Formula One packs its bags and is back on the road, heading out to the Far East for the Singapore Grand Prix, as only seven races remain in the 2017 world championship. Join The Roar for a live blog of the race starting from 10pm AEST.
A return to what is described the ‘Monaco of the East’ will see the drivers challenged at the most demanding circuit on the calendar – with the excessive heat turning it into an endurance contest.
At 5km in length and boasting 23 corners, Singapore tends to be only of the only races that regularly ticks over the two-hour mark, with a 100 per cent record of safety car appearances and plenty of carnage.
After losing the lead of the championship for the first time after Monza, Sebastian Vettel comes into this race as the favourite – being the only driver to have won four times around the streets of the Marina Bay.
Ferrari, who are favoured at high-downforce circuits, are certainly in the frame for victory contention, as are Red Bull – while Mercedes AMG brace for struggles.
Despite winning the race in 2016 with Nico Rosberg, the Silver Arrows find themselves in a position similar to 2015, where they could not respond to the speed of the Ferraris and Red Bulls.
With the onus on him to respond, Vettel delivers an emphatic pole position, to out-qualify the two Red Bulls who occupy the top three.
Max Verstappen heads his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in second, after the energy drinks giant being fastest in every practice session until qualifying.
There was clear daylight between Vettel on pole position and where his title rival and championship leader in Lewis Hamilton qualified too, with the Briton only fifth fastest in the Mercedes AMG.
The third row of the grid is locked out by the Silver Arrows, as Valtteri Bottas joins his teammate in sixth.
In what has been a week of headlines for McLaren, both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne secured top ten berths, with the high-downforce nature of the circuit playing aid to the powerless Honda motor.
Can Red Bull throw a spanner into the works and provide an upset for Ferrari, is the big question. Or can Vettel add a fifth win to his tally in Singapore?
Whatever transpires, surely will make an impact on the championship.
Join us on The Roar for live blog coverage of the Singapore Grand Prix, from 10pm AEST as we see who survives the streets of Singapore.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That about wraps up this live blog of the Singapore Grand Prix. There is much to be made about this race and in particular the first lap incident involving championship contender in Sebastian Vettel. With six races remaining in 2017, was this the turning point in the title race? Thanks again for tuning in here on The Roar and we shall return in a fortnight's time for Malaysian Grand Prix. Adios!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 263 - Lewis Hamilton 235 - Sebastian Vettel 212 - Valtteri Bottas 162 - Daniel Ricciardo 138 - Kimi Räikkönen 68 -- Max Verstappen 68 -- Sergio Perez 56 -- Esteban Ocon 48 -- Carlos Sainz 34 -- Nico Hulkenberg 31 -- Felipe Massa 28 -- Lance Stroll 26 -- Romain Grosjean 11 -- Kevin Magnussen 10 -- Fernando Alonso 8 --- Jolyon Palmer 7 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 5 --- Pascal Wehrlein 4 --- Daniil Kvyat 0 --- Marcus Ericsson 0 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Jenson Button
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 475 - Mercedes AMG 373 - Scuderia Ferrari 230 - Red Bull Racing 124 - Force India Mercedes 59 -- Williams Mercedes 52 -- Renault Sport 42 -- Scuderia Toro Rosso 37 -- Haas Ferrari 17 -- McLaren Honda 5 --- Sauber Ferrari
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT A lengthy, wet and chaotic Singapore Grand Prix sees an unlikely victory Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes AMG, as Ferraris took each other out on the first lap of the shortened race. Hamilton, who started fifth, survived the first lap carnage that saw his title rival Sebastian Vettel eliminated following a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Räikkönen in challenging conditions. The German upon starting from pole position, veered towards the left to close the door on Verstappen, though had no idea that Räikkönen was coming from the inside – thus squeezing the Red Bull and starting the chain reaction that saw even Fernando Alonso in the melee. With the first of four safety cars clearing the mess, Hamilton had emerged as the leader and was to not look back – whilst Vettel, Verstappen and Räikkönen were all out on the first lap of the race. Daniel Ricciardo was unable to provide any challenge to the Silver Arrow of Hamilton, despite the strong showing of pace by Red Bull in the early part of the weekend. Even after switching over to slick tyres at the midway point of the race, the Aussie could not stay with Hamilton. A lonely second, sees Ricciardo collect a fourth consecutive podium in Singapore, whilst Valtteri Bottas ensured both Mercedes AMGs finished on the rostrum in a race at which the team were set to struggle. Only twelve cars finished the 59-laps, with eight cars failing to make the chequered flag – of which included Nico Hulkenberg, who now possesses the unwanted record of most races contested without a podium to his name. The German’s retirement was unfortunate, considering the pace shown by Renault early in the race, which could have seen Hulkenberg collect his maiden Formula One podium. However, it was Jolyon Palmer who scored the points for Renault, picking up his first points of 2017 with that career best sixth place finish. A career best drive came too from Carlos Sainz, who utilised the more durable supersoft tyres to earn himself fourth. Points went begging for Felipe Massa, who from being knocked out of qualifying in Q1, finished in eleventh with some tight battles with likes of Romain Grosjean, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen, who had to retire. Hamilton in winning his third consecutive race, extends his lead in the championship to 28-points, as Ferrari and Vettel will rue this lost opportunity – which may have already cost him the title.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
PODIUM INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Eddie Jordan HAMILTON - "I want to congratulate the team, as yesterday we struggled." "It was fortunate with the Ferraris at the beginning." RICCIARDO - "I like it around here." "A little bit disappointed to miss out on the win, but still grateful for the podium." "It was probably a good thing I had a bad start." BOTTAS - "Very good damage limitation today." "The car was working better than expected." "There is plenty of opportunities to come."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS AFTER 58-LAPS OF THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 D. Ricciardo 3 V. Bottas 4 C. Sainz 5 S. Perez 6 J. Palmer 7 S. Vandoorne 8 L. Stroll 9 R. Grosjean 10 E. Ocon 11 F. Massa 12 P. Wehrlein RET K. Magnussen RET N. Hulkenberg RET M. Ericsson RET D. Kvyat RET F. Alonso RET S. Vettel RET M. Verstappen RET K. Räikkönen
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS A CHAOTIC SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX! Its DANIEL RICCIARDO who crosses the line in second, having been unable to challenge the Silver Arrows. And a lonely third for VALTTERI BOTTAS, who ensures both Mercedes AMGs are on the podium at a race they were expected to struggle at.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Correction, this is the now the FINAL LAP. We will conclude after 58 laps.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 57/61: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/61: Hamilton sets a new track record too with that 1:45.008.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/61: Will this be the final lap, or the next?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 54/61: 5 MINUTES TO GO
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Roar Guru
Lap 54/61: Massa may be last in P11, though he still has a shot of finishing in the top ten as he is only 1.1 seconds behind Ocon.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/61: Stagnant proceedings at the front, as Hamilton holds his 4.4 second lead over Ricciardo. A further 2.5 seconds back to Bottas.
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Roar Guru
Lap 52/61: Just under 10 minutes remain.
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Roar Guru
Lap 51/61: Magnussen told to stop the car, as a power-unit related failure sees the Haas out of the race too.
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Roar Guru
Lap 50/61: The non-finish for Hulkenberg means that he now holds an unwanted record for most races contested, without standing on the podium.
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Roar Guru
Lap 49/61: Hulkenberg is in the pits again and it appears that his race is over. From being in contention for the podium in the early part of the race, to being out of the race all together.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/61: 15 MINUTES TO GO
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Roar Guru
Lap 47/61: Hamilton himself a little confused by his team's tactics. 3.4 seconds is the spread across the top three.