Lewis dominates under the stars: 2014 F1 Singapore Grand Prix

The 14th leg of the 2014 Formula One season finds its way to the Lion City. A regular fixture on the calendar since the inaugural race back in 2008, the much-heralded Singapore Grand Prix is the only race to start and finish under the lights. Having a starting time of 8pm local time, the Marina Bay Circuit is transformed into a party and racing mecca for petrolheads from the Asia- Pacific region and the world over.

Since 2008, Singapore has been known for a few things. It has never experienced rain during qualifying and, more importantly, during the race itself. Plus the Mercedes AMG Safety Car will always make an appearance (or two or three) during the 61 lap race. True to form, the weather held up and provided the much-loved night time action that the Marina Bay Circuit has been known for. The safety car did see a bit of action, with Bernd Maylander driving the wheels off the Mercedes SLS.

Saturday saw the Mercedes pair heading the grid. It was Lewis Hamilton over Nico Rosberg by an incredible 0.007 seconds. The Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo took 3rd, while four-time World Champion SebastianVettel slotted in 4th. Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari took 5^th, with Felipe Massa of Williams Martini Racing rounding up the top 6 .

Race Sunday saw the usual pre-race festivities that Singapore has been known for: concerts, buskers, racing-themed displays and the like. But at the pit straight, it was business as usual for the teams—except for one. As the drivers they made their way onto their starting positions, Nico Rosberg had a software glitch and had to replace his steering wheel before leaving the garage. Unfortunately for Nico, during the warm up lap, his car once again failed him and the team had replace the steering wheel yet again. This meant that Rosberg had to start from the pitlane, behind everyone else.

As the lights went out to signal the start of the 2014 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton started out flying. He led the field into the first series of turns. Sebastian Vettel jumped his teammate, Ricciardo. Fernando Alonso, who had to use the run off area, got up as high as P2 but eventually had to relinquish the position, lest the stewards penalize him for gaining an advantage by cutting the chicane. Ricciardo, who was pushed by Vettel at the start, held on to P4, while Kimi Raikkonen who also had a great start was in P5.

Rosberg, sitting at the pit exit, had to wait for the cars to pass before driving out. Nico then hounded the Marussias, Caterhams, and the like to try to get a respectable finish. This was his worst starting position of this season.

Then things just got worse and worse for the championship leader. The electronics housed in the steering wheel only gave Nico upshifts and no downshifts. One could sense the agony under Rosberg’s helmet as he stood to lose his lead in the championship to his teammate.

Hamilton and Vettel took turns setting the fastest lap times, with Lewis gaining a three-second lead over Sebastian by lap 9. Rosberg, who still was having problems with his car was languishing in P20, and from the time set by Lewis and Sebastian, he could be lapped by the leaders in about 10 laps or so. Nico was just struggling and there was no relief in sight for the German.

As the cars came in for their scheduled pit stops, all eyes were on Rosberg as he made his way in on lap 12. Hoping that another change of the steering wheel would remedy the technical glitches, Nico was made to stand at the pit box for more than a minute. Eventually, the team had to call it a night and had him shut down the car. Toto Wolff headed down the pit wall and tried to console a dejected Rosberg, who, found solice later in the fact that, while he did lose his lead in the standings, it was not by much.

Hamilton for his part, just kept his head down and kept and pulling away, while using less fuel than his rivals. Midway in the race, Perez and Grosjean who were tussling for position, caused the safety car to make its mandatory apperance in Singapore. The nose of Perez’s car broke off and lodged itself under the car while fighting with the Lotus. Debris scattered about and had to cleaned up by the marshalls. This went on for a few laps, and when the safety car was called in, racing resumed with Lewis posting a one-second lead over his nearest rival at the re-start. All this, while using up less fuel than anyone else.

Hamilton was determined to build a big enough gap, that when the time came for him to pit for his final tire change, he could still come out in front. But on lap 50, Lewis came over the radio, stating that the tires seemingly have lost grip and might not last long enough to get the required 27 second lead for him to maintain P1.

Lap 52 saw Lewis dive into the pitlane. A tidy stop was warranted, but slight hesitation from a mechanic saw Hamilton stationary for about four seconds. As he was given the green light to go, Vettel rounded the final turn, and as both cars made their way past turn 1 and 2, Vettel went past the Mercedes, to the jubilation of the Red Bull fans in the grandstands.

But this was shortlived, as the Mercedes was on fresher tires and after just one lap, Lewis was breathing down the neck of the German. Hamilton took advantage of the DRS zone to easily pass the Red Bull. The crowd went ballistic. There was nothing Vettel could do but give up the position and just try and hold on for a decent finish. The Mercedes was simply too strong.

As all of this was going on, Bottas was defending against his fellow Finn, Kimi, for 6th position, and Alonso was hounding Ricciardo for 3rd. Vettel simply held off the slew of cars behind him.

A two hour limit for the Grand Prix has always been in place. As another footnote in its seven year run, the Singapore GP has always nearly reached the time limit. In 2012 it finally did reach the limit, running only 59 laps, 2 laps less than planned. Fastforward to 2014: Lap 59 saw three minutes remaining on the clock, the Singapore GP will once again finish with a timer countdown rather than actual laps run.

As Lewis Hamilton crossed the line, one lap less than the acutal race distance, the Marina Bay Circuit lit up with a colorful display of fireworks that could be seen from miles around. Sebastian Vettel took 2nd with teammate Daniel Ricciardo taking the last step on the podium. Missing the podium was Fernando Alonso, who came in 4th followed by Felipe Massa and Jean-Eric Vergne in 5th.

With this win, Lewis Hamilton vaulted past Nico Rosberg for the championship lead, Lewis with 241 points to Nico’s 238. Ricciardo maintained his grip on P3 on the standings, while Fernando Alonso stood firm on P4.

Up next is the Japanese Grand Prix, and, if the conspiracy theorist are to be believed, Hamilton will once again reign supreme, being the favored one in the Mercedes team. Some believe that F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone will scrap the double points scheme for the Abu Dhabi race. Whatever the outcome, the final five races will be sensational!