Nico Rosberg hung on for the narrowest Formula One victory for six years to win the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, celebrating his 200th career start in ideal style as he reclaimed the championship lead from his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
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Hamilton had his own private battle with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen behind the leading duo, the Briton losing third place to the Finn after a mistake on lap 34 but reclaiming the position with a timely pit stop to hold on to the finish.
He held off a late charge by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in a nail-biting climax and leads his team-mate by eight points after Hamilton took third. “The whole vehicle was on the edge, it always is here in Singapore, so it’s very satisfying to finish like that”.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the world champions have “failed” Lewis Hamilton in Singapore.
Asked if he was anxious about the Red Bull employing a different strategy, Rosberg said: “Worried, no, but I will be keeping an eye on him”.
In the end, Red Bull pitted Verstappen to give him some clear air to exploit his pace – a decision that ultimately won him sixth place.
A race marshal then narrowly got out of Rosberg’s way after the safety auto restart.
Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen had spun his wheels at the start, causing a couple of cars to pull up alongside him heading into the first turn.
Daniel Ricciardo battled well behind the German Mercedes driver throughout the race in his Red Bull Racing auto, but could not quite get into position in the waning laps to make a serious run at the German after taking large chunks out of the German’s lead on fresher laps, settling for second.
“The race is going to be very long, and usually there’s a lot happening, so we have to get the timings right and try to go forward”. Ricciardo then began closing in on Rosberg at the rate of 2 seconds a lap. It took him down the outside as Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz collided, and he passed Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat into the first corner.
“I was a bit annoyed because first we chose to go for another lap but it wasn’t really any quicker”, said defending champion Vettel, a four-time victor in Singapore. “At least we have some new tyres, and even if it is not an ideal situation, we can still have a good race”.
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The Mercedes teammates had struggled with brake temperatures during the race, but both drivers still finished on the podium.
