Can Mercedes break Red Bulls run at the Singapore Grand Prix and wrap up the constructors championship tonight in Round 14 of the Formula One season? Join The Roar for a live blog of the Formula One Grand Prix from Singapore from 10:00pm (AEST).
A win tonight by Red Bull Racing would be their fourth successive victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.
For the last three years it has been the Sebastian Vettel show as he has claimed each race in Singapore from 2011 to 2013.
Last year in particular, he dominated, as he won the race by 32 seconds.
That looks unlikely to happen this weekend with the Mercedes drivers continuing their strong form this season.
For the 13th time this season, a Mercedes is at the front, as Lewis Hamilton won his 6th pole position for the year last night.
He is joined on the front row by his team-mate, Nico Rosberg, who was seven one thousandths away from Hamilton at the end of the session.
It shapes up to be another cracking battle between the two as they both fight for the 2014 championship. Only 22 points separates the two and Hamilton is finding form at the right time of the season after winning the last round in Monza.
Another win tonight would reduce the margin further and put more pressure on Rosberg.
With a tight first few corners at the Singapore track, it could be an interesting start to the race, as both drivers attempt to take the lead into the first corner.
We could see similar fireworks to Spa, which eliminated Hamilton from the contest early. For Mercedes, they will be hoping both drivers finish, as they can wrap up the constructors title this weekend if results go their way.
Mercedes lead by 182 points heading into tonight’s race. A win over Red Bull by more than 34 points tonight – to bring the margin to 216 points between the two – would hand the manufacturer their first ever championship as a factory team.
Looking to stop them will be Red Bull, who have showed pace this weekend. Australia’s Dan Ricciardo, who qualified in third, was under two tenths away from the Mercedes duo.
It is the closest the Red Bull has been to the Mercedes this year in dry conditions.
Joining Ricciardo on the second row will be his teammate, Vettel, who will fancy his chances of winning in Singapore tonight.
If the Mercedes duo make mistakes, or fight each other again for victory, these two Red Bulls will be looking to capitalise on the situation.
Another team looking to do that will be Ferrari, who have been on the pace this weekend as well. They topped the final practice of the weekend and also finished top in the first qualifying session last night.
In the final session though they struggled as Alonso finished 5th and Raikkonen was forced to pit the car with an engine problem.
They are quicker than 5th and 7th and could provide some competition for the Red Bulls and the Mercedes teams.
One thing that is guaranteed tonight is a long and tiresome race with a safety car at some point during the race.
With temperatures at over 30 degrees, when the race starts, and the circuit being over 5 kilometres in length, it is a tough race on the drivers and teams.
It also creates plenty of incidents because of the tight and tricky nature of the street circuit.
In the six years of the Singapore Grand Prix there has been a safety car in each race. I expect that to continue tonight with the way the cars are driven this year because of the new regulations.
It promises to be a big race and one full of surprises.
We may see a new winner this season.
For Australian fans they will hope Dan Ricciardo can do the job tonight and win his 4th race of the year.
With a bit of luck, and a good strategy, the Australian is a big chance.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Great work yet again Shane. It was another fantastic race that brought up yet another twist in the championship battle between the Mercedes AMG guys. Bring on Suzuka!
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
So Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes dominate again as they win the Singapore Grand Prix. It is Hamilton's 7th win this season. The race though was a championship changer as Rosberg failed to finish. Hamilton now leads by 3 points heading into the next round at Suzuka. For Red Bull it was a case of what if. The safety car came out at the wrong time and Ricciardo had trouble with the car in the last 30 laps. It was the same situation for Alonso who just couldn't overtake the Red Bulls in the final few laps. There are now 5 rounds to go. Guessing what happens in the championship from here is really tough. It could go to anyone out of Hamilton and Rosberg. The next round is in two weeks at Suzuka in Japan. The Roar will be back then with a live blog of that race. Until then it is bye from me. Thanks for joining in during the race. Bye.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP: 1. Mercedes 479 2. Red Bull 305 3. Williams 187 4. Ferrari 178 5. Force India 117 6. McLaren 111 7. Toro Rosso 27 8. Lotus 8 9. Marussia 2 10. Sauber 0 11. Caterham 0
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP: 1. Lewis Hamilton 241 2. Nico Rosberg 238 3. Daniel Ricciardo 181 4. Fernando Alonso 133 5. Sebastian Vettel 124 6. Valtteri Bottas 122 7. Nico Hulkenberg 72 8. Jenson Button 72 9. Felipe Massa 65 10. Kimi Raikkonen 45 11. Sergio Perez 45 12. Kevin Magnussen 39 13. Jean-Eric Vergne 19 14. Romain Grosjean 8 15. Daniil Kvyat 8 16. Jules Bianchi 2 17. Adrian Sutil, Marcus Ericsson, Pastor Maldonado, Esteban Gutierrez, Max Chilton, Kamui Kobayashi, Andre Lotterer 0
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes 2. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull 3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull 4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 5. Felipe Massa - Williams 6. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso 7. Sergio Perez - Force India 8. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari 9. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India 10. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren 11. Valtteri Bottas - Williams 12. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus 13. Romain Grosjean - Lotus 14. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso 15. Marcus Ericcson - Caterham 16. Jules BIanchi - Marussia 17. Max Chilton - Marussia 18. Jenson Button - McLaren DNF 19. Adrian Sutil - Sauber DNF 20. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber DNF 21. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes DNF 22. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham DNF
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
This is the second time this year that Red Bull have had both drivers on the podium in a race. The other occasion was in Canada. Full results in the next post.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Lewis Hamilton wins the Singapore Grand Prix. He finishes first ahead of Vettel and Ricciardo. Bottas has a problem on the final lap and loses a stack of spots. He goes from 6th on lap 59 to 11th at the end of the race.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
60/61 FINAL LAP. Can Ricciardo overtake Vettel?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
59/61 Jean Eric Vergne is flying. He overtakes Raikkonen into turn 1 for 7th and then overtakes Bottas on the same lap. Can he gain the 5 second gap to keep 6th position?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
59/61 - 3:40 Ricciardo could be making a move on Vettel soon.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
58/61 - 5:32 We will be one lap short from my calculations. Ricciardo is now half a second away from Vettel.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
57/61 Vergne gets a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits. It will be added to his overall time in the race.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
57/61 - 7:30 Hamilton is building a nice gap. Ricciardo is just 7 tenths away from Vettel.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
56/61 - 9:22 Ricciardo and Alonso are closing on Vettel. Alonso is also closing on Ricciardo. The battle for the podium is on.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
55/61 There are yellow flags out around that area where Button has stopped. Vergne is also being investigated for exceeding track limits again..
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
54/61 Hamilton makes the move and takes the lead back. He gets the move done with DRS into turn 7. Button is also out of the race. His car comes to a complete stop at turn 14.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
54/61 Hamilton closes the gap quickly between him and Vettel. Can Vettel defend?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
53/61 Hamilton gets out just in front of Ricciardo. The Aussie tries to get past him but just doesn't have the tyre life to mount an attack.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
53/61 Hamilton pits. Faultless stop. Vettel gets out in front of him.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
52/61 Hamilton does a 1:52.771 He gains another second on Vettel. The gap is 25 seconds.