Rosberg's problems
The first and most defining part of the whole race, and could've been a defining part in the championship took place even before the Singapore Grand Prix got underway. A crossed wiring loom hits Rosberg, and he is unable to get away for the formation lap, meaning he has to start from the pitlane. He'd unsurprisingly call it a day on Lap 14. Kobayashi's race also ended before the race had even begun. As Martin Brundle said, this is what we all thought would happen in Melbourne, but it hasn't happened till 14 races into a season that has seen the introduction of totally complex and new hybrid systems. The start wasn't the most exciting in the world, the most exciting thing that happened was Alonso cutting the first chicane, but he relinquished the position he gained as a result. My question is if he didn't cut the corner, would he have been ahead of Ricciardo as he didn't relinquish that position. Obviously the stewards don't think so by not giving him any penalty. The first half of the race saw a fair bit of action, particularly in the battle for second between Vettel and Alonso, Alonso was closing on Vettel.Sutil takes off Perez, bringing out the safety car
Here was a major defining point of the race. Sergio Perez wasn't having the best of races, but it all got a lot worse when he pitted, as Adrian Sutil cut across and damaged his front wing. The front wing eventually disintegrated, spreading debris all over the track, causing the safety car to be deployed. It was a dangerous move from Sutil, which could've easily caused Perez's wing to tuck under his car and pitch him into the wall. This totally changed the complexion of the race. Alonso had pitted for the supersoft tyre, which meant he would've easily undercutted the Red Bulls who had pitted just before but Ferrari to sacrifice the two positions to make sure Alonso could get to the end. Hamilton, who had just pitted for supersofts however was not in the best of positions as he had to make another stop and he had to pull a big enough gap to stay in front. Crucially, he rejoined ahead of Ricciardo, when if he hadn't it would've been a lot harder to take the win.Hamilton's defining pass
Hamilton easily cruised up to the rear of Vettel's car, and he breezed past the Red Bull for the lead at Raffles Boulevard. It was a defining moment, definitely in the race, but it could've also been defining for the championship as well. Meanwhile for one of the other British drivers Jenson Button, things weren't going well, as just as Hamilton made the defining pass on Vettel, he reported on the team radio "Total shutdown," and he had to park.Vergne and Force India charge
A lot of action took place in the final few laps. Both Bottas and Raikkonen were struggling for pace as a result of tyre wear, and were being caught by both the Force India cars, with Perez fighting back from his incident with Sutil, and Jean-Eric Vergne. Vergne was on a charge! He was able to first pass the Force Indias, then Raikkonen and Bottas. He had a 5 second time penalty but he had so much pace on fresher tyres that he was able to pull away enough to keep sixth. Perez then passed Raikkonen, before Bottas totally ran out of tyre grip and dropped behind Perez, Raikkonen and Hulkenberg.Hamilton takes championship lead
That was it in terms of action as Lewis Hamilton was able to take his seventh win of the season, thus taking the lead of the drivers standings, albeit by only 3 points. Sebastian Vettel had his best race of the year in second just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in third.Conclusion and the championship fight
In conclusion, I thought it was quite an exciting race, it continued 2014's run of absolutely phenomenal races. Why does there have to be a 2 week break before Japan :( In terms of the championship, it's now anyone's gain really, if no reliability issues hit the Mercedes drivers, then the simple rule is the driver who drives the best wins. However I don't see there being no more reliability issues for Mercedes this year, considering that they don't have the most reliable car on the grid. My prediction for the rest of the season is in one of the last 5 races, one of the Mercedes drivers will have a reliability issue and which ever one it is will lose the title.Team by team review
Mercedes: Easily the quickest on race day but wasn't all plain sailing with Rosberg's failure.
Red Bull: Reasonable run, even though they were fairly lucky to get a double podium with the safety car.
Williams: They'd probably be a bit disappointed with Massa finishing in fifth and Bottas not scoring considering their qually pace.
Ferrari: Pretty sure they will have expected better considering the promise they showed over the course of the weekend.
Force India: They are slowly coming back after their recent slump in form, with double points moving them ahead of McLaren.
McLaren: Disappointing run, considering they showed a fair bit of promise over the course of the weekend.
Toro Rosso: Their strongest showing of the season in terms of pace, especially with a great drive from Vergne.
Lotus: Another difficult race, just were nowhere compared to the drivers who scored points.
Sauber: Another double DNF, To be honest, I think they should be happy if they score a point all season.
Marussia: Not their best race of the season, both cars finished last of the finishers in sixteenth and seventeenth.
Caterham: Ericsson had a good run, however they could only run one car due to Kobayashi's issues.
Hope you've enjoyed reading this blog, and I hope to write another article like this for Japan!
