Hamilton in control after Singapore win
- Hamilton moves three points clear of Rosberg in title race
- Vettel and Ricciardo complete podium places
- Rosberg retires with steering wheel issues
SINGAPORE(Reuters): Lewis Hamilton stormed to an emphatic victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday to wrest the championship lead from Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg after the German retired with steering wheel problems.
The Briton overcame an extended safety car period midway through the race, as well as the twin Red Bull challenge of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, to move three points clear of Rosberg with five races remaining.
“I was dreaming it last night… I just want to say huge thanks to my team,” Hamilton said in a podium interview.
“I was so excited, I was looking for a clean weekend, and I had it.”
Fernando Alonso ended a good weekend for Ferrari with a solid fourth place finish on a hazy Singapore night with Brazilian Felipe Massa rounding out the top five in his Williams.
For Hamilton, the race could not have gone any better after he arrived in Singapore trailing Rosberg by 22 points and in desperate need of a strong finish to ensure he maintained his bid for a second world title after his 2008 triumph.
He saved his best for last in qualifying on Saturday to claim pole position from his team mate and when Rosberg was unable to get his Mercedes moving at the start of the formation lap, the writing was on the wall for the German.
Rosberg was forced to start from the pitlane at the back of the field and when Hamilton stormed clear into the first corner, he always looked on course to record his seventh victory of the season, and 29th overall, in the fastest car on the track.
Only the inevitable safety car period, for seven laps midway through the race following Adrian Sutil’s collision with Sergio Perez, added an element of doubt to the proceedings but Hamilton managed his tyres brilliantly to claim victory by 13.5 seconds.
Vettel, Ricciardo and Alonso opted to go all the way to the finish once the safety car came in on the 37th of the 60-lap race, forcing Hamilton to build as big a lead as possible before pitting again to fit some soft ‘prime’ tyres.
When he emerged back on the track on the 52nd lap, Vettel was ahead and Ricciardo snapping at his heels but the Briton was able to make the most of his fresher tyres and performed a magnificent pass on the German through turn seven to reclaim the lead for good.
Jean-Eric Vergne drove brilliantly in his Toro Rosso to claim sixth place, his best finish of the season, with Sergio Perez, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen completing the top 10.
