Christian Horner, Team Principal: "A tremendous performance by both drivers. After an interesting start, Fernando had to give back the position to Sebastian, but unfortunately not Daniel also, and after that it was all about getting into the race. We went onto the soft tyre at the first stop, by the time we got to the second, Fernando had got the undercut on us, so we went onto the different tyre to change the strategy. Then the pace car came out and we were in a horrible situation of having to decide if the tyre could make it to the end, but the drivers did an incredible job today, and got the cars to the finish on what must have been minimal rubber by the end. So, second and third is a great team performance, especially with the double pit stop during the race which was done in an exceptional time."
Thierry Salvi, Renault: "A difficult race today but we got the most we could have expected with a double podium. Sebastian had to fight from the beginning of the race, pushing to get the maximum of the car while keeping the tyre degradation under control. He managed very well until the end of the race and second place is a great result for him and the team. Daniel had reliability issues with his power unit and had to manage the energy management in very tricky situations. He again proved his ability to stay calm and focused, even in difficult situations, and stayed very quick. Once again reliability is the key point and we suffered this weekend. The car has the potential to win and we need to work harder to deliver it in the final races of the season."
Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton took an impressive victory in the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix this evening, while Nico Rosberg was forced to retire in a tense race at the spectacular Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Lewis completed a clean sweep of pole position, fastest lap and victory for the fifth time in his Formula One career. This marks Lewis' 29th career Formula One win - his eighth for Mercedes AMG Petronas.
Nico was forced to retire on lap 13 after a steering column wiring loom failure. The malfunction was first detected on the laps to the grid and eventually left him stuck in neutral at his first pit stop.
Lewis now leads the Formula One World Drivers' Championship by three points from his team-mate. Mercedes AMG Petronas continue to lead the Constructors' Championship - now by a margin of 174 points.
Toto Wolff: What an incredible race from Lewis. After the Safety Car came in, it needed qualifying laps every time round to build the gap - and he did that faultlessly. These are the days when drivers like Lewis show what makes the difference between star drivers and the superstar drivers. Congratulations to him. On the other side, it was a bitter afternoon for Nico. It looks like a loom in the steering column failed and that was the root of his problems. When he came back to the garage, I told him we were sorry to have let him down - and he handled the whole situation in a very professional way. We have a missile of a car this year but these reliability issues keep tripping us up. The parts will be sent back to base tonight for forensic analysis by our reliability group. We have an excellent team dedicated to quality and we will track down this failure and make sure it does not happen again. Looking at the Championship, the pressure is now on for both drivers with such a small gap and five races to go. It will give us a few more grey hairs - but it's great for the fans of Formula One.
Paddy Lowe: That was a bittersweet afternoon for the team - a fantastic win for Lewis tempered by disappointment at the technical problem with Nico's car. Although we have not yet fully understood the causes, Nico suffered an electronic problem within his steering column. This manifested itself on his laps to the grid and we changed the steering wheel on the grid in the hope this might resolve the issue. But it became clear as soon as he started the race that only his gear change paddles were working. This meant he had no control over the clutch, or the many different functions he manages from the steering wheel. Among other things, he had significantly reduced energy deployment, which meant he couldn't pass even the slower cars he encountered. At the pit stop, the car became stuck in neutral and we decided to retire because we judged that the mechanism required to restart would have been too dangerous. I can only offer my commiserations and apologies to Nico. On the other side of the garage, Lewis delivered a fantastic performance. The pace was strong and our tyre endurance better than that of our competitors. We were backed into a corner by the Safety Car at the mid-point of the race, when others decided to go to the end on the prime tyre. But we stuck to our guns, made the right strategy call to stay out and Lewis did the rest. We had hoped to pull the full pit-stop gap over Vettel before Lewis made his final stop but the tyres didn't quite last long enough. That left Lewis with a little work to do when he emerged from the pits, but he enjoyed a significant performance advantage on fresh tyres and made a good pass into Turn 7. It was a very controlled drive and a hard-earned win.
Pat Fry: "Here in Singapore, the performance of the two F14 Ts was a pleasant surprise, as we have never been as close to the front runners this season. The technical characteristics of the track, our development work, the talent of our drivers and the way our car worked on the softer tyres are just some of the elements that explain our good form this weekend. While very encouraging, it was still not enough to achieve the team's objectives and it was a real shame to see second place slip from our grasp with Fernando because of the Safety Car. Unfortunately, with Kimi we didn't manage to get the most out of the car: he had the potential to get a better result, if hadn't been for Massa undercutting him and then, even though he was on fresher tyres, he did not have the top speed to pass Bottas on the straight. Like Monaco, this is a track where it's hard to overtake and the arrival of the Safety Car can jumble up the order. Now, in Suzuka, we will have another opportunity and once again, we will try and fight the Red Bulls and especially the Williams in the Constructors' Championship."
Romain started from P16 on new super soft compound tyres, changing to scrubbed super softs on laps 10 and 22, then new softs on lap 30. Pastor started from P18 on new super soft compound tyres, pitting on lap 11 for a set of new super soft tyres, then on laps 23 and 30 for sets of scrubbed super soft tyres. He made a final stop for a set of new soft tyres on lap 31.
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "We were very close to scoring points with Pastor and Romain today. Unfortunately we couldn't convert the potential into reality in the end but the team did a great job to get both cars to finish the race after the difficulties that we had through the course of the weekend. So I'm happy. Not rock and roll, but happy."
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "Unfortunately we didn't have the pace to challenge for points today but we were very close, closer than we have been for a long time. The safety car period obviously influenced our race strategy so it's hard to say what the maximum could have been were it not for that. We're pleased with the improvement of the E22 which we hope to be able to harness in the next races."
Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: "After the disappointment of yesterday, the Power Unit performed well today, with no issues at all, which is the minimum requirement for every weekend. The drivers were therefore able to show a much more representative pace in the race and could race the Saubers, Force Indias and Toro Rossos. This is much more where we should be and gives confidence for the next race in Suzuka."
The 2014 Singapore Grand Prix was a disappointing race for the entire team. Kevin Magnussen's race was badly affected by extreme heat build-up in his car's cockpit, which was exacerbated by the slows laps spent behind the Safety Car during the middle of the race. One of the few runners inside the top 10 who needed to change tyres during the post-Safety Car stint, he fought back bravely on fresh rubber, finally clinching a single point for 10th on the final lap.
Jenson's race seemed to be coming together as the grand prix entered its final stages - he was running a strong seventh, set to overtake Valtteri Bottas for sixth, when a power box failure shut his car down just eight laps from the finish.
On a happier note, our pit-stop crew performed admirably today - their super-consistent stop-times of 2.23s, 2.31s, 2.32s, 2.33s and 2.34s ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 8th overall today.
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "To score just a single world championship point, after two hours' toil in intense heat and humidity, is of course extremely disappointing for the entire team.
"For Jenson, who was driving exceptionally well in seventh place, cleverly optimising a tricky two-stop strategy, to be forced to retire with power box failure was an especially bitter blow.
"For Kevin, who had driven such an excellent qualifying lap here yesterday, this afternoon was gruelling; there's no other word. His first stint was satisfactory, but in stint two he began to experience tyre degradation to a greater degree than we'd predicted, forcing us to convert his strategy from a two-stopper to a three-stopper.
"To add injury to insult, he was then subjected to severe bodily discomfort as his car's cockpit began to overheat, necessitating his holding his arms aloft, first one then t'other, in an effort to direct cooling air down his sleeves and inside his race-suit, which was an unusually painful complication for him.
"In the end, after an impressively plucky drive in extremely challenging conditions, he was able to score a single point for the team. It was scant consolation, of course it was, but it's indicative of his tremendous fighting spirit, and I commend him for it."
Sahara Force India scored 8 points in Singapore with Sergio Perez racing to seventh and Nico Hulkenberg finishing in ninth place. The team now sits fifth in the championship with 117 points.
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: "To come away from Singapore with eight points in our pocket and fifth place in the championship is a fantastic result. It was an eventful race, especially for Checo, and it was only in the closing laps that the race came back to us. We had to make some difficult decisions on the pit wall today, but I think on the whole we made the right ones. There was a bit of luck, too, but we made the most of our opportunities and Checo and Nico drove extremely well. It sets us up well for the final five races where it's crucial that we continue to score well with both cars."
The Singapore Grand Prix ended in a huge disappointment for the Sauber F1 Team. Neither of the drivers finished the race. Esteban Gutierrez had to retire on lap 18 due to an electrical problem with the power unit, while Adrian Sutil's car had a water leak which forced the team to retire him on lap 41 so not to risk an engine failure.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "That was a very disappointing race. Esteban particulary was in a good position, but he was forced to retire from the race once again due to a problem with the power unit. As Adrian's car had a water leak, the team decided to retire him from the race so not to risk an engine failure. We now have to analyse the reason for this."
Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "Sadly once more our race finished before the chequered flag due to reliabiliy issues. On Esteban's car there was, once again, an electrical problem with the power unit. Adrian experienced a water leak which forced us to stop him as a precautionary measure so not to damage the engine. Before that the race itself was going more or less the way we were expecting. Esteban was on a two stop strategy, but his race ended too early to know whether it would have worked. Adrian was on a three stop strategy, and I think we played it well during the safety car period in order to bring him back into the race, but then he had to stop. This was one of the races where we tried to cover all different possibilities, and in this sense everything was going according to plan. In the past we have seen that just getting the car to the finish line can be rewarded, but in this we failed, due to the reliability issues."
Phil Charles (Chief Race Engineer): "We are very, very pleased! JEV drove an absolutely fantastic race. He had to deal with two 5 second penalties, but having taken his first, with the second we knew the time would be added on at the end, so we kept him informed of the gap to those behind him, after he pulled off some brilliant passing moves and he managed to finish more than the 5 seconds ahead of the seventh placed driver, so he keeps his sixth place. He did absolutely everything right. The team worked very well today and everything generally went to plan, with the strategy working out well, so we are all very happy for JEV. He has been due a decent result, because he's been doing a good job this year, but has had more than his share of bad luck. Daniil was particularly unlucky as he had a drinks bottle problem right from the start, so it was a physically very difficult race for him, as he was unable to drink and was getting dehydrated from quite early on. We're sorry for him that we had that kind of problem, as it compromised his race."
Ricardo Penteado (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): "An amazing result for JEV, who fought back hard from qualifying and two penalties during the race. Daniil struggled without hydration in this very physical race and did well to get to the end. The Power Unit worked well over the race and energy management on JEV's car in particular was very good, allowing him to use his newer tyres at the end to gain so many positions. It was a perfect finish for a difficult weekend."
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We knew it was going to be damage limitation this weekend and on balance we should be pleased with the result as up until the final few corners, we were set to score the same number of points as our nearest rivals in the Championship. We took a calculated risk with the strategy and this succeeded for Felipe as it kept him ahead of Raikonnen who had a faster car, but with Valtteri it didn't pay off as he ran out of tyres on the final lap which cost him sixth place. The drivers did a magnificent job behind the wheel and the team has operated very well all weekend. We are heading to tracks that will suit our car more now and we have maintained our third place in the Championship which was the objective at the beginning of the weekend.
John Booth, Team Principal: "Today's race was every inch the tough challenge we anticipated, so first and foremost all credit to the drivers and the team for their tremendous efforts in managing all the aspects of the race. Overall, not the result we wanted. At most points in the race we were much stronger than Caterham, however our performance on the prime tyre under the safety car was by far our most limiting factor, by having to complete a three-stop race versus their two-stops. Both cars suffered problems in the race, Jules with brake wear issues and Max with a puncture that can be traced to a valve issue."
Claudio Albertini, Head of Customer Teams Power Unit Operations, Scuderia Ferrari: "The start of the weekend was not easy as Max suffered a powertrain issue on Friday. Fortunately, things improved, as we then had no more reliability problems with Max or Jules. During the race, because of the hot and humid conditions, we started to experience a bit of difficulty with the temperature, but then everything went okay and we finished the race without any problems. We know that this specific track, which is similar to Monaco, presents some different challenges to a typical race circuit, so throughout the weekend we had to cope with this, but I think that overall performance was satisfactory."
Manfredi Ravetto, Team Principal: "It's ended up being a very positive weekend here in Singapore. We've managed to beat Sauber from a reliability point of view as well as beating Marussia out on track for the second race weekend in a row. We are definitely on our way up. I would like to thank every single member of the team, both here on track and back at the factory in Leafield - we've all worked very hard and I am proud of the whole team."
Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: "A great result for the team, with Marcus finishing ahead of both Marussias. From our side, however, it was not the most straightforward race. Unfortunately Kamui lost the CU-H at the start of the formation lap and had to stop. We need to look at why this happened in more detail back at Viry. Marcus also had some issues with the energy management system, so it was not optimal from a performance perspective. Nevertheless, we finished ahead of both of our closest rivals, which is a fantastic team effort."
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton made the most of a three-stop strategy to win Singapore and claim the lead of the world championship. He did three opening stints on the P Zero Red supersoft before completing the race, which ran to the two-hour time limit rather than the scheduled 61 laps, on the P Zero Yellow soft.
However, he was closely challenged by Red Bull's reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, who ran a two-stop strategy from fourth on the grid. Vettel did two opening stints on the supersoft and then a final stint on the soft at the end of the grand prix, when the car was at its lightest on low fuel. His team-mate Daniel Ricciardo followed the same strategy to finish third in front of the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.
This allowed Vettel to claim the lead in the closing stages of the race, illustrating perfectly how tyre strategy can make a crucial difference. With a time gap of around two seconds between the compounds, all the drivers started on the faster supersoft. How they used the tyres after that proved crucial, providing the key to the strategy.
Singapore kept up its 100% safety car record following contact between two competitors halfway through the race. Alonso and McLaren driver Jenson Button took the opportunity of the seven-lap safety car period to pit for soft tyres. Both Red Bull and Williams drivers had already pitted for soft tyres before the safety car, meaning that their options were open after running both compounds in the first half of the race.
After the safety car came in, Hamilton needed to extend his lead to around 25 seconds: the time needed to get in and out of the pits. But the Mercedes driver re-emerged in second place after his final stop on lap 52, and used his pace advantage to take the lead back from Vettel shortly afterwards.
Paul Hembery: "Again we saw another very tense and exciting race where different tyre strategies formed a crucial part of the outcome. In the closing stages of the grand prix we had Hamilton on newer soft tyres behind Vettel on older soft tyres, meaning he had to overtake to seal the race victory. Before then, we had the situation where Hamilton, on the faster supersoft tyre, had to build up a crucial half-minute or so gap after the safety car to give him enough time to get in and out of the pits and change to the soft tyre. So, as we have seen before, despite the fact that there were different strategies at work, it was an extremely close finish."
Truth-O-Meter
We predicted three stops for the race: start on the supersoft, change to supersoft again on lap 20, supersoft again on lap 36 and then finish the race on the soft from lap 51. Lewis Hamilton followed the sequence we expected but stopped on lap 15, lap 28, and lap 52. However, this was affected by the safety car, which made a big difference to the pit stop timing.
