Race – Singapore: An Unexpected Victory for Hamilton in a Crazy Race!
After a collision at the first corner between the Ferrari drivers and Max Verstappen and heavy rain showers, Lewis Hamilton triumphed in a Singapore Grand Prix marked by a long race with numerous retirements. Behind him, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas completed the podium.
The day after an eventful qualifying session for the quest for pole position, the stakes are high in the battle for the world title, with the overall leader only 5th on the grid and his runner-up by 3 points on pole.
A few minutes before the start procedure begins, the weather conditions are extremely precarious with the onset of a storm over the city-state of Singapore. The question remains regarding the choice of teams and their drivers for tire compounds: should they opt for slick tires or switch to intermediate or even rain tires?
It is indeed necessary to take into account the fact that the tropical-type climate of this region of Southeast Asia involves intermittent rainfall on an already wet track with no sunshine for evaporation.
Les écuries sont autorisées à changer de gomme ! ☔️#SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/6n5D7lkHom
— La F1® sur CANAL (@LaF1SurCanal) 17 septembre 2017
Despite the increasing intensity of the rainfall, the start is well-organized without the control of the safety car: the first night race in the rain in Formula 1 history will proceed under the traditional starting procedure overall.
The peloton is split between the top six men on the grid using green-walled intermediate tires and the rest who have mostly chosen blue tires.
As expected, the start is spectacular with a group collision involving Räikkönen, Verstappen, and Vettel, who are quickly forced to retire, almost before even reaching the first corner! Vettel was at fault for an imprudent squeeze on the Red Bull of the Dutch driver: the incident will be investigated by the race stewards after the end of the Grand Prix.
This retirement of Max Verstappen is his 7th since the beginning of the 2017 season.
LAP 1/61: Chaos at the start – both VER and RAI out 💥#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/UEwidS6nHp
— Formula 1 (@F1) 17 septembre 2017
This chaos initiated by the leading trio thus led to the appearance of an unavoidable security car in Singapore.
At the end of the 1st lap of the race, it is Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, who had a very good start, leading the pack behind the safety car, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and the Renault of Nico Hülkenberg!
LAP 3/61 (SAFETY CAR): GAINS AND LOSSES
How crucial could this be in the title race?
HAM = P1
VET = OUT#SingaporeGP #F1NightRace #F1 pic.twitter.com/X4kJPOTNPX
— Formula 1 (@F1) 17 septembre 2017
It is at the end of the 4th lap of the race that the safety car withdraws and, at the same time, the rain stops on the Marina Bay circuit.
At the start of the 7th lap, Fernando Alonso falls down the rankings, mainly due to a collision for him as well at the start, which severely damaged his car, especially as his team can no longer operate their data acquisition system on the Spaniard’s car. Ultimately, the Bull of Asturias retires on the 9th lap of the race, recalled by his team.
While Hamilton is flying at the front of the race, his teammate Bottas is struggling in 6th position despite the numerous challenges at the beginning. Hülkenberg, on the other hand, is the only driver who started on wet tires to display a particularly strong pace, and he is comfortably settled in 3rd position.
At the 11th lap of the race, Kvyat’s Toro Rosso slides into the Tecpro barriers of the dreaded turn 7, leading to his retirement and the return of the safety car. Some drivers take advantage of this to make a pit stop, such as Ricciardo, who switches to new intermediate tires and opts for an offensive strategy for the remainder of the race.
LAP 11/61: SAFETY CAR
KVY’s race is over, he ends up in the wall at Turn 7#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/cKzXgjPuf3
— Formula 1 (@F1) 17 septembre 2017
It is at the end of the 14th lap that the safety car’s lights go out, indicating its imminent withdrawal.
Despite Ricciardo’s new tires, Hamilton maintains a slightly superior pace at the front of the race against Ricciardo’s Red Bull.
In the midfield, Massa’s Williams, which his team did not bring in under the safety car to change its now ineffective wet tires in the drying conditions of the track, becomes the focus of rather aggressive moves from the Danish driver Kevin Magnussen in the Haas. Massa will eventually pit a few laps later to finally switch to the green-walled tires.
On the 26th lap of the race, Kevin Magnussen is the very first driver to gamble on ultra-soft slick tires, followed a few seconds later by Massa’s Williams, whose tire strategy is quite original this Singaporean Sunday.
As the Haas driver begins to set his best lap times, the rest of the pack imitates him between the 28th and 29th lap of the race, including the leader Hamilton.
After 30 laps of the race, Bottas, opportunistically in 3rd place, is under threat from Hülkenberg who is posting good lap times in the Renault and is aiming for his first podium in his F1 career.
At the 38th lap, Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber hits the bridge railing located between turns 12 and 13 of the Singapore track, reversing after spinning at turn 12: the safety car is deployed for the 3rd time this Sunday.
LAP 38/61: Safety Car is out again 😮
ERI spins and stops on track #SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/8RojT2gjsL
— Formula 1 (@F1) 17 septembre 2017
This intervention prompts Nico Hülkenberg to make a pit stop to put on new purple tires and adjust his single-seater, a precious time loss in the pits that causes him to plummet to 10th position.
At the moment the safety car leaves and the race resumes, the TV display from FOM shows only a 25-minute countdown before the scheduled end of the Grand Prix: a Formula 1 race cannot exceed a duration of 2 hours.
Carlos Sainz Jr. is meanwhile the author of the ideal race, holding onto 4th position since almost the 13th lap of the track.
11 minutes from the checkered flag, the list of retirements grows, initially with Hülkenberg’s Renault and then Magnussen’s Haas, both due to mechanical failures.
Having to retire Nico. Absolutely gutted. What a drive from our Hulk 🙌. #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/FvNcGMhbAb
— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) 17 septembre 2017
The countdown hit zero, Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line as the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix under the fireworks ahead of Ricciardo in the Red Bull and the second Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas! He claims his third consecutive Grand Prix victory.
In the world standings, Lewis Hamilton makes the break on his main rival Sebastian Vettel by now creating a 28-point gap over the Ferrari driver. He clinches a crucial victory in Singapore for the world title! A victory that seemed unreachable after a very disappointing Saturday in terms of performance for Mercedes.
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF RACE): The perfect race for @LewisHamilton 💪 #SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/61aogM2dS4
— Formula 1 (@F1) 17 septembre 2017
