After Race 13: Singapore

You know how this works by now, let's get cracking...

1. Sebastian Vettel (last week: 1^st, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 4^th)

Sebastian Vettel clinched his third career Grand Chelem (pole, win, FL, led every lap) – becoming only the second driver in F1 history (after Jim Clark) to complete one in three consecutive seasons. His 33^rd career win moves him ahead of Fernando Alonso into sole possession of 4^th-all-time. More booing again on the podium and credit Martin Brundle for discouraging it – it is the responsibility of the rival big teams to stop the domination, namely Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren.

2. Fernando Alonso (last week: 2^nd, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 13^th)

Another super Sunday drive from the double world champion; a ridiculous start saw him gain four spots by turn two and he then mastered his tyres to finish second, as Ferrari’s safety car gamble paid off.

Alonso gave his good friend a lift home - they were both reprimanded
Source: FOM TV images

 3. Kimi Räikkönen (last week: 4^th, up one spot) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th)

In his first race since the Ferrari announcement – and also the revelation that he has not been paid all season – it looked as if Kimi Räikkönen would be on course for a low-key weekend with back pain limiting his potential, something reflected by his Q2 exit while Romain Grosjean netted third. However, like Alonso, he used the SC to help him eek out his tyre life and netted a superb podium on the bumpy street track.

4. Lewis Hamilton (last week: 3^rd, down one spot) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 9th)

Strange weekend for Lewis Hamilton. We’ve become used to seeing him really come alive on the street circuits but, just like in Monaco, it was Nico Rosberg who was the lead Mercedes through quali and the race.

=5. Mark Webber (last week: 5^th, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 15^th) & Nico Rosberg (last week: 6^th, up one spot) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th)

In the end, Mark Webber’s final Singapore Sling turned out to be a rather miserable affair. He’ll be disappointed at how big the gap to Vettel was through quali and the race but he was on course for a solid P4 until his late mechanical failure. To rub salt in the wounds, the wonderful post-race scenes of the Aussie hitchin’ a ride home with Alonso resulted in Webber picking up a ten-place grid penalty for Korea as it was his third reprimand. Rosberg, as mentioned earlier, had a strong weekend and was unlucky not to finish on the podium after the safety car jumbled up the strategies – but such things happen on street circuits.

7. Nico Hülkenberg (last week: 7^th, no change) (Season high: 7^th, low: 19^th)

Having been stunned by Esteban Gutierrez in quali, The Hulk bounced back in the race and enjoyed battling for points once again. He was rightly fuming at having to let Sergio Pérez past him by the stewards – and rightly so, replays showed that Checo clearly tapped Nico Hülkenberg, forcing him to cross the white line off the track. He is peaking at the right time as he aims for a 2014 Lotus seat.

8. Felipe Massa (last week: 8^th, no change) (Season high: 3^rd, low: 15^th)

Given the recent news, it was rather amusing to see Felipe Massa outqualify his team-mate but that was corrected within metres off the start line. Massa had a solid race to finish where he started but it was strange Ferrari opted to pit him in the final stint rather than gamble on a double podium.

9. Romain Grosjean (last week: 10^th, up one spot) (Season high: 6^th, low: 22^nd)

Another case of “what might have been” for Romain Grosjean. An excellent third on the grid saw him spend the whole race in podium contention until a problem with the air consumption ended his race – much to Grosjean’s expected dismay.

10. Jenson Button (last week: 11^th, up one spot) (Season high: 5^th, low: 16^th)

A decent race for JB and all credit to McLaren for gambling on a podium in their final stint. He was a staggering nine seconds a lap off the pace in the closing stages as his tyres fell away and an eventual seventh place finish is probably a fair result.

11. Sergio Pérez (last week: 11^th, no change) (Season high: 8^th, low: 17^th)

No change for Checo: he was shaded by Jenson Button through the latter half of the weekend and was rather lucky to finish above Hülkenberg for the reasons mentioned above. The comments from Martin Whitmarsh are strange and extremely harsh – Checo has had a decent season, all things considered.

12. Esteban Gutiérrez (last week: 17^th, up five spots) (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd)

Easily Guti’s best display in F1; the young Mexican made Q3 for the first time this season and had a strong race. His inexperience showed in the closing stages as he struggled to maintain a top-ten position on worn tyres but it was an encouraging weekend, nonetheless.

13. Daniel Ricciardo (last week: 9^th, down four spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 18^th)

Another excellent qualifying performance from Daniel Ricciardo but it evaporated as the lights went out with a dreadful start. A poor rookie mistake saw him crash upon entry to the grandstand tunnel.

14. Giedo van der Garde (last week: 15^th, up one spot) (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd)

Another strong race for VDG moves him to the top of the Caterham/Marussia battle for the first time in the F1 Power Rankings. He once again mixed it with the Williams in the early stages and wound up finishing top of the class after the gruelling two hour race.

15. Jules Bianchi (last week: 13^th, down two spots) (Season high: 6^th, low: 15^th)

It’s a season low for Jules Bianchi although that’s more due to the recent rise of Giedo van der Garde that deserves credit. A tough race for Bianchi saw him need a new steering wheel in the early stages after a gearbox problem but he was once again comfortably quicker than Max Chilton – even if the latter decided to disobey team orders and hold him up.

16. Paul di Resta (last week: 14^th, down two spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 17^th)

The desperate times continue for PDR. Eliminated in Q1 once again, he put in a strong early performance to get some crucial TV coverage as he ran third during the first round of pit-stops. He was on course for solid points until a poor mistake saw him end his night in the barriers.

17. Adrian Sutil (last week: 19^th, up two spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th)

A rather anonymous race from Adrian Sutil although he did manage to score a point thanks to the late demise of both his team-mate and Webber.

18. Jean-Eric Vergne (last week: 15^th, down three spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th) 

Another man with a rather non-descript weekend. Outqualified by Ricciardo, the two STRs ran together in the early stages but neither looked likely to score points despite showing decent pace in practice.

19. Charles Pic (last week: 18^th, down one spot) (Season high: 7^th, low: 19^th)

I’m not going to lie, this is a straight copy’n’paste from last week: “The battle at Caterham has evened up recently, which does not reflect well on the team’s ‘veteran’.”

=20. Max Chilton (last week: 20^th, no change) (Season high: 17^th, low: 22^nd), Pastor Maldonado (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd) & Valtteri Bottas (Season high: 10^th, low: 21^st) (both were =21^st last week, up one spot) 

Little to separate this trio. Williams were disappointing once again – finishes of 11^th and 13^th were flattered by the retirements while Chilton was again outperformed by Bianchi.

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