Formula 1 - Singapore Grand Prix 2014

In the night spectacle of Singapore, Lewis Hamilton did everything right and won the race with aplomb. He is now the new world championship leader overall. Meanwhile, Red Bull and Ferrari fought for the other podium places.

by Bruno Fleckenstein

For world championship leader Nico Rosberg, the race did not start as planned at all. Problems with the electronics meant that his Mercedes couldn't get off the ground and instead of taking part in the formation lap he was pushed into the pit lane, from where he then had to start. The formation lap was also the undoing of Kamui Kobayashi on Caterham. He stopped in a run-off zone and dropped out. Nevertheless, the start was not delayed because of this.

The opening phase was marked by Hamilton's dominance
Hamilton made a superior start and immediately pulled away. Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, was slow and his stablemate Sebastian Vettel was immediately on his level when Fernando Alonso attacked the Red Bulls from behind in his Ferrari and drove over the track barrier to secure second place, which he did. An investigation into "track limits" and whether he was gaining an unlawful advantage was not sanctioned by the Stewarts. But Vettel also overtook Alonso again on the same lap. Hamilton, meanwhile, clearly pulled away and had already opened up a lead of almost three seconds over his pursuers in the first few laps. His teammate Nico Rosberg continued to struggle with problems. Running in 20th place, he was unable to pass Marcus Ericsson and was running about 6 seconds slower per lap than Hamilton. A great moment for Caterham and just as embarrassing for Mercedes.

The tire-intensive track led to many pit stops and strategic considerations
The first pit stops were already held on laps 11 and 12 by Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat. Räikkönen, Bottas, Vergne and Maldonado followed them. Alonso, Vettel and Ricciardo changed one lap later. Hamilton came in for a tire change on lap 14 and stayed in front of Button. Rosberg also came in. They tried to change the steering wheel and so he turned off the engine. But the electrics didn't work with the new steering wheel either and the whole maneuver led to disaster. Rosberg waved his hands, signaling the retirement.

The field of drivers slowly pulled apart. On lap 18, Hamilton was already 7 seconds ahead of Vettel. He was followed by Alonso (+10 sec.), Ricciardo (+13 sec.), Massa (+22 sec.), Raikkonen (+24 sec.), Bottas (+28 sec.) and Button (+32 sec.).

Alonso narrowed his gap to Vettel to about 1.2 sec. and went in for his second pit stop on lap 25, trying to strategically beat Vettel. Red Bull responded and brought Vettel in a lap later. But Ferrari's calculation worked out. While Vettel still had to stick to the speed limit in the pit lane exit, Alonso was already passing him and opened up a 4.7-second lead over Vettel.

After an unfortunate maneuver by Adrian Sutil, Sergio Perez lost his front wing, which disintegrated into many pieces on the track. The safety car was sent into the race almost too quickly on lap 32. As they say, " Every year, Safety Car ! In Singapore."

The safety car phase made the race exciting again
Alonso used the safety car phase to change tires. The plan was to drive to the end on the hard tires. At the end of lap 37, shortly before the 38th lap, there was a restart. Hamilton pulled away from all the others right away. But he also had to come in again because he was the only one who hadn't run the hard tires yet. That's why he had to build up a lead of about 28 seconds to be able to drive home the victory safely. Lap time on lap 39: Hamilton 1:51.6 min, Vettel , his first pursuer about 1:54 min.
Vettel was informed over the radio that he should drive through and thus the chances of victory would be preserved. Vettel countered and said he wanted to change the tires again in 12 laps.
On lap 44, Hamilton had already opened up a 16-second lead. Four laps later, he was already 20 seconds ahead. At the back of the field, Valteri Bottas (6), Jenson Button (7) and Kimi Raikkonen (8) were fighting for 6th place, all within half a second of each other.

Intermediate standings on lap 50: 1st Hamilton, 2nd Vettel (+ 22.76 sec.), 3rd Ricciardo (+26.68 sec.), 4th Alonso (+ 28.8 sec.), 5th Massa ( + 40.44 sec.).

Hamilton's last pit stop brought the decision
On lap 52, Hamilton came in for his final pit stop with about 25 seconds to spare. After a stop time of 2.9 seconds, he set off. Vettel was able to overtake him at the exit of the pit lane, but Hamilton left Ricciardo, who was close on Vettel's heels, behind. Sebastian Vettel couldn't fend off Lewis Hamilton for long on his fresh tires, and with a classic overtaking maneuver Hamilton regained pole on lap 54. Everything done right! Button dropped out on the same lap with electrical problems.

Vettel, Ricciardo and Alonso were now all close together and fighting for the podium. In the battle for the places at the back, Jean-Eric Vergne gave the competition a run for their money with fresh tires. First he caught Hülkenberg, then he passed Perez, Räikkönen and Bottas on lap 59. The latter even dropped out of the points because his tires degraded massively, although he defended 6th place for a long time.
In the end, Lewis Hamilton won the race with a commanding lead of over 13 seconds over his opponents. A large fireworks display lit up the sky as the first drivers crossed the finish line and congratulated the drivers on their performance. It was a perfect show! Vettel and Ricciardo finished second and third. Alonso had not managed to overtake either of them, despite the slightly fresher tires. But Ferrari is again competing for the podium places.

Ranking GP Singapore 2014