Hamilton extends F1 lead with victory in Singapore
SINGAPORE Lewis Hamilton won the floodlit Singapore Grand Prix from the pole position on Sunday to extend his championship lead over Sebastian Vettel to a commanding 40 points.
The Mercedes driver made a clean start and was largely untroubled as he beat Red Bull driver Max Verstappen by nine seconds, with Vettel much farther back in third.
“I definitely didn’t come to Singapore thinking I’d come away with 10 points more (than Vettel),” a jubilant Hamilton said. “I know I can’t get ahead of myself, we can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
The four-time Formula One champion recorded his seventh win of the season and 69th of his F1 career. Vettel’s championship bid crumbled when he crashed from the pole here last year and then went on to lose the title by 46 points to Hamilton.
It is looking increasingly like a repeat scenario for the Ferrari driver, who now has only six races left to catch Hamilton in their bid for a fifth F1 title.
Vettel was unhappy with his team after qualifying in third place behind Verstappen, and the German driver sounded irritated during Sunday’s race after a team strategy error to send him into the pits for a tire change before Hamilton failed to work.
Instead, he lost position and crucial points, dropping back behind Verstappen having earlier overtaken him.
“We tried to be aggressive in the beginning and, obviously, it didn’t work out,” a despondent Vettel said. “I think today, with the way we raced, we didn’t have a chance. I said before the weekend we can only beat ourselves and today we didn’t get everything out of the package.”
Hamilton has won four of the past five races and leads Vettel 7-5 in wins this season.
Montreal’s Lance Stroll, who started 20th, finished the race in 14th place.
“Given the speed we had this weekend, it was a really good race,” Stroll said. “I am very happy. I tried to get everything out of the car every turn.”