Heading #1

Heading #2

Monday, September 23, 2013

F1 - Vettel cruises to Singapore hat-trick

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel cruised to a third straight Singapore Grand Prix victory on Sunday and moved 60 points clear of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso after a dominant drive under the floodlights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The German led from pole to flag and lapped on average almost two seconds quicker than his rivals to finish 32.6 seconds clear of Alonso and take another big step towards a fourth successive title with six races remaining.
Kimi Raikkonen shrugged off back pain to climb from 13th on the grid to third for Lotus in a challenging race that was held up by one decisive safety car period when Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Toro Rosso into the barriers on lap 26.
"Yes, yes, that's what I call in control," Vettel shouted over the team radio after chalking up his seventh win of the season and 33rd of his career.
"The car felt absolutely fantastic. This is absolutely a team effort."


Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Vettel, who was again booed on the podium from some in the crowd below, had been in a league of his own after "one of his best ever drives". Vettel was challenged briefly by fellow-German Nico Rosberg, who was second on the grid, on the run to the first turn but once he held off the Mercedes, he controlled the race.
Alonso again used a charging start and brilliant strategy to climb from seventh on the grid and keep his title hopes alive. He gambled on pitting for a change of tyres during the safety car period and nursing his Ferrari all the way to the flag on medium tyres.
"We knew we didn't have the pace today so we had to invent something with a different strategy from the other teams," said the Spaniard. "It paid off at the end.
"We are in a position in the championship where we have nothing to lose."
Raikkonen, who will join Alonso at Ferrari next season, duplicated the Spaniard's strategy and was able to hold on for third place from the fast-charging Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who opted to stay out behind the safety car.
Alonso's Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa finished in sixth place with McLaren's Jenson Button and Sergio Perez claiming the next two spots ahead of Nico Hulkenburg's Sauber and Adrian Sutil in a Force India.
Vettel's teammate Mark Webber briefly climbed up to fourth place in the closing stages but his Red Bull lost power on the last lap and he slipped out of the top 10.
There was also disappointment for Romain Grosjean, who started third on the grid but retired on lap 33 after his Lotus suffered a pneumatic system failure and was called in by his team to retire in the pits.
RACE RESULTS
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

No comments:

Post a Comment