Lewis cuts loose to light up Singapore

LEWIS HAMILTON was pleased to redeem himself following his disappointing performance in Monza earlier this month as the reigning world champion secured a comfortable victory at the Singapore Grand Prix yesterday.

The 24-year-old had been unsure of his chances heading into the weekend after some lacklustre displays in practice on Friday.

But his team worked hard through that night to fit a new chassis to his McLaren and Hamilton emerged yesterday in dominant form to secure pole position in qualifying.

The Briton was then quick out of the blocks in the night race at the Marina Bay street circuit, pulling away from the rest of the field as soon as the race got underway.

From then on, victory rarely looked in doubt, with only Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel briefly threatening before his challenge ended with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits.

Hamilton crashed at the Italian Grand Prix when well placed for a podium and he was delighted to have been able to bounce back from that disappointment in emphatic fashion.

“This is the perfect end to a fantastic weekend,” he said. “The race was physically very tough for all the drivers, but it was actually quite straightforward for me.

“We came here hoping for a good result, and I wanted to redeem myself after the last lap in Monza, and we got it.”

It was also a pleasing day for championship leader Jenson Button as the Brawn GP driver extended his lead in the standings by claiming fifth.

Button now has a 15-point lead in the drivers’ championship with three races remaining.

“It was a good race,” he said. “I am really happy to get fifth and four points. It was good to come through (from 11th) and finish in front of my closest rival in the championship.”

Toyota’s Timo Glock secured his first podium finish of the season as he finished second to Hamilton.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso dedicated his third-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix to former Renault team principal Flavio Briatore.

Briatore has been handed an indefinite ban from all involvement in international motorsport for his part in the 2008 Singapore race-fixing scandal.

The team had been keen to put the incident behind them with a good performance this weekend and they got that as Alonso secured a return to the podium for the first time this year.

The Spaniard hailed his team for their efforts in getting his car competitive, but reserved special praise for his former boss.

“The team has been fantastic,” said Alonso. “All season, we have had a fantastic team. The mechanics and engineers, everyone in the factory, did the maximum, and sometimes we got some good results and sometimes were a bit unlucky.

“It has been a difficult time for the team, now we put it behind us and we concentrate on the remaining races.

“I dedicate this podium to Flavio. He is at home but he is part of the success we had today.”