The event is held under the superb floodlight Marina Bay track, some 1500 floodlights light up the entire circuit with excitement. This race can be compared to the Monaco GP street race as it is also held throughout the streets of the host city, but this time they compete at night and this means seeing the amazing city of Singapore close down many of its streets to allow the F1 track to be completed and come alive with the roar of their engines.
 
singapore grand prix and racing helmet
 

Singapore GP Race Results 2017:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
4. Carlos Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso)
5. Sergio Perez (Force India)
6. Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
7. Stoffel Vandoorne (Mclaren)
8. Lance Stroll (Williams)
9. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
10. Esteban Ocon (Force India)
More on the F1 teams of 2017
 

Vettel May have Cost Himself The Championship Today!

 
Perhaps still pumped up from his incredible qualifying performance the day before; Sebastian Vettel’s ‘uncompromising lunge’ at the start of the race today at the Marina Bay circuit – took himself, team-mate Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Verstappen out of the race. And may have cost him the World Championship; as he falls 28 points behind Hamilton, with just 6 races left and his rival enjoying a seemingly unassailable run.
 
Alonso, briefly in 3rd place and looking to change his exhausting luck – was also caught in the cross-fire of the collision, as Raikkonen’s spinning Ferrari took him out of the race.
 
Was Vettel to blame for driving too aggressively? Or did Verstappen’s view of the situation give him a chance to hold back and avoid a collision? Either way, Verstappen was caught in a sandwich of Ferrari’s as both drivers closed in around him -there was nowhere for anyone to move and a crash was inevitable.
 

Verstappen Blameless?

 
Verstappen, who has found himself embroiled in many a collision this season – was keen to distance himself from blame – believing that it was Vettel’s unnecessarily reckless driving that caused the incident.
 
“Vettel is fighting for the championship, so you don’t need to take so much risk if you know that Hamilton starts 5th.”
 
His father, former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen agreed “He can’t go the left and he can’t go to the right. You can hardly blame Max for any of this.”
 
It was deemed by stewards to be a ‘racing incident,’ ie that no driver was wholly to blame.
 

Ferrari The Favourites But Blow It From The Start!

 
Ferrari came to Singapore as favourites – as experts predicted how well the track would suit them. Mercedes had struggled in practice. Ferrari had ended qualifying in a euphoric mood – with an astonishing lap from Vettel “when you feel the car coming alive, you just feel you can do anything with it.”
 
Then, on the day of the race came the rain and levelled the playing field.
 
“They were in another world in dry conditions… for the rain to fall, I was so happy. When these conditions happen, it’s more of a lottery… They are my conditions.” (Hamilton)
 
Following the crash, which took 4 drivers out of the race – Hamilton took the lead and was four seconds clear by Lap 6. Ricciardo’s advance was hampered by gearbox issues, but he still managed to come in 2nd – “I just can’t win the bloody thing” he said of the Singapore Grand Prix.
 
This was Hamilton’s 7th win of the season and his 3rd in a row; since the summer break he has driven with a renewed passion. Team-mate Bottas took the final podium place, in a surprisingly successful day for Mercedes – who had been planning for damage limitation.
 
Toro Rosso’s Sainz Jr drove a strong race, “This was the best one (race), no doubt” he said, as he achieved a career-best 4th place finish.
 
British driver Jolyon Palmer also managed to finish a personal best in 6th place (and his first points of the year) – after previously struggling this season to such an extent that he has lost his Renault seat for 2018. He can only hope that if he finishes the season on a high – this will result in him being courted by other Formula One teams.
 
Palmer’s team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg broke an unwanted record today, as he reached the most races – 129 – without a podium.
 
The next race is in Malaysia on 1st October and Vettel will be keen to reverse his fortune…