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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 15th 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Ericsson enjoyed one of his best races to date Source: Caterham F1 Team |
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