead last in 21st place and with a lot of work to do. However, the car immediately looked slow in a straight line; Rosberg seemed unable to pass the Marussia of Chilton.

By lap 5, Vettel and Hamilton were lapping at roughly the same speed, trading fastest laps as Vettel did his best to bear down on the Mercedes ahead of him. Rosberg finally passed Chilton for 20th place and Ricciardo was told by the team to change the brake balance of the car as the rear brakes were already getting hot.

Radio messages have already become distinctly less exciting now that everything is being said in code; the ban on radio messages mean that we are hearing less driver instructions now as the drivers are being forced to drive the car themselves.

Adrian Sutil was the first to pit on lap nine, some twenty minutes into the race that would span almost two hours in total. He rejoined in 21st and last place before Nico Hulkenberg pitted a lap later and came out somewhat ahead of Sutil and into 19th. Massa was the first of the frontrunners to pit, stopping from sixth place before a string of drivers followed, including Bottas and Raikkonen.

Rosberg’s slow pace at the back of the grid was explained by the team when they informed him over the radio that he can’t go above 6,500RPM in the pit lane through first gear as his limiter wasn’t working. Red Bull double stopped Vettel and Ricciardo at the end of lap 12, the same time that Alonso came in and all three rejoined in the same formation. Hamilton stopped from the lead a lap later without fault, taking the race lead again with the closest threat coming from Jenson Button who was temporarily up into second place.

Nico Rosberg stopped at the end of lap 14, giving the team a chance to try and reset the car. Ultimately failing, a new steering wheel left Rosberg still unable to find a gear and the team decided to call it a day, retiring the car and taking Rosberg out of the race. Scoring no Championship points this race, the door was left wide-open for teammate Lewis Hamilton to put a dent in Rosberg’s Championship lead.

Just 16 laps into the race, Mercedes informed Hamilton that he had everything ‘under control’ before Daniel Ricciardo put in a fastest lap. Hamilton quickly responded with another fastest lap of his own to reaffirm his control at the front.

Esteban Gutierrez retired on lap 19, becoming the latest victim of the near-endurance race in Formula 1 standards. Uncharacteristically slamming his gloves down in the back of the garage, he quickly moved out of the team garage and to the motor home.

Felipe Massa stopped for the second time on lap 23 for a soft set of tyres, confirming an aggressive three-stop strategy for todays’ race. At the same time Hamilton was told his car may be a little unbalanced at the front due to some debris being picked up in the front wing.

Alonso stopped again on lap 25, also confirming a three stop strategy for the Ferrari driver and allowing Alonso to go full speed in attempt to finish on the podium and potentially ahead of a Red Bull. Alonso gained the advantage a lap later when Vettel stopped for the second time – Alonso passed Vettel for third place leaving a 4.6 second gap.

Hamilton pit for stop number 2 at the end of lap 26 but the stop was a little longer than planned, taking 4.7 seconds and leaving Daniel Ricciardo to inherit the lead, but having only stopped once. Hamilton rejoined in second place with Alonso behind. Ricciardo stayed out until lap 27 when he pit for his second stop.

The first Safety Car of the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix was deployed on lap 31 after Sergio Perez broke his front wing in spectacular fashion whilst running into the back of Adrian Sutil, leaving debris spread all over the track. Triggering the usual chaos in the pit lane, Alonso was the first to pit in order to try and gain an advantage over the Red Bulls of Vettel and Ricciardo who were now ahead of him in second and third. Almost half the used the Safety Car period to stop too, some hoping the new rubber would take them to the end of the race.

The Safety Car remained on track for 7 laps and 18 minutes before the race was able to continue, bunching up the cars nicely to allow for an exciting end to the race. Hamilton backed up the pack as the Safety Car pulled away and with a burst of speed heading into the pit straight, Hamilton created nearly a second gap by the time he had crossed the start / finish line. Vettel and Ricciardo followed with Alonso in fourth. The William of Massa and Bottas remained fifth and sixth as everyone got through the first lap of the re-start safely.

2 laps later and Adrian Sutil was retired by the Sauber team, marking another double retirement for the team who are still being beaten by Marussia in the Constructors’ Championship. The teams last double retirement incidentally came last in Monaco, the other street circuit of the 2014 Formula 1 calendar.

For the next ten laps or so, all remained still at the front with each of the frontrunners holding their positions. It wasn’t until the final 12 laps that the times started to fall away, most notably that of Lewis Hamilton’s as the gap between himself and Vettel slowed. Hamilton reported that the rear tyres were starting to drop off which explained the slowing times. However, with a 22 second gap between himself and Vettel, there was little threat for the race lead.

With 10 laps remaining, and with degrading rear tyres, Hamilton had increased the gap further to 25 seconds, leaving more than enough time for Hamilton to pit for a third and final stop. The stop was immaculate but handed the lead of the race temporarily over to Sebastian Vettel. Rejoining just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, it was then up to Lewis Hamilton to regain the lead with a new set of tyres. Vettel’s lead lasted just a lap though before Hamilton was able to breeze by for first place.

Jenson Button retired from the race on lap 54 with his car stopping on track. Running a solid seventh place, the end result is disappointing for McLaren and Button who have ensured a sub-standard season.

Hamilton’s lead gap started to diminish within the final laps of the race, but the gao would ultimately remain in tack as the race-time clock ran out. 1 lap short due to the delay from the Safety Car, Lewis Hamilton would take the chequered flag to win the Grand Prix with the Red Bull duo if Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo just behind in second and third.

The circus now heads to Japan in two weeks’ time for the 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka on the weekend of October 03 – 05.