Rosberg back on top after Singapore thriller

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg of Germany celebrates after winning the race – Reuters

REUTERS: Germany’s Nico Rosberg celebrated his 200th Formula One race by retaking the championship lead from Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton after a pole to flag win in Singapore on Sunday.

After a chaotic start that brought out a safety car on the opening lap, Rosberg stayed clear of Red Bull’s late-charging Daniel Ricciardo at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Triple world champion Hamilton completed the podium in third place.

“The whole car was on the edge, it always is here in Singapore, so it’s very satisfying to finish like that,” Rosberg told reporters.

The German’s third victory in a row, and 22nd of his career, lifted Rosberg on to 273 points, eight clear of Hamilton, with six rounds remaining and Australia’s Ricciardo a distant third on 179 in the title race.

Rosberg’s win was his eighth of the season and first in Singapore, a grand prix that has only been won by world champions until now.

The German had started two points behind Hamilton and, despite leading comfortably halfway through the race, crossed the line just 0.488 seconds ahead of Ricciardo after having to complete the last 28 laps on the same soft tyres.

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.

“Of course Daniel tried to pull one up on me with the pitstop at the end, we knew it was going to be tight but we got there so I’m very happy,” added Rosberg, who opened a 43-point lead on Hamilton at the start of the season before falling behind when the Briton won six of seven races.

Hamilton had his own private battle with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen behind the leading duo, the Briton losing third place to the Finn after a mistake on lap 34 but reclaiming the position with a timely pit stop to hold on to the finish.

“This weekend has been a tricky one for me but I’m just happy to get on the podium and get some points for the team,” Hamilton said.

“The brakes were way overheating so I had to slow down. Once I did my second or third stop we managed to sort it out.”

Last year’s race winner Sebastian Vettel drove brilliantly from last on the starting grid to claim fifth place in the other Ferrari, the German coming home ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso in a McLaren.

The safety car was deployed immediately after the start when Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India, eighth on the grid, suffered a heavy crash after making contact with Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso.

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.

The race restarted and Rosberg would have been startled to see a marshal at the end of the start-finish straight picking up debris, the man just managing to get off the circuit before the Mercedes reached him.

There were no more safety cars, throughout a 61-lap race that has yet to be completed without one, but the different tyre strategies of the leading cars made for a tactical and exciting race on a circuit that offers very few overtaking opportunities.

Mexican Sergio Perez was eighth for Force India with Russian Daniil Kvyat ninth for Toro Rosso.

Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen scored the final point for Renault in only the second finish in the points for the team this season.

Hamilton plans to come out fighting in Malaysia

REUTERS: Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton could do little at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday to prevent Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg from leapfrogging him in the Formula One standings but the Briton will not give up his title without a fight.

Hamilton rallied from a big early season deficit to overhaul Rosberg in the standings but after the German led from pole to flag in Singapore to claim a third straight victory, the Briton finds himself eight points adrift after his third place finish.

“We have a good car and we’ve got to have a good weekend,” Hamilton told reporters as he looked ahead to the next race in Malaysia.

“We’ve come from 43 points down so theoretically eight points isn’t anywhere near as steep as that but still, Nico’s been performing fantastically well.

“This weekend he’s done an amazing job. I expect him to continue like that so I’ve got make sure that I do the same.”

Hamilton arrived in Singapore a year ago with a 53-point lead over Rosberg as he cruised to his third Formula One title and although the tables have somewhat turned this campaign, the Briton knows there are still six rounds remaining.

“Well, it’s a lot different to when I was here last year, but in all in all, with everything that’s gone on this year, I’m still in the fight, there’s still a long way to go and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got,” he said.

On Sunday, Hamilton started third on the grid and was unable to get anywhere near Rosberg once he failed to get past Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo at the first turn and ended up fighting with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for the final podium spot.

“I was struggling with my brakes, they were way overheating, so I just had to slow down, so I had to watch the other guys pull away and I was looking at different ways to try and get them back under control,” he added.

“Once I did my second or third stop, all of a sudden my brakes were under control but of course, towards the end I still got a bit of heat in them.”