Singapore: Lewis Hamilton benefited immensely from a chaotic start to win the rain-affected Singapore Grand Prix here Sunday, to extend his drivers’ championship lead to 28 points with a hat-trick of victories.
The front row was wiped out at the first corner, taking out pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen after both clashed with Kimi Raikkonen.
The incident allowed Hamilton, who started fifth, to take the lead and he was able to maintain that till the chequered flag despite constant pressure from Daniel Ricciardo, who eventually finished 4.5 seconds behind for his third podium in a row here. Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas completed a smooth drive to take the last podium spot after starting fourth.
After the end of the race, Hamiltion took his tally to 263 points while Vettel remained static on 235.
Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez were the other big gainers for Toro Rosso and Force India (FI) respectively. Sainz recorded a career-best fourth place finish after starting 10th while Perez came home fifth from 12th on the grid, maintaining his 100 points scoring streak here. Jolyon Palmer of Renault too came up with a spirited drive to finish sixth, his best ever, from 11th on the grid.
All nine races here in the past have been action-packed with the intervention of safety car and it was no different this time.
The last of the safety car period came on lap 37 when Marcus Ericsson hit the wall, negating Hamilton’s healthy 9.6 seconds lead over Ricciardo. Despite the constant pressure, Hamilton was able to step up his game and take the Mercedes home.
Press Trust of India
