Sebastian Vettel stormed to his third consecutive win in 2013 and Singapore.
Formula 1’s only night race on a street circuit always brings some drama and this time was no exception. Vettel started from pole and there was no looking back as he got off to a great start. However on lap 25, his team-mate to be, Daniel Ricciardo, crashed on Turn 18 and brought out the Safety Car; maintaining the 100% appearance record for Singapore. It wasn’t until six laps later that the SLS AMG disappeared and the race restarted. There was debris every off the racing line.
Romain Grosjean, who was doing very well up the order, but was called in for an air pressure top-up, which meant a pit stop just under 40 seconds. This effectively ruined his race. Six laps later, he retired.
A stop from Rosberg saw him drop from second to twelfth , with Mark Webber getting track position. Two laps later, Seb came in with a 30.6s advantage; allowing him to exit still at the head of the order, with Alonso just 2.9s behind.
Gutierrez was doing well in the Ferrari-powered Sauber, but between lap 49 and 50, he lost five places to Webber, Rosberg, Hamilton, DiResta and Massa. Lap 54 and 55 saw Webber finally pass a tough Hulkenberg and Raikkonen go past Button, taking away McLaren’s podium prospect. DiResta crashed on lap 56, but yellows were all there were. Both McLarens were losing positions but were still in the points. With one lap to go, Webber was slowing and short-shifting to save his engine, but the flames meant the end of his race, as he hitched a ride with his good friend Alonso.
Vettel took a strong win, again, 32.6s ahead of Alonso, with Raikkonen finishing third after starting 13th with back pain to boot. The triple world champion is ahead on 247 points, 60 clear of Alonso, who’s on 187. Hamilton is third with 151, 2 clear of Raikkonen.
The constructor’s race is far from close. Infiniti Red Bull lead with 377, 103 points ahead of Ferrari, who are on 274, just seven points clear of Mercedes AMG who are in third with 267.
