Vettel triumphs in Singapore
Sebastian Vettel was again in a class of his own as he completed a double hat-trick to further strengthen his grip on claiming a fourth successive Formula One world title.
In taking the chequered flag in Singapore for the third consecutive time under the lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, it was also Vettel’s third straight win this season after recently triumphing in Belgium and Italy.
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) was second while Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen finished third.
The Spaniard is now 60 points adrift, with Raikkonen 98 down after he clambered into the top three with a bad back from 13th on the grid.
Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa finished fourth, fifth and sixth, with Jenson Button seventh, team-mate Sergio Perez eighth, Nico Hulkenberg ninth and Adrian Sutil in his Force India 10th.
As for Sutil’s team-mate, Paul Di Resta ran into a barrier seven laps from home to leave him without a point in his last five races.
Vettel’s cushion over Alonso is now 60 points, with Hamilton 96 down and Raikkonen 98.
Vettel was forced to fight to hold on to top spot at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix as he went wheel to wheel with Mercedes’ Rosberg.
Rosberg actually had his car in front heading into the first turn, but in running wide given his speed on the approach, immediately allowed Red Bull’s Vettel back into the lead.
Behind the duo, Alonso made a stunning start in his Ferrari, moving up four places from seventh to third as he swept by Romain Grosjean in his Lotus, Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Hamilton for Mercedes.
Hamilton was left having to fight with the second Ferrari of Massa, at one stage passing the Brazilian but going outside the limits of the Marina Bay Street Circuit in doing so.
The 28-year-old was quickly told to hand the place back, respecting the request and falling back to seventh.
After three laps Vettel was already out on his own, leading by 5.6secs to Rosberg, with the same time difference covering places two to seven.
McLaren’s Button was running eighth, with Di Resta 13th in his Force India after moving up four places at the start.
Rosberg managed to arrest Vettel's charge on lap eight, although the lead was still a staggering 6.8secs.
Lotus’ Raikkonen, competing despite struggling with a trapped nerve in his back, was the first to pit after 10 laps as the three-stop window in the 61-lap race opened.
Raikkonen dropped from 11th to 19th, with Massa the next of the big guns in after 12 laps from sixth place, finally releasing Hamilton behind him.
Webber and Button came in a lap later, along with Sauber’s Hulkenberg from ninth, followed by Alonso from third.
With 15 laps gone it was the turn of Rosberg, Grosjean and Hamilton to take on fresh Pirelli rubber.
Seemingly running a two-stop plan, Vettel pitted after 16 laps, emerging comfortably ahead of Rosberg.
After 18 laps, Vettel held an eight-second cushion over Rosberg, with Di Resta - the only man yet to pit – keeping Alonso at bay in fourth, followed by Webber, Grosjean, Hamilton, Massa and Button.
Di Resta finally made his first stop after 20 laps - falling from third to 13th - giving Alonso the free air he needed to try to close an eight-second gap to Rosberg.
Despite complaining over the radio that “these tyres are terrible”, Hamilton was informed his pace was good as he closed to within a second of Grosjean on lap 22.
On lap 25, and with the race turning into a procession, Daniel Ricciardo plunged his Toro Rosso into the barrier at turn 18.
That brought out the safety car for the first time this weekend, and for the ninth time in six races at this track.
That sparked a plethora of second pit stops for a number of drivers, including the likes of Alonso, Grosjean, Massa, Button, Raikkonen and Perez.
That left a top four of Vettel, Rosberg, Webber and Hamilton opting not to pit, with Alonso and Grosjean fifth and sixth, followed by Di Resta who was another who stayed out.
In allowing the lapped Marussias of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi to play catch-up, the safety car stayed out for five laps, coming in after 30 laps.
If those behind Rosberg believed they had a chance of pushing the three-times world champion, they were sorely mistaken as he again blasted away into the night.
After two laps the gap was 5.5secs, and after four he had increased his lead to 9.9secs to Rosberg.
Running in sixth, there was a groan of exasperation from Grosjean when he was informed over the pit radio there was a problem with the air consumption feed to the engine.
Grosjean was further told he would have to pit for 40 seconds whilst it was checked, but the issue was such it ultimately forced him to retire, the second of the night.
After 40 laps Webber pitted for a third time, followed a lap later by Rosberg, the Australian doing enough to get ahead of the German.
When Hamilton pitted from second after 43 laps, that propelled Alonso into second, albeit 30 seconds behind Vettel who was trying to open up enough of a gap so he could pit and retain his lead.
Vettel then came in after 44 laps, with Red Bull’s ploy working to perfection as he came out a few seconds ahead of the Spaniard, and with the championship leader on a fresh set of tyres.
After 45 laps, Vettel led by 4.8secs to Alonso, followed by Button, Raikkonen, Perez, Hulkenberg, Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, Webber, Rosberg, Hamilton and Di Resta.
With Vettel romping to victory by 32.6secs and Alonso a comfortable second, the battle went on behind the duo for the minor placings.
Without a podium this season, McLaren’s hopes of a top-three spot were dashed when Raikkonen passed Button for third on lap 53.
Webber also soon made short work of Button, as did Rosberg, Hamilton and Massa as the Briton’s tyres ran out of life.
In the closing stages Webber then sustained a gearbox and engine issue that saw him plummet from fourth on lap 59 to retire on the final lap, number 61.
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