Singapore Grand Prix race day

By: Geoff Creighton

Summary


	Vettel pits first for ultrasofts, Hamilton stops a lap later to take softs and stays ahead
	Verstappen jumps Vettel during the stops, emerging side-by-side at the pit exit
	Ocon crashes at start after Turn 3 contact with Perez - no action from stewards
	Perez later penalised for deliberately driving into Sirotkin
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Status: Stopped

15:09 Driver, Team
Hamilton, Mercedes
Verstappen, Red Bull
Vettel, Ferrari
Bottas, Mercedes
Raikkonen, Ferrari
Ricciardo, Red Bull
Alonso, McLaren
Sainz, Renault
Leclerc, Sauber
Hulkenberg, Renault

17:23 Here's the full report and results from today's grand prix - keep an eye on Autosport and motorsport.com for comprehensive post-race reaction tonight, Edd Straw's in-depth GP analysis and driver ratings tomorrow. Our next live coverage will be from next weekend's Aragon MotoGP round, before F1 returns in Russia in a fortnight:

Singapore Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton wins, F1 title rival Vettel third

Lewis Hamilton swept to a virtually unchallenged win in the 2018 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix as another Ferrari tactical blunder cost Sebastian Vettel the chance of victory

17:19

17:15 Vettel's scepticism about Ferrari's tactics is clear, he underlined that he was sure the ultrasofts wouldn't make it to the end but that pitting was never an option.

17:14 Vettel admits Hamilton's win "doesn't help" in the title fight. "With the way we raced, we didn't have a chance. I said before the weekend that we can only beat ourselves, and I think this weekend we didn't get everything out of our package."

17:14 Time to hear from a stony-faced Vettel: "Overall we were not fast enough. We didn't have the pace in the race. We tried to be aggressive in the beginning and it didn't work out. After that we had a different race to the other guys, on a different tyre."

17:13 Verstappen says again that "it was a shame about the first lap, he got me with his top speed" - still kicking himself a touch for being passed by Vettel. Didn't matter in the end, though, and he praises Red Bull's strategy for helping him get back ahead.

17:12 "I'm not really quite sure where their pace disappeared to," says Hamilton of Ferrari. Everyone in the paddock, particularly the people wearing red, agrees.

17:11 Hamilton adds that that felt like one of the longest races of his life.

17:11 "I'm spent," says Hamilton as he sits down for his post-race interview with David Coulthard. "My knees can't take this, can we stand?" asks Coulthard. "I'm a man of a certain age..."

17:10 "P3, Sebastian," says Ferrari. "Copy that," he replies. And that's it.

17:09 Hamilton is really taking his time getting out of the car. He looks pretty tired, but he's also clearly reflecting on what an amazing result that is for his season.

17:09 "We did everything we could," says Verstappen on the radio. "Shame about the first lap."

17:09 "Well done, Max. Really well done mate," says Red Bull.

17:08 Hamilton parks on a very jazzy video screen backdrop as he pulls into parc ferme.

17:07 "What a weekend..." says Hamilton on the slowing-down lap. The race Mercedes was expected to lose, and he's won it - commandingly.

17:07 Out: Ocon

17:07 Outside the points: 11 Ericsson; 12 Vandoorne; 13 Grosjean; 14 Gasly; 15 Stroll; 16 Perez; 17 Hartley; 18 Magnussen; 19 Sirotkin

17:06 Result: 1 Hamilton; 2 Verstappen; 3 Vettel; 4 Bottas; 5 Raikkonen; 6 Ricciardo; 7 Alonso; 8 Sainz; 9 Leclerc; 10 Hulkenberg

17:06

17:06 Vettel comes home third, which is emphatically not would he expected when Ferrari was cruising through practice with an apparent pace advantage.

17:05 Verstappen clinches second, Vettel will eventually be third.

17:04 Hamilton wins the Singapore GP!

17:04 Perez has passed Hartley for P16. Action! Excitement!

17:04 Last lap now for Hamilton...

17:04

17:04 Not many more chances for Raikkonen to do something about Bottas or Ricciardo to do something about Raikkonen - even though only 1.9s covers them all.

17:03 Hamilton is onto his penultimate lap with a lead of 8.6s over Verstappen. It's been a smooth enough race he might even have had time to work out that he's about to get a 40-point championship lead too.

17:03 "Are the marshals having a little bit of fun waving the blue flag, or what?" an incensed Leclerc asks. He is told to ignore them for now.

17:01 Turns out being on the wrong tyres is no problem if everyone behind you is massively slow - Vettel is now 33s off the lead and lapping 2s off Hamilton, but actually getting away from the Bottas, Raikkonen, Ricciardo train.

17:00 Alonso seems determined not to be lapped - he posted his best lap of the race that time around, actually going four tenths quicker than Hamilton.

16:59 A Hartley-Perez battle for P16 is brewing for these final few laps, if you're into that sort of thing.

16:58

16:57 "Okay, Fernando, Hamilton is 11 seconds behind us now, he might catch us towards the end of the race," Alonso is told. His pace has dropped a fair bit.

16:57 Although Raikkonen is just 0.7s behind Bottas for fourth, he hasn't yet had any realistic looks at trying to pass.

16:57

16:57 Lead gaps: 1 Hamilton; 2 Verstappen +6.4s; 3 Vettel +27.7s; 4 Bottas +37.0s; 5 Raikkonen +37.8s; 6 Ricciardo +40.6s

16:56 Hamilton is going faster and faster in the lead, Vettel slower and slower in third - they're now 27s apart. But still Vettel is 9s clear of Bottas and Raikkonen.

16:55 Ricciardo is back up to speed and is back within 2s of Raikkonen's tail.

16:55 "This is not acceptable," says Bottas, who still hasn't managed to lap Hulkenberg.