Singapore GP 2014: Grading Race on Strategy, Overtaking, Shocks and Drama

Sunday afternoon saw Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton win a thrilling Singapore Grand Prix ahead of runner-up Sebastian Vettel, with the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo coming home third.

Here we grade the race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit from A to D in terms of strategy, overtaking, shocks and drama.

Strategy: A

Wong Maye-E/Associated Press

A simple three-stop strategy pre-race became anything but late on after the deployment of the safety car on Lap 31 due to a collision involving Sergio Perez and Adrian Sutil.

And that meant Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso then decided to immediately pit for soft tyres, as the Red Bulls had also just done, despite the Spaniard having only stopped a few laps earlier.

All of which meant that when the safety car did finally come in seven laps later, race leader Hamilton knew he needed to seriously put his foot down if he was going to be able to extend his lead enough over second-placed Vettel to still come out in front after his own scheduled final stop.

However, despite the Briton stretching his advantage to 25 seconds when he did finally stop for a third time on Lap 52, it was still not enough to see the 29-year-old retake the lead of the race, with Hamilton coming back out in second place.

Overtaking: C

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The Marina Bay Street Circuit had not tended to produce too many passing manoeuvres during its previous six races, although right at the death there was what could turn out to be an absolutely crucial move come the end of the season when second-placed Hamilton managed to get past Vettel to retake the lead of the race.

The Mercedes driver had just rejoined the track in second after his third and final pit stop knowing that he absolutely had to find a way past the world champion in the remaining nine laps of the grand prix if he wished to move ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg in the drivers’ championship.

And using the huge advantage that his fresh tyres gave him, Hamilton needed just one-and-a-half laps before easily breezing past the German at Turn 7 on Lap 53 before then going on to claim the spoils.

Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas slipped from sixth to 11th late on after losing all grip in his Williams as the Finn’s gamble to stay out on worn tyres did not pay off, while both Jean-Eric Vergne and Perez were able to get past Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen right at the death to claim sixth and seventh places respectively.

Drama: B

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Even before the race had started, Rosberg had a problem involving the steering wheel on his normally reliable Mercedes that then led to an issue with gear selection, meaning the German was unable to start his car for the formation lap.

As a result, the championship leader was forced to begin the grand prix from the pit lane, although with last-placed Rosberg not able to get past the Caterham of Marcus Ericsson due to having no hybrid power, his only hope of somehow finishing in the points lay in his team being able to reset the car’s electronics system at his first pit stop.

But in the end, that plan went up in smokes with Rosberg unable to engage a gear, forcing the 29-year-old to retire on Lap 14, while 17 laps later a crash between Perez and Sutil saw the deployment of the safety car for the seventh race in a row in Singapore as the stewards struggled to clear all the debris from the front wing of the Mexican’s Force India.

Shocks: D

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

As Hamilton also did on his only previous win here at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in 2009, the British driver won from pole position, which on a street circuit that has historically prohibited many overtaking manoeuvres was to be expected pre-race.

However, what had not been foreseen beforehand were the technical issues that bedevilled Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Rosberg, who despite starting the race alongside his championship rival on the front row of the grid, for once this season saw a DNF alongside his name.

Overall: C

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

As Formula One’s original night contest, the Singapore GP is always one of the most eagerly anticipated grands prix in the calendar for fans of the sport, and while Sunday’s contest may not have quite lived up to all those pre-race expectations, it was still fascinating.

In fact, the deployment of the safety car—as always at the Marina Bay Street Circuit—really increased the tension levels in the second half of the race as Hamilton, who prior to the crash involving Sutil and Perez had seemingly been cruising towards his seventh win of the season, suddenly found himself needing to rely on his famous “Hammer time” for the win.

In the end, though, the Briton dramatically managed to get past Vettel on Lap 54—the grand prix only lasted for 60 instead of the intended 61 laps due to the seven laps that the safety car was out for, meaning the race did not finish inside the two-hour cut-off—for his seventh win of the year and his second in a row after victory at Monza last time out.

And now Hamilton heads to Suzuka in a fortnight’s time holding a lead over Rosberg in the drivers’ championship—albeit a slender three-point advantage—for the first time since May with just six encounters left in the campaign.

Follow @Richiereds1976