Sebastian Vettel wins the Singapore GP for the fourth time in his career

At the Singapore GP yesterday, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel won his third race of the 2015 season ahead of his former team mate Daniel Ricciardo and his team mate Kimi Raikkonen in a bizzare race that saw a spectator, who was arrested shortly after the race walking the track.

Vettel has a good start as did Daniel Ricciardo. Max Verstappen stalled on the grid and was wheeled into the pitlane by his team. As we headed into the first corner, Vettel led with Lewis Hamilton now ahead of Nico Rosberg.

Nico Hulkenberg has had a great start. As we headed into the next few corners, Sergio Perez nearly collided with his team mate and both were very lucky not to have hit each other. On Lap 2, Vettel led Ricciardo by 3 seconds and was flying, quickly opening up a gap to the Red Bull driver.

In the opening laps of the race, we saw a battle for sixth place between the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and the two Mercedes drivers of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as well as the two Force India drivers of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez for ninth place and Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jr and Romain Grosjean for eleventh place.

Three laps later, Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat were battling each other for third place at this stage in the race. At the end of Lap 9, Romain Grosjean was the first man to pit for fresh tyres. On Lap 11, Grosjean at Turn 7 was able to pass Alonso for thirteenth place after both drivers made their pitstops one lap after each other.

At this stage of the race, Vettel still led Ricciardo by 4.2 seconds. Also Alonso led a trail of cars battling for fourteenth place which consisted of Carlos Sainz Jr, Marcus Ericsson and Pastor Maldonado.

On Lap 13, Hulkenberg trying to pass Massa for track position into Turn 1; made contact with the Williams which saw Hulkenberg retire from the race. This then brought out the Virtual Safety Car and effectively neutralised the race at this point. Both Vettel and Ricciardo decided to pit under this period for fresh tyres.

The Safety Car was then deployed on Lap 15 in order to remove the debris from the Massa and Hulkenberg incident as well as removing his Force India from the track safely.

The race resumed on Lap 19 with Vettel still leading Ricciardo at the front of the grid. But further down the grid, Sainz Jr’s car went into neutral and this allowed Pastor Maldonado to pass him for grid position as he fell further towards the back of the race.

The stewards then announced the next lap that Massa and Hulkenberg were under investigation for causing a collision a few laps earlier. There was a great battle for ninth between Felipe Nasr and Romain Grosjean that was worth watching; with Nasr gaining a lot from this period of the race.

Lap 21 saw Vettel still leading the race ahead of Ricciardo by 0.9 seconds; with Ricciardo keeping him within reach and slowly gaining. On Lap 23, the stewards announced that Hulkenberg will receive a three place grid drop at the Japanese GP for causing a collision. This was in my opinion unfair as I believe that it was a racing incident.

Three laps later, Hamilton informed his Mercedes team via team radio that he was losing power, and on Lap 27 we saw Rosberg overtaking his team mate for fourth place and Hamilton in Turn 5 losing another place to Kvyat and now sixth. A struggling Hamilton then lost another place to Bottas and next lap losing places to Nasr and also to Alonso.

In the second half of the Singapore GP, Massa informed his Williams team that his car had gone neutral , but he was instructed by the team to continue on during the race. He then drove through the pitlane in neutral but now able to find a gear and continue the race.

However, Massa had been instructed to retire from the race by his team as his problems with the car were not getting any better for him and he retired on Lap 31. Meanwhile on the track, Verstappen and Grosjean were battling each other for eleventh place.

The next lap saw Hamilton saying to his team via team radio that he should retire the car in order to conserve the engine ready for Suzuka next weekend. Also Fernando Alonso officially retired from the race as well.

The battle for eighth place between Verstappen, Grosjean and Perez intensified with both Grosjean and Perez gaining slowly on the Toro Rosso driver. Perez in a brilliant move passed Grosjean on the track and pushed himself up to ninth place.

The Safety Car was then deployed on Lap 37 as a man had appeared on the track at the second sector with Vettel shouting on the team radio that “There’s a man on the track!” I have seen while watching Formula One over the years people invade the track at Germany and in Silverstone; but never have I seen that. In my opinion, it is dangerous and stupid of the man to do that and many questions and investigations will be conducted into how this could possibly happen.

As the Safety Car led the grid and the man safely taken away from the circuit; most of the drivers pitted for fresh tyres. Lap 41 and we were back racing. Vettel still leading Ricciardo by 2.4 seconds.

Further down the grid, Jenson Button and Pastor Maldonado made contact with each other at Turn 15; with bits of debris flying off the cars. This then caused damage to Button’s front wing and he had to pit. Button on team radio informed the McLaren-Honda team that he “should have known really that he was mental” when colliding with Maldonado.

Maldonado then lost two places to the Toro Rosso drivers who were now in the points in ninth and tenth places. On Lap 46, the stewards announced that an investigation into Button and Maldonado was being conducted for causing an collision a few laps earlier. Three laps later, the stewards announced that no further action would be taken against either driver.

Meanwhile there was a great battle on track between Perez and Verstappen for seventh place; with the young Toro Rosso driver gaining on Perez all the time. Lap 53 saw the McLaren-Honda team informing Button that he would have to retire the car as they “do not want to risk the gearbox.”

Sainz Jr joined the battle between Verstappen and Perez for seventh place. Meanwhile on Lap 54, Nasr passed Maldonado for eleventh place and Nasr’s team mate Ericsson was able to pass the Lotus driver too. In the final remaining laps of the race, Nasr was catching Grosjean for tenth place on the track.

But it was Sebastian Vettel who claimed his third win of the season at the Singapore GP (and also his fourth win of his career at the event). This is now Vettel's third win of the season and also his fourth at the Marina Bay circuit which is a fantastic achievement considering last season.

Vettel was ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who finished in second place 1.478 seconds behind but ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who finished in third place 17.154 seconds behind the Ferrari of Vettel but managing to get his first podium of the season.

Nico Rosberg finished the race in a credible fourth place ahead of Valtteri Bottas in fifth place, Daniil Kvyat in sixth place and Sergio Perez in seventh place. Max Verstappen finished in eighth place after battling his way through the field ahead of his team mate Carlos Sainz Jr in ninth place and Felipe Nasr who rounds off the top ten finishers.

Marcus Ericsson ended the race in eleventh place ahead of Pastor Maldonado in twelfth place, Romain Grosjean in thirteenth place, Alexander Rossi in fourteenth place and Will Stevens in fifteenth place.
Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg were not classified.

The classification for the Singapore GP is as follows:-

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 2.01.22.118
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 1.478s
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 17.154s
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 24.720s
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 34.204s
6. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 35.508s
7. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 50.836s
8. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 51.450
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 52.860s
10. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.30.045s
11. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.37.507s
12. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.37.718s
13. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 2 laps
14. Alexander Rossi, Manor, 2 laps
15. Will Stevens, Manor, 2 laps
16. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, Not Classified
17. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, Not Classified
18. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Not Classified
19. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, Not Classified
20. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, Not Classified

Lewis Hamilton leads the Drivers' Championship with 252 points, Rosberg is second with 211 points, Vettel is third with 203 points, Raikkonen is fourth with 107 points, Bottas is fifth with 101 points, Massa is sixth with 97 points,Ricciardo is seventh with 73 points, Kvyat is eighth with 66 points, Perez is ninth with 39 points and Grosjean is tenth with 38 points.

Mercedes lead the Constructors Championship with 463 points, Ferrari is second with 310 points, Williams are third with 198 points, Red Bull are fourth with 139 points, Force India are fifth with 69 points, Lotus are sixth with 50 points, Toro Rosso are seventh with 41 points, Sauber are eighth with 26 points and McLaren-Honda are ninth with 17 points.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa

Circuit by www.grahamandleigh.co.uk