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 flawless style as he reclaimed the championship lead from his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
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The German held off Red Bull’s late-charging Daniel Ricciardo by just 0.4sec to win his third straight race and establish an eight-point lead over title-holder Hamilton in the standings.
But the Stevenage-born racer endured an arduous night as he failed to challenge either Rosberg or Ricciardo before a mistake on lap 33 enabled Kimi Raikkonen to pass him, too. This weekend has been a tricky one for me but I am glad to get some points for the team.
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg of Germany gets into his vehicle during first practice.
“Ricciardo, out of the box with unbelievable pace, really exciting at the end”.
“Unbelievable. That’s how F1 should be, every second of the race”.
“The whole auto was on the edge – it always is in Singapore”.
“I have known Nico since 2013 and that is the best Nico Rosberg I have ever seen throughout the weekend since then”, said Wolff.
Red Bull opted for a bold tyre strategy to put pressure on Rosberg late on and Ricciardo was eating into the advantage at roughly three seconds a lap in the closing stages but ran out of road before the chequered flag.
“I pushed as hard as I could and it worked out”. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg tried to get through a narrowing gap between the two Toro Rossos but clipped a tire on Carlos Sainz Jr.’s auto and speared heavily into the pitlane wall.
“The tyres lasted just right, so I’m very, very happy of course”.
The finishing order of the top four was already in place by the end of lap one, but that disguised a thrilling finish due to some risky pit strategies.
He drove a steady race, unable to do anything about Rosberg and Ricciardo ahead of him, and intermittently pleading with his engineers to come up with a strategy that could gain him places.
Rosberg got away cleanly to lead from Ricciardo, with Hamilton in third and Raikkonen behind him after Verstappen suffered a woeful start to slip back to eighth from fourth on the grid.
“Initially we thought it would be comfortable, then it became clear it would be very close, and we saved all the tricks and engine modes for the final laps so he could fend off Ricciardo if he needed to”.
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain stops for a tire change in pit lane during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix on the Marina Bay City Circuit Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016.
