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SINGAPORE - After blistering free practice and starting the 2013 Singapore GP on pole, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel cruised to his seventh victory for the year on Sunday.
Reaffirming his clear goal to land his fourth consecutive World title at the end of the 2013 season, everything went right for the championship leader and not even his closest rivals - in the form of Mercedes's Nico Rosberg or Ferrari's Fernando Alonso - seemed to have stood a chance as Vettel marched triumphantly to the finish line during the only night race of the season.
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Joining Vettel on podium was Alonso in second and despite terrible back pain, Raikkonen took third place for Lotus. Mercedes's Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth respectively.
Vettel blistered off the line with Rosberg close on his tail and even overtaking the championship leader for a brief moment, but Vettel grabbed it right back when Rosberg went too wide.
Lap 1 to 20
Most of the drivers were running on the supersoft tyres.
Kimi Riakkonen pitted at lap 11, Fernando Alonso on lap 15 Rosberg at 16 with Vettel coming in on lap 18 and changing to the medium tyres.
Lap 21 -27
Vettel was leading the race by eight seconds. Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was closing on Mark Webber for 5 place in lap 22. Nico Hulkenberg was ordered to give back position 11 to Sergio Perez after running wide on the track on lap 19.
Raikkonen complained about his Lotus on lap 23 but the team said they couldn’t see anything wrong on the data.
Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo understeered, locked up and crashed out on lap 25, bringing out the safety car.
Lap 28
The lapped cars were allowed to overtake the safety car before the restart on lap 28. Vettel told to use the fuel as they had plenty.
The top ten before the restart on lap 30 was Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Alonso, Grosjean, Paul DiResta, Felipe Massa, Jenson Button and Raikkonen.
Vettel bolted out on the restart sprinting away from his closest rival, Rosberg of Mercedes.
Lap 32 – 35
Hamilton asked for information from his team on his front right tyre when he picked up some tyre debris on the track.
Grosjean was told to pull in for a super long pit stop on lap 34 to “top up air”, totally ruining his race as something else was wrong with his car. By lap 40 he was out of the race. DiResta told to attack on lap 35. The Lotus F1 team tweeted: “Retirement for @RGrosjean - engine pneumatic system lacked air, we topped it up, it didn't fix it. Insert #ExplicitContent phrase here.”
Lap 37
Vettel made the fastest lap on L37. Mercedes told Rosberg he was losing downforce as he had rubber on the front wing.
Webber pits on lap 41 and puts on another set of mediums. Hamilton told to push as he and Alonso battled for third position. Rosberg told to box on lap 42.
Vettel leading with a 22-second advantage.
Lap 45 - 55
Rosberg wants to save his tyres but team told him to push on lap 45. Raikkonen pushed up to P5 by lap 46 and was fighting for third with McLaren’s Jenson Button by lap 53. So tight, the two saw a very close call just missing the wall.
DiResta nosed into the barrier on lap 55, terrible time when he could have scored some points. Such a pity as the Sauber driver drove so superbly during the race.
Lap 56
Webber was fighting for a podium finish as he attempted to fight off Raikkonen in third and Alonso in second. Hulkenberg was doing everything to hold onto 10th place to score some points on lap 60. Red Bull's Mark Webber had mechanical failure on lap 61 and saw the Mercedes team go past him. His car also caught fire. Sad day for the Australian as his team mate won his seventh race for the season.
Results from the F1 2013 Singapore Grand Prix
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull - Renault 1:59:13.132
2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari +00:32.627
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus - Renault 00:43.920
4. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 00:51.155
5. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 00:53.159
6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 01:03.877
7. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 01:23.354
8. Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 01:23.820
9. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber - Ferrari 01:24.261
10. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 01:24.668
11. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams - Renault 01:28.479
12. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber - Ferrari 01:37.894
13. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams - Renault 01:45.161
14. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 01:53.512
15r. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1 lap
16. Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham - Renault 1 lap
17. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia - Cosworth 1 lap
18. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia - Cosworth 1 lap
19. Charles Pic (France) Caterham - Renault 1 lap
20r. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India - Mercedes 7 laps r.
Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Renault 24 laps r.
Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 37 laps
(rank: r = retired, nc = not classified)
Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel,1:48.574, lap 46.
Standings after the F1 Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit
Drivers Points
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 247
2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 187
3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 151
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 149
5. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 130
6. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 116
7. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 87
8. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 57
9. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 54
10. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 36
11. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 26
12. Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 22
13. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber 19
14. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 18
15. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 13
16. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1
17. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 0
18. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 0
19. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia 0
20. Charles Pic (France) Caterham 0
21. Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham 0
22. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia 0
Constructors Points
1. RedBull - Renault 377
2. Ferrari 274
3. Mercedes 267
4. Lotus - Renault 206
5. McLaren 76
6. Force India - Mercedes 62
7. Toro Rosso - Ferrari 31
8. Sauber - Ferrari 19
9. Williams - Renault 1
10. Marussia - Cosworth 0
11. Caterham - Renault 0
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Singapore GP weekend.
