But he paid tribute to the performance of Rosberg, whose victory was founded on a brilliant pole position lap, which was 0.7 seconds quicker than Hamilton could manage in qualifying.
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The victory was Rosberg’s eighth of the Championship, two more than Hamilton, in what was the German’s 200th Grand Prix star.
The safety vehicle came out nearly immediately in the race due to a spectacular accident in the middle of the pack just after the start. The Dutchman began the race fourth, but made a poor start and was in eighth when an early safety auto was called for a big crash that ended Nico Hulkenburg’s race. Hulkenberg spun and crashed hard into the pit wall, which called for the safety vehicle.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo closely followed Rosberg, ranking the second and Championship leader Lewis Hamilton finally anchored the third place.
Asked to recount the moment, Singapore Grand Prix champion Rosberg said: “It was pretty hairy for sure; just as we didn’t expect the race to restart, he didn’t either, I think”.
“In the same way, he drove the race, he had a great start, controlled the race, and on the contrary Lewis didn’t have a clean weekend”. “I’m still in the fight and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got”.
“The flawless race”, said Ricciardo after he fitted fresh supersoft tyres with 16 laps remaining and chased down Rosberg’s Mercedes but was unable to pass on the final lap. “But that’s maybe just the circumstances of this race”. Just some good weekends which we’ve had in the past.
Daniil Kvyat has had the look of a broken man after struggling to settle back in at Toro Rosso after being replaced at Red Bull by Max Verstappen.
Hamilton, with 265 points, trails Rosberg who has 273 points, by eight points. “Once my signal of brake overheating reduced, I was able to start to pick up the pace”.
“Come on, guys! I needed a strategy that would get me past”, complained Hamilton on team radio, unimpressed that his first stop saw him take on the slowest compound soft tyres.
The reigning world champion suffered from high brake temperatures throughout the race, which required managing, and on lap 33 made a mistake that saw Ferrari’s [NYSE:RACE] Kimi Räikkönen pass him, though some brilliant driving soon saw the Briton back in third place.
But there was nothing he could do as Raikkonen took advantage when Hamilton locked up under braking on lap 33.
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Hamilton, who is chasing a fourth world title and third in a row, added: “It was a tough day today, but it always is in Singapore”.
