After Race 14: Singapore

It was almost a case of déjà-vu in this year’s Singapore Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton needed to build enough of a gap to his rivals to make a late-race pit-stop following a SC deployment. Last year, Sebastian Vettel destroyed the rest of the field with a mesmeric performance in the same situation. It was arguably the peak of the Vettel/RBR/Adrian Newey dominance. It was like watching those brilliant Schumi/Ross Brawn strategic masterstrokes or Hamilton himself at Silverstone in 2008. Singapore once again provided us with thrills and spills (maintaining its 100% safety car record), as drivers battled through the intense conditions for the full two-hour race duration.

Fantastic photo from the podium
Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

1. Lewis Hamilton (up four spots)

Having slipped to his lowest position in the F1 Power Rankings over the last couple of races, Hamilton stormed his way back to top them for the first time since Monaco after a near-perfect weekend. Won the psychological battle against Nico Rosberg in qualifying – edging the German by 0.007secs, before falling just two laps shy of a Grand Chelem (each RBR led a lap during pit stops) on Sunday. Rosberg’s retirement has setup a five-race shoot-out for the title.

Hamilton celebrates his second win on the streets of Singapore
Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook)

2. Daniel Ricciardo (no change)

Top spot was up for grabs in this week’s rankings but none of Ricciardo, Kvyat or Bottas could beat their team-mate on Sunday. With plenty of Perth natives making the comparatively short trip up from Western Australia, Ricciardo edged out Vettel in qualifying but fell behind by Turn 1, and that’s where he stayed. Did well to manage his tyres in the closing stages.

Vettel had the upper hand on Sunday
Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

3. Jules Bianchi (up one spot)

It’s a one place rise for Bianchi despite a shock loss to Marcus Ericsson in the backmarker battle as his brakes simply wore out in the closing stages. Annihilated his rivals in quali, however, and especially destroyed his team-mate in the race.

4. Daniil Kvyat (down three spots)

Last week’s F1 Power Rankings leader won’t forget his first Singapore GP for a while. The young Russian exclaimed to his team mid-race that he was dying after his drinks bottle failed before the most physically demanding race of the season. There were happier teams on Saturday, when another excellent effort saw him reach Q3 and outqualify his team-mate.

Meanwhile, at STR, Vergne had a glow-in-the-dark helmet that didn't quite work under the bright lights!
Source: Jean-Éric Vergne (Facebook)

5. Valtteri Bottas (down two spots)

The three-place drop is perhaps a tad harsh but that’s what happens when previous tie-breaks eventually shake themselves out. The Finn is still the highest place driver in this week’s F1 Power Rankings who failed to beat his team-mate in either quali or the race. Several drivers tried to stretch their final stint after the SC and it was Bottas who most spectacularly came up short after his tyres well and truly fell off the cliff on the last lap as he slid from a top-six finish to an agonizing P11.

6. Sebastian Vettel (up one spot)

It took him 14 races, but the four-time reigning world champion finally led a lap for the first time this season. Vettel secured his best result of the season after beating Ricciardo into Turn 1 and then clinging onto his final set of tyres. Vettel has typically thrived in the closing third of each season and he will look to push on in search of that elusive 2014 victory.

Vettel recovered strongly after missing almost the whole of FP2
Source: F1Fanatic

7. Sergio Pérez (up two spots)

Singapore looked to be another lost weekend for Force India. Both cars comfortably out in Q2 and having pretty underwhelming races. Things seemed to have hit rock-bottom when Checo was inexplicably driven into the wall by Sutil, losing his front wing which buckled spectacularly underneath his car. The SC helped him get back on the lead lap and he then, along with Jean-Éric Vergne, used a late tyre change to propel him through the midfield into a cracking P7. Momentum has really swung the Mexican’s way in recent races.

Checo recovered from this to pick up six points for the second race running
Source: F1Fanatic

8. Fernando Alonso (up two spots)

The Luca di Montezemolo era is over. Rather like when Stefano Domenicali left, it appeared as if Alonso would be able to finish on the podium this weekend in tribute to his former boss – as he did in China – but the SC fell at an inopportune moment for the Scuderia. Alonso was back on form this weekend as rumours swirled about his future.

Alonso had an interesting start to his race...
Source: Scuderia Ferrari (Facebook)

9. Nico Rosberg (down three spots)

It says a lot about Rosberg’s momentum that he finds himself ninth in this week’s F1 Power Rankings yet is only three points of the championship lead. The German hasn’t won in four races now and his Singapore GP was effectively over before it begun after problems with his steering wheel electronics.

10. Kevin Magnussen (down two spots)

The two-place is drop is more down to the good drives from Pérez and Alonso than anything else. If anything, what should be noted is the gap between K-Mag and his team-mate. Magnussen again beat his team-mate to make Q3 but a scruffy first lap saw him lose that advantage. A faulty drinks bottle coupled with an overheating seat led to further uncomfortable moments at what is already a trying event but he did steal a point on the last lap thanks to Bottas.

Singapore at dusk
(My personal photography)

11. Felipe Massa (up two spots)

Massa was almost the forgotten man of the weekend. Quietly went about his business throughout the weekend, taking a solid P6 on the grid before a lonely run to the checkered flag in a fine fifth after he drove like his grandmother to save the tyres.

12. Jean-Éric Vergne (up five spots)

JEV is unsurprisingly this week’s big mover after a terrific Singapore GP. He messed up in qualifying and vowed to his STR team that he will deliver in the race – and how he did! Having navigated his way past Kvyat in the early stages (with help from the team), JEV was running solidly in the top ten when they opted for an aggressive final stint. It worked and the Frenchman rocketed up from fourteenth to an equal career-best sixth (Canada ’13), passing three cars in the final two laps of the shortened race and pulling out enough of a gap to absorb his five-second penalty (his second of the race). Fingers crossed, he finds a good home for next season. Reliability has hurt him this season.

Vergne was outstanding on Sunday night
Source: Jean-Éric Vergne (Facebook)

13. Kimi Räikkönen (up two spots)

It’s a case of ‘what might have been’ for The Kimster after his Q3 charge was cut short with a software problem. Still, a good start saw him jump up to P5 before he got stuck behind Jenson Button after the pit-stops. He ultimately slipped to eighth after the charging Vergne and Pérez edged him out.

The Kimster was having a good weekend until a late problem in Q3
Source: Scuderia Ferrari (Facebook)

14. Nico Hülkenberg (down two spots)

Last season, The Hulk enjoyed a strong finish to his campaign as he once again put himself firmly in the discussion for a top-seat drive. This season has been rather the opposite. A strong start to the season has somewhat tailed off and it has been Pérez who has been leading the Force India charge. Hülkenberg out-qualified his team-mate this weekend but the differing strategies late race allowed Checo to be the team’s shining light in the night.

15. Jenson Button (down four spots)

Disappointing weekend for JB. He fell out of quali in Q2 but did manage to make a cracking start to run seventh, and found himself comfortably in the points for most of the race before his car died with less than ten laps to go. Needs to finish the season strongly in order to prove his worth to McLaren – especially as Magnussen has had the better of him recently (hence the slip to 15^th in the rankings).

16. Kamui Kobayashi (down two spots)

KK’s race ended on the formation lap as his Caterham failed. Once again, he crushed Marcus Ericsson in quali.

Kobayashi leaps out of his Caterham
Source: Caterham F1 Team (Facebook)

17. Romain Grosjean (up one spot)

Effectively, it’s no change for Romain this week (the position he gains is from Lotterer). He finally lost patience with his Lotus-Renault in quali, “I cannot believe it! Bloody engine! I don’t care, it’s too much […] we break our balls to make a good qualifying and you lose five tenths every single straight line because the thing cuts…” he vented to his race engineer Ayao Komatsu – who agreed.

18. Esteban Gutiérrez (up three spots)

As we’ve extensively discussed this season, the 2014 Sauber is a horrific machine. That’s why it’s all the more devastating that reliability woes befell Stevie G in a race where stealing a point was distinctly possible. Individually, this was one of Esteban’s stronger weekends.

19. André Lotterer (down three spots)

Lotterer slides down the F1 Power Rankings, as expected, because he’s not here! He did pick up a good win in the WEC in Austin, in a race which was red-flagged after a torrential thunderstorm mid-race.

20. Pastor Maldonado (no change)

Another bad crash for Pastor in free practice generated the age old questions about his talent on social media. A reminder that he is a race winner and qualified on the front row in Singapore in 2012. Looked like he might steal a point this weekend but it wasn’t to be as those with fresher tyres breezed past him.

Oh Pastor...
Source: AFP/Getty

21. Adrian Sutil (down two spots)

I’ll be amazed if Sutil is on the grid next season. The hugely underwhelming German once again found himself out in Q1 and was having a typically mediocre race before he basically put Checo Pérez into the wall as he drove across the track. Now, in fairness to Sutil, it is reasonable to believe that another car might not necessarily be in that position… but the fact is they were battling – so Sutil clearly should have been looking in his mirrors at the time. It’s not the first his first strange crash in Marina Bay either, following his embarrassing incident with Nick Heidfeld in 2009. Oh, and he was thrashed by Gutiérrez this weekend.

=22. Marcus Ericsson (up one spot) & Max Chilton (no change)

Fair play to Ericsson, he held off the ailing Jules Bianchi in the closing stages to ‘win’ the backmarker battle, having kept his nose clean throughout the race. It was another pretty poor effort from Chilton, who simply hasn’t progressed from his rookie year.

Ericsson enjoyed one of his best races to date
Source: Caterham F1 Team

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