Vettel victory cracks Mercedes domination

SINGAPORE — What a night of thrills and spills the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix delivered for over 86,000 fans at the Marina Bay street circuit last night.

Set against the Republic’s spectacular skyline, the evening of pulsating action on the track was capped by a victory by fan favourite Sebastian Vettel (picture). The Ferrari driver delivered a clinical race from pole position to claim the chequered flag in an incident-filled race that saw world championship leader Lewis Hamilton retiring mid-way with power delivery issues, and a bizarre incident as a fan entered the track near the Anderson Bridge, triggering a second safety car period.

Grinning from ear to ear, four-time world champion Vettel was delighted to be back on the top of the podium here after consecutive victories here in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The German’s 42nd career race victory also saw him eclipsing the late Ayrton Senna’s 41-race record to place third on the all-time Grand Prix race winners behind his childhood hero Michael Schumacher (91) and Alain Prost (51).

“It must be one of my best races,” said Vettel. “It was pretty intense. Lots of pressure from behind — Daniel (Ricciardo) had a very good race looking after his tyres. Second stint I was dictating the pace. From then, I was trying to control the gap. We had a really great weekend. We will party tonight, and have some drinks.”

While a number of F1 fans — and some in the F1 garages — have lamented a “boring” 2015 season dominated by the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg — who have seven and three title wins, respectively, to date — the Singapore Grand Prix delivered surprise after surprise for the petrolheads this weekend.

Vettel was first to set pulses racing on Saturday, as he snatched pole position to end Mercedes’ 23-pole streak, with Hamilton and Rosberg placing fifth and sixth after running into tyre problems.

With Singapore’s twisty 23-turn circuit notoriously difficult for overtaking, it was left to Vettel to run a strategic race as he held off former Red Bull team-mate Ricciardo to claim victory to rapturous cheers and whoops from the crowd. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished third, the first time both Ferrari drivers have been on the podium this year.

But yesterday’s race proved to be a disaster for championship leader Hamilton. The Briton failed to score any points — or finish the race — after he was forced to retire midway when his engine suffered a power delivery failure. Hamilton lamented: “I was feeling super optimistic and easily keeping up. I was hoping for a quick fix but it never came,”

Team-mate Rosberg, who was forced to quit the race in Monza earlier this month after his engine caught fire, finished fourth to score 12 points and close the gap with Hamilton, who continues to lead the world title race with 252 points.

And then there was the unexpected entrance into the circuit by the fan who appeared to take a photo or video before disappearing back into the night. Said Vettel: “I had to look again because I wasn’t sure if I saw a man. I saw him crossing the track, and I hope the photo he took was in focus. I wouldn’t cross the track if I was him, and they might need to block the grandstand better. Fortunately no one was hurt.”

No one was hurt but the fan was arrested by police last night, said the Federation Internationale De L’Automobile (FIA), the world governing body for motor sport in a statement sent out early this morning. “The Singapore Police Force have confirmed that a 27-year-old man has been arrested and is assisting police with investigations,” said Matteo Bonciani, the head of F1 Communications, in the statement.

“This follows an incident in which an unidentified man gained unauthorised entry to the Marina Bay Street Circuit during tonight’s race. The man went on to the track near Turn 13, triggering the deployment of the Safety Car. We are awaiting a full report from the Clerk of Course in order to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident.”

With six more races in the season, the title race is back on with Ferrari back in the mix as the series moves to Japan later this month. Said Vettel: “If we have a weekend like this, yes (we can challenge Mercedes for the title). It’s going to be maximum attack. We have to look after ourselves, there is still a small chance and maybe we can make the impossible possible.”