Motorsports
Is the chase over?
Despite Vettel’s dominance, the leaderboard in Singapore was topped by this season’s top drivers. But is the race over?
The two drivers who joined Sebastian Vettel on the podium in Singapore certainly fought hard to get there after poor qualifying results. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso drove a superb race from P7 to take second and Lotus F1 Team driver Kimi Räikkönen found third after a huge up-field charge from P13.
“Today’s second place is like a victory for us,” said Alonso at the end of the day.
After an exciting start, which saw Alonso shoot from P7 to P3 off the grid and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg pass Vettel briefly in Turn 1, fans initially watched a rather uneventful, even lethargic, race. In the end, they weren’t disappointed as the chase to join Vettel heated up like the asphalt on the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Vettel’s future teammate, Daniel Ricciardo first stirred things up when he broke too late in Lap 25 and crashed his Toro Rosso into the barrier, bringing out the safety car – a sight that has become somewhat of an establishment in the floodlit race. There has been a race-neutralizing accident at every Grand Prix-in Singapore since its debut in 2008.
Shortlived chance for the chasers
What first appeared to give the chasers a chance to catch up to the champ turned into yet another opportunity for Vettel to display his dominance. He put up an unbelievable pace to build up an even greater lead.
A decisive phase of pit stops ensued which saw Webber, Rosberg and Hamilton dive into the pits for fresh rubber and return to the track in the middle of the pack. Vettel stayed out on the track on superb tire maintenance and with a 32-second gap between himself and Alonso he had no trouble remaining in the lead during his final pit.
Iceman Räikkönen again showed us what he is made of, making an ice-cold move on Jenson Button in the McLaren to take P3 in the final laps.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton followed his teammate Nico Rosberg for fifth place and enough points to keep himself in third place for the championship.
Although Alonso, Räikkönen and Hamilton all added a double-digit numbers to their championship point tallies, Vettel’s three consecutive wins have slowly increased his lead to the point where he is nearly out of reach. After the race Alonso even admitted that to win the title now, we would need a lot of luck.”
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