THE PADDOCK …this isn’t science fiction, this is formula 1
For a Singapore Grand Prix that began with confusion over self-censorship and concluded with Lewis Hamilton leading the standings, the race weekend can be summed up by using the ‘Three Rs’ — Radios, Rosberg and Reliability.
However, in the story of the 2014 championship battle, the Singapore Grand Prix will rank as a footnote.
That was guaranteed from the moment the Mercedes mechanics pushed Nico Rosberg’s faulty car off the grid while the remaining drivers headed off on their formation lap. He and team mate Lewis Hamilton could only be separated by thousandths of a second in qualifying and practice, but the latest blow to Mercedes’ reliability ensured the fight would not carry on into the race.
Consequently, the Briton now leads the world championship for only the second time this season, and has momentum on his side after two consecutive Grand Prix hat-tricks (pole position, fastest lap, race win).
Once again, the Red Bulls were the thorn in the flesh as they also took a bit of pressure from resurgent Ferrari.
Our F1 expert, Soliu ADEYEMO takes a look back through a gruelling 61-lap race at Marina Bay…
Mercedes [Lewis Hamilton, P1; Nico Rosberg, retired lap 14, broken wiring loom]
Mercedes’ mixed fortunes started even before the start when the team discovered the problem on Rosberg’s car as he drove to the grid.
The German’s car refused to answer to all the commands he made with the steering wheel leaving him with only gearshift and radio functions but not control of the various hybrid units. As the seconds counted down to the start of the race his mechanics hurriedly completed a change of steering wheel, but they were pessimistic his chances of getting started.
He started behind the grid, but his car was withdrawn after struggling for 13 laps as he was unable to engage first gear following his first stop.
Hamilton therefore enjoyed an untroubled run to the first corner as the sole occupant of the front row.
It also helped that the next closest driver to him got away poorly. That enabled him to gather the race in the bag – at least until the safety-car deployment on the 31st lap.
His three-stopper hardly worked as he required 27-second lead to pit and retain his lead. He was quick enough to repass Vettel for the lead and romped home to his seventh victory of the season. That combined with Rosberg’s early retirement to put him back in the lead of the world championship for the first time since Spain in May.
Red Bull [Sebastian Vettel, P2; Daniel Ricciardo, P3]
Starts have been a weakness for Daniel Ricciardo this year, and this was no exception. Vettel also didn’t get away very well – his practice start had been compromised by the stationary Rosberg – but did enough to draw alongside his team mate.
Red Bull kept Ferrari at bay as they were a constant force with amazing perfection, not least their change of strategy from three to two stops.
They finished behind a runaway Hamilton as both Vettel and Ricciardo had insufficient tyre performance to deny the Briton, but they were able to contain Alonso’s Ferrari effectively.
Not minding the battery problem encountered by Ricciardo, the young Australian still did well enough to make the podium on an evening when Red Bull amassed another 33 points
Ferrari [Fernando Alonso, P4; Kimi Raikkonen, P8]
Fernando Alonso scorched away from fifth on the grid and was alongside the pair of Red Bull’s Vettel and Ricciardo as they reached turn one. He braked late, never had a hope of making the corner, and shot across the run-off area.
The Spaniard made a great start to pass the two Red Bulls and run second to Hamilton, but it was a little too good as he ran across the run-off area at Turn 1 and had to hand a place back to Vettel. Ultimately, Alonso’s fourth place finish only confirmed that the Marina Bay track suited the F14 T better than many expected.
It was a frustrating evening for his team mate Kimi Raikkonen who was initially on the trail of Williams’ duo of Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas. Consequently, the former Lotus driver suffered increased tyre degradation.
Williams [Felipe Massa, P5; Valtteri Bottas, P11]
Valtteri Bottas faltered towards the end of the race, the Finn had told his team during the safety car period that his car’s steering felt odd.
A train of cars was growing behind him, though on lap 52 his lead challenger – Button – parked up at the side of the road, his car having died just as he was preparing to mount an attack. Ultimately, on the final lap the Finn was passed by Vergne and Perez, as he locked up and slid wide, only to drop to 11th. He deserved better.
Both Williams’ drivers did great jobs to make a set of soft tyres last from the 22nd and 23rd laps respectively to the finish. Felipe Massa said he had to drive like a grandmother to achieve that, but his fifth place kept Williams ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.
Toro Rosso [Jean-Eric Vergne, P6; Daniil Kvyat, P14]
Vergne was the hero here, taking a fighting sixth place despite two five-second penalties – one served as a stop and go, the other added to his race time – for exceeding track limits.
By contrast, Kvyat had an uncharacteristically poor race, dehydrating because of problems with his drinks bottle.
Force India [Sergio Perez, P7; Nico Hulkenberg, P9]
Sergio Perez triggered Singapore’s inevitable safety car period. Adrian Sutil had given Sergio Perez room on the outside of Memorial Corner as they approached it together, so Perez could be forgiven for expecting the Sauber driver to do the same at the very next corner. He didn’t, and the contact damaged Perez’s wing which then disintegrated underneath his car as he accelerated towards turn ten.
The resulting safety car period dragged on for nearly 20 minutes – seven laps – during which time the lapped drivers including Perez were allowed to regain the lead lap.
Hulkenberg struggled with tyre degradation but took ninth, the combined tally of eight points hoisting Force India back ahead of McLaren in the constructors’ table.
McLaren [Kevin Magnussen, P10; Jenson Button, Retired lap 53, power box failure]
Jenson Button was having a strong evening in spite of McLaren’s decision to put him on the slower two-stop strategy from the start.
But just as he was about to pounce on Bottas’s sixth place on the 54th lap his car hiccoughed and cut out as its power control unit malfunctioned.
Kelvin Magnussen continued his awful stint as he was made to serve a five-second stop-and-go penalty for track limit infringements. This, coupled with his electrical problem that overheated his seat forced him to take only the final point.
Lotus [Pastor Maldonado, P12; Romain Grosjean, P13]
Lotus agonisingly missed out on what would have been only their third point score of 2014, but they did at least get both Maldonado and Grosjean to the finish.
While the pair diced cleanly on the track, there was drama in the garage as a mechanic was slightly injured during one of Maldonado’s pit stops, when he was struck on his helmeted head by a hose.
Caterham [Marcus Ericsson, P15; Kamui Kobayashi, DNS, power loss/fire on formation lap]
Caterham’s woeful evening started with the loss of Kamui Kobayashi before the beginning of the race, the Japanese CT05 rolled to a halt with power loss on the formation lap.
But Ericsson drove well enough to outpace Marussia pair of Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton.
Marussia [Jules Bianchi, P16; Max Chilton, P17]
Bianchi was prevented from challenging Ericsson as result of brake wear problems, but the pair ran in very close proximity for a long time.
Chilton’s engine stalled as he was leaving the pits while the grid was forming, and later had a right-front puncture which compromised his strategy thereafter.
Sauber [Adrian Sutil, Retired lap 41, water leak; Esteban Gutierrez, Retired lap 18, electronics]
It was another bad day for Sauber on the track as both its drivers failed to finish the race, Gutierrez had an initial brilliant run but was rather disappointed when his C33 stopped with electronics problems.
Sutil also retired due to a water leak shortly after a clash with Perez which earned him five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
My Take on the Weekend
The weekend went a significant way towards rebalancing the effect of Mercedes’ many car failures which have tended to cost Hamilton more than Rosberg this year.
Singapore may not have served up a classic race, but it has left the two main contenders on an almost equal footing with just five races remaining.
*For more updates and analysis follow our F1 expert @soliuadeyemo and @newfanzone on twitter.
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