Lewis Hamilton wins in Singapore with Sebastian Vettel third - F1 News

F1 News - Lewis Hamilton wins in Singapore with Sebastian Vettel third

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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton cruised to victory in the Singapore Grand Prix to strengthen his hold on this year's world championship.

Hamilton's controlled drive from a pole position won brilliantly on Saturday was helped by the latest in a series of questionable strategy calls from Ferrari.

It dropped Hamilton's title rival Sebastian Vettel from second to third behind Max Verstappen, throwing away a position the German had earned by overtaking the Red Bull driver on the first lap.

While Vettel was left to question his team once again this season - and for the second time this weekend after a less-than-perfect qualifying session - Hamilton's only worrying moment was caused by back markers at about two-thirds distance.

Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Williams' Sergey Sirotkin ignored the closing Hamilton in the heart of their battle for position and cost him his five-second advantage over Verstappen.

Hamilton had to fend off an attack from Verstappen into Turn Seven as a result, which he just managed to do, and Grosjean was later given a five-second penalty for his misdemeanour.

Hamilton's victory, with Vettel third behind Verstappen, extended the Briton's advantage over the German in the championship to 40 points with six races and a maximum of 150 points remaining.

More to follow

Esteban Ocon was the only retirement - pushed into the wall on the first lap by team-mate Sergio Perez

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Light show: It's not just the skyline which is spectacular in Singapore

Hamilton's pole position in Singapore was the 200th for an English driver in F1 history. The first? Stirling Moss at the 1955 British Grand Prix. Source: Forix

Slide away: Charles Leclerc, who has just signed for Ferrari for 2019, made a rookie mistake hitting a wall in first practice

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via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://ift.tt/OHg7x6

September 16, 2018 at 09:09AM