Vettel led from pole position to take his third victory of the season and fourth in Singapore, one which brings him back into contention for the championship, now 49 points behind Hamilton.
The world champion retired midway through, allowing fourth-place finisher Nico Rosberg to narrow the gap to 41 points.
Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen took second and third respectively, while both McLarens failed to finish with gearbox problems on what was supposed to be their best weekend of the season.
Vettel started in pole position and refused to budge
This superb drive moved Vettel onto 42 victories, one clear of Ayrton Senna in the all-time list. The four-time champion had the pace all evening, while Mercedes failed to recover after their poor qualifying.
There were some anxious faces in the Mercedes garage minutes before lights out, with both cars late to the grid, but the start provided no fireworks. Rosberg lost ground to Valtteri Bottas but quickly recovered.
The leaders continued in grid order, Vettel from Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Rosberg. Vettel immediately pulled out a three-second gap. It was just like 2013 – the season when he won nine races in a row – all over again. Mercedes had not managed to come up with an overnight fix to their tyre troubles, losing ground to the Ferraris and Red Bulls.
The first round of stops changed little, other than ending Nico Hulkenberg’s evening. Felipe Massa was coming out on the pits on lap 13 and had nowhere to go. The Brazilian t-boned Hulkenberg into the barrier, but the German was penalised. The virtual safety car and then the actual safety car came out, backing the pack up until the end of lap 18.
Nico Hulkenberg?s race went up in smoke
When it came into the pits, Vettel was clearly doing his best to help his team-mate get past Ricciardo. He drove slowly to try and back the Australian in to Raikkonen, but with little success. Eventually he decided put the hammer down and get on with building a gap.
All the while, Hamilton’s weekend was going from bad to worse. On lap 26, he reported a loss of power, and was quickly passed by Rosberg and a rush of other cars. He tried all the codes imaginable on the steering wheel, but it was no use. He retired on lap 33; his first non-finish of the season. There was to be no equalling of Senna’s record of 41 victories here.
Box for @LewisHamilton and we’re forced to retire the car. Desperate, desperate shame for #LH44 http://t.co/EwJhKdPWkK #SingaporeGP
— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1)
September 20, 2015
It seemed as if that would be that for the Singapore Grand Prix. A bizarre intruder soon put an end to that theory. On lap 37, the man wandered aimlessly along the barrier on the Esplanade Drive, where the cars accelerate towards 180mph.
The worry in Vettel’s voice said it all. “There is a man on the track! A man on the track!”, he told his engineer. It was worryingly reminiscent of the Chinese Grand Prix this March, when a man ran across the pit straight during second practice, and 2003 British Grand Prix, when Father Neil Horan ran onto the circuit.
After a few seconds strolling along by the barrier, the man hopped over and back to safety. The stewards immediately deployed the safety car, bunching the pack up again.
Once it came in on lap 41, there was little drama at the front, but more trouble for Jenson Button in the midfield after a wretched race. Button tangled with Pastor Maldonado, having to pit for a new front wing. A gearbox failure ended his afternoon eight laps from the chequered flag.
No such worries for Vettel though, as he eased to victory. The intruder on the track was the biggest drama he faced all race.