Vettel’s recklessness plays into Hamilton’s hands
SINGAPORE (AP): LEWIS HAMILTON had been worried about how many points he would lose to Sebastian Vettel at the Singapore Grand Prix. It was supposed to be a damage limitation exercise for Mercedes after a poor performance in qualifying.
Instead, Hamilton took a significant stride toward the world title after winning yesterday’s race from fifth place on the grid.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo prevented a Mercedes 1-2 by finishing ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Fourth place went to Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr — a career best for the Spanish driver.
Vettel made one of the worst starts of his distinguished career, throwing away pole position as he recklessly caused a crash heading into the first corner. The Ferrari driver took three others out with him — and critically, none was a Mercedes.
Instead of moving ahead of Hamilton in their enthralling title battle, Vettel now trails him by 28 points with six races left.
PERFECT SCENARIO
“It couldn’t be a more perfect scenario,” Hamilton said. “I definitely went in today thinking it was about damage limitation. To come out of it in the other direction is a shock.”
Vettel was supposed to score heavily here. With less speed and 23 turns, the hard-braking Marina Bay circuit suited Ferrari much more than Mercedes. This was further reflected in qualifying, with Bottas sixth and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen starting fourth.
Furthermore, Vettel had the Singapore record for wins (four) and podiums (six). But in a few seconds, he threw it all away. The German driver gunned across the track,
triggering first-turn mayhem and causing a domino effect as Raikkonen, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso all crashed with him.
On one of the toughest tracks in Formula One for overtaking, Hamilton would have been pleased with a podium finish.
Instead, the field opened up perfectly for the British driver to seal his third straight win, seventh of the season and 60th overall.
“I capitalised on the incident,” Hamilton said. “Who could have known that would happen?”