Lewis Hamilton is now the favourite and Vettel has only himself to blame
Hamilton holds sway
The win in Singapore may prove to be the miracle at Marina Bay Lewis Hamilton had been hoping for but, putting aside divine intervention, the British driver comprehensively earned his victory. The crash off the grid took out his rivals but he still had to execute a perfect race to take the flag. He was on it immediately. Just moments later, aware that Sebastian Vettel’s car was leaking fluid, he went offline out of turn three to avoid it – wisely as it was there the stricken Vettel spun and crashed.
Always strong in the wet, Hamilton was grateful for the rain and proved again that he is the master of difficult weather. He overcame conditions, including three safety car restarts, that went across the gamut – from an almost full-wet tyre scenario through a greasy, drying phase on to a dry, slick rubber finale.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo did have a gearbox problem but Hamilton’s pace would have likely been enough to deny the Australian anyway. He was three-tenths of a lap quicker in the early phase and a whopping five-tenths through the crucial middle period. A virtuoso performance.
Vettel makes costly blunder
The 28-point advantage Hamilton now enjoys over Vettel is more than the British driver could have hoped for going into Singapore where damage limitation was his aim. But for neutral fans the huge swing is a disappointing blow to a title fight that had looked like it was going to the wire.
With the majority of the remaining six races likely to favour Mercedes, Hamilton is on course for his fourth title. If Singapore proves to be the moment he lost the championship, Vettel can only blame himself. He had a poor start and saw Max Verstappen shooting up the inside. As a title contender the percentage game would have been to give him space and avoid contact. Instead he invoked the Michael Schumacher chop, went left to squeeze the Dutch driver, almost certainly unaware Kimi Raikkonen had gone up the inside of Verstappen, who had nowhere to go. Contact and disaster for Ferrari ensued – Verstappen was an innocent party. Vettel made a poor decision in the heat of the moment, as he did in barging Hamilton in Baku. This time it may have cost him the title.
Alonso eyes the future
With McLaren’s divorce from Honda finalised in Singapore the team are looking to start afresh with Renault and re-signing Fernando Alonso to complete their plans appears to be a formality. They need Alonso and he proved it again at Marina Bay. He once again excelled in qualifying, pushing the McLaren to eighth on the grid and followed it with an electrifying start. He was up to third by the first corner and a podium was on the cards when he was collected by Raikkonen and Verstappen. He then continued to wrestle a heavily damaged car round for a further seven laps.
Instructive perhaps that his mindset has already improved, in that before ditching Honda he was only too happy to retire. He remains eager to achieve the triple crown and McLaren have said they would allow him to race at Le Mans next year. Toyota, should they commit to it, will be the only manufacturer in the top LMP1 class and strong favourites. With the Honda connection dispensed with, that barrier to his participation with Toyota has gone. It is an exciting prospect, reflected in the Spaniard’s upbeat demeanour.
Sainz deserves his seat
As part of the complex negotiations on McLaren’s deal for Renault engines, the manufacturer took on Carlos Sainz Jr from Red Bull. It was at the expense of Britain’s Jolyon Palmer, who is without a drive for next season, but Renault are serious about their desire to be fighting for the title within three years and Sainz deserves to step up. After three seasons with Toro Rosso he has gone as far as he can and while Red Bull have no room for him they rate him highly enough to have ensured they have an option to have him back in 2019. The 23-year-old Spaniard showed his class in Singapore. That he has pace has never been in doubt but his run to fourth, his highest finish and the team’s best result since Verstappen managed the same at the USA GP in 2015, showed a maturity that augurs well. He managed the conditions superbly, stayed calm and most importantly out of trouble, even when strongly pressured by Sergio Pérez.
Midfield fight hots up
Palmer dealt with his disappointment at finding he no longer had a seat at Renault with his best performance of the season and his first points. His sixth place was as good a riposte to the news as he could have hoped for. Renault reaped the benefit, moving above Haas to seventh in the constructors’ championship. The race saw some tight battles between the midfield contenders, with overtaking enabled by the conditions on a track that ordinarily does not favour passing, that reflects the tight competition among the teams.
With end of season payments at stake the main contenders know every point is vital. Williams lead Toro Rosso by just seven points. They in turn lead Renault by 10, who are now five in front of Haas. Just 22 separate all four teams and the final six races will be increasingly intense for all of them. Sainz proved he could be a key player in that competition and although Palmer is contracted for the remaining meetings, Renault may yet opt to try to buy him out of his contract in order to import the Spaniard for the next round at Malaysia.