Vettel invincible at the Singapore Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel only had a difficult moment at the Singapore Grand Prix. The pole sitter made a bad start by being overtaken by Nico Rosberg when the lights went out, but the driver Mercedes missed his braking at the first corner and dropped back to second. The pilot Red Bull then created a considerable lead over his pursuers by moving with more than two seconds ahead per lap over the first Flèche d’Argent. The contact of Daniel Ricciardo with the wall changed the course of the race, with some drivers banking on an early stop during the interruption. The Red Bull driver chose to stay on the track, but the German was again untouchable at the restart and was able to make his second stop in complete peace. The three-time world champion won his third consecutive success after Spa-Francorchamps and Monza and won for the third consecutive year on the Marina Bay track. This seventh victory is also the 33rd of the German's career, which now exceeds Fernando Alonso and who is only eight successes away from Ayrton Senna's record.

Fernando Alonso crossed the line in second place, more than half a minute behind the winner after completing a sensational race starting from seventh on the grid. The pilot of the Team dropped off his opponents at the start to climb into third position before taking advantage of Nico Rosberg's second stop to take second place and limit the bleeding on the winner who now has a 60-point lead with six events remaining. the season. Despite a particularly difficult start to the weekend, Kimi Räikkönen made a superb comeback from 13th place on the grid to score his first podium since the Hungarian GP. The Mercedes complete the top five with Nico Rosberg ahead Lewis Hamilton. The drivers of the Brackley team gained numerous positions in the final laps, taking advantage of tires in better condition than those of their opponents. Felipe Massa finished sixth ahead of McLaren of Jenson Button and Sergio Pérez who finished the event in agony with their tires. Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil complete the top ten.

Mark Webber looked set to place fourth, but the Red Bull driver again encountered a mechanical problem on his RB9 forcing him to retire on the final lap of the race. The weekend was also disappointing for Romain Grosjean who was fighting for a place in the top five before retiring following an air problem with his engine. Pastor Maldonado fails at the points gate ahead of Esteban Gutiérrez and Valtteri Bottas. Jean-Eric Vergne ranks 14th while his compatriots Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic are respectively 18th and 19th in the race.

Click on this link to see photos from the Singapore Grand Prix.

Discover the analysis of the Singapore Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1928 of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.