Lap 60 Oh Vergne has streaked up to sixth in an excellent run! This
will be the last lap as we’re past the two-hour mark. It’s an uneventful one
and Lewis Hamilton wins the Singapore Grand Prix comfortably.
Lap 58 Hey, anyone remember Lewis Hamilton? Well he’s not cool anymore
and we haven’t seen him for ages. Anyway he has an eight-second lead over
Vettel and is cruising to a three-point championship lead.
Lap 57 Bottas is slowing up a lot, with his tyres having been on for
something like 34 laps. Vergne wasn’t far behind him but has been hit with a
five second penalty that scuppers his shot at sixth. It doesn’t lose him any
places though. Ricciardo, although lapping faster than his team mate Vettel,
is fending off Alonso behind him.
Lap 55 I don’t think we’re going to get the full 61 laps in as we’re
approaching the two-hour mark now. Maldonado has also been nicely passed by
Magnussen, which means that the poor old Lotus man is out of the points once
again.
Lap 54 Hamilton gets DRS and retakes the lead! Oh but Jenson Button is
out. That means that Raikkonen is up to seventh and Hulkenberg to eighth.
There’s just a second between Ricciardo and Alonso, who is going to get DRS
himself soon you feel.
Lap 53 Hamilton comes out ahead of Ricciardo in second! Now he’ll go
after Vettel who is on older tyres and dropping pace. Hamilton has raced
away from Ricciardo…
Lap 52 Hamilton wants to come in: “I’m not sure whether these
things are going to explode or not,” he says. They won’t, Lewis. Don’t
be ridiculous. The Mercedes engineers are out and in he comes. Vettel is
four corners away…
Lap 51 If they can’t get Hamilton out in first then we’re going to have
a really tight four-way battle for the lead, with two Red Bulls involved
meaning Ricciardo can make life awkward for Hamilton.
Lap 50 Button is having a go at Bottas but can’t get anything on him.
Hamilton is being told to find another five seconds. He has 23 seconds on
Vettel now.
Lap 49 Ricciardo is having problems out there apparently and, I would
imagine, will have a struggle on his hands to hold on to a podium position.
Perez takes advantage of a scuffle between Ericsson and Bianchi to leap up a
couple of places.
Lap 47 That advantage Hamilton’s gaining per lap is receding but he’d
still come out in fifth now, behind Alonso. There’s about 1.4 seconds
between Riciardo in third and Alonso, but it’s up front that the interesting
stuff is happening.
Lap 46 If he were to pit now Hamilton would probably come back out
ahead of Button in seventh. He’s about 17 seconds clear of Vettel and is
about two seconds per lap quicker. Probably four more laps on these tyres.
Lap 44 Kvyat is one of many drivers who was looking to go to the end
without stopping but he’s unable to. He comes in then upon leaving notes “Oh
my god I’m dying without drink.”
Lap 43 Button has quietly impressed, moving up from an 11th placed
start to 7th and he’s now having a look at Bottas. The engineers want
another seven laps on these tyres to get a clear pit lane and try to get him
out in 27 seconds. He has 13.5 seconds already but at current pace he’ll
only gain another 12 or so. It’s going to be tight.
Lap 41 Vettel wants to pit and change tyres but is told he’ll have to
make it to the end on those ones. Sauber will be going home pointless as
Sutil retires. More reader photos courtesy of Pauline Appleyard.
Lap 40 Hamilton sets another fastest lap of the race. The engineers
reckon that Hamilton has seven laps left on these tyres; he’s six seconds
clear and I reckon can gain another 20 seconds at best over those seven
laps. With 29 seconds needed in the pit lanes, he’s going to have to catch
up given that Alonso can go to the end having stopped behind the safety car.
Lap 38 Racing! We have actual racing and Hamilton is going to have to
sprint away here as he still needs to make a pit stop to switch to the soft
compound. As they go past Raffles he’s stretched his lead to Vettel above
1.6 seconds. Make that 3.2 seconds across the lap! Well that’s a perfect
restart for Hamilton.
Lap 37 If you’re a fan of Leicester City (boo!), Manchester United
(BOOOO!), football or Alan Tyers, he’s liveblogging
all of those things right here.
Lap 36 Anyone for coffee?
Lap 35 Safety car continues. This is good, isn’t it? Apparently
Magnussen’s drinks container is too hot for him to be able to drink and it’s
burning his mouth.
Lap 34 There’s a huge amount of debris on the track so the safety car
continues. Round the bend it comes, past the town hall and towards the
Padang, the park upon which the cricket club (and Pauline Appleyard) are
situated. Thanks to my Dad for that little tidbit.
Lap 33 So It’s Hamilton, Vettel, Ricciardo, Alonso, Massa and Bottas in
the front six. Here’s John McEnerney:
Hi Dan, I’m sure Alonso is praying like a demon that his team have finally
got their act together the car will last the race. The Merc battle is
great but we’d all love AlonsoCo to be able to give them a real run for
their money, hopefully next season. Super solid drive by Hamilton again,
only bad luck will deny him another Drivers Championship!
Lap 32 A fair few drivers, including Button and Alonso, are pitting
behind the safety car and switching to the soft tyres. “Look out for
debris,” radios one of Hamilton’s engineers. “Er, you’re a bit
late there mate,” replies Hamilton. “I already drove over a load
of stuff.”
Lap 31 It’s safety car time for the seventh time in seven years. Sergio
Perez, who pitted a lap ago, looked to get past Sutil and made contact with
the back of the Sauber and disintegrating his front wing.
Lap 30 Grosjean is forced on to the defensive as Perez attacks him from
a long way back. It’s also worth noting that Alonso is much closer to
Hamilton than Vettel was earlier — Hamilton’s lead over the German was
around 10 seconds and it’s now just 4.4.
Lap 28 Ricciardo makes a stop and rejoins in fourth. Reader Roy
Walker — presumably not the TV personality? — sends us this photo
showing how far ahead of Alonso, who has gone steaming past Vettel, Hamilton
is.
Lap 27 Hamilton comes in in first place and goes out again just ten
seconds behind Ricciardo (Vettel and Alonso both pitted in the last couple
of laps), in spite of a 4.6 second pit that involved a wing being cleared of
debri. If Lewis does win this, and it’s hard to see any other result, he’ll
go into the next GP in the Championship lead.
Lap 25 Nico Rosberg has been talking to the BBC: “It wasn’t so
much a roller coaster ride because it was all downhill for me. It was very
frustrating to drive behind a Caterham and sit on a grid and watch everyone
else leave. But that is the way it is. I was stuck with no power, only able
to shift gear pedals, but even there not every gear. It was all over the
place.”
Lap 24 Alonso has now closed the gap on Vettel to 1.2 seconds. Massa
pitted on the last lap so we have a Finnish five and six, with Bottas
sitting behind Raikkonen. Maldonado has just had a dodgy pit, pulling away
too early and the Lotus mechanic is relieved as the air hose is pulled clear
of the pump and narrowly misses the poor chap’s head.
Lap 23 Raikkonen was closing in on Massa so the Williams go for the
undercut. Magnussen could be investigated again here as he goes very very
wide on the first bend as Alonso did at the start.
Lap 22 Alonso is scrapping his way towards Vettel now; he gained four
tenths of a second on the last lap and gets another two tenths here.
Lap 20 Whither poor Max Chilton. He came in for his second pit stop a
couple of laps ago and now has to go in for his third as he has a
front-right puncture.
Lap 19 Gutierrez is out and he has PUNCHED THE WORK SURFACE! Here’s Pauline
Appleyard again:
The chicane here on the Singapore sling aka turn 10, had been removed and now
the drivers have a real chance to attack the corner and slingshot out….no
one is doing this. The gap between the front driver is growing
Lap 18 The action is around the battle for second and third — Hamilton
is cruising up front and the chasing pack are falling away. Speaking of
falling away, Button has been caught by Vergne.
Lap 17 Ricciardo has set the best lap and is miles clear of Massa in
fifth. Raikkonen and Bottas are very close behind Massa but for now are
content to carry on as they are for now.
Lap 16 Vergne is given a five-second stop-go penalty for exceding the
track limits. We had a British one-two not too long ago but Button is well
back now. Vettel is 7.410 seconds behind, three clear of Alonso with
Ricciardo challenging for the podium place. Nico Rosberg’s wife is giving
him a cuddle. Aw.
Lap 14 A 2.9 second pit stop from Hamilton and just 29 seconds in the
pit lane mean he re-emerges in the lead. Rosberg comes in slowly and
deliberately stalls. The tyres and steering wheel are both changed. He’s
lapped while in the pit lane and after almost two minutes in there Rosberg
calls it a day.
Lap 13 Vettel, Alonso and Ricciardo all come in — that’s two three and
four. An outstanding pit stop on Vettel, just 2.9 seconds, means both Red
Bulls get through losing just a couple of places. Hamilton, leading from
Button, will come in shortly. It’ll be interesting to see how Rosberg’s pit
stop is going to work.
Lap 11 Some of the top 10 are coming in now, including Massa. It’s a
bad one and he gives up about 29 seconds, coming back out in 13th. Raikkonen
comes out just as Bottas comes in, getting out in the nick of time ahead of
the Finn.
Lap 10 Hamilton has picked up another couple of seconds on Vettel and
is cruising this one.
Lap 9 The pit window is open and Sutil pulls in. Lewis Hamilton has
resumed being quicker than Vettel and his lead is up to about 3.4 seconds.
Rosberg is 52 seconds off the pace and is due to be lapped in about 10 laps,
which would be rather embarrassing for him.
Lap 8 Rosberg’s gear paddle is going up two at a time. He’s got no pace
at all here and I can’t see him getting in the points: he’s battling to get
into 19th at the moment.
Lap 7 Hamilton has now broken David Coulthard’s British record of
leading races 61 times. We’ve also got our first email of the day, courtesy
of Pauline Appleyard.
Hi Dan we are on the balcony if the Singapore cricket club and ready to keep
you as updated as we can. Hot and humid here in Singapore.
Ah lucky you! I’d love to play there, although the bowling tends to be far
quicker than you see at my level.
Lap 6 “Attack Magnussen” comes the call over Kvyat’s radio,
which seems to contravene the upcoming radio silence rules to me. Speaking
of Magnussen, the stewards have decided that no further action is required.
Lap 5 Hamilton’s lead is 1.56 seconds, although Vettel is gaining on
him, slowly but surely. Rosberg is already 32 seconds behind and has only
got past Chilton so far. Bianchi is also struggling with some sort of issue
out there.
Lap 4 It looks like Magnussen went past Massa outside the track, but
then lost a place tangling with Button.
Lap 3 DRS has been enabled but he’s still not even been able to catch
Chilton. The field is spread now and Magnussen is under investigation from
the stewards for exceding track limits. 1:53.540 is Hamilton’s time on this
lap, the early quickest of the race.
Lap 2 It’s only the gear shift that’s working on Rosberg’s dash; with
no clutch I don’t see how he can pit? Alonso, who went enormously wide at
the start of the race, is under investigation. No further action is
warranted though, apparently, presumably as he ceded a place to Vettel.
Lap 1 Hamilton gets away in the lead but Alonso is going for him. The
Spaniard goes wide and over the run-off area. He’s up into second as Vettel
battles ahead of Ricciardo. Massa gives up a place as Vettel goes second.
Rosberg has started and is at the back of the pack.
Formation lap: Rosberg is stranded on the grid! He doesn’t appear to
have a working clutch but that’s something that they should have been able
to fix in the 15 minutes they had on the grid. Clearly they don’t know
what’s wrong with him, so he’s being pushed into the pit lane. Kobyashi is
also in trouble — he’s pulled into the run-off area and is getting out of
his car. It’ll be a DNS for Kobyashi. This will be good news for Hamilton,
obviously, and also Vettell who will start with no one in front of him. The
steering wheel has been replaced in Rosberg’s car.
12.58 Everyone is on the faster super soft tyres today. Rosberg
apparently has an electrical issue that doesn’t appear to have been fully
fixed. He’s going to try and pull away manually and if he can’t then it’ll
be a pit lane start for him.
12.54 All settled? Predictions? I’m not sure why but I fancy Vettel —
remember him? — for the win here. I’m told by the telly people it’s hot and
humid. Which is a massive surprise for Singapore.
12.45 All appears to be well with Rosberg’s car now. He’s out on the
grid and will start from P2 rather than the back.
12.41 Problems for Rosberg! He’s having some minor troubles with the
gearbox and has had his steering wheel — which really isn’t a wheel —
replaced.
12.37 Some words from Lewis Hamilton on pressure. “It’s more
comfortable to be in his [Rosberg’s] position. If his car doesn’t finish,
he’s still in the mix. If mine doesn’t, I’m not.”
12.26 I’ve just seen that one betting company (naff off betting
companies, I’m not linking to or naming you) is offering 1-7 on there being
a safety car tonight. I’d be tempted to bet against that as the forecast is
for cloud tonight with the chance of a little bit of rain but nowt to
seriously worry anyone.
12.17 Just over 40 minutes until race time and we have a series of
updates from Daniel Johnson. Cheers, Dan!
The sun is going down in Singapore, and the lights are illuminating the
hazy landscape. There’s been forest fires just across the Malacca Strait in
Indonesia, which has been causing some air problems, but it shouldn’t affect
the race.
There was a huge downpour last night just after qualifying – if we have the
same again today, it will be carnage.
Our man is right about the downpours. Here’s what they look like when you’re
caught out in one while cycling:
——————————————————————————————
Murmurings on the Russian Grand Prix have been continuing all weekend –
it’s a question often asked around the paddock.
This morning, Russia’s deputy prime minister has insisted the race will go
ahead, despite Nato claiming the ceasfire in Ukraine is barely holding.
Will it go ahead? Most likely. It would take an awful lot for the Russians
to cancel the race, and at the moment the sanctions are not punitive enough
to necessitate it.
——————————————————————————————
Ferrari had their most promising Saturday of the year yesterday, leaving
Fernando Alonso hopeful of a rare podium. Kimi Raikkonen, finally driving to
his full potential, suffered the misfortune of a mechanical issue. But the
chaps down at Ferrari say it is all fixed and he is fine to start the race.
——————————————————————————————
Will they? Won’t they? The question on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s
ability to avoid crashing into each other remains after Spa. They managed to
avoid it in Italy (largely due to Rosberg’s error), but these tight streets
will make it even more precarious.
Expect fireworks, and not just from the Mercedes pair. Daniel Ricciardo,
the outside challenger for the title, is lurking in wait.
——————————————————————————————
Watched the Liverpool vs. West Ham game at a restaurant last night. David
Croft, Sky F1’s commentator (who is actually from Stevenage), was beside
himself with joy as his beloved Hammers banged in three. He even ran over to
hug a nameless Fleet Street scribbler (who is a staunch red) to celebrate.
Fun all round.
12.10 The sun is on its way down in Singapore according to our man in
the heat, Daniel Johnson (more from him very shortly). If you really want to
get into the experience, here’s an idea:
11.49 I’m going to pop off and get some lunch. As a reminder, here’s
how they finished up in qualifying:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 45.681secs
2 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:45.688
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:45.854
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:45.902
5 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:45.907
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:46.000
7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:46.170
8 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:46.187
9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) McLaren 1:46.250
10 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:47.362
11 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:46.943
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:46.989
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:47.308
14 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:47.333
15 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:47.575
16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 1:47.812
17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:48.324
18 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Lotus F1 Team 1:49.063
19 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 1:49.440
20 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Caterham 1:50.405
21 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia 1:50.473
22 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Caterham 1:52.287
11.34 Are you one of the lucky few who shelled out £1,288 for a
three-day ticket for the pit grandstand? If so then you’re currently being “treated”
to the soft mid-tempo piano beigery of faux-sould diva John Legend! You poor
thing.
11.16 Too lazy to click on links? Here’s Daniel Johnson’s qualifying
report and race preview from yesterday.
No wonder Nico Rosberg exclaimed “damn it!” over the radio. Fierce rival
Lewis Hamilton had just pipped him to pole position by the tiniest of
margins – seven thousands of a second to be precise – in one of the closest
qualifying sessions in recent memory.
One genius worked out that over more than three miles and 23 corners around
Singapore’s spectacular Marina Bay the gap equated to about a foot on the
road. A few licks of silver paint sufficed.
It was not just the Mercedes pair – who set up an enthralling race,
starting on the front row – separated by fractions of a second.
The consistently excellent Daniel Ricciardo was just a couple of tenths
behind, slightly faster than his more illustrious team-mate, Sebastian
Vettel. The Australian will be waiting to pounce, with his outside shot of
championship glory in his first year with Red Bull very much alive.
Fresh from the departure of the chairman Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari
threatened for much of the qualifying hour, only to fade at the death.
But then I’m not going reward your laziness. Click
here for the whole thing.
10.22 Morning folks. We sail tonight for Singapore, don’t fall asleep
while you’re ashore. Not that you’re likely to take off to the land of nod
during this particular race: Singapore is fast, it’s bendy and for those who
don’t even like Formula 1, the scenery is glitzy and spectacular. There are
few sights in the world quite like Singapore at night and the race around
the Marina Bay street circuit under lights means that — and don’t shoot me
for this — Monaco has been eclipsed as the easiest GP on the eyes.
There’s a burning question in Formula 1 and it’s one that we may well uncover
the answer to tonight: does Nico Rosberg have the nerve for this? Normally
so cool in front of the journalists that he makes Prince look like George
Costanza, Rosberg seemed twitchy after defeat to his rival Hamilton in
Italy. There was the massive conspiracy between McLaren and the error in that race that allowed Hamilton to take the win
Illuminati
and close the gap in the title chase. There was the exasperation in his Jack
Bauer-esque “Damn it!” when he discovered that Hamilton
was on pole. Singapore is low on straights, instead it’s corner
after corner after corner after corner after… well, you get the idea. It’s
tight and claustrophobic out there and that may well suit Hamilton, who will
be confident of shrinking that 22-point gap.
We sail tonight for Singapore, take your blankets from the floor, wash your
mouth out by the door, the whole town’s made from iron ore. Heave away boys,
heave away.