Six races remain in the 2017 Formula One season and on the evidence of the Singapore Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has every right to believe that going into them he has the racing deities firmly onside. The British driver had said he required “a miracle” to win at the Marina Bay street circuit and, within seconds of the lights going out in what may well be this season’s defining moment of high drama, he had it. With his championship rival Sebastian Vettel eliminated from the race, the chance of a win and a commanding lead in the title race was in his hands.
He grasped it energetically and with considered, controlled and consummate skill in difficult conditions. The victory he completed extends his lead over Vettel from three points to 28. It represents a huge swing in his favour and an absolute body blow to the German and Ferrari, who were left to consider how a race that they were expecting to win could end so disastrously.
The three-times world champion, who is now squarely in the driving seat for the title, acknowledged his good fortune. Asked if it was an answer to a prayer, he said: “I think it definitely was.”
He was also absolutely aware of how important a result it had been. “I came here with the idea of damage limitation,” he added. “Thinking I would come out again behind in the championship. Now I am much further ahead, so I count my blessings.”
Hamilton had been outpaced by both the Ferraris and the Red Bulls in qualifying, the Mercedes struggling on the 23 predominantly slow corners that define the high-downforce challenge of Singapore. He had started from fifth with Vettel on pole and minimising the points he expected to drop had been the aim as he sat on the grid.
That goal had changed radically by the exit of the first corner. In the rain, inaugurating a wet race for the first time under the lights of Marina Bay, Vettel’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had a lightning start from fourth. He came up the inside but with Vettel shifting his line to the left to go defensive into turn one, the two Ferraris sandwiched the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Raikkonen hit the Dutch driver, who had nowhere to go, and the Finn was buffeted into his team-mate. Both Verstappen and Raikkonen were eliminated and Vettel took damage to his left sidepod, subsequently spun heading to turn three and lost his front wing when hitting the wall, ending his race.
Amid the carnage Hamilton had swooped round the outside, avoiding any contact, and had the lead moments after Vettel’s spin. He still had much to do but in a race interrupted repeatedly by the safety car he maintained absolute control. The team called his tyre strategy with aplomb and the chasing Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo could not come close enough to challenge. The Australian finished in second ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. The full distance could not be run, with the racing ending on the two-hour limit after 58 laps. Hamilton had battled hard for every minute of them.
His reward was as unexpected going into the weekend as it was doubtless welcome. He has led the championship only once this season, after his victory at the last round in Monza, and Ferrari were strong favourites here. It is a track where Mercedes have traditionally struggled and is accepted as their most challenging race of the season. To leave without dropping points and also having increased his advantage, with the majority of the six remaining races likely to favour his car, was more than he or Mercedes could have hoped for.
The team’s executive director, Toto Wolff, acknowledged as much. “This morning we woke up with a bad feeling, talking about damage limitation,” he said. “Here we are with a P1 and a P3 and a massive step forward in the championship.”
Ferrari, in contrast, were left to pick up the pieces of an ignominious failure and begin a debrief that will be very difficult. It is the first time in 67 years of racing that the Scuderia has had both its cars eliminated on the opening lap. The team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, described it as “an unfortunate day for Ferrari”. That is an understatement at best and he made no further comment before leaving the track. Vettel called it “not ideal”, he likewise understating what may well prove a cataclysmic blow to his title challenge.
The crash was investigated after the race by the stewards and adjudged to be a racing incident, with no further action to be taken, but earlier the team had tweeted their belief that Verstappen was to blame: “VER took #Kimi7 out and then he went to #Seb5.” However, with hindsight Vettel must consider that moving across the track to defend against a charging Verstappen was too aggressive a move with a world championship at stake.
Verstappen was unequivocal in his belief that Vettel had made the wrong move. “I think Sebastian started squeezing me,” he said. “Maybe he did not see Kimi on the left but that is not an excuse. He shouldn’t take those risks. I don’t think it was a racing incident. Three cars were taken out and I was in the middle not doing anything wrong.”
Vettel won four titles with Red Bull but the team principal, Christian Horner, had no sympathy for his former driver. “Max held a straight line, he can’t disappear,” he said. “He is focused on Sebastian. You see Seb moving over to the left, squeezing. He probably couldn’t see Kimi was the other side of Max but he has been aggressive with Max. Anybody that tries to apportion any blame on Max Verstappen for that needs their eyes testing.”
Both Ferrari drivers subsequently left the circuit without making any further comment, with Ferrari battening down the hatches to investigate just how their weekend could have ended so badly. They now trail Mercedes by 102 points in the constructors’ championship, although the real blow is to Vettel, behind whom the Scuderia had put all their weight for the drivers’ title.
The season is far from over but Ferrari and Vettel must consider that their efforts may have been undone in that single defining moment under the unyielding glare of the floodlights at Marina Bay, and Hamilton, who has now won three races in a row and four of the last five, knows it. “I love the energy that has come from today,” he said. “I felt great in the car. This is our weakest circuit and to come away with a win here, I couldn’t be happier.”
