Keen to become the first team to take a one-two finish in Singapore, Mercedes rolled the dice in a bid to get Hamilton up the order.
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The pole sitter started the day just two points behind drivers’ championship leader Lewis Hamilton, but has now leapfrogged his team-mate and established an eight-point cushion with six races left. Dani and I fought quite hard, but we didn’t touch so that’s always a positive. Four really quick cars, different strategies and I must really take my hat off to Red Bull as well, they pulled off a great strategy at the end.
Rosberg topped the podium for the eighth occasion this season via a 0.488 second victory, but his heart would have been in his mouth in the closing stages after Ricciardo had threatened to gate crash his party.
Ricciardo’s pit stop was followed by Mercedes’ mechanics filing into the pit lane, only for Rosberg to carry on without making a stop of his own.
But Rosberg-at risk of being caught in the trap between managing his brakes and scurrying out of Ricciardo’s reach-remained calm to mark his 200th grand prix start with the most impressive, grittiest victory of his career to date and reclaim the lead of the championship. Hamilton was less than impressed, though, telling his team: “I needed a strategy that could get me past!” The adoption of a three-stop strategy saw the 31-year-old usurp Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, a policy replicated Ricciardo which nearly saw him catch Rosberg. “One bad weekend is enough and the other has an advantage”.
“It’s not as tough as you think, I don’t know why”, Hamilton said. Fernando Alonso secured seventh for McLaren ahead of Sergio Perez of Force India, who also made a dramatic comeback after starting 18th on the grid.
Raikkonen’s teammate Sebastian Vettel had started last after a suspension failure in qualifying but gave a driving masterclass to finish fifth.
After watching his 19-point lead evaporate over the last three races – all won by Rosberg – since the summer break, Hamilton insists he is not too concerned. Daniil Kyvat enjoyed a good result in taking ninth position with Kevin Magnusson’s Renault completing the top 10.
British rookie Jolyon Palmer crossed the line in 15th while Jenson Button retired with a mechanical problem.
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“I am excited about winning the race today and not thinking about the points total”.
