Hamilton beats Verstappen to victory in Singapore
- Published on 16 Sep 2018 16:03
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Lewis Hamilton has won the Singapore Grand Prix, beating Red Bull's Max Verstappen to the top spot. Hamilton now extends his lead in the championship to 40 points as Sebastian Vettel could only manage to cross the line in third place.
Vettel overtook Verstappen on the opening lap of the race for second, passing the Dutchman on the run down to Turn 7. Vettel stayed ahead until the pitstop phase of the race, but lost out after Verstappen overcut the Ferrari.
Vettel peeled into the pitlane on lap 14 to get rid of his hyper soft tyres. The drivers starting on the pink-walled compound were able to extend their stint by a handful of laps due to a safety car period, which was deployed following a collision on lap 1 between Force India teammates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.
Hamilton responded to Vettel on the very next lap and also came into the pitlane for his one and only stop. While the Briton had fitted the soft compound to his car, Vettel attached the faster ultra soft tyre to his Ferrari.
However, Vettel failed to deploy enough pace to stay ahead of Verstappen, who gained time while running in free air. The 20-year-old pitted three laps after Vettel and re-joined the track side by side with the four-time world champion before edging ahead.
Valtteri Bottas was embroiled in a tense battle with compatriot Kimi Raikkonen towards the end of the Grand Prix, but managed to hold the Ferrari driver off for fourth place, while Daniel Ricciardo close behind coming home in sixth.
Fernando Alonso finished as the best of the rest, despite qualifying outside the top ten. The McLaren driver crossed the line in seventh place and was the final driver to finish on the lead lap.
Renault extended its gap to Haas in the battle for fourth in the standings as Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg came home in eighth and tenth place respectively. Slotted in between the Renault pair was Charles Leclerc, taking his first top ten finish since the Austrian Grand Prix.
Fergal Walsh
F1Grand Prix Singapore - Race
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DriverTeamTime/DifferenceLapsPoints
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1Time1h51:11.611Laps61Points25.0
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2Time+ 8.961Laps61Points18.0
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3Time+ 39.945Laps61Points15.0
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4Time+ 51.930Laps61Points12.0
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5Time+ 53.001Laps61Points10.0
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6Time+ 53.982Laps61Points8.0
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7Time+ 103.011Laps61Points6.0
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8Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points4.0
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9Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points2.0
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10Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points1.0
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11Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points0.0
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12Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points0.0
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14Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points0.0
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14Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points0.0
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15Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points0.0
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16Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points0.0
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17Time+ 1 lapLaps60Points0.0
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18Time+ 2 lapsLaps59Points0.0
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19Time+ 2 lapsLaps59Points0.0
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Did not finish
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20TimeLaps0Points0.0
2
Replies (18)
Login to replyf1dave
Posts: 782
Top six finished in the same order as they started ! WOW ! That's exciting racing.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
I wish FIA discontinues Singapore from calender. A night race, and street circuit, yet managed to put up a abysmal race/show.
Danimal5981
Posts: 370
The race itself wasn't too enjoyable (save the escapades of Sirotkin) but in terms of the championship this was a massive punch in the face of Vettel and Ferrari. You can't put this on weather, retirements or anything really, other than the sheer class of the people at Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton...., and I cheer for the Red Team. Painful.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Painful indeed. What struck me this race was just how Ferrari wasted it in terms of strategy. Meanwhile, Alonso managed to needle his way into P7.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
One of the worse Singapore GPs IMO. Ferrari really messed it up to boot. Meanwhile, props to Alonso and Sauber. Im not quite sure what Perez or Sirotkin were doing this race, but whatever it was I dont hope we will see it again.
F1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
Perez should get the black flag and a race ban. What he did to Sirotkin was criminal. Of course nothing happened, for whatever reason.
F1, a corrupt, predictable and boring series. They call it sport, but it should be advertised as politics. I wouldn't be surprised if they gave the "penalty" to Sirotkin.
Freguz
Posts: 160
Extremely boring race.
And the track is just a barrier construction layout, I have no clue where they are on the track when looking at the race.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I tend to know where they are on track, but I kinda think the camera work this year didnt really work out that well in that regard. All of the shots were so close up on the cars that it was hard to see what section they were by.
f1dave
Posts: 782
Looks like a Formula E track.
RogerF1
Posts: 501
What I find odd is a good few cars in the lower order can mix it pretty good, but the top six, even when all jumbled up - not a single dominant pair - just can’t get on top of each other. Not a power circuit so seemingly down to aero/suspension?
Maybe they need to consider a cap on wind tunnel time, could it be anything else? Seems to me that the top cars are massively more aero efficient and close racing is impossible.
Boring race unfortunately and yes, a featureless circuit as mentioned above.
Game over I think for the season. No more surprises.
xoya
Posts: 583
Hamilton will overtake Schumacher.
I really am not a fan of the guy but he is better (not greater) than Senna.
He trully is on another level.
F1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
The only thing that is on another level is his car. This guy has zero competition. He drives alone, it's like one car on track. The others can not compete because of the equipment. His team manages everything for him. They crank his engine up when he needs it. He doesn't have to drive on the limit, like others do, which means less errors. When he has to start at the back, everyone lets him through, Bottas his lapdog included. In Monaco they just call Ocon.
We saw what happened to him, when he had a better teammate. Unfortunately they removed him...
This guy can be gifted a few more championships, it doesn't mean anything. Senna? You must be kidding.
xoya
Posts: 583
Bottas cannot hold his own against Raikkonen...
Ferrari is a better car. Currently Hamilton is not driving the best car on the grid yet he still is in the lead and is extending that lead every race.
Senna will always be number one because of everything he had. Personality, charisma, skill, national pride...
Hamilton is a hipster and I hate that, but you cannot argue against his skill, also his manager did a pretty fine job of putting him in the right place at the right time which cannot be said about Briatore and Alonso (apart from Renault in 2005. and 2006.)
F1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
I don't think Ferrari has the better car. In my opinion Mercedes throttles their own performance, to make it look like there is a championship fight going on. People were sick of them winning in the past. They are letting Ferrari come closer and even win, but Vettel keeps screwing everything.
I'm pretty sure, we don't see the real Mercedes pace. It is easy for a driver to look good on track, when he doesn't have to give everything and can still comfortably lead races. The same applies to Vettel in his Red Bull era. When he was in front and someone got closer, they just told him to speed up and he was able to drive one-two seconds faster.
If a driver doesn't have to be close to the limit, he makes fewer mistakes, wins anyway and fools many people. We saw what happened to Vettel, when Ricciardo joined the team. Maybe he underperformed on purpose, to get out of his contract, maybe this was his real pace...
I'm sure Hamilton can be fast, but he isn't used to real competition anymore. He would loose a fair battle in equal machinery (and status) against a few current drivers.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Different times different circumstances. Senna was great. Schumacher was great. Hamilton is in the same vein. Just on the cusp of a new era ... either leclerc or verstappen I think.
xoya
Posts: 583
Agreed, although Hamilton will not be remebered as a great (in my opinion) because of his personality. He just lacks that "X factor" to put it in the most cliché way possible. Gilles is considered a great even though he doesn't have a title to his name, unlike Jacques who has one but isn't considered that.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
@Xoya @Boudy AS it happens with all drivers, Hamilton's real legacy will be felt and appreciated only after he retires. His antics off-track are relevant only because he's still racing, but that will be forgotten and his stats and highlights remain. Not meaning to compare him directly against Senna, but Ayrton was seriously despised by many too. For different reasons, some justified. Same with Michael. Same with Prost. That's the nature of the multiple world champions. That's also the way it should be.
xoya
Posts: 583
Also agreed. Only time will tell.