Hamilton only third as Rosberg moves eight points clear; Ricciardo finishes less than one second behind Rosberg after late change of strategy; Vettel fights to fifth from last; Alonso in the points
Sunday 18 September 2016 19:36, UK
Nico Rosberg has taken the lead of the world championship after winning the Singapore GP while title rival Lewis Hamilton struggled to third place.
After withstanding a late surge from Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, Rosberg's victory, his third in succession since the summer break, has propelled him eight points clear of his Mercedes team-mate with six races remaining.
Red Bull rolled the strategy dice with 15 laps remaining by pitting Ricciardo for a fresh set of tyres but his pursuit of Rosberg ultimately came up one second short in a captivating finish to an otherwise lacklustre race.
Unable to match the pace of Rosberg all weekend, Hamilton fought back to third after a well-timed pit-stop enabled him to leapfrog Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages.
"Big congratulations to Nico, he drove fantastically well all weekend and fully deserved the win," Hamilton acknowledged on the podium.
Ironically, it was Hamilton's stop which triggered Ricciardo's unexpected switch to supersofts that almost saw Red Bull steal the win.
Rosberg would have followed Ricciardo in but after a lap caught in traffic Mercedes opted for Rosberg to remain the tortoise to Ricciardo's hare - a decision which was vindicated at the chequered flag by precisely 0.488 seconds.
"It was so close at the end, how it should be in Formula 1," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Sky F1. "Four really great cars, different strategies and I must take my hat off to Red Bull with strategy by pitting him, we couldn't do that."
Hamilton had earlier been passed on track by the Finn after running wide, while Raikkonen's Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel fought back from starting at the back of the grid to finish fifth with an inspired drive. The former world champion was deservedly rewarded with the Driver of the Day award.
Running to the full two hours, the Grand Prix was bookended by unexpected drama as Nico Hulkenberg crashed off the line after a tardy start by Max Verstappen. Incredibly, the race then restarted after a short Safety Car period despite a marshal still being on track to retrieve the debris from Hulkenberg's crashed Force India.
Watch: A marshal on the track!
Both Rosberg and Hamilton were hindered by brake issues during the opening third of the race although the problem wasn't sufficiently taxing to prevent the German from building up a commanding lead over Ricciardo before tyre strategy levelled the playing field.
But Hamilton never gave the impression of being able to challenge for the win on what Toto Wolff succinctly summarised "as a bad weekend for Lewis".
Effectively out of contention for a podium finish after his poor getaway, Verstappen finished in sixth, one position ahead of Fernando Alonso's McLaren after another gutsy performance from the Spaniard.
Behind the Force India of Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen were ninth and 10th for Toro Rosso and Renault respectively - two results which may prove critical for their hopes of remaining in F1 next season.
Up at the front, meanwhile, the battle for the world championship appears to be going to the wire.
Singapore GP result
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:55:48.950
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +0.488
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +8.038
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +10.219
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +27.694
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +1:11.197
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, +1:29.198
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1.51.062
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, +1:151.557
10. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, +1:59.952
11. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, +1 Lap
12. Felipe Massa, Williams, +1 Lap
13. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, +1 Lap
14. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, +1 Lap
15. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, +1 Lap
16. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, +1 Lap
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, +1 Lap
18. Esteban Ocon, Manor, +2 Laps
DNF: Jenson Button, McLaren, Retired; Valtteri Bottas, Williams, Retired; Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, Retired; Romain Grosjean, Haas, DNS
Don't miss the F1 Report for all the reaction and analysis from the Singapore GP. F1 technical expert Craig Scarborough joins Natalie Pinkham and Marc Priestley in the studio at 8:30pm on Wednesday on Sky Sports F1.
