Lewis scored his 69th career victory today - his seventh of the 2018 Formula One season and fourth at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Valtteri came home in P4, helping the team to extend the lead in the Constructors' Championship.
Today's result marks Lewis' 80th podium with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and the 10th podium for Mercedes-Benz Power in Singapore.
Lewis (281 points) leads the Drivers' Championship by 40 points from Sebastian Vettel (241 points) with Valtteri (171 points) in P4. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (452 points) leads Ferrari (415 points) by 37 points in the Constructors' Championship. Loïc Serra, Chief Vehicle Dynamicist, accepted the Constructors' trophy on behalf of the team.
Toto Wolff: Singapore has been our bogey track for several years, so it is a special feeling to come here and win this race on pace. The entire team has worked so hard to understand the car and take steps forward, especially since our defeat in Spa, and this result is an indication that our work is paying off. We prepared well for this weekend, came here determined to make a step and we delivered. It was a weekend of many parts: a stardust lap from Lewis in qualifying, a chess game of tyre management this evening, and some nervous moments with traffic and backmarkers during the race - but in the end, we outscored our rivals for both championships and delivered a really satisfying result. There will be many discussions about backmarkers, who had a big influence on both drivers' races; I think this is a topic for the drivers to discuss among themselves, but perhaps there is a way to optimise those blue flag rules on street circuits like this. From our side, we can be pleased with a very solid weekend. We have leads in both championships but they change nothing in the mind-set of this team. We have six weekends to go and we know how quickly the situation can swing back against us. We will take it weekend by weekend, feet on the ground and determined to maximise our potential every time.
James Allison: Yesterday felt great, exhilarating and breathless, but about five minutes afterwards, those feelings disappear and our thoughts turn to the race; making good on pole position takes over our world. Now, just 24 hours later, a wonderful feeling of contentment washes through the whole team from the knowledge that we've done a good job here and increased our lead in both championships. More importantly, we have put right the weaknesses that have plagued us at this circuit for a number of seasons and validated a lot of the theories and analysis of why we have suffered previously. This sport can beat you up, like happened recently to us in Spa, but it is days like today that remind us why we are so very fortunate to work in Formula One. But this feeling, too, will last for about 10 more minutes before we begin fretting about Sochi, because our competition is desperately strong and the remaining races cover a very wide range of challenges. We are all aware that we need to keep having weekends like this one if we are to finally achieve the results that we so crave.
Maurizio Arrivabene: "Today's winner deserved the victory. After Sebastian overtook Verstappen, we went for an aggressive strategy, trying for the undercut on the Ultrasoft tyres. Unfortunately, during the one lap that would prove to be crucial, we found ourselves behind another car and so we were unable to run at a fast enough pace. Despite today's result, not all is lost. Now, calmly and with determination, we will tackle the remaining six races, fighting all the way to the end."
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "It was a very strong drive from Max today to finish second behind Lewis, achieving our ninth consecutive podium in Singapore. On the first lap he dropped a place to Seb in the drag down to Turn 5, but thereafter we managed to make the strategy work in order to jump Ferrari at the pit stop and get Max alongside Seb as he exited the pits. From then on, Max tried to put pressure on Lewis but Lewis always had a tenth or two in hand. Daniel held his position at the start but his race then became about tyre management and trying to go as long as possible in the first stint in order to give him the better Ultrasoft tyre for the second half of the race. Despite setting fastest laps as he caught Bottas and Raikkonen it was impossible to get close enough to overtake and it's frustrating that sixth was all that was on the table for him today. It's encouraging to get both cars to the finish for the first time since the French Grand Prix and it's been a very strong weekend in the garage from all the guys and the Renault technicians to try and solve the driveability issues."
Otmar Szafnauer: "An extremely disappointing race. It's unacceptable for teammates to hit each other and it has cost us dearly. They didn't leave each other enough room and the contact put Esteban into the wall. We will therefore reinstate the rules of engagement we operated last year after similar incidents, which means they cannot race each other. This disastrous race is all the more frustrating when you consider the speed we showed in qualifying and the opportunity that has passed us by. These painful lows are part of racing and it's fair to say that there are very few positives to take from tonight apart from the car pace. We will have some discussions behind closed doors and will learn from what happened so that we can become stronger as a team."
Lance Stroll finished 14th and Sergey Sirotkin 19th in the Singapore Grand Prix. Sergey started on the ultrasoft Pirelli tyre in P19, with Lance P20 on the soft Pirelli tyre. The Safety Car was immediately deployed on the first lap. Sergey picked up debris so made an early stop, switching to the soft tyre on lap 3 as the safety car ended. Both drivers made a clean restart, Lance climbed to P14, with Sergey behind in P15. Lance pitted on lap 40 for the ultrasoft tyre whilst Sergey pitted again on lap 45.
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: It was a normal long race in Singapore and full of events. Sergey picked up a bit of wheel rim from Ocon's accident which meant we had to take an early stop. We put the soft tyre on, planning to go to the end. Sergey did a fantastic job, managing the tyre and his pace, keeping traffic behind him under a lot of pressure. He ultimately got caught up in an impact with Perez, and that ruined his race otherwise he could have been looking at quite a good finishing position. On Lance's side, we took advantage of the traffic and the different queues on the circuit to optimise his pitstop which gave him a better track position than we could have hoped for at the start. He was able to come in 15th on the road and inherited 14th due to a time penalty for Grosjean, which we were chasing until the end. So real congratulations to the team, another two cars home in a very tough race, and especially to the drivers; they were driving at the maximum for nearly two hours and got the best they could from the car.
Renault Sport Formula One Team recorded its sixth double-points finish of the season after Carlos Sainz's eighth place and Nico Hulkenberg's tenth place finish in the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Both drivers made clean starts with Carlos passing Nico into turn one then holding that position in the early running. Carlos - on his 75th Grand Prix start - enjoyed a quiet race from there, running a long first stint on the Ultrasoft tyre, before comfortably finishing in eighth for the second time in as many races.
After starting on the Hypersoft tyre, Nico - on his 150th start - pitted early and ran long on the Ultrasofts, driving a smart and calculated race to the flag for his first points finish since the German Grand Prix. Five points means the team extend their lead in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship to 15 points over fifth place.
Nico started from P10 on used Pirelli Hypersoft (pink) tyres, pitting on lap 15 for a new set of Ultrasoft (purple) tyres. Carlos started from P12 on new Ultrasoft tyres, pitting on lap 37 for a new set of Soft (yellow) tyres.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "Overall, we're satisfied with this evening's race as both cars finished in the points. We didn't qualify as well as we could have yesterday so we needed a strong performance today and both drivers and the engineers on the pit wall delivered what was required. After a poor start, Nico drove sensibly with his head to return to the points, making the most of an undercut on Grosjean followed by a very long stint on the Ultrasofts. On his side, after a good start, Carlos drove smartly, attacking when it mattered and controlling when necessary for his eighth place. Five points is a useful benefit to our battle in the Constructors' Championship, as we know it will be very tight in the next six rounds. On a broader note, we saw Red Bull and Max Verstappen on the front row and finishing second for the second time this season, which is a good reward for the C-spec engine, demonstrating our progress on that front. But, on the power unit, like on every other area of the car, we can measure this weekend once again the work we have ahead of us."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "We were quite optimistic arriving in Singapore that we could score some points because we have been quite competitive here in previous years. However, we didn't show the pace required to finish inside the top 10, so we need to analyse why we didn't perform as expected, and what we have to change to increase our performance for the next races. Pierre made a very good start, he was able to gain a couple of positions and he defended well until his pit stop, while Brendon gained a position and avoided the incident at Turn 3. At the beginning we thought we could bring Pierre close to the top 10, but as the race went on the pace was not there which meant we were unable to achieve a points position."
Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director): "We struggled at the start of the weekend, with a lack of pace from FP1 onwards and although we made a small improvement in time for qualifying, it wasn't really enough to be competitive in the mid-field. Again, we saw that improvement in our race pace tonight, but starting so far back it was always going to be very difficult to get into the points on a street circuit where overtaking is very difficult. So, overall a tough and disappointing weekend. Now our attention turns immediately to the next round in Russia."
Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finished 15th and 18th, respectively, in the Singapore Grand Prix Sunday at Marina Bay Street Circuit. The longest race in the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship proved arduous for the American squad, as its two drivers endured the 61-lap contest around the 5.063-kilometer (3.146-mile), 23-turn track with no points to show for their efforts.
There was a silver lining, however, as Magnussen, in his 75th career Formula One start, set the fastest lap of the race - a 1:41.905 on lap 50. It was the first time Magnussen has achieved this accolade in a career dating back to 2014.
Grosjean started eighth while Magnussen started 16th. The distance between the two Haas F1 Team drivers meant different pit strategies.
After qualifying among the top-10 for the eighth straight time, Grosjean started on the Pirelli P Zero Pink hypersoft tire, as all those who advanced to the final round of knockout qualifying must start the race on the tire they used in qualifying. Magnussen was free to choose his tire compound to start the race, and he opted for the Purple ultrasoft.
Tire degradation was a key component of the Singapore Grand Prix, with the hypersoft delivering the most speed, but only for a short period of time before becoming too worn to bring any more performance. The Yellow soft - the hardest tire of the three compounds Pirelli brought to Singapore - had almost no degradation. The ultrasoft served as the happy medium between the hypersoft and soft.
Grosjean held steady in eighth place for the race's first 15 laps, pitting for new Yellow softs on lap 16. This dropped him to 18th.
Magnussen, meanwhile, stayed out until lap 26, where he pitted and joined his teammate on Yellow softs. By staying out longer, Magnussen was able to climb to 12th before the pit stop sent him back to 19th.
By the halfway mark of the race, Grosjean was 16th and Magnussen was 19th, and with varying pit strategies in place by other teams up and down the pit lane, there was still hope forward progress could be made.
The Haas F1 Team drivers didn't let strategy alone dictate their outcome. Magnussen had a spirited battle with the Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley, first on lap 36 and again on lap 43. Grosjean fought with the Williams of Sergey Sirotkin on lap 37, ultimately grabbing 14th, but while also incurring a five-second penalty for not heeding the blue move-over flags as race leader Lewis Hamilton was right behind Grosjean as he raced wheel to wheel with Sirotkin.
Magnussen, mired in 18th, pitted again on lap 36, swapping his soft tires for hypersofts. This dropped him to 19th, but Magnussen quickly earned the spot back when Force India's Sergio Perez had to serve a drive-through penalty, allowing Magnussen to get by.
Magnussen soon had Hartley in his sights again, and he picked off the Toro Rosso driver on lap 43 with a decisive move off turn one. It was all for naught, however, as Magnussen needed to make a third pit stop on lap 48 for another set of hypersofts.
But the fresh rubber combined with a light fuel load and clean air did allow Magnussen to turn the race's quickest lap shortly after returning to the track.
Despite being fast, Magnussen was stuck in 18th, as the gap to 17th-place Hartley was too much to overcome. Grosjean crossed the stripe in 13th, but once his five-second time penalty was assessed, he fell to 15th.
Fifteen rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team remains fifth in the constructors' standings with 76 points, 15 points behind fourth-place Renault with an 18-point advantage over sixth-place McLaren. Magnussen is ninth in the driver's championship with 49 points and Grosjean is 14th with 27 points.
Six races remain, with the next event being the Russian Grand Prix Sept. 30 at Sochi Autodrom.
Guenther Steiner: "Not the weekend we wanted. We fought hard. If you have to start on these tires, and the other ones are so much superior, if you qualify outside of the top-10, you have such an advantage, which you cannot make up in the race. Then we got stuck behind the Williams, which didn't move out of the way, one thing went to another, and that's where we ended up. Nevertheless, I think we tried to do our best. We are not as bad as it looks like."
A strong Singapore Grand Prix for the team as Fernando brought home six points in seventh position. Stoffel, starting from 18th, drove a solid race despite it being relatively incident-free up front, to finish in 12th.
Both drivers made strong starts - Fernando was up to ninth after the first lap - and both managed to avoid getting caught up in the first-lap collision. Although Stoffel initially lost a position and dropped down to 19th after the early Safety Car, both he and Fernando were able to push hard during their long first stints, gradually picking off their competitors and moving up the field as the cars ahead pitted one-by-one.
The team's strategy was executed successfully, and gave both drivers a fighting chance to maximise the pace in their cars with only one stop apiece. Both drivers battled the heat and humidity well during this notoriously long, tough race, and secured a positive and well-deserved result for the team.
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "I think we can be very happy about the result today. Overall it has been a very positive weekend.
"The car showed great pace in the race and our strategy team executed the job perfectly for both Fernando and Stoffel.
"Stoffel also drove a good, clean race, and showed strong pace when he had some free air ahead, which was crucial to gaining six positions in a race without many incidents to take advantage of.
"Quite honestly, Fernando's pace was quite incredible during the race to bring the car home in P7. At one point, we had the fastest lap of the race, which is a great reward for all the hard work that has been going on behind the scenes not only by everybody here trackside, but also back at the factory."
The spectacular Formula One night race in Singapore has come to an end, with Charles Leclerc having scored two more points for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team. Marcus Ericsson was also close to a top-ten finish, with a consistent performance having him reach the chequered flag in P11. Starting from P13 and P14, both drivers made a good start and gave a strong performance, each fighting their way to the upper midfield on a one-stop strategy, challenged by high temperatures and the hurdles posed by the demanding Marina Bay Street Circuit.
With confidence and motivation high, the team is heading back to the Switzerland headquarters to prepare for the next Grand Prix weekend in Russia.
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team currently holds 9th place in the Constructors' Championship. Charles Leclerc is in 15th (15 points), and Marcus Ericsson in 18th (6 points) place in the Drivers' Championship.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "We are satisfied with our result today. After a tricky start to the weekend, we recovered well and qualified in decent positions. Our strategy was good and both drivers gave a strong and consistent performance in a very demanding race. Charles finished in P9 adding two more points to our tally, and Marcus was also close to finishing in the top ten. We have to stay focussed and continue improving this way, and I look forward to the next Grand Prix in Russia."
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore Grand Prix from pole, having stopped just once. Like all of the top 10 on the grid, Hamilton started on the P Zero Pink hypersoft, which on Friday and Saturday had proved to be more than a second and a half quicker than the ultrasoft. He made a single stop for the soft compound on lap 15 and then managed his advantage to the finish, without ever losing the lead, thanks to a pace that was faster than those who instead changed to ultrasofts. Like all those who started on the hypersoft, Hamilton benefitted from four laps under the safety car at the start of the race, which prolonged the life of the softest compound.
A number of other strategies were tried, including a hypersoft-ultrasoft one-stopper used by Sebastian Vettel to finish third, behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen - on the same strategy as Hamilton. Verstappen's Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo also used a hypersoft-ultrasoft strategy to good effect, showing plenty of speed at the end of the race. The highest-placed driver to begin the race on ultrasoft was McLaren's Fernando Alonso, who finished seventh after starting from outside the top 10 on the grid. The fastest lap of the race was set by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, beating the previous race lap record by more than three seconds.
Singapore kept up its 100% safety car record with an early appearance: because of this it did not substantially affect race strategy.
Mario Isola: "As expected, Singapore was a very long, complex, and demanding race, while the 100% safety car record was maintained. This added another strategic element to what was already a tactically complex race. We saw a number of different strategies at work and a varying number of stops, with the top 10 on the grid all starting on the hypersoft that gave them extra speed at the very beginning of the race but left them open to the possibility of losing track position to those who completed a longer opening stint on a harder tyre or operated an alternative strategy."
