Hamilton: God blessed me in Singapore for sure

LEWIS HAMILTON was gifted an improbable Singapore Grand Prix victory yesterday for a major Formula One title boost, after rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out along with two other contenders seconds into the race. Mercedes driver Hamilton

won from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes to extend his lead over Vettel to 28 points with six season races left after the first-ever F1 night race held in wet conditions.

Pole sitter Vettel went out along with Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as a result of a three-car collision heading down the main straight.

That opened the door for Hamilton to triumph from fifth place on the grid in a race where damage control had appeared the only priority, given Mercedes’ inferiority to the Red Bulls and Ferraris at the Marina Bay street circuit.

The Briton’s third Singapore win, seventh of the season and 60th overall will further boost the morale of Hamilton who had only taken the lead from Vettel two weeks ago in Italy.

“What a turnaround today,” Hamilton beamed via team radio after crossing the line.

“It’s amazing points,” he said later. “Yesterday we struggled and had no idea what was going to happen today. It was very fortunate with the Ferraris at the beginning. God blessed me today for sure. I capitalised on the incident. Who would’ve known that would happen. It’s really unfortunate for Ferrari, but great for the team (Mercedes).”

Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff told Sky TV: “That’s sports. We talked out damage limitation this morning, and then the accident and now we leave with an extended lead.”

Singapore had been dubbed a must-win race for Vettel in the title fight and he was delighted with claiming pole position on Saturday after Red Bull had dominated all the practice sessions.

But drama unfolded when Verstappen found himself squeezed by the Ferraris as Vettel moved left and Raikkonen was beside him on the other side heading down the wet main straight.

Verstappen and Raikkonen made contact, Raikkonen spun into Vettel as a result, and then slid into Verstappen in the first turn which ended their race. Fernando Alonso’s McLaren was also hit and had to retire shortly afterwards.

Vettel remained first for another few seconds, but then spun seemingly owing to liquid from his damaged car and was told to stop the car.

“I was surprised that Kimi came from the side,” Vettel admitted later. “I saw one driver, it is bad luck cause both of us are out. It’s annoying, but what can you do. It’s not helpful but it’s not the end of the world.”

The stewards decided no driver was responsible for the incident and no further action will be taken.

Verstappen meanwhile firmly blamed Vettel, saying: “Maybe he did not see Kimi on the left but that is not an excuse. He shouldn’t take those risks. Lewis is leading the race and the three of us are out.”

Hamilton suddenly found himself in first place after staying out of trouble and kept it ahead of Ricciardo after being told by Mercedes make sure to “bring the car home in one piece” in what was a golden opportunity for the 32-year-old.

The safety car was out until the debris was cleared after four laps, and returned twice more later after Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) went out.

Drivers were able to switch to dry weather tyres halfway through and Hamilton eventually took the chequered flag after the two-hour deadline came into effect, as wet conditions and three safety cars did not allow the full 61-lap race distance to be completed.

Carlos Sainz was a career-best fourth for Toro Rosso ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez, and Stoffel Vandoorne finished a career-best seventh for McLaren who had nonetheless hoped for more as Alonso pointed out.

“Today was the day. The first podium for the team was a clear target. The car launched like a rocket and we could be running P2 in the first lap but we found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong moment,” the Spaniard lamented. – dpa