Nico Rosberg wins Singapore GP despite late Daniel Ricciardo charge at Marina Bay as Mercedes driver regains championship lead from Lewis Hamilton
- Nico Rosberg registered his 22nd career win at the Singapore Grand Prix in his 200th Formula One race
- It was Rosberg's first ever Singapore win after fending off late surge from Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo
- Mercedes driver now regains championship lead from Lewis Hamilton to lead by eight points
- Hamilton finished third after passing Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen but world champion struggled at Marina Bay
- Nico Hulkenberg's race ended instantly after collision with Carlos Sainz at the start of the race
- Force India driver was sandwiched between Sainz and Red Bull's Max Verstappen before crashing
- Track marshall forced to take evasive action by running off the circuit following safety car period
- Click here for more F1 news, features and points tablesĀ
For most of the night it looked as if Nico Rosberg could win the Singapore Grand Prix while flicking through a glossy magazine. Albeit with the pages having turned soggy in the humid air.
Yes, he had to manage his brakes while sitting in a cockpit as hot as a steam room. But any challengers? No, they were irrelevances in the rear-view mirror for all but the last 14 laps, when Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, on fresh tyres, took massive bites out of the Germanās lead.
But Rosberg clung on to claim victory by four-tenths of a second, a small margin that hid the depth of his achievements on a weekend that may have a bigger say in the destiny of the title than any other race this season.
Fireworks explode as Nico Rosberg celebrates winning the Singapore Grand Prix in parc ferme by standing on his car
Rosberg stands on top of his Mercedes having had to fight off the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo for the race win at Marina Bay
The race win marked a milestone in the career of Rosberg who was competing in his 200th Formula One grand prix
Mercedes mechanics congratulate the German on his 22nd career victory which saw him retake the world championship lead
Rosberg leaps on top of Mercedes team members after winning his third straight race following victories in Belgium and Italy
His success was this: he turned on its head the dynamic between himself and Lewis Hamilton, the world champion who has whipped him since they were boys.
Hamilton, who finished a place behind Ricciardo in third, reflected the chastening lessons he had been taught afterwards in his countenance. The spring had gone out of his designer trainers.
No wonder, given the statistical blizzard that Rosberg unleashed. It was his third successive victory. It was his eighth of the season ā nobody has ever won so many races and not won the title. Seven out of eight times the leader leaving Singapore has gone on to take the championship ā and Rosberg heads the standings by eight points with six rounds remaining.
But it is not about facts and figures as much as the delicate workings of the mind.
Is Hamilton, he might wonder, quite the all- conquering virtuoso he has been cracked up to be? Sometimes by himself.
Is the desire that carried him to three world titles still burning as fiercely?
Lewis Hamilton offers sporting congratulations to Rosberg following a third-place finish from the Brit in Singapore
Rosberg jumps with a fist pump on the podium as second placed Daniel Ricciardo looks on having just missed out on victory
Rosberg, Ricciardo and Hamilton stand on the podium in a race that saw the championship lead switch hands at Mercedes
One sensed his frustrations as he was a shadow of his best ā which is very considerable indeed ā all weekend.
Rosberg smashed him in qualifying by a mammoth seven-tenths of a second, a gap he had never before put between himself and the world champion.
In the race, Hamilton looked unlikely to pass Ricciardo in front of him and was instead overtaken mid-race by a snake-hipped Kimi Raikkonen, who danced his Ferrari in front by the Singapore Cricket Club.
Churchill once called the British surrender of Singapore in 1942 the most embarrassing moment of Empire. Hamiltonās capitulation to the Finn was hardly as serious, nor was it terminal because he undercut Raikkonen on his third stop to reclaim the last podium position.
Before that Hamilton had complained pretty steadily over the radio at the horrible injustice of it all. Why me? Why me?
Having started from pole position, Mercedes' Rosberg managed to fend off the threat of Ricciardo to take the win
Chaos at the start line in Singapore saw Force India's Ā Nico Hulkenberg collide with the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz
Sandwiched between Sainz and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Hulkenberg's race was over instantly as he spun into the wall
The Force India driver was thrown to the side of the track immediately after the start, bringing out the safety car
Hulkenberg stands next to his damaged car after his race ended prematurely on the opening lap of the Singapore Grand Prix
Under the safety car, Hulkenberg's Force India was carried off the track while cars filtered past down the pit-lane
The crash resulted in debris littering the circuit as track marshalls quickly attempt to clear the wreckage from the crash
Hamilton was told, as was Rosberg, to manage his brakes to save them from overheating.
He responded by saying: āIām slowing down so much.ā
Then: āCan you keep me updated, please. I have no clue what is going on.ā
Then: āI need a strategy to get me past (Ricciardo).ā
Then: āYou need to come up with some plan to stop me losing third place because this is all Iāve got with these brakes.ā
It must be said that Hamilton was faultlessly magnanimous afterwards. He went up to Rosbergās car to congratulate him and spoke of how his rival āfully deservedā the triumph.Ā
Despite the safety car being called in, there was still a track marshall on the circuit as Nico Rosberg charges down the straight
The marshall was forced to sprint off the circuit as Rosberg, pressured by Ricciardo, stormed down the main straight
The marshall managed to sprint away from the racing line as green lights indicate to the drivers to drive at race speed
Despite the green light, a yellow flag was waved to warn drivers as Rosberg passes the the track marshall in a narrow escape
āIām still in the fight,ā said Hamilton. āThereās still a long way to go and Iām going to give it everything Iāve got.ā
Rosberg refused to be swept into the narrative of title speculation. Like the least imaginative post-match football interviewee, he is taking it race by race.
āIām just excited to win here,ā said the twice championship runner-up, who spent the summer break with his phone off and changed his sleeping patterns to get more rest. So thatās the secret, is it?
His victory came despite incident at either end of the race. The first, a crash on the first lap when Nico Hulkenburgās Force India spun around on impact with Carlos Sainzās Toro Rosso, bringing out a safety car.
The second, when Red Bull pulled a strategy trick by putting Ricciardo on new tyres.
The question then was: could the Australian close a 25-second gap in 14 laps and pass Rosberg on older rubber? He got mighty close, so much so that Rosbergās boss Toto Wolff said: āWe nearly peed our pants.ā
Embarrassment was averted as Rosberg clinched the deal without a spill.
Hamilton was passed by Raikkonen but later overtook the Ferrari driver through pit-stops to reclaim a podium position
Sebastian Vettel pits for ultra soft tyres as the German came from the back of the grid to finish fifth and earn Driver of the Day
Fernando Alonso took seventh place for Mclaren Honda in a strong performance from the two-time world champion
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